Viator

Viator doesn't create the description of how to find a tour, the company that they are selling creates it. They are the ones that you should reach out to. If it was not understandable, this is not the fault of Viator.
It is always better to book directly anyway. Companies are paying a hefty 22-25% commission to Viator.

Post the description of how to get there here, and let us look at it and see if it is clear or not.

Take your business to another third party seller and DO NOT trust or use Viator.

Very bad advice. NEVER take business to a third party seller. If the actual operator changes something, he will inform his clients (and eventually reimburse) ... unfortunately he has no data of the clients who bought through a third party seller and won't take any responability for them.

Yes, it's best to not use third party sellers but, sometimes, it's the best way to find out what's available. I'll be using the apps to find the operator and going directly through them.

No it does not. Put in the effort yourself, you'll get better results without inserting an unnecessary 3rd party company between you and the service provider that just siphons off money without adding value.

Sometimes I get lazy and use them too. Never had a bad experience.

The operator asked me to take a taxi which would haven't had worked as
I would be another half an hour late, which would have been completely
unfair to the other travelers, so I let them go and had a wasted day
in my hotel.

I'm curious where you were staying in Rome that you felt you had no alternative but to waste a day in your hotel? There are TONS of things to see in the Eternal City so it's confusing that you couldn't have found alternatives unless you were staying far outside of it? It sounded like you were already IN the historic center when you were told that the class was in another location so much would have been at hand to keep you occupied.

As Jo requested, could you post the description you were given of how to get to the class (or link to the what you'd booked) and let us look at itt?

We have only used Viator when we couldn't find the tours we wanted on any other website. That was only a couple of times and all went well.
Most of the time, you should be able to book directly with a good tour company. TripAdvisor and others have reviews that you can check prior to booking.

If and when I am able to get my Bordeaux wine tour business up and running, I'll need to rely on Viator and GetYourGuide for most of my clients. They're an essential tool for businesses who offer services to tourists.

I think Viator is pretty cool. Obviously, booking direct can be better, but I like the idea of comparing products on a marketplace website.

jphbucks, thank you sir. You headed me off so I wasnt the one that went down into those weeds. Now the argument is that Viator should be despised because they do such a good job of coming up first in the search engines (thereby getting customers for their clients) that its not fair to those that dont use it.

I have been on here for years saying why do people insist on putting a middleman between them and the operator. Oh wait it’ll be so much better if there’s a middleman involved- NO. This is the kind of thing that happens

Book directly with the operator!!!!

But honestly, I don’t know why the original poster was in Rome and had to spend a day in the hotel room. Isn’t there anything in Rome you could do if your cooking tour was canceled?

You can compare products all you like, with reviews, etc. on all of the consolidator websites, but you don't have to book with them. Why pay more for a service or product than you have to?

I have only used Viator twice because the official websites (for an animal sanctuary in Peru and a flamenco show in Seville) used it for purchasing tickets via a direct link. I had to cancel the flamenco show and my tickets were refunded very quickly. In Peru, sent a message that my tour was cancelled by the operator because of 'illness in the area', I was disappointed but my money was refunded right away.

Have used Viator in Barcelona (sagrada) and Milan (Last Supper) for hard to get tours and all worked out well for us.

Yes, this happened to us too. A friend and I used Viator in Italy for a Crafted Gondola Ride on the Grand Canal & Gondola Gallery This was a scam, meet at St. Mark's square - no one showed up from Viator and why would you meet in the middle of a square when all other Gondola rides are on the river. Also, we had another Urban Sketch which the instructor never showed up. Another was a mask painting class that was cancelled by Viator.

I wanted to bring this to everyone's attention because I believe they are scamming folks. They should either have your name or Viator's company name on a piece of paper so they are easy to find.

Use at your own risk of possibly having a terrible time if you plan on doing things on vacation.

no one showed up from Viator

Of course not. Do you even understand what a third-party reseller is? Viator staff is sitting in an office somewhere in Sydney, London or Las Vegas, not in a square in Italy.

so you were not pleased after what you thought was a letdown, so you tried again? And then after a second bad experience you went back for a third time???

If you booked a tour with my company on Viator, you also wouldn't find me if you are expecting someone to be standing there holding a sign that says Viator. I hold a sign with my company name on it.
Guess how many tours and experiences Viator is selling in any one city? What if all the tour providers in Venice, etc. were all standing there holding a Viator sign?

What Nigel said.

Sorry your time in Venice didn't go as planned. To add to the others above....

....meet at St. Mark's square - no one showed up from Viator and why
would you meet in the middle of a square when all other Gondola rides
are on the river.

