Grand Canyon Tour Co. Reviews

Perhaps, the worst part of the trip was when we were making the first of two stops at the Grand Canyon and he remarked, over the P.A. system that we should not be late, and not to be the type of passenger who takes pictures of "flowers or butterflies" causing us to be late because "you all have flies on ** at home, and there's the same flies on ** here, too, so don't be taking no pictures of them here." The passengers were aghast. Our bus had some Japanese tourists onboard who spoke no English. At the Grand Canyon, he asked, over the P.A. if anyone knew how to say "be back at 5:15 p.m. in Chinese, Korean, or anything Oriental"! Meanwhile his own English grammar was terrible, and he continued to say that we could expect large crowds due to it being "Memorial Day" although passengers repeatedly reminded him it was Labor Day weekend.

The bus, although advertised as having Wi-fi, (which is why I selected this tour company), did not, in fact have working wi-fi. The only time we DID have wi-fi was when we parked next to another Grand Canyon Tour Bus at one of the rest stops, and we would be able to use their wi-fi. Clearly, the wi-fi on our bus was non-existent. Don't believe that this might be because of "dead spots" on your trip. There was no wi-fi at ALL. Finally, as we neared our return trip home, he told us not to forget to tip the driver since being **, he was still trying to make a living since the time of Abraham Lincoln! This was a racial comment and ** passengers around me made audible statements of disapproval and were shocked. I could not believe the statement.

Then, he began to argue with some passengers about where he would drop them off since the tour was running late, and they would have to perhaps walk to their hotel from where he dropped them off "nearby" their hotel. It was almost 10:30 p.m., and some of the women passengers were alarmed for their safety. One final comment, the bus that picked us up at the hotel was beautiful with plush seats. That bus brought us to the tour company's main terminal where we had to wait in a large snaking line like a ride at a theme park to be assigned to another bus! We were also offered a free small bagged Danish pastry, a free bottled water, and if you wanted anything else like a small bag of chips, it was $1.00. Then, you had to go to your assigned bus and hope that there were seats together. Our bus had a worn interior, and of course, no wi-fi and the incredibly terrible driver.

Next stop Grand Canyon, arriving at 11:00 AM. Offloading the bus and instruction from the driver to be back on the bus at exactly 3:15 PM which gave us 4 hours 15 minutes to do our business. Checked in at the Sundance Helicopter Company 11:30 AM. The Sundance Helicopter Company could not give an exact departure time and dare not to lose our flight we waited in the lounge area. At 1:10 PM we were called up and send to the helicopter departure zone, 1:35 PM we boarded the helicopter and took the ride to the bottom of the Canyon and made the boat ride and then back on the helicopter.

2:25 PM we were back at the helicopter landing zone which left us only 45 minutes to do the bus sightseeing on the West rim, which we thought was not enough, so we didn't do that trip as we were not gonna miss the 3:15 PM bus back to Las Vegas. On top of that the bus left the west rim at 3:45 PM with 30 minutes delay, we had to wait for late arriving passengers.

FROM: 11:00 AM to 3:15 PM should have giving us just over 4 hours to a good Tour, at the Grand Canyon west rim, but instead we used 3 hours 25 min. in waiting/wasting time for a 50 min. Helicopter/boat ride. In total from Las Vegas: Dept. 6:35 AM to Arrival 7:10 PM In Las Vegas. We spend or lost a good day or 12 hours, for a 50 minutes helicopter and boat ride. In my opinion, for a professional tour company, this is a total lack of logistic and considering the ticket price of $287 per person, AND that our tickets were ordered and prepaid 4 month ago, (March 30. 2016). THIS IS NOT OK. From unsatisfied costumers.

I called again the following day, a different agent answered and told me it was my fault and they can't change the price once the tour is sold. I explained they were not charging what is published in their webpage and she insisted it was my fault for not mentioning the internet price (only price I was aware of). They were going to listen the recording and the Manager would call me on Saturday after 2 pm. He never called. After some thought I realized she was just pushing me to be inside the 48 hrs window (my tour was on Monday), which according to their cancellation policy they wouldn't return the deposit ($220). If I had known I would have cancel that day and take the $35 charge per ticket.

