Very hit and miss on the tours they offer. The descriptions aren't often accurate. Their customer service is terrible with random people from foreign call centers. You have to fight for your rights. They're owned by trip advisor so it's same company. They have a marketing scam where they want you to believe they offer the best, lowest prices. The problem Is nine times out of ten , it's not true. If you contact their tour operators, you'll find cheaper prices. They will price match if you contact them within 48 hours but then why not book directly with the operator and cancel the middleman. Recently having more bad than good experiences with them so moving away from Using them read more

Completely disappointed. A few days before my trip to Rome, this company canceled my Colosseum tickets without providing any explanation, even though I had purchased them almost a month in advance. Because of this last-minute cancellation, I now have to search for alternative tickets and pay a much higher price. This situation caused unnecessary stress and completely ruined my experience with this company. I would not recommend booking with them. read more

Viator is awful! They don't communicate and give accurate information regarding their activities! They don't differentiate between a start time and a pickup time. Use another company! read more

Viator booked my reservation for the tram in Palm Springs and would not give me a boarding time. Consequently I had to wait 3 hours to take the tram. Never use viator. read more

Customer service is completely ignored. I booked four tours in different cities. Two of them called enforced different time without giving me option specifically knowing that you're in a foreign country and you booked everything in advance. Even when the advertising is incorrect as misleading, via a tour failed to properly and legally remedy the situation. Customers rights are grossly violated. read more

I should have checked Yelp first before booking through Viator. We booked tickets to go to Alcatraz island since the direct ones were already sold out. Even at double the price we thought it would be worth it to be able to get on the tour. The day before the tour we get an email that the tour was overbooked and our tickets were being refunded. Now it's too late to get tickets from even more expensive tour companies, so we are missing out on an Alcatraz trip which was one of the main things we wanted to do with our time in San Francisco. read more

Paid for a tour contestants of Liberty. The visibility was so low and overcast that day because of rain. I canceled and they didn't even refund me. It was my last day in NY so I couldn't reschedule it. Horrible customer service! I would never use them again. I had little children and it would have been hard to do that in the rain when you couldn't even see the NY skyline with how overcast and foggy it was. Worse company to deal with. read more

Do not book through this third party company! Go direct to the company you are wanting to do the activity with. I booked a trip for 4 people and there was a major accident and we were stuck in one spot for over an hour.. they would not refund us anything at all however the company would have worked with us because i called the to ask. Things happen and you want to work with a company that understands that. read more

My cousin Christina booked a group tour with Viator while we were visiting Italy, I was not feeling well. Christina called to simply inquire on the cancellation policy. Just incase I couldn't make the tour and needed to return home. The tour guide (Davide Vianello-info@vianellodavide.com. +39 02 87147 603) started assuming we were ready to cancel and started cursing Christina. He then insisted I go to the hospital to get an excuse. I went to get Luigi (the bartender) to come explain to the guy in Italian that we did not want to cancel. We were simply checking our options. Mr. Vianello then began to curse the hotel employee. Luigi looked at me and said "this is not a good guy". He even told Luigi he would not do business with that hotel again. Luigi explained to him that we were not cancelling, just wanted to see our options. Mr. Vianello then let Luigi and Christina know that he did not want me on his boat. Christina then explained they still did not want to cancel. I may be the one person to cancel. He insisted that we needed to cancel everything now and get the refund. In fact, he told Luigi and Christina she had 20 minutes to cancel so he could call to get the refund. We hung up with the agreement she would cancel within 20 minutes and get a full refund. At this point he wasn't letting any of us on his boat. Not even the others. Like Christina said we have multiple witnesses including the hotel employee that knows we were pushed to cancel promptly and promised a refund. The whole group did not have to cancel. I returned home and was seen at my cardiologist the following day. Mr. Vianello convinced the whole group to cancel and promised a refund because one person (me) wast feeling well. I feel he knew what he was doing when he convinced us to cancel. I do not feel he ever intended on rrefunding us. He just didn't want us on his boat. That is unacceptable. Thank you! read more

Booked an excursion with Viator for Sport Fishing in Mazatlan, the overall experience with the exxcursion was awful, not timely, not as promised or paid for. Viator has denied refund with all facts presented and doesnt seem to be willing to assist. read more

