Our experience with Hamilton's New York Tour by Jimmy Napoli was not pleasant. It certainly did not…read morehave to get bizarre. I have all this documented in the form of an email string. Hopefully sharing my experience is enough to help hard working families like ours, seeking a good, safe experience for their independent tour, make good choices.
We booked our Hamilton Walking tour - paid up front, confirmed time and location. Ten minutes into the tour start time, no one was there except us. Then, someone named "Gregory" showed up. We had no idea who he was. Jimmy Napoli, the known entity and business owner, was nowhere to be seen. Gregory said that Napoli was also running a little late, and that two or three other customers were expected to join our tour. But well after start time, none of these players were there.
Considering the circumstances and his story, we were concerned about safety... is this really the tour? I asked Gregory for credentials. It was a prudent request. It went downhill from there. Gregory could not produce the required New York City Tour Guide ID or any other reference pointing to the tour company - not even a shirt with the tour company name. (Later, in doing a little searching, Gregory cannot be located on the New York City Consumer Affairs Licensed Guide website - http://www1.nyc.gov/site/dca/consumers/check-license.page . There is not sufficient detail to search his name or company, although he called himself a business partner to Napoli).
Rather than solving the problem, Gregory became very aggressive and cancelled the tour. The tour had our money, we spend the time and money to get there on time, and he unilaterally cancelled our tour. He bellowed in the Staten Ferry Terminal, a distance away at that time, that we would not get our money back. He also left without the other 2-3 customers... and without Jimmy. When he pulled that trick, I knew my request for ID was right.
In an email to Napoli outlining the experience and requesting a refund, Napoli's reaction made matters far worse. Although he agreed to the refund (really, he had no choice), his message created more discrepancies than clarity. The ugliest part of this is, while the issue for us was all about safety, especially given the circumstances; Napoli played the race card in his reply to me, without any reference or inference. This remains the most disappointing and shocking of everything on this matter. Napoli's reply was the only time race came up in the entire experience.
So, what is the solution for readers? Karen Q from the Travel Channel and Patriot Tours (www.patriottoursnyc.com) has a highly-regarded Hamilton/other period piece tour. She has outstanding reviews, costs about half the price of Jimmy's tour company, and gives the tours personally - so, no magic tricks. The only reason we did not go with her is due to scheduling conflicts. For those seeking a Hamilton tour, Patriot Tours is certainly an excellent alternative to taking on the risk of the experience we had.
If Jimmy decides to add anything to this posting, I have left room below and will date a response. Happy and safe travels.
