Zoom Tours do not deliver on the services they promise, they treat their customers disrespectfully, and once they have your money they don't care about you anymore. They operate under several company names (such as Royal Niagara Tours), and pair those false names with empty business addresses to hide from complaints, deflect enquiries to "whatever tour computer booked through" (our tour guide Ali's words), and try and confuse anyone who tries to chase them to get their money back.
We bought tour tickets from the Royal Niagara Tours website for the Niagara Falls Winter Festival of Lights tour. Their website advertised several different packages with optional inclusions, of which we chose the most expensive package that included all the sights and dinner.
The trip started off with confusion and chaos. The bus arrived late, the tour guide (Ali) didn't know who he was picking up, and didn't know what activities anyone was doing. After a speedy bus trip (including plenty of horn blasting) to Niagara, we were hastily pushed to do activities that weren't included in the itinerary we booked. We couldn't ask questions because the tour guide (Ali) was extremely dismissive and rude and brushed us off while continuing to shout at other tour members. He tried to excuse his disrespectful behaviour by saying "he naturally has a loud voice", and has "37 years of your experience" as an excuse for his dismissiveness. Afterwards the tour guide (Ali) demanded we pay him for the activities, on top of the tour we already paid for. Although we bought the most expensive tour package, we were given the same experience as people who paid for the cheapest tour package.
As for the sightseeing and activities, we didn't see most of the things advertised. What we did see was via a quick drive by on the bus. Taking photos of the Winter Festival of Lights wasn't possible on a moving bus. We didn't go to Niagara-on-the-lake as advertised. Seeing the falls illuminated was from the bus while we were leaving. The Winter Festival of Lights fireworks show advertised was to start at 8pm, but our tour guide (Ali) rushed everyone on to the bus and left at 7:30pm, angrily shouting at us that the fireworks had ended (even though the restaurant staff confirmed the fireworks show happened the night before and would be happening again that night). There was no time to explore Clifton Hill as advertised, and we were told by our tour guide (Ali) that if we wanted to see it we should eat fast. There was no free time at all even though they advertised 2-3 hours of free time. But the worst part of all was the dinner experience.
The group dinner table was in the back corner of the restaurant, where we could barely see Niagara Falls, and the table didn't have enough seats for all guests. While waiting for a solution my girlfriend politely asked if there was somewhere else we could sit instead, but our tour guide (Ali) raised his voice towards her and told her that she was just "complaining, complaining, complaining!". Once the restaurant staff brought some extra chairs we headed to the buffet, but our tour guide (Ali) literally jumped in front of my girlfriend, raising his voice once again and saying "so you're not eating now!?", to which we politely and calmly replied that "we are going to the buffet to get food", which received yet another raised voice response from our tour guide (Ali) of "then why are you taking your bags!?". This is the point where I asked for contact details to call the tour company, as our tour guides behaviour was becoming too much to tolerate. The tour company representative agreed to settle for a refund, and asked me to send an email detailing the issues, which I did, but not surprisingly, after 3 months of trying, they still neglect to respond or give us our refund.
Unfortunately there is a word limit for this review, but overall this was one of the worst tour experiences we've ever been on. We paid a premium price for what was supposed to be a unique and special Winter Festival of Lights experience, we were rushed around in disorganised and confused chaos, we didn't receive the advertised package of experiences, and we were treated horribly by the tour guide (Ali).
We could've had a better experience for half the price by booking our own bus to and from Niagara, buying our own tickets for experiences, buying our own dinner, and saving ourselves the poor treatment from a rude tour guide and scam your company. I would not recommend anyone to book through Royal Niagara Tours or Zoom Tours, and carefully investigate any Niagara Tour company before booking, as they will more than likely try to hide behind some other business name. read more