Over the Falls Tours, Inc.

Response taken by phone: The consumer did not take the tour from Over the fallsIt was purchased from Viatour We notified Viatour (on 8/19/17) that the customer was not at the pickup location Viatour will be contacting the consumer concerning any refund as that is who received
payment for the tour

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Its very bad Business pratice and Customer service that  they would not respond or acknowledge my complaint until I involved you,   I have attached my original complaint letter dated 20th July to Over the Falls Tours  for you  to peruse as it explains in detail my complaint.
However regarding their response I am fully aware that I received the complete package of transfers , flight lunch and a bus ride., and it was not my perceived lack of individualised attention being my main contributing factor leading to my dissatisfaction with the tour,  My dissatisfaction was that I did not get what I paid for , that is a tour that was supposed to also be in English, either before Vince spoke to the Italian passengers, or after he spoke to the Italian passengers  and this did not happen.
I am fully aware that [redacted] Niagara Falls is right next door to the restaurant as I walked past it,  I would not be totally aware of what sights were omitted as I cannot understand Italian, and there was a coffee stop in an out of the way place that makes Italian expresso short blacks ! that we stopped at ,where is that on your itinerary ? And there was not sufficient time to stop at [redacted] on the American side,  as Vince kept getting aggravated as he had to drive around the block numerous times as he could not park there,  and then that is when we drove past the American side of the falls and just said there is the American Side ? and then went back to [redacted] to collect the German passengers and their guide
 
The Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia is a twin-turboprop commuter airliner, produced by Embraer of Brazil from 1985 onwards  so I do not perceive this as a luxury plane,  and you have a hide to comment that I did not observe this procedure regarding seatbelts, as the hostess sat right in front of me.  so I am not sure what Over the Falls tours are trying to imply there ?
Both tour guides did not reach out to me during the day  and after a while I gave up trying to converse with them especially Vince who was supposed to be my guide, because I was clearly not getting what I paid for after all at the first stop I didn't get the postcard everyone else did,  and I didn't know about it because it was not said in English. , I should not have to request that the specific commentary be repeated in English as it should have been in English as well in the first place as this is what I purchased, and  it did state on your documentation **Tour may be given in Italian, German or Spanish as well as English
 
I have saved a video to you tube  [redacted]  on this you can clearly see Vince speaking Italian then putting his mike down then starting again in Italian. so now  you can see an example supporting my claim I can upload all of the videos  if required as I did  this numerous times throughout the day and some as long as 2 minutes and it proves that I did not get an english  speaking tour.  So therefore I am again asking Over The Falls Tours for a full refund as I was not provided with an English speaking tour which was advertised.
 
Regards,[redacted]

Dear [redacted]Thank you for your response to our letter addressing your concerns from your service with us in July.Over the Falls Tours has been in business for more than 20 years.  We are considered to have one of the highest valued tours within the local sightseeing industry.  We have worked diligently to provide our customers with an enjoyable tour that covers all key viewing areas, includes major attractions, and at the same time assuring we meet customers' needs relative to overall service and customer satisfaction.We have built our reputation based on positive customer experiences. We pride ourselves on positive customer feedback and our reviews for the “One Day Tour Package ” and all tours and services we provide are all very highly rated.While we understand your dissatisfaction is that the tour was not provided in English we contend that that the tour was conducted in Italian, German and English as advertised.  We also explained that since you were the only English speaking passenger out of a total of 24 passengers (12 Italian speaking passengers and 11 German speaking passengers) was the main reason as to why you may have felt alienated from the other travelers versus being a part of the group.  Our tour guides reached out to you on the service date and as previously stated we know that if you would have made specific requests at the time of your service that our guides would have immediately complied in order to assure your satisfaction.As a good faith gesture we will be providing you with a refund for the Niagara Falls sightseeing portion of the “One Day Tour Package” in the amount of $125.00 USD which is the full value of the Niagara Falls sightseeing tour.  Additional services included in the “One Day Tour Package” including air travel, transportation services, meals and attractions provided on the service date are non-refundable.We are sorry that you were dissatisfied with the Niagara Falls sightseeing tour portion of the “One Day Tour Package”, we are closing this complaint and no further compensation will be due.Kind Regards,Jacqueline W[redacted]Over the Falls Tours Customer Service Manager

