Hi. I just wanted to clarify a few things on my sister’s (Her name is Kerry M, not Vicki) review since I am the one who actually booked the tour.First, let me say that one thing we agree wholeheartedly on is that we Thank God we live in the United States of America. Based on factual inaccuracies in your response to Kerry’s review (and the fact that no one in our party is named Vicki) I believe you may be conflating two different customers/situations. I never emailed your company. Yes, I booked through Viator and was the customer on the other line when Viator called to ask if your captain would wear a mask. I was initially told by the customer service rep from Viator that you were not required to wear masks. I then asked them to see if your captain was willing to wear a mask if we requested it. The rep told me that your company agreed. As I’m not privy to the conversation between you and Viator, I only know what I was told. It’s important to note that this review is NOT based on your captain’s refusal to wear a mask. SPI excursions is a private business and we respect your right to refuse to wear a mask. This review is based on how your employee handled the situation and your response to my sister’s review. No one in our party asked anyone about their vaccination status at any time. We checked in at the desk and then went to get drinks from the bar, all without incident. We were told to come back to board the boat in twenty minutes. When we returned, I said I wanted to “remind” your employee that your company had agreed to wear a mask since that it the impression I was under. He told us that the captain absolutely would not wear a mask. I was confused since I thought this was already decided. I told him that when I booked, it I was told that the captain would wear a mask. This is when the employee’s disrespectful attitude began. He asked if I had been inside the restaurant and seen all of the President Trump signs and obviously they would never wear a mask. My husband and I both stated that the issue was not p0litics. At that point Your employee responded by asking why we were wearing masks if it wasn’t p0litical. We said it was a matter of health because our son isn’t vaccinated. Your employee responded with, “No one here is vaccinated and won’t be.” At that point we chose to leave. This situation could have been resolved without sarcasm and without being combative. We had zero desire to have a p0litical argument with anyone.
Response from Host
Aug 2021
Good morning, yes sorry I had two reservation pages open. Your res was under Ronald. Thank you for taking the time to respond. Viator / Trip Advisor tells us we must communicate to customers through them. I don't know why but I can't direct message you now through Viator...they have it turned off and I am now in a sense writing you back through a review ..so odd sorry. Thank you for respecting our wishes not to wear a mask. The emails we got say from you through Viator. Remember all communication goes through them. So I am guessing an agent on your behalf was emailing us and called us. That being said, I have now come to the conclusion that they did not rely the message back to you possibly worried about losing a sale..... Not sure. Yesterday I tried contacting a manager of Viator for over an hour. I call and they tell me I can only go through an online chat and to no avail, I went round and round. I apologize this was a communication issue from the very beginning and was frustrating to both sides. This has taught me something and if another instance or request like this comes again I have directed agents to contact customers directly to be sure communication is clear despite viators rules of messaging through them and hopefully they will be happy that we will put forth the extra effort. Have a wonderful day 🧡