Chris asked us to do a review so I will be very honest with my review. We called on Tuesday and noticed that the weather might be better spent on Wednesday. But Chris did say that he would be on vacation himself on Wednesday so in order to get him we had to go on Tuesday a more cloudy and cooler day.
Upon arrival we first notice that there was no awning on his bicycle so I guess that was that. His pictures indicated having one but he told us that he decided not to bring it. We specifically told him that we would like to see three items. FDR monument, Vietnam and Korea and if we go past the Lincoln I’d like to stop there to snap a photo. And finally drop us off at our hotel by the capitol. How long should that take? I would say an hour and a half at most.
As we started out, we noticed he started stopping past other things we did not request such as the WWII monument. Then went and stopped at other sight seeing attractions all along the way.
Chris was very informational. He had a portfolio of pictures to bring insight into what he was discussing so you could visually see the contrast of his stories.
Why do I give it three stars? Well we were charged for 2.5 hours of sight seeing even though we requested 4 things to see. Our total bill came to $417 which I thought was a little steep. I did tip 20 percent but now I neglect doing that kind gesture. My 84 year old mother certainly did not appreciate not having the awning which made it colder for her.
In summary, great information but makes you are very clear on where you stop as the time and price will increase.
Operator response
Kyle, I would like to personally convey my thanks to you for taking the time to give me some honest and unvarnished feedback here. It really will help me to improve my operations and can help give other travelers a real authentic look at my tour experience.
As a token of my appreciation for the time you have invested in my business with your feedback review, and to try to make amends for any mismatch of expectations, I would like to personally offer you, or your family, or your friends, a 100% free-of-charge, no-strings-attached, one (1) hour long sighting tour of Capitol Hill during your next visit here to Washington, DC. I normally don’t guide tours as short as one (1) hour, but I would make an exception for you on a future visit. And there is no expiration date with my offer here: I will guide this tour at any point for you now, or next year, or many years into the future! I would even guide a walking tour for you and yours at some point far in the future on your return trip here, even if I am an old man tour guide, and I am no longer operating a pedicab at that point.
Now, if you and anyone else reading this will humor me, I’ll next try to bring some facts to address some of the points you raised in your review above.
You contacted me the same day you had initially asked to tour, Tuesday 10/14/2025, and I was more than happy to make myself available to you and your mother on short notice that same afternoon. You also asked about a tour the following morning, Wednesday morning 10/15/2025. I mentioned I would be on vacation myself that day, AND I did give you a referral to another highly-regarded pedicab tour brand here in DC. I hope you found these to be reasonable options to suit your improvisational, unplanned style of travel.
Regarding the weather, on the afternoon of Tuesday October 14th here in DC, if you look back at that weather record on that mild autumn day, the weather was cool and dry with a high in the mid 60s degrees Fahrenheit (about 18 to 19 degrees Celsius), and partly sunny, with a mild breeze (9mph to 12mph). The reason I did not bring the sun shade canopy that day was because —most— folks would feel cooler under the shade of the canopy. The breeze was mild that day, but the sunshade canopy on my open air pedicab conveyance really is —not— a windshield nor a wind shelter, and it should not be thought of as such. The sun shade canopy also impacts sightseeing views of the memorials, architecture, and views the fall foliage on the trees here this time of year. Most folks that take my tour seem to want to maximize their visual experience.
I honestly don’t recall you asking about a strict time budget of only 1.5 hours, which is my bare minimum tour duration. If you had asked about that, I certainly would have mentioned that it wouldn’t be practicable to tour in a pedicab (which travels at a human scale of 4 mph to 14 mph) past each of the places you mentioned, AND also finish at the Phoenix Hotel near Union Station, which is —nearly 3 miles— east of one of your requested stops at the Lincoln Memorial. I was more than happy to stop at the several places you requested, and I also made other stops which you requested so you could take photos for the “America250” photography contest you are entering. If you sincerely believe I wasn’t attentive to the confines of your schedule or budget, then that would be on me, and I should apologize for not communicating with you more about that during the course of your tour. I hope the free tour offering above for you, or any of your family or friends (with no expiration date either!) helps make up for that in some way.
Regarding your total tour charges, I did —not— charge you $417 USD. Rather, I charged you only $348 USD for 2.5 hours of touring Washington, DC at my standard tour rate of $139 per hour. You elected to tip me out an extra $70 bucks on top of the tour rate charges, and I do thank you for your generosity there. I believe I was fair and reasonable with the starting and ending times of your tour charges. At the time you made your reservation I mentioned in our texts that I do offer dual pricing that includes a small cash discount if you decide to pay with cash or a Zelle system bank transfer, which is an option inside most everybody’s mobile banking app. Had you decided to pay one of those ways (cash or Zelle bank transfer) your tour charges would have totaled ten dollars ($10) less, at $338 USD for touring 2.5 hours at $135 per hour. Instead, you decided to pay by card, perhaps to garner cash back, “points,” or airline miles with your credit card? Or maybe you have an expense account situation, or you were taking a tax deduction in some way, and needed a record of the expense? I don’t want to speculate too much there. My standard tour rate of $139 does reflect that —higher cost— of acceptance of bank card payments. I would like to think I give my clients transparent and reasonable terms so they can decide what form of payment is of value and most convenient to them.
I should note that you originally contacted me from my booking tab on my website, where I do have my hourly tour rate prominently displayed and easy to see here: https://www.wheelthepeople.com under the “Tour Rates” button right at the top. It’s —really— difficult to miss. I believe I had a reasonable assumption that you had a chance to see my tour rates, and also to ask me about them. If you somehow missed those tour rates, then it’s my fault for not reiterating my tour rates more clearly in a few different ways. Please tour with me again for FREE as I’ve offered above. Quite frankly, many of my guests don’t even ask me about what I believe are my very competitive tour fees; for example, I have —no— surcharge for additional passengers that my local pedicab tour competitors charge to their clients.
I continue to sincerely believe my hourly tour rates reflect a truly outstanding value to enjoy a personalized, private, guided pedicab tour of Washington, DC, which remains one of the most expensive cities in these United States for a fully-licensed (by federal AND authorities) and fully insured (to $2,000,000.00 USD) company to do business in the year 2025. I would like to once again sincerely thank you, Kyle, for speaking freely here on how I might be able to improve my unique sightseeing experience offering, and take it up to the next level. Won’t you please tour with me for free here on your next visit here, Kyle, or refer a family member or friend to take a free tour with me at any point in the future?
Sincerely, Chris with Wheel The People