Viator gives no help when issues arise, blame operator and take no accountability Use other travel platforms like GetYourGuide! The tickets provided by Viator list an address that many would naturally assume is the meeting point, but this is incorrect. The only way to find the actual location is by searching through the tour listing online, which is far from intuitive. Viator refuses to take any responsibility for this confusion and shifts all blame onto the tour operator. This lack of accountability is extremely frustrating as a customer. If Viator wants to position themselves as a reliable booking platform, they need to ensure accurate and clear information is provided on their tickets and communications. Their current system leaves travelers confused and unsupported, which is unacceptable for a company of their size. While the tour itself was amazing and highly recommended, Viator's poor handling of essential information seriously undermines the experience. They need to fix this issue immediately to prevent other travelers from facing the same avoidable frustration. Once again, use other travel platforms. read more

The company will not issue a refund if you cancel 24 hours prior to departure as they advertise. YES, the advertisement is false. They will not issue a full refund if they cancel your tour due to weather either. This company is the same as Get Your Guide, Viator, includes Reykjavík Excursions, Flybus, Icelandic Mountain Guides, Dive.is, Activity Iceland, Gray Line Iceland, and Icelandia. Avoid all if possible. There are ARCTIC tours for ADVENTURES in Iceland from a company whose name is two words that start with the same letter that is honest and customer service oriented. You have been warned. read more

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I rarely write reviews, but I feel obligated to warn others before they make the same mistake I did. I booked Antelope Canyon / Horseshoe Bend tour over the phone, after clearly stating that I would be staying in Sedona and would need pickup from my hotel there. The representative confirmed all my information and processed my payment and I assumed everything was in order. Only later did I receive an email from the tour director saying they don't pick up in Sedona at all, only from Las Vegas. That's right: despite having my hotel address, they booked me on a tour in an entirely DIFFERENT state. When I called back, they admitted the error but refused to correct it without charging me even EVEN MORE MONEY for a "private tour." That was presented as a "favor," but make no mistake, they were asking me to pay extra to fix their mistake. Each person I spoke to gave me a different story and a different price, all while pretending to "help." One offered a 10% discount (still higher than the original price), another quoted something completely different, and a third acted like my friend until I mentioned I'd already been offered a discount. only then did he suddenly "discover" he could apply one too. It was manipulative, inconsistent, and frankly insulting. To make matters worse, they don't use a secure online booking platform. You're expected to enter your credit card number over the phone to a stranger, which is an enormous red flag . Anyone considering this company should think twice about giving out sensitive information this way. In the end, the booking was canceled, but not before wasting my time, tying up money, and leaving me scrambling to find an alternative tour. Take my experience as a cautionary tale. what looks legitimate on the surface is riddled with shady practices underneath. Between the bait-and-switch pricing, disorganization, and lack of accountability, I strongly advise looking elsewhere. There are plenty of reputable tour operators in Arizona and Nevada, this one is not one of them. read more

I wish I had checked Yelp first on this one. They are a horrible, unreliable tour operator. I made the massive mistake of booking two tours with them in Buenos Aires and they are the WORSE! They are extremely unreliable and have the absolute least responsive customer service ever. They just want your money and do not care about delivering anything. Definitely avoid at all costs. read more

Employees so disorganized, booked Sunset Cruise w/husband but they left him on the dock at Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara asserting "we have to leave" but allowed others on. Co did not mention you have to walk 1/2 mile on ill maintained dock (wooden uneven planks & protruding nails) to access boat ride, difficult for disabled person {though easily able to go on ramp to get on boat.) Not the same riding a sunset cruise single w/out husband for a sp celebr. Of course no $$ refund & had to be w/ bunch of drunk patrons - special : NOT read more

Viator or TripAdvisor are a third party company. All they do is collect their 20-25% of the price and distribute the rest to the tour operator/provider of the activity or tour. If your tour expert doesn't have knowledge or good language skills and you are majorly disappointed, Viator or TripAdvisor will do absolutely NOTHING! We had a terrible experience in Egypt when the tour guide couldn't put two sentences together. He had zero knowledge in history of the Pyramids that he was super to give us some information about. Be very careful with VIATOR or TRIPADVISOR. They are not on your side! read more