St Mark's was very likely chosen because it's easy for visitors to find, and because it's very close to the Grand Canal. No one showed up from Viator because your tour wasn't conducted by Viator. It's operated by CITY TOURS CO. LTD, as published in the Viator booking info. (Note that the current meeting place may be a change since your booking.)

https://www.viator.com/tours/Venice/Grand-Canal-by-Gondola-with-singers-and-commentary-No-queue/d522-21441P90

All that aside, having browsed the reviews of this tour (I see that you've added your own 1-star feedback) there are enough negative submissions that I wouldn't personally have booked it.

If Viator is so bad, why do the tours use them? Simple, the commission they pay is worth the advertising they get. A lonely tour operator could never get the exposure Viator gives them. I have used Viator on every tour booking and never had an issue with the tour or Viator answering a question.

Granted some third party consolidators may be bad and you should seek advice about them. Isn't Booking.com just like Viator. Why do we tell people to use them?

People recommend booking and similar sites for searches, but nearly everybody also recommends going to the actual provider/hotel to purchase.
Once you find the provider, why not make sure they get the full amount?

Once you find the provider, why not make sure they get the full amount?

Because, as people have experienced, small hotels or tour guides are generally the ones that are difficult to get in contact with when there is a refund or billing problem. Larger enterprises like booking.com or Viator are easier to contact and deal with especially with CC companies.

Who gets what share of money is irrelevant to the purchaser as long as the purchaser is satisfied with the service for the agreed upon price. That is like real estate agents. Why do they get 6% of a house sale? Why doesn't the seller get the full amount? It is just the way the system works for real estate agent commissions and tour, hotel consolidator commissions.

Threadwear; Much of the criticism, nay, outrage, against Viator and GetYouGuide is outsiders looking for victims to champion. EDIT: I I know people in tourism that used Viator to start their business, would have been impossible otherwise they thought. Now one still needs Viator the other has grown beyond it. The third party takes care of the marketing, billing and reservation engines so there is thousands of dollars of costs that the vendor doesn’t have to mess with it. When one individual is giving tours of bat caves in Albania, that matters big time; all the overhead costs consolidated and managed for you in a pay as you earn system.

When the third-party consolidator becomes too expensive or repressive, someone else will pop up and take their business under better terms. That’s just how life works.

Outsiders looking for victims to champion?
Makes me want to leave this forum, when people who have zero idea about how tours sell themselves, make statements like this.
These companies have the tour companies over a barrel. If you don't list with them, your chances of being seen online go way down. They can charge whatever commission they like. They can increase it when they want. There are only 2-3 main players and they all exert the same control.

I could give good examples, but because we aren't supposed to advertise our own businesses, I can't.

Explaining a situation that may improve travel isnt advertising, even if it invoves you (besides everyone already knows). I dont think the Webmaster wlll mind a first hand account in this context. I think its useful. We all want to put the money in the right places.

These companies have the tour companies over a barrel. If you don't list with them, your chances of being seen online go way down.

I understand and agree. This is why hundreds of thousands of small businesses sell on Amazon.com. Amazon takes a commission and fee just like any third party consolidator so that some small business in someone's basement can make money.

A tour guide or small hotel, as Mr. E. stated, gets noticed by using Viator and other consolidators and it increases business. That is the basics of advertising. Google, Facebook, YouTube, etc. make millions on selling advertising with commissions. These consolidators actually provide a major advertising service to the small business who otherwise would never be found.

What I find odd is that people say on this forum...cheat the big bad consolidators. Go to Viator, get all the information, but then go directly to the tour company and make your reservation. Same with Booking.com. People say go to Booking.com, get a price, then go directly to the hotel and book there instead. This type of behavior drives up commission rates because technically, those who use the service of Viator, but go direct and book deprive Viator of revenue that they now make up with higher rates for commissions.

In one scenario the big bad Amazons, Viators and Booking.com are painted as making too many commissions and in the other scenario, the small business, the tour guide and the hotel get to advertise with these big bad companies for free when people circumvent the system and book directly.

How is that equal and fair to the shareholders of these companies who are being used for information, but not compensated. No one likes to pay commissions, but no one is forced to use any third party either. If I was a tour guide and my business double or tripled because of Viator, I would gladly pay the commission.

I just don't understand why some people don't understand, that Viator and Booking and Amazon have expenses. How else are the supposed to pay their people and pay for technology except through commissions? If Viator and other companies like them go out of business, think of the major impact to a small hotel or tour guide who can't possibly afford Google, Yahoo or Facebook rates on their own.