Name: Viator
Address: 360 3rd St #400, San Francisco
Rating: 2.18

“Just pathetic! We extended our stay in Shanghai just to go to Disneyland; at considerable cost. We bought (and paid for) the tickets in March through Viator, for our Disneyland entry date of 2nd May (so that's 2 months in advance). The entry voucher was emailed to us! On the 1st May we get notified that the tickets can no longer be supplied. Just appalling customer service! So two months beforehand they accept our booking (& money), only to cancel the day before we were to go! I will never use Viator again and I'm certainly telling all friends not to use them!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“If I could, I'd give 0/5. Where do I start with this review, I honestly cannot convey my anger and frustration with Viator, but I’ll try my best. I purchased the ‘Skip-the-line entry with host to Colosseum, Roman Forum & Palatine Hill for our city break to Rome. I purchased this on 27/3/19 via the Viator website for 2 people on 10th of May at 10:30am which came to £50.13. I then confirmed this by email with Viator on the 30th of March. On the day, we arrived 45minutes before to give plenty of time to get tickets and find the meeting point. We had to meet at the ‘Roman Empire Tours’ shop (Address – Via Capo D’Africa, 15 A 00184, Roma) and hand over our Viator voucher in exchange for the tickets. We handed the confirmation and voucher over to the man at the reception who then spoke to another lady in Italian for 2/3 minutes before telling us that they no longer accept this voucher and haven’t for the last 2 months. I showed him the email confirmation, the voucher and any other details I had but he had zero interest in anything we said. When we were leaving, he started to laugh, smirk and speak to his colleague in Italian – I cannot explain how angry I was at this man who is an ambassador for this tour company as well as Rome. The shop window even had Trip Advisor stickers and adverts saying that they do tours on behalf of Trip Advisor. At the very least I thought he would have perhaps looked into this a little deeper or suggest another tour which etc, but we didn’t get any of this. Also, to add, another couple left the shop after us and looked like they had a similar problem which made them to start taking pictures of the store front. This led to a man come out and, to me, looked like he was trying to intimidate the two ladies. Roman Empire Tour – Sort out your customer service! I tried to contact the Tour Operator, who in this case was ‘History Group’, on the contact number supplied - +390693574837. It didn’t even ring and then dropped out. Obviously, this was a fake/wrong number. So, I then phoned Viator direct on 02033180421 and got through to an advisor. I explained the situation to the advisor, what was said etc and confirmed all the details. The advisor told us to hold the line while he called the Tour Operator. After a few minutes, the advisor came back on the line and told us that the tour had been cancelled for some reason. Understandably, we were left angry and frustrated as this was our last day and one of the reasons we came to Rome and more to the point, no one contacted us about the tour being cancelled – so unprofessional. The advisor told us he would be able to refund us (I’d like to think so!!) as there was no other tours available that day apart from a similar tour which was in French or Spanish at £74 per person!! The advisor did apologise but to be honest that really meant nothing and it had wasted our last day. So, we were left on our last day with no tour and unable to get into either the Colosseum, Roman Forum or Palatine Hill unless we waited in a queue for 2/3 hours!! After speaking to Viator Advisor, we went back on the website and this tour is still be advertised and what is even more confusing is that someone has left a review in last week of April. This is after we have been told that Roman Empire Tours haven’t accepted this voucher for around the last two months. Someone is lying somewhere. Out of curiosity, we walked over to the departure point at Metro Station, Colosse, Line B just to see if we could say the tour operator (History Group). There we several tour operators there, none called History Group – surprise. I stopped one of the tourist information guides, showed them the confirmation and details. Straight away as soon as I mentioned Viator she said that there had been many cancellations/issues with Viator and told us of an issue with a group of 8 Americans who had booked an underground tour of the Colosseum for there visit and when they arrived, they were told it had been cancelled. She advised us to contact Viator and get a refund asap as she said it would be more difficult the longer we left it. And to add to this, she said that of all the time she had worked there, she had never heard of the tour operator ‘History Group’ and she even tried to phone them off her personal mobile. We there managed to see someone standing with a sign which had a small Viator badge on it, so we asked her if she could help any. She briefly looked at our voucher and told us she doesn’t know. So, we were left on our last day, with no tour or even tickets to get into the Colosseum, Roman Forum or Palatine Hill. I’ll be honest, this has really wasted our city break as this was one of the reasons we choose to visit Rome. The chances are that we won’t be back to Rome again