On May 29, 2022, everyone who showed up for the 10am tour was told that the monuments would not be seen due to the road closures for the Memorial Day festivities…a fact that should have been posted online prior to taking everyone’s payment. Instead, they made everyone go out of their ways to show up at the designated site and break the bad news upon arrival! They actually expected people to be happy to take a ride outside the National Mall perimeter and visit the surrounding neighborhoods instead…they were going to take us to Chinatown! What a joke!
Everyone asked about getting refunds and was told to call the number on the confirmation. We were all infuriated and just left rather than going on the tour, subjecting us to walk the National Mall or do something else. So, I called the # referenced on the confirmation, (202) 810-1700, and the rep advised that they don’t process refunds and to "email" a different company…this is where the old “runaround” started! Instead of being proactive by posting the drastic itinerary change online or reaching out to customers to provide rescheduling/refunds, they just took our money and hoped that we will do nothing. I’ve had very good customer service experiences from the services advertising via Tripadvisor, but this was the worst.
Ultimately, I had to email
[email protected]. After further research, my AMEX statement showed that the payment was made to “Viator/Tripadvisor, 7 Soho Sq, London”. Additionally, the website for urbanadventures.com shows they are located in Australia. I sent my email request on May 29th and haven’t heard back from them yet, so they gave me no choice but to dispute the charge through AMEX. Intrepid Urban Adventures makes YOU do all the work...walk the tour yourselves, go thru hoops to request a refund...they don’t give a deuce about me or you!