Recently visited 'Parc Guell' in Barcelona and foolishly bought tickets from 'Feel The City' tours after briefly perusing their very professional-looking website.
Paid 99.80 Euros for what turned out to be 2 x 18 Euro tickets which provided no benefit beyond admission in normal queues etc.
Schoolboy error of course, but my advice is to look beyond the aesthetic of websites and do proper research regarding price and benefits.
If this message prevents one person from being mugged online by 'Feel The City Tours' it will be worth the time spent writing this missive.
Enjoy your time in Barcelona but save your money for the excellent bars and restaurants the city offers, rather than lining the pockets of this dreadful company.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
17228 posts
Welcome to the forum!
I'm so sorry you got scammed by not buying tickets at an official website. I go to Paris often and ALL the big museums have headers across their pages warning about rip-off secondary ticket sellers. I haven't seen this particular vendor mentioned but there are plenty of other similar ones. At least you did actually have entry tickets!
Your warning is timely though...the re-sellers often are the ones that come up first on a google search. Is that how you got on the site to begin with?
Other than getting taken for paying a huge price for this venue did you enjoy Barcelona?
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Wonderful city with excellent value if you know where to look and where not to look.
Scams always leave a sour taste when the sums involved could easily finance an excellent meal, but hopefully the mistake will be my last and was prompted by failing to be properly organised ahead of my trip.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
18228 posts
A welcome from me too!
Like Pam, I'm so sorry you were taken in by 'Feel The City'. They are indeed notorious for purposely creating websites that look 'official' but are not, charging premium prices, issuing last-minute cancellations without refunds, and other sorts of nonsense. Here are a couple of previous threads on the subject:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/experience-with-feel-the-city-tours
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/musee-d-orsay-tickets-from-feel-the-city-tours-are-they-valid
And reviews on TripAdvisor? As bad as any I've seen.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187497-d14181769-Reviews-Feel_The_City_Tours-Barcelona_Catalonia.html
The company used to operate under the name of 'The Walker Tours', with the same 'official' looking websites and with equally terrible reviews. If they're still operating anywhere at all under that name, avoid at all costs. My guess is that they changed to 'Feel The City' to throw off the folks who got wise to their shady practices. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if they change it again. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/the-walker-tours
I hope this one unfortunate incident didn't ruin an otherwise great day in Barcelona, and thanks for adding yet another voice to the ongoing warnings about this company. Do come back and fill us in on the rest of your trip? I'm sure you have some other useful tips to share!
Posted by
TX
3704 posts
Paul
Thank you for posting.
I am someone who has been scammed more than once and i try to report it to forum.
Barcelona is a great city. I had a bad experience when I booked a day trip with a tour company. It was not a complete wash out and I got some money back but it does leave. a bad taste in your mouth. Many people get scammed now and then. I try to learn from it and move on.
Posted by
PA
3144 posts
For "s's and g's" I decided to Google "feel the city tours". They can't even get in front of the immediate AI overview that rips them but good. As does almost everything else on that first page. Two pages in and their site, which is clearly bogus, still barely comes up!
I will offer tis general warning - if you are looking for a specific tour of a specific place, which you know exists, and you are on a page that is selling all kinds of tours in all kinds of laces, it is merely a re-seller (like Seat Geek, but without guardrails) and there will be no recourse for any problems. Without any guarantee that what you purchased is what you thought you purchased.
Posted by
2 posts
Unfortunately i was scammed as well for tickets to the Orsay Museum in Paris. Immediately i realized it for what it was and purchased legit tickets as well. I was able to get a refund however. I called my bank (actually credit union) to report it. They told me that since i was aware of the transaction they could not do anything and i should call back in 30 days. I did follow up and they did investigate. About 3 weeks later they did refund me the money ($167.35 US). Feel The City never actually did send me the tickets anyway.
Posted by
L'Occitanie, France
11842 posts
You’re a wise man no matter what. Glad you posted a warning.
A scam website got me for the Prado, and I’ve been doing this ticket and travel gig for fifty years. These sites are insidious. And I clicked on a hotel website recently and then realized it was a middle- moucher.