We were traveling from London to Paris and back for one day(September 5th). Our main destination was Disneyland with a couple of stops beforehand. I paid for my trip to Disneyland round trip through Viator and we discussed adding 2 stops beforehand while communicating through WhatsApp. I was asked to pay for the additional stops in cash therefore I exchanged USD to Euros while I was in London. I had to pay for two conversions from USD-pounds-euros. I had two different drivers for the different legs of the trip(before Disneyland and after). Neither driver requested the money and the owner/operator never made it clear who I was to give the cash to. I asked the owner at the beginning of my second leg but he/she never responded while I was in the vehicle which was unusual since he/she had always been very responsive. As soon as I got out of the vehicle and into the train station almost an hour & a half after inquiring THEN the owner/operator replied saying they would send a link for me to pay the euros. Needless to say I was angered. What was the purpose of requesting cash that I had to convert for one day in Paris? Now I had to convert it back to USD and lose money and still pay through a link that could have been sent from the beginning? The 1st driver who was very dry and not the friendliest anyway then calls and says I need to pay him because he forgot to ask for the money. I told him I would send it when I got on the train. My WIFI was not working and it wasn’t until the next day that I could get service to send the money. Before this the driver called again to tell me what I was supposed to do. I kindly let him know I did what I was asked and he should have remembered to collect his money. I told him I asked the owner who should I give the money to with no response until later. The lack of clarity about who exactly to pay during our day and the loss of money due to conversion is unprofessional. Then to have a driver talk snappy to me about HIS misstep was crazy. I told him not to speak to me as if I was the problem when I had the cash to pay as I was asked with no reply or a late reply from the operator. Another problem I had with the not so friendly driver was that he asked me how long I would be at my second stop. When I said 30 minutes he said that was too long although I had discussed this previously with the operator who agreed to it. He definitely was not kind nor welcoming to be in the business of customer service.
Hello, Thank you for your review. We are sorry that there was a misunderstanding regarding the payment for the additional stops and that this situation caused you inconvenience. We would like to clarify the circumstances. Before the trip, two additional stops of 15 and 30 minutes were agreed, together with an additional charge of €50. This amount was not included in the main booking price and was to be paid separately to the driver. On the day of the trip, there were two opportunities to make the payment directly to the drivers: during the morning journey and during the return journey. However, the payment was not made to either driver. For this reason, a payment link was sent after the trip for the agreed additional service. This was not a new charge or a change to the agreed terms; it was an attempt to collect payment for a service that had been agreed in advance and provided. We would also like to clarify that the morning journey took approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes. This was considerably longer than the agreed additional stop time of 15 and 30 minutes. The total duration was also affected by circumstances outside the company’s control, including waiting time and traffic conditions. Nevertheless, the journey was completed in full, along the agreed route, and the service was not cancelled. Regarding the currency exchange, the Global Exchange receipts you provided show a fee of £2.49 for one exchange and £2.49 for the return exchange, giving a documented total fee of £4.98. The other receipts show £0.00 in fees. None of the receipts identifies €68 as a currency-exchange fee. The difference between the amount spent when purchasing the currency and the amount received when exchanging it back includes the exchange rates applied by the exchange office and the effect of converting the money back. These rates and conditions were not set by our company. Therefore, the amount of €68 cannot be treated as a documented exchange fee or as an amount payable by our company. We acknowledge that the payment procedure could have been explained more clearly to both the customer and the drivers, and we have taken steps to ensure that future customers are informed in advance who should receive any additional payment and when. However, the agreed service was completed in full and within the agreed arrangements, while the documented exchange fee is £4.98, not €68. Kind regards, VIP TRANSFER PARIS
