19 Aug 2023
I booked the VOX walking tour of Toronto with Royal Ontario Museum entrance as part of my holiday through TUI. They give you a specific day (last Thursday) but times vary from 10.00, 12.00, 14.00 etc. This was our first day on holiday and we first tried to catch the 10.00 tour. Our ticket said to meet outside the Hockey hall of Fame. We couldn't find the tour operator, walked all around the outside of the building and then went downstairs (the security guard suggested this but said he hadn't seen any tours and didn't know where they would meet). Tried phoning the number on the ticket but it just clicked off so went and hung around the area for two hours and tried again at 12.00 at which time the exact same thing happened again. Called TUI in the UK who got in touch with TUI Canada at which point we were meant to wait for instructions, they would phone us back. No one ever did, after twenty minutes we decided to walk to the museum and at least get the museum part of the tour. After a long walk in the heat we arrived at the museum and we're told the ticket was only valid if we were with our tour guide. Tried phoning Vox and TUI again and were told by TUI they were still waiting for a response from Vox and TUI excursions CA. And someone would phone or email me soon. That was two days ago, no one ever came back to me. And I found out the ground floor of the museum is free anyway (which was most likely what they include in the tour).
I'm not upset because a complete day of our holiday was ruined or even that we spent a big chunk of money and got nothing in return. I'm upset that no one has the decency to email or phone to explain where to go in the first instance or apologize in the second instance for the lack of communication. Incredibly poor service.
If you are visiting Toronto there are so many better ways to spend your time and money. I highly recommend Little Canada or for just slightly more, the trip to Niagara falls with wine tasting, lunch and boat tour. It lasts 9 hours and was well worth the money. We booked this through TUI (tour operator was TBCL) as well and we're very happy with this tour