THEY LEFT US IN BELGIUM!
My family and I booked a Paris to Bruges day trip which was operated by Paris Vision. The day started off with a couple of info tid bits on the bus to Bruges. When we arrived, we were given a map and walked briskly to the canal boat ride. Our guide stopped quickly along the way to point some things out but it was really hard to hear her and she seemed annoyed when we were trying to take pictures. After the canal ride, we walked around a large church (one of the largest in Europe) and were told that we should meet back there at the end of the day to head back to the bus. The area around the church was huge and crowded. Since our guide did not have a sign or any type of discernable clothing on, we searched the area around the church for 20 mins without finding her or anyone from our group at the end of the day. We decided to run to the bus area and try to catch them there. Just as we were running up, the bus pulled away. The tour guide immediately called her office and told them that we just never showed up. They didn't even wait a few minutes! Appartenly its because of a law about how long drivers can be out during the day. If you look through the reviews of this Paris to Bruges day trip, you will see others who were left there as well.
We tried desperately to find someone who spoke English or French that could help us find our way back to Paris. Thankfully we found our way to the train station and found a train leaving for Paris. We had to sit in between cars in the doorway but we made it back. The first place we went was to the Paris Vision office. The tour was still driving back. They told us when we arrived that the tour guide had already called them and that it was not their problem. They refused to give us a refund for our train tickets. We then wrote to Viator and complained. They also responded in the same way since it was operated by Paris Vision. No refund. No apology. No remorse. Needless to say, we canceled the other tours we had with them.
Now when I am on vacation, I am very layed back. If things don't go according to plan, I usually don't stress about it much. This trip, however, was very stressful. Leaving someone in a foreign country where they don't speak the language (yes, they tell you that many people speak French or Flemish but almost everyone we encountered only spoke Flemish), it is just unacceptable.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?