Viator is not the middleman that makes it easier, better to just go directly to the local company. I booked a Venice tour through Viator. While traveling in Italy, I was notified that the tour was canceled due to low sign ups. Viator offered an alternative tour, that was smaller than we originally booked, but I was fine with it. I asked for an updated voucher with details and relied on the Viator app for the correct information. The voucher in the app updated the price but not the tour time. I depended on the Viator app for the updated info since that's where I booked it, but the time was never updated. So I showed up at the original time, and then missed the tour because of incorrect information. And now Viator refuses to issue a refund!! This wasn't user error, it was a failure of Viator's system and communication. They act as a middleman, but when something goes wrong, they don't take any accountability! Save yourself the stress and risk. Book directly with local tour operators instead of using Viator. read more

Avoid. They are a middleman only and do not operate the tours. Book through the independent tour operator instead. I booked a tour in Ireland months before my journey. Viator canceled it without notice. The tour was still available for the day and time I had originally chosen, so I rebooked it using the pay later option. This allows you to cancel and not have to wait for a refund. I canceled the tour withing the cancellation guidelines because we decided to do something else. But on the day of the tour, I recieved a payment confirmation for the tour. I disputed with my credit card company, but Viator says its my fault so now I have to pay. Avoid them and save yourself money and frustration. read more

We booked a tour of the Louvre and had extreme difficultly finding our tour group in the large crowd and in the middle of some race in Paris on day of. The tour left without us and Viator charge us like $150 to reschedule. We then scheduled a tour of Notre Dame to save the day and showed up 30 min early the guide never showed up and Viator then sent us a cancellation email. And attempted to still charge me. Poor service. read more

Booked "reserve now, book later", received Viator email, that I will be charged May 28. Checked my credit card statement- Viator charged me at the time of booking and not once but twice for the same booking. read more

I booked the Niagara Falls Canadian Side Tour and Maid of the Mist Boat Ride, got sick and couldn't go. I called them, saw a doctor and got a record of it. They charged me (a lot) anyway. Have you ever gotten sick on a fun trip from overeating or drinking? Or maybe just the excitement? A new place, new food and water, then suddenly you're having bad stomach upsets and can't even leave your hotel room. It happens, maybe a lot. But when it does, Viator won't refund your tour cost. They wanted proof of "hospitalization." Severe stomach problems don't require hospitalization, but constant access to a bathroom is a must. On an all day tour you simply don't have that. So why insist that I should have gone? This was an awful experience. Viator told me to see their "rules." But on the page where I booked this tour, it says "FREE CANCELLATION." This company operates out of greed and a complete lack of customer care. Don't use them. Book directly with local tour companies or find someone else. read more

Viator - Tour description. - Travel Services Near Me - San Francisco, California

I've used Viator over a dozen times, and they were once a useful curator/middle man for tour experiences out of the country. This has changed entirely. The contact person was in Russia (not in the country we were visiting). They outsource everything and you have no direct contact with your actual tour company. The hotel pickup passed us by, and we got picked up an hour later be a 2nd driver. The tour was a boat tour, and the driver had no clue which boat we were going to be on, so we were left at the boat docks of Istanbul, hopping from boat to boat, trying to find the right one. The actual boat did not even recognize our Viator ticket, but we were already there and agreed to pay them directly (paying twice!) and they wiggled us in between two families, and everyone had already ate their first course. Viator included complimentary wine and beer (incorrect) in the description. Upon leaving the excursion, which was actually lovely, none of the drivers recognized our visitor vouchers and we were stuck at the docks, walking around Istanbul after midnight until we could find a taxi we had to pay for. The only good reviews of aviator are actually for the lovely private companies they book for as a middle man. Do yourself a favor, and book directly with these companies and assure you have an actual nice experience with a contact person who can speak your language and cares about your experience. read more

We had a horrible experience on a recent trip. Our excursions were booked well in advance. All reviews were mostly positive. One excursion reviews changed after our booking and on the day of the event, the vendor did not show up for pickup. We contacted Viator right away and asked for our refund. They said if the vendor didn't respond in 72 hours they would issue a refund. 72 hours later they told me I needed to file with my "bank" for the refund. Viator took no responsibility for their bad vendor that wouldn't even respond to them. Not a good look for them. read more

I booked a tour with them and then tried to revise as I made a mistake. I got an email saying they would refund so ai rebooked with another company. Viator then sent another email saying they would not refund me. When I called to inquire they said the first email was sent by mistake and they would not be able to refund despite me telling them I had rebooked with someone else. I would NOT recommend and will NEVER use again. ​ read more

