Poor communication and not accommodating.
Very poor communication. They say to call the number if you're running late but they never answer. I had an u fortunate event with traffic which caused my tour to be forcibly cancelled out of my control. The tour guide showed no sympathy and told me I was going to be charged whether or not I showed up. Even though I explained my situation. If you have an unfortunate event come up dont even rely on these people! No response to rescheduling either. I will be filing a dispute with my bank.
事業者からの返答
Ashley — We appreciate you taking the time to review us even though you didn’t take a tour with us. Or maybe your review was actually meant for someone else as your comments on “very poor communication” seem to be off.
Lucky for us, timestamps on texts, emails and phone calls allows us to offer exactly what happened. To wit, after receiving a confirmation email when you booked your tour, including information about our cancellation policy, plus a reminder email 24 hours before your tour started, we texted you at 9:42 a.m. on the day of your tour to inquire about food allergies and food preferences. You responded that you eat everything and we got back to you 3 minutes later letting you know that we were excited to meet you. At 10:21 a.m. you sent a text inquiring about parking. We responded and told you that there were a number of lots near our starting point and that your confirmation email contained detailed information. We also said that we would resend that information via email and did so. You responded that you "must have missed that. To be clear, this would have been the third email sent to you from us with information, including parking, about your tour.
At 12:07, you texted that there was a “really bad accident” on the 80 and that you would keep us updated on your arrival time. We responded saying we would meet you at our first stop and offered you a wish of safe travels. AT 12:35 you texted again that traffic wasn’t moving and that your ETA was 2:15 (15 minutes after our start time) and asked if we had any openings “tomorrow in case I can’t make it.”
We responded that our while our cancellation policy is 24 hours in advance (as clearly outlined in all of our emails) that we did have a tour that you could join but I need to know by 1:00 p.m. (one hour before tour start). We also let you know that rain was again anticipated for the next day.
At 12:45, you texted that traffic “is beyond my control” so you wanted to reschedule to Friday, 4/17. In that text you also sent a screen shot of your anticipated route and traffic. (To be clear, all of this happened on a day with wildly anticipated thunderstorms and repeated urgings from CA Highway Patrol to avoid driving over the summit.) Shortly after you texted that the highway was closed and you would definitely “need to reschedule.” We responded that we didn’t have availability on Friday but did on Saturday, 4/18 and asked if that would work for you. You responded that you “had something already for Saturday” and then followed up 1 minute later and said that traffic was moving and asked if would mind if you were late to the first meeting spot.
We responded 1 minute later to let you know that if was your decision but if you wanted to go now, you would be charged no matter time you arrived. We asked if that was “cool?” and reaffirmed “be safe.” Your response at 12:50 p.m. was “Yes, no worries. I already drove an hour so I really just want to go.” We responded with, “Ok, you’re in. Stay in touch and be safe!” “Thanks! Will do” was your response.
At 1:05 p.m. you texted that “they are making us turn around.” Also, "I can do the 18 for next week.” At 1:55 p.m., you requested an amendment to move your tour to 4/18, through Viator, your original booking agent.
At 4:14 p.m. you texted that you “already contacted Victor (sic) but please get back to me ASAP to reschedule. At 6:08 p.m., you requested a full refund via Viator and at 6:16 p.m. offered your 1-star review.
Today, you have texted at 11:32 a.m. that you were “disputing with my bank about the charge.” You also said, “I gave you adequate notice about rescheduling and you did not respond. Very unprofessional. Thanks.” You also texted that “I truly was not going to make it beyond my control.”
At this time, we are not offering you the opportunity to reschedule your tour, nor are we offering you a full refund. We offered you multiple opportunities up to 1 hour before tour start, well beyond our cancellation policy window of 24 hours, to reschedule your tour, we communicated with you in great detail, and as our tours are set and paid for in advance, incurred charges around your reservation.
We wish you well, Ashley. At Local Roots Food Tours, we are proud of our communication abilities, take responsibility for our actions, and always, always, document our interactions.