The Roman Guy/The Tour Guy Changes Cancellation Policy?!

That's the new Italian law.

Yes, this happened to us too. We cancelled in late March and were initially told that we would get the full refund. However, since we did not receive a refund after more than a month we emailed again. It seems due to the pandemic that things have changed and the Italian government has allowed vouchers/credit instead. They gave us a voucher/credit for the total paid ($225.00) plus a 25% discount on a future booking and this is good for three years. We plan to return to Italy so this was more than satisfactory for us. We have received other vouchers for purchased museum tickets and they are only valid for one year.

We got an email from Florence Museum, the company we booked a refundable tour of the Uffizi Gallery quoting the new Italian law chapter and verse and extending a voucher good for one year. That won’t happen, money gone X4 people. Eating Europe is a firm that we booked a food tour with. They are saying we will get a refund when they are back in business. We shall see. I’m not counting on it.

There is a Facebook page that allows an open discussion and provides information on refund issues. It appears to be moderated by several travel agents.

Italy Tavel Planning
COVID-19 virus Discussion Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/itpvirusupdates/?ref=share

Honestly this doesn't appear as an Italian tour operator. There aren't in its website the standard declarations for Italian Tour Operators (like P.IVA, insurance number and so on): details usually reported in the colophon. Probably is a US or Canadian company operatng in Italy.
Anyway, in the homepage the logo "24h cancellation" is still present, so if they refuse to follow that policy could be a matter for a lawyer. In the condition they state that a refund is done with a voucher. https://theromanguy.com/tours/italy/terms-conditions
You could use the Google history to find a "cached" old version of the page.
Or if you have the original e-mail of the booking the cancellation policy should be reported.

Yes, I have had the same problem. When we booked this tour Barcelona in a Day - I specifically read the cancellation policy (full refund if you cancel 24 hours prior to tour) & spoke to someone on the phone - one of our travel mates has health issues. They assured me we would receive a full refund if cancelled 24 hrs prior. Our tour was in May, I cancelled beginning of March - they promised the full refund but it would take 30-90 days. We patiently waited for our refund and now I received an email 90 days later that its the new travel industry to only issue future travel vouchers. My 2 friends have lost their jobs & businesses and we will not be able to travel any more. I am extremely disappointed in this company and WOULD NEVER recommend them to anyone - how can they ever stay in business if they don't honor their refund policies. And it appears they have now updated their cancellation policies on their website - but that wasn't the policy when I booked the tours.

Hi all! We decided to dispute the charge with AMEX. I pulled the cached webpage from when we booked promising 24hr cancellation. They are actually based in the US out of Philadelphia. I posted on a Facebook page (referred above and that we had also used to do research on them before booking) received a TON of responses. Lots of folks in this situation with this company.

I'm in the same boat. Not thrilled with their cancellation changes, and not sure if it's really kosher. Fortunately I plan to return to Italy later this year so I can rebook and use the credit, but if there's a path ahead to receive the proper monetary refund IAW their own published cancellation policy, I will gladly use another tour operator.

proper monetary refund IAW their own

IAW?

‘How can a company stay in business if they refuse to honor their refund policy?’

I assume this is because they’re facing bankruptcy in the face and have difficult decisions to make every day. It’s not like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed and decided to mess with one of their customers because they felt like it.

Nigel, I think IAW means "in accordance with".

This week I too just received vouchers from them for tours in Rome that was supposed to be full refund. I'm not going to complain about the vouchers because the wedding was postponed for a year, so we will be traveling to Italy. (Although I think I would plan a trip to Italy anyway because most of all refunded pre-booked activities came in the form of vouchers and I really do not want to lose all of that money.) This is such a new experience no-one could have foreseen.

However, if the company stated full refund, then that is what they should honor. It seems we don't have a choice in the matter.

“Walks of Italy” did the same to us.

I was very happy to get the 25% adder and the "credit" good for two years, extendable.

"Yes", their website had said "money back"
BUT if we universalized our claims, we'd be pushing them into bankruptcy and would get NOTHING.

I'm out a good chuck of $ on our trip. It's not like I like burning cash. But consider the options.
Evan in Minnesota

How much money to do tours, did you pay everything in advance?

Some tours are paid after booking, it is the best option to avoid possible problems later.

It happened to me, with a tour that I bought with the cruise ship I was traveling on. After fighting, the cruise returned my money.

Since then, I only do free walking tours. The last one was in Rome, with this company: www.guruwalk.com that has a lot to choose from.

Take heart and get your money back soon.

@daavid.v.a
Good advertise, but please remember that that is an illegal tour operator doing illegal tours.
Should be interesting know how the manage the COVID rules. Probably that will be even a ery risky tour!

Hi all, we have had luck so far! I was able to find the web archives showing we booked with a 24-hour cancellation policy. After trying to work with Roman Guy directly (and seeing that I along with lots of folks were getting no where), I decided to dispute with AMEX. We had two purchases with them. The first got settled quickly with RG agreeing to give back nearly all of the funds. The second AMEX ruled in our favor and the matter will be final in a few weeks barring nothing changes from RG on that second one. AMEX handled the matter quickly. RG is NOT and Italian company but one based in the US. It had until this excellent reviews. We don't have any interest in booking with them in the future. The thread I following on Facebook illustrated many people in the same boat. Thanks to you all for your suggestions!