Tour fell short on time, but Customer Experience Director made it right.
We took multiple tours with The Tour Guy and loved the others, but the Vatican/St. Peter's Basilica tour was a logistical mess. They booked us on a Wednesday morning knowing St. Peter's Basilica would be closed for the Papal Audience. They actually emailed us to move to the afternoon to fix it, which we accepted, but then their office moved us back to the morning anyway. Worse, their official confirmation email states the tour is 3 hours long. Because the Basilica was skipped, our guide ended the tour in under two hours (including security/bathroom breaks) and did not make up the time elsewhere, violating their own policy. I paid for a premium 3-hour combo tour and received a rushed 1.5-hour museum walk. I have submitted two emails and a web support ticket over the last seven days requesting a partial refund for the missing hour and missed landmark, but the company has completely ignored me. UPDATE: The Director of Customer Experience eventually reached out personally. They clarified that the schedule shuffling was due to group minimums, not the audience. They admitted the guide failed their standards by ending the tour early and failing to compensate for the Basilica closure. They have issued a partial refund and a future tour credit to resolve the issue. I appreciate the company ultimately taking accountability for the guide's mistake.