Unfortunately, the weather in Yellowstone for Memorial Day Weekend was very cold and there was a lot of snow. When we first got into the park on our tour, there was heavy snowfall. We were told that the south road was closed and that Old Faithfull was closed also. All of us guests were concerned about moving on. There were 2 tour guides, one was training. They were apprehensive about the weather and never reassured any of us or ever said that it would be safe to carry on. All they would say is "this weather wasn't supposed to be here until later tonight". None of us had a sense of reassurance from them with this situation to carry on or not. If the tour guides were more aggressive and took charge, I think we all would have felt better about it. Instead, they left it up to the guests to decide if we should turn back or not and they took a poll.
There were 5 in the other party which included the grandparents, parents and a 4 year old. So it was 4 vs. 2 (my husband and I) adults for the decision. They took a poll. My husband and I agreed and my answer to the poll was that we’d prefer to “err on the side of caution”. The mom of the child expressed she also felt better to go back because of the young child. The grand parents did not say much except they said “we don’t care, we’ve been to Yellowstone before, we were just doing it for them” pointing to their children. No one put up any kind of resistance about going back. That was the whole poll and all agreed to go back.
I messaged the business owner, Sonny, to request a partial refund due to the trip being cut short and not seeing much of anything in Yellowstone. I guess the other guests asked for a refund due to the weather before I asked for ours. Sonny pushed back about giving them a refund just for the bad weather. I know this because we met the people in the airport when flying out. They said to us at the airport "we probably wouldn't have been able to see anything anyway". Sonny also told me that she does not refund just because we hit some bad weather as she says she states on her website. As you will see below, it seems as if the other party used us as an excuse to enhance their plea to try and get their money back. Seems as if Sonny fell for it.
Sonny wrote me back saying "I was told that this tour could have continued but didn’t because of you guys were scared". The other guests in the van were very upset because they do not get to finish their tour because of your actions". "I feel bad for the other guests because they were not able to continue their tour because of your actions which is very sad because they missed their vacation". "This was your decision to stop. I felt bad for the other guests in the vehicle because their tour was shorted because they were doing what you wanted. I did give them a partial refund because of the situation that they were put in and I felt bad. It was your decision to stop the tour and go back. You could have still seen everything. But you chose not to". "From what the other guests and guides said was that you were acting extremely nervous and freaking out a bit and then the other guests were put into an awkward situation because you were afraid".
HOW WAS THIS JUST MY CHOICE AND MY DECISION? WHY WOULD I HAVE SO MUCH POWER? And, I was not acting "extremely nervous" and if anyone knows me, I don't freak out, it's not my nature.
As the business owner, throwing in our faces that the decision to turn around was all of my fault and accusing me of ruining the other tourists’ experience is so wrong and unfair. I was unjustly accused of happenings that did not happen the way it was conveyed to me. Furthermore, this was all concluded without Sonny ever chatting with me about what happened. It's so wrong that Sonny decided to give them a refund and we did not receive one. To put this so heavily on me and accuse me of behaving a certain way is just wrong without ever talking to me and terrible customer service.
So, in conclusion, I don't know what the tour would have been like in a different situation and I never will, but I would not recommend handing any money over to this tour company when there are so many other tour companies to choose from that may handle any problems that could arise more professionally, more fair and with better customer service.
Réponse de l'hôte
Jun 2022
I ALWAYS REFUND GUESTS IF ITS SOMETHING THAT I CAN CONTROLI don’t even know what to say to you.I already told you a million times that unfortunately I can not control the weather.During this day I was keeping an eye on the weather because I had more than one tour in the park.I was given information from the National park sevice,2 guides,a totally separate vehicle that was in the park as well as the other 5 people in the vehicle that this tour could have continued.Unfortunately I can not control what happens in nature.If you go on an outdoor excursions you may be faced with rain,snow,heat,wind,etc.You could have gotten stuck in a bison jam for 4 hours and wouldn’t have been able to see things because of that.I have went over all of these points with you several times because you have been harassing me constantly when you were the one that had went on the tour and then decided that you didn’t want to continue the tour due to snow.It really doesn’t matter what anybody else in the vehicle told me but the plain fact is that the tour could have been completed.The tour was discontinued after already being in Yellowstone because of it was snowing.If the roads were impassable and the snow was that bad then Yellowstone would have shut the roads down.So no I will not refund anybody that I has already been into their tour and they decided to not continue due to a small snow fall.If it was a blizzard or something really bad of course.But these tours are in nature.As I say on my site.You would get a 100% refund if you cancel 24 hours prior to booking,100% refund if the tour is canceled due to weather.For all other situations I can not control what happens in nature,I can not control the wildlife,the weather or the actions of others.
You chose to discontinue your tour after you were already in it.There’s no refund after you’ve already been in your tour.