Viator just lost a loyal customer. You learn about a company when things go "wrong" and not when things go right. I sent this to "Chiara" after the company took little to no accountability for the excursion on THEIR website. So disappointing. I was foolish expecting more from them. Hi Chiara (Viator), I don't believe the customer is always right. I don't believe in entitlement. I don't believe in being disrespectful even when YOU, yourself, are being disrespected. I also know that you see a company at its best when something goes wrong (not when things go perfectly right). My family paid A LOT of money for a 2 1/2 hour excursion. Not only was the company that we paid 1 1/2 hours late, but WE had to call the company and your company to get someone there. FINALLY, someone arrived 90 minutes late, but we only spent ONE of the whole TWO and HALF hours at the destination because we had other plans, too (like most do while trying to maximize time on vacation). The company that was on YOUR website failed miserably. No apology. No "how can we make it up to you?" No NOTHING. It's a small business. Some last and others don't. The ones that have a chance RESPECT their customers. And then there's Viator... The large company that you would THINK is not just accountable representing the experiences you "broker", but with the volume you do, one would think that YOUR COMPANY would be accountable, respectful, and appreciative for ALL customers, but especially ones that are loyal to you. Well, I was wrong and I'm done with Viator. Please thank whichever "supervisor" that read my incredibly REASONABLE and respectful feedback and request for AT LEAST half of my money back for their whopping 10% discount. read more

SHOCKED but Very pleased. I approached Viator for a refund because we were not allowed on our ride. Small $65.90. Alas, no questions just a response, your ticket has already been refunded. I looked, and yes the refund was on my credit card. Surprised but thankful. 4+. Would like to give a five but do not want to mislead anyone as it looks like other people have commented on issues. . read more

Poor billing experience. They routed my transactions through a foreign country and my credit card charged me foreign transaction fees. Customer service had no explanation for why they routed it that way. read more

I booked 2 excursions with Viator while in Europe. After booking the 2nd one two additional charges went through my credit card. This could be billing issues with viator or fraud. It would seem that credit card info with Viator may not be secure. read more

I had to pay an additional $211 cash to make it back to my cruise on time. I confirmed timing with provider before finalizing booking safari in Cape Town. Provider informed me all would be fine. It wasn't. My tour guide made arrangements for me to be driven 2+ hours back to terminal, but I had to pay $211 cash first. Viator support agreed to reimburse me, but after ten days, I still haven't received any reimbursement. They've lost my future business. read more

Viator is more of an aggregator of tours, led by different tour companies/guides. They are more of a middle man between the tour company and you, instead of working directly with the local tour company. Even so, I have used them in the past, as they show a bunch of options all put together and you can search by length of tour, time of day, and your dates. I used them more frequently before I realized I could more easily book these tours on my own for a little bit less, but when I did use them they were always reliable and helpful with any issues, if they arose. I've booked tours with Viator in Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Australia, among many others. Each time, I've always had great communication from Viator, and the few times I've needed to cancel a booking, they've always been understanding and tried to help me with a credit or refund when possible. I would recommend Viator if you want an easy way to search and book a few tours without having to work directly with multiple different tour companies yourself! read more

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Be aware that they do not stand behind their services. They pass it on and become a third party in the process. We had booked a tour through them for the Valley of the Temple in Sicily for 11 pm. We got there at 10:50. Unaware we needed to be there at 10:30. We had the information to be able to contact the guide by text which we did, 4 times plus one call to their customer service without success so that we could locate them. We were basically told by Viator no refunds. DONT USE THEM read more

We bought entrance tickets to Agrigento Valley of the Temples directly from Viator, whom we thought to be reputable. They sold our business to Vox International. We were given QR codes for entry. These led to an error message. Despite kind assistance from the temples entry staff, we never got them to work. We had to buy a second set of tickets. By the way, you can buy entry tickets for 1/2 the price that Viator charges. Now, Viator and Vox are pointing to each other as responsible and not refunding our money. So we must go to Chase Visa for help. Avoid this company. read more

Horrible experience! BEWARE! I had booked a trip as part of a group 8 months prior. I had switched banks in the meantime. When I got the email that they were going to bill the trip, I went in to update my credit card. My bank marked it as fraud right off the bat, which i corrected immediately. Viator automatically cancelled the trip immediately. I called to re-book immediately, and was told that say was no longer available even though the seat was technically mine. Ridiculous!! This all happened within 5 min. I am hoping the tour operator will work with me. The moral f the story, be very careful if you need to update or change your billing method from what was listed on the original booking. If anything goes wrong, your trip will be cancelled immediately and not give you another chance to try another card. HORRIBLE POLICY AND SHOULD BE ILLEGAL! read more

