Art Viva Tours

Thanks for sharing those details, Glenn. Your review sounds fair. I agree that the way they're using Trip Advisor sounds manipulative and unnecessary. I have had similar shopping experiences (e.g. on eBay or Etsy) where some vendors (often the bad ones) made the same requests to keep the negative feedback private. It shows what a huge impact Trip Advisor (or Yelp or eBay) can have on businesses, in a way they feel is out of their control.

Glenn, I think it's good you posted this. I used ArtViva for the Vassari corridor specifically based on the reviews they got on Trip Advisor and guidebooks. I would agree with "good". They were personable, entertaining, but uneven in quality. Maybe your experience explains some of their ratings. As an example of what disappointed me, when viewing one of Lippi's classic madonnas, the only commentary from the guide had to do with Lippi's love life. Certainly people laughed, but it would've been really nice if she had followed that with some discussion about the painting, or the era, or the style, or… I always use Context Travel for walking tours, but I trusted the ratings and used ArtViva because the schedule was more convenient. Next time in Florence, I hope to go back with Context.

Thanks for the tip, Sherry. I hadn't known about Context.

In response to my review on trip advisor, ArtViva responded on the site with the number of tours I had taken, and in what cities. I objected to their putting my personal information in a public forum. [Their argument was that if ArtViva was so poor, why did I keep hiring them? Of course, my response was not that they were poor; they were, as I said, "good" and one of the tours was outstanding. But they're so focused on 4-5 star reviews that they got upset with my review of them as "good" and just three stars.] Well, I objected to the disclosure of personal information and said that I would post more reviews of their conduct and also contact consumer and governmental agencies about their disclosing personal information. In fairness to them I copied them on each letter to a government or trade agency in which I made my complaint.

This is how ArtViva responded, in part:

"At the same time, we wish to underline that we take your threats to defame us to third parties very seriously. It is an offence under Italian law and we will not hesitate to take recourse if you continue with your defamatory actions. We suggest you delete or retract any such public comments about our company immediately and desist in your campaign of trying to damage our reputation."

So my disclosing the facts of what they did is "defamatory"? I noted also that they show the "ASTA" logo on their site, whose code of ethics prohibits disclosure of "any" information not required by law. ArtViva ended up saying that they would remove the personal information to "appease" me but that they had a right to disclose it. So I am in the process of enlisting government agencies and ASTA in trying to change their minds.

I am surprised at the "hard ball" that ArtViva is playing, and this only confirms in my mind my interpretation of their business practice in soliciting "positive" reviews and asking that if the review is not 4-5 stars to contact them "first." I leave it to readers to draw their own conclusions.

I went to ArtViva because Rick Steves' excellent guide book recommended them, and they are "good." But perhaps the government or Rick Steves or public awareness might persuade them to change how they solicit reviews, how they respond in public (not using personal information), how they respond in private (not threatening "recourse" for factual information and opinions of reviewers), and even investing more time in achieving consistency and more substance in their tours.

Who knows? Maybe they could become "very good" if they took the feedback to heart.

Edited: I think some of these companies use the same certified freelance guides. I've seen guides listed on Art Viva who then led me on tours by a different company. All the guides know each other and know the personnel manning the museums and monuments in that closed little world. I also think the guides are under pressure to keep people entertained, and please everyone to keep the freelance jobs coming their way. One of our guides even gave us his private card "for next time." Let me remove Context from the mix, which is a cut above.

Thank you for bringing up this problem which is becoming more and more prevalent, invalidating TA ratings, and leaving us on the hook. Worse customers have no way to present opposing statements once the manager or owner has presented a distorted image of the customer or customer's opinion. This action by a company representative further tips the balance in favor of only accolades, as people who might have had some constructive criticism will hesitate to step forward. What happened to you is unprofessional. Unfortunately, I think all these companies are using the same practice. On the TA website, the first 45 tour companies for Florence have 5 stars out of 5. Only at the 46th do we see a half star missing.

When I told a different company that I thought their evaluation sheet was weighted in their favor and they were looking only for good reviews, the company contacted me, assured me they wanted to know if there had been any issues, sent me a direct email and phone number, and sent a partial refund without my requesting it. In a crude vision we could say they paid me off chancing I'd be pleased enough to leave their rankings pristine. This company is endorsed by a guide book, too.

This brings us to a further problem: the endorsement of only a few companies by a travel guide read by thousands and thousands in a field that has nearly two-hundred contenders. If we go by the TA ratings, which we now know are manipulated in this one market, every company has five or four stars. We also know the travel writers aren't able to inspect or interact with each company, so on what are the travel guide writers basing their all-important endorsements? Are these endorsements reliable, especially once the company starts absorbing all the business the endorsement funnels their way?

Hi Bets,

Thanks for your response.

The way I know about their inconsistency is that I took the same tour twice, as I was hosting guests. So I saw the difference. All the guides are "good," which I noted in my review. But I was struck by how each tour guide made many different substantive points. To be sure, every guide has their own "flavor" and emphasis, but I thought that ArtViva could go the extra mile by getting their tour guides together so that the overlap in content was greater than what I experienced.

But making that comment seemed to get the ArtViva "machine" engaged, which then -- inappropriately -- disclosed personal information, saying that I had taken prior tours with them and where, and ended up threatening me with legal action. I have a complaint into Rick Steves and the local governmental tourist organization, as well as ASTA and others.

Bets, even if the guides are the same, I've I found that the tour experience can differ markedly, depending on company philosophy. With 6 or fewer participants, and guides who inquire about participant interests and experiences and adapt accordingly, I find that Context typically offers a very different experience from the larger groups -- even if the sites are the same. I've also found their guides to be remarkably consistent in helping each person with what they're doing after the tour (directions, suggestions, logistics, etc), including in a few instances, walking with me since we were going the same way (and continuing an informal tour). I have not experienced that with other group day tours.