Dear [redacted]Thank you for your patience throughout the resolution process. I have addressed your concerns in the order in which they were presented in your letter dated July 20, 2015. We appreciate all feedback whether positive or negative as it helps us to assess and improve our...

services.We are very sorry to hear that your experience on the One Day Tour was not what you expected.  The One Day Tour package you purchased was conducted as per the itinerary provided.  You received the complete package and all services were provided including roundtrip bus transportation from the [redacted], Manhattan to and from the airport, roundtrip air travel from NYC to Niagara Falls, a guided sightseeing tour of Niagara Falls, New York and Niagara Falls, Ontario, a buffet lunch overlooking the Falls and a ride aboard the [redacted].  After thoroughly reviewing your concerns with all parties involved and speaking in great detail with the tour guides we have determined that since you were the only English speaking passenger out of a total of twenty four (24) passengers that your perceived lack of individualized attention was the main contributing factor leading to your dissatisfaction with the tour.The aircraft utilized is a 30 seater private luxury plane.  Via Air has one of the highest performance records for reliability and on time service of any carrier in the US all of which exceed 99.8%.  The flight crew are professionally trained and follow US Federal Aviation Law; I have been informed that it is standard procedure that flight attendants perform safety checks on seatbelts and can only comment that you did not observe this procedure as it is required.  As with all airlines turbulence can be experienced and  passenger safety is of utmost concern.  The One Day Tour is a multi-lingual tour that is offered in Italian, German, Spanish and English.  On July 15th, the prevailing languages based on reservations were German and Italian;  There were twelve (12) Italian speaking passengers, eleven (11) German speaking passengers and you being the sole English speaking passenger;  Vince and Michael, the two tour guides that conducted the tour are both professionally trained and licensed guides and both speak fluent English in addition to speaking fluent Italian and German respectively.  It is also important to note that all customers on our tours are independent travelers, meaning that we receive various independent reservations and language preferences for each scheduled service date;  During a tour it is  common for customers who speak the same language or those customers that hail from the same country and or region tend to gravitate to one another throughout the day even though they may not be related or know one another;  Based on your feedback, we are fully aware that three languages on one tour presents unique challenges and if not managed properly can negatively impact the quality of the customer experience especially when there is one or more dominant languages involved.  It was also apparent that the German and Italian speaking passengers likely monopolized the tour guides time due to their larger group sizes and you being the sole English speaking passenger likely received less individualized attention causing you to feel alienated from the other travelers versus being a part of the group.  The tour was conducted according to the itinerary provided and there were no sights or attractions omitted in lieu of souvenir or coffee stops. There is one organized souvenir stop on the tour as many of our customers wish to purchase mementoes from their visit.  The [redacted] in Niagara Falls, Ontario is adjoined to the [redacted] where lunch is served for our One Day Tour patrons, it is not a mandatory stop or part of the itinerary.  At the end of the day once the tour concluded and just prior to traveling back to the Niagara Falls Airport two German passengers requested a stop at the Niagara Falls, New York [redacted] as they were avid collectors and wanted to make a purchase.  Since there was sufficient time a 10 minute stop was permitted however this stop was a last minute addition and not a standard stop on the One Day Tour.   Both tour guides indicated that they reached out to you throughout the day and that at no time did you interact, request information from them or request that specific commentary be repeated in English.  Ultimately we know that if you would have made requests at the time of your service that our guides would have readily complied in order to assure your satisfaction.You received the complete One Day Tour package and all services included in the package were provided.  As per your service confirmation the One Day Tour package is non-refundable including specific components provided such as air travel, transportation services, meals and attractions.   Since you were dissatisfied with the sightseeing tour and tour guide performance, we are agreeable to provide you with a partial refund on the sightseeing tour portion of your service in the amount of $125.00 USD.  This refund will be issued today to the credit card provided on your reservation.Again, I wish to thank you for your feedback. All of the circumstances you wrote about have been reviewed and properly addressed.  Since we started in business over 20 years ago,  we have relied on our customer's feedback to help improve our services.Please accept my sincerest apologies for any miscommunication experienced with our guides or for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of further service.Kind Regards,Jacqueline W[redacted]Over the Falls Tours Customer Service Manager

The company finally gave a full refund.  We no longer need to proceed.