or anytime soon and Viator feeling angry, frustrated and let down. We were left helpless on a street in a foreign country trying to sort our booking issue. The reason I choose Viator was because it is a TripAdvisor company – what a disappointment. Overall, I have only used Viator one and it will 100% be the last time. If anyone is looking to book tours, I highly advise you not to use viator and to back up my statement, have a look through reviews left online by others. I’d also stay clear of Roman Empire Tours. Shambolic is a good word to describe Viator. Not sure if I will hear back from Viator but I just want to make people aware of the issues I’ve experienced. Viator Itinerary No – 1096887666 Booking Reference – BR-692742580”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I’d give 0 if it let me. Private Tour to Saqqara and Memphis and Dahshur with Tour Guide. My experience with the tour supplier and Viator has been horrific. The tour guide didn’t show up. I tried repeatedly the local number that was given to me and it just rang and no one answered. I then had to at significant cost call Viator long distance from the hotel to try and find out what was going on as the weren’t responding on messenger. After I got through to them and a long wait they said they spoken to the supplier and they would be there in 15-30min max (which was already 1.5hr late). They never showed at all which I immediately reported again to an agent on messenger. I lost an entire day of my holiday (I flew in and paid for hotel one day early soley to take this tour) and a month and a half later I’m still battling to try and get the refund including call costs incurred. So much of my time has been wasted. I would not recommend the tour guide as they don’t show up and I would not recommend Viator as they don’t hold their suppliers accountable by making sure they turn up nor do they treat their customers fairly by issuing a fair refund.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Was left behind on a DC nite tour along with four others. No apology and no refund.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I arrived at 12 :30 at the airport. The driver came at 13:05 and it was full with 8 persons with huge langagues.. Till my hotel(near Opera)he made almost 3(three hours)!!!!! They dont care if the hotels are in diferent directions. The driver was unpolite and ironic. I will never use it again”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Booked a skip the line ticket for a 9.30am time slot in Florence 3 days before and the ticket just said pending and no way to contact them to check. They took the money. I managed to ring an Italian customer help line who also said they couldn't help... the day before the booking. She finally gave me an email address...but this was not available on the viator website. A few hours later we got confirmation bit it did not say anything had changed. We turned up at the attraction and they had changed the time to 13.45 but it was not evident until we had got the tickets and lined up for the skip the line! Luckily the person at the attraction was very kind and let us in anyway. I wasted a fair bit of holiday time trying to get through to them and wondering if we could see the attraction. Woukd not book with them again. They need to have a more obvious customer chatline or help email that is manned for tourists in every time zone. Maybe they should not deal with late bookings either.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I booked a day trip from Marrakech to Desert Agafay sbd Atlas mountains It was a great experience!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM!!!!!!! I wish I would have seen all this reviews before I did. Terrible customer service!!!!! Booked an excursion in Mexico was never picked up or contacted. They claim we were no shows and then refused to give us a refund. Company is a scam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very rude and a waste of money”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“My family book an Eiffel Tower, Seine River Cruise, and Moulin Rouge show 6 months prior to the event. We arrived in Paris today and were making arrangements to go get our tickets. I called the place and apparently Viator never passed on the reservations. It was for 7 of us and it was such a critical time to go and cost us thousands. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. I will never ever again book through Viator or any of their customers and I would certainly advise you never to do so as well. I am crushed!!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“This company is a scam. All they want is your money. Stay away from them.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Booked the Burj Khalifa observation deck, I realized 5 minutes after booking that it was for non-peak times, but the times weren't written on their website. I immediately emailed for a refund and they wouldn't do it. Expedia allow you to cancel up to 48 hours before the activity/event. If you make an accidental error or may decide to change your mind, avoid this company at all costs.