My family and in-laws booked this tour through TripAdvisor because the reviews were overall very positive and the price was reasonable. Both your website and the digital voucher we received said to bring it to either Union Square or Fisherman’s Wharf to redeem our tickets. When we arrived to Union Square, we were told that we would ride a shuttle bus to Fisherman’s and could activate our tickets there. That shuttle which was going to leave at 10:10, according to the employee, did not leave until 10:25 because he was trying to convince people on the street to come and take the tour. This was very disappointing since we were already paying customers and were waiting for the tour to start.
Once we arrived at the Wharf, the confusion continued. We got off and were told that an employee in the corner could check us in. She was very nice and directed us to the ticket office. There were 3 employees there, only 1, a young gentleman that knew how to check anyone in. He did after a short time and told us the bus would leave soon. He even showed us to a very nice and clean bathroom behind the office. But that was at 11am, and the bus didn’t leave until 11:35am, again, because they were trying to fill up the bus with customers.
When my wife asked an employee that came on the bus if we could leave since we had already been waiting a while, he said, “We can keep talking about this or I can get everyone on the bus.” His tone was rude and inconsiderate. We were paying customers that should have already been well into our tour for an hour. Instead we were waiting so the bus could be filled to capacity. No one had answers and they just kept delaying.
I understand that this pandemic has been tough on tourism and that this business struggled. I can be patient and respectful if your employees treat their customers with respect. If you are going to operate a tourist business on a busy holiday weekend, you need to be ready for the crowds and be organized. Otherwise, don’t run a tourist operation. You have to be prepared for unhappy customers and exercise patience and calm. Be proactive and offer coupons for future tours. That is how you de-escalate situations.