NIGHTMARE - my 12 yr old twins waited YEARS for this experience, we paid over $300 took a $48 dollar Uber only to find no one there, thought we must be crazy so we returned, still no one there. Boys sad, birthday 12 yr old surprise a nightmare in the crowded Fisherman's Wharf to be no showed, what a scam. Best part, they have not refunded me yet, nor will they honor the money spent in uber to arrive for nothing, loosers! Do not use VIATOR for anything, you will regret it as did I and my very sad boys. We are not from the City and came for this specifically and it was a nightmare. read more

I booked a car service from Viator to take me from Kennedy airport in NYC to midtown on October 10th. When we arrived we tried several times to make arrangements to meet my driver but the confusion of getting the pick up information was terrible. Tried calling customer service and no one answered. No contact from the driver as well. I had to take a cab into New York for about $90. I have attempted to contact customer service from Viator several times and finally received information from them that they are not going to give me any refund. I will not use Viator for any other services and encourage anyone else to do the same. read more

If I could give zero stars, I would. Viator is a predatory company that misleads customers, overcharges for nothing, and then buries complaints until you give up. When booking a Cancun excursion, I called Viator's customer service to confirm whether my hotel was included in the pickup route. Instead of answering, the agent pushed me into the "all-inclusive" package -- insisting I'd save money because Chichén Itzá tickets supposedly cost $80 per person at the door. Trusting that advice, I paid $338 for two people. Reality check: The excursion was canceled the first day because the bus broke down. In order to still take the trip before leaving Cancun, I had to pay a $50 fee to change a separate booking I'd made for another day. Viator refused any compensation. On the actual excursion, we discovered we were the only people who purchased the "all-inclusive" option. What did this expensive upgrade get us? A $4 locker at the cenote and one drink with lunch (beer, soda, or water -- not even a cocktail). That's it. Let's break down the math: If I'd just booked the standard package with hotel pickup, it would have cost about $60 per person, plus $35 at the door for the entry ticket -- $95 total. Instead, I paid $169 per person. That's $74 unaccounted for... PER PERSON. My "bonus perks" ($4 locker + $10 drink) covered $14 of that. So where did the other $60 per head go? Straight into Viator's pocket. Meanwhile, other couples on the same bus paid $35 per person for the exact same tour through another site, then bought their own entry tickets. Their total? $150 for two. Ours? $388. The scam didn't stop there. I called Viator that same night (8/20) to file a complaint. The agent admitted it "sounded like I was misled" and opened a case (Case #1). I was told I'd hear back in 3 business days. I never did. I called again on 8/27 (Case #2), 9/2 (Case #3, spoke with a manager named Keshi who promised a personal callback within 48 hours), and 9/8 (Case #4). Every time, my case was "re-escalated" and then ignored. Four different case numbers, zero accountability. Viator's "all-inclusive" upsell is nothing but a cash grab, their customer service is a joke, and their promises are worthless. I was blatantly misled, overcharged by more than double, and strung along with fake "escalations" for weeks. Save yourself the headache and the scam. Book directly with local operators -- you'll pay less than half the price and actually get what you're promised. Viator cannot be trusted. read more

We paid for a service and they never showed up. Viator sqid to contact the provider and of course the provider said to call viator. Viator refused to refund us so we disputed the charge. Then Viator threatened legal action. They were interested at all in the fact that the activity we paid for never showed up. Disappointing and will be using other services in the future read more

Bus drivers that don't talk nonstop to the tour director. Better time management. Tour descriptions are consistent with the actual tour activity. read more

It is extremely upsetting that I never received a response to my email from Viator to check on the status of amending my reservation and just had to call Viator to follow up. The person I spoke with told me that Jannah (one of the reps) should not have told me that Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii could amend my reservation for today and should have told me it was non changeable. The amount of back and forth between Viator and Kualoa ranch today has been ridiculous and Viator seems to be the problem. We had an emergency come up to where we could not attend the tour this morning and wanted to reschedule to the following day. Apparently that has never been a request from any other customer since it was so difficult for me to get an answer. Just ridiculous. I will never be using your booking service again and nobody else should either. read more

These folks are experts at ruining a family vacation. Tour operator was awful and Viator who should apply leverage did nothing. Useless company. They are owned by TripAdvisor. I will likely trash that app off my phone and never use them again. read more