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“We booked the Saona Island excursion in Punta Cana thru Viator on our recent trip. The excursion was horrible, and way too much to go into on here. We spoke with a Viator rep and was hoping for at least a partial refund, and was on the phone with him and gave him everything in detail, and he seemed to think we should get a refund as well (with all the issues listed that we incurred in great detail) and said they would be in touch. A couple days later, we received an email that the case was closed as the tour operator stated everything went well and as planned. Viator does not stand behind what they sell, we have traveled around the US, Canada, Punta Cana 3 times, Atlantis, Cancun, Puerto Vallerta and Los Cabos and this was our 1st time using Viator, and never again.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I have used Viator a number of times in the past and have appreciated the convenience of their booking system. However my experience of late is Viator appears to subcontract the tours out to a local company and adds a significant fee to do so. I now find it easier to find a local company that rates well through TripAdvisor and use them. it saves a heap of money and gives you a local contact if something goes wrong.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Double price for 100% same product I paid double price even if they advertize best price guaranty for a tour. Same agent same boat with Viator.com Tour limit was max15 persons and we did the tour with 18persons because boat not full with 24persons ,the max capacity.(we where lucky) No refund because of best price guaranty and excuses to avoid it. Stay away, book your trip direct with agents and save your money!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Double price for 100% same product I paid double price even if they advertize best price guaranty for a tour. Same agent same boat with Viator.com Tour limit was max15 persons and we did the tour with 18persons because boat not full with 24persons ,the max capacity.(we where lucky) No refund because of best price guaranty and excuses to avoid it. Stay away, book your trip direct with agents and save your money!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I Booked 2 trips in Nepal in Feb 2019 named “Explore Entire Pokhara (Sarangkot - Stupa - Begnas Lake - Fewa Lake -Water fall)” and “Bhaktapur Heritage City and Nagarkot Mt Everest View Comfortable Trip by Car”. I booked this specially in advanced because of the “English speaking tour guide” option really appealed to us. We could not have been more disappointed. Neither trip driver spoke English - they were drivers NOT tour guides (not their fault but that’s not what we paid for) we learned nothing about the areas other than looking round them and we were totally ripped off for the experience. The drivers couldn’t even tell us where they were taking us which in the pitch black at 5am is scary. You can pay drivers at your hotel to do the same tours for a half the price. Do NOT book with Viator, source the trips locally yourself. Would not recommend this company. Oh and they don’t have a complaints procedure which is convenient!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I Booked 2 trips in Nepal in Feb 2019 named “Explore Entire Pokhara (Sarangkot - Stupa - Begnas Lake - Fewa Lake -Water fall)” and “Bhaktapur Heritage City and Nagarkot Mt Everest View Comfortable Trip by Car”. I booked this specially in advanced because of the “English speaking tour guide” option really appealed to us. We could not have been more disappointed. Neither trip driver spoke English - they were drivers NOT tour guides (not their fault but that’s not what we paid for) we learned nothing about the areas other than looking round them and we were totally ripped off for the experience. The drivers couldn’t even tell us where they were taking us which in the pitch black at 5am is scary. You can pay drivers at your hotel to do the same tours for a half the price. Do NOT book with Viator, source the trips locally yourself. Would not recommend this company. Oh and they don’t have a complaints procedure which is convenient!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Arthurs Pass was not what I expected. The weather was so bad that we did not see much. The train is rather disapointing. So many tunnels - 14 of them and the train was crowded. Not worth the money.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Viator seems to offer nice tours, and they're very happy to take your money immediately upon booking. BUT good luck getting it back if the tour is cancelled!! I've been waiting 12 days, with still no credit on our credit card. Both tour operator and I have spoken with them. But that is an effort in futility since their "person" barely spoke English. And the online "chat person" is equally challenged with communication. Don't waste your time with this middleman. Book directly with the tour operator, which is revealed on the Viator website.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Two day trips booked in Australia and contacted by providers to cancel them at short notice. Big headache trying to rebook, one while I was in transit to Melbourne. Have used Viator before with no issues but this has been stressful. They don’t even get involved just leave all contact to provider so you may as well book direct - which we have now done.”

Helpful Report

Posted 6 years ago

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Own Driver
On-time Delivery	Greater than 7%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Over A Week
Customer Service	1.1 out of 5
Returns & Refunds
Refunds Process	Difficult

Viator Reviews