On Sunday, after the manager didn't call me, I called customer service again, explained the situation and very rude she refused to modify the price to what was advertised on their webpage. Beware of this company, my experience with 4 different representatives tells about the low work ethics and poor customer service. My experience with their agents is that they are in a rush, are rude and willing to engage in an argument with the customer. I have never experience such a bad customer service in my life. I ended up paying $148 more for 2-people trip.

About Maverick Aviation, the airplane feels old and the plane wing are attached to the plane in the normal position (attached to the belly of the plane), which blocks 70% of the view (I was seated on the 5th row, right over the wing). I couldn't appreciate much of the Grand Canyon from the air. The plane operator and the tour guide were good.

Our bus then had mechanical problems and we were delayed 2 hours while another bus was sent. Unfortunately, we were not given a new driver. Our driver did not speak to any passengers as we were getting off/on the bus throughout the day and the multiple stops. One friend in my party had accidentally boarded the wrong bus at the station (she realized before we departed) and said that driver was funny and friendly. Apparently we drew the short stick that day. When I called customer service after our trip to report this and request a refund, it was weeks before I could get a response. Each time I called, I was told they were "investigating" and that they had not been able to speak to the bus manager yet. Ultimately, my request for a refund was denied. I would certainly NOT recommend using this company!

To begin with, we had been instructed to wait for the tour bus in front of the hotel (Hard Rock) at 6.45 a.m. ('arrive 5 minutes early' and 'call the office if the bus is not there 5 minutes after the given time'). Well, we were there, with another 4-5 people, waiting patiently. When the bus hadn't arrived by 6.50, we tried to call the office, but after pressing various buttons as instructed, and waiting for somebody to actually pick up the phone, another 8 minutes went by, and by then the bus finally turned up (at 6.58 a.m.). When we climbed on board, nobody checked our ID (we were instructed to bring these with us!). In fact, nobody checked our ID during the whole trip, so your seemingly tight security is non-existent.

The bus was almost full, but we found two seats next to each other, although the space between our seats and the ones in front of us was so tiny, that my husband almost needed a shoehorn to help him squeeze in his seat, and he is only 160 pounds! What do you do with bigger passengers?! We were trying to forget our problems though, because we were finally going to the Grand Canyon! WRONG! We hardly traveled a couple of minutes, when we stopped across UNLV on the corner of Paradise and Tropicana, and everyone was told to get off. We were confused, the foreign tourists even more so. We got off the bus and joined the HUNDREDS of people already in line. We had no idea WHY we were doing this, we were herded around like sheep. A man walked around and yelled that this was how we were checked in and get our breakfast. Really?! How unprofessional can you get?

Why not put the apple pies and coffee ON EACH BUS? (Why not order/buy something decent for breakfast that's actually edible?!)

If they want to use their depot for giving out the breakfast, why not stagger the buses coming in, so the customers do not have to wait so long, and it doesn't have the feel of cattle being herded? Why not announce what was happening on the buses, not yelling in front of the crowd like in a prison camp? At this point we've been 'in the company's care' for over an hour, and despite the fact that we had paid $177 to head to the Grand Canyon, we hadn't even left the vicinity of the hotels we had been picked up from. If their 'manager' thought that this was a well-organized operation, I think you should seriously think about the meaning of the word 'management', or his abilities. EVERYONE around me agreed with me when I pointed this out to him, and the ones who did not join the conversation were bewildered tourists not speaking English, and not having a clue about what was going on.

They will go home and think that THIS shambles is American hospitality! When we were finally herded on yet another bus, we waited another 15 minutes before our driver managed to figure out something with the 'manager' (who knows what, we were not worthy of being kept informed!) and we finally left. All the other buses had already been gone. It was past 8 o'clock. We could have just met the bus at this depot at 8, and we could have slept another 2 hours... On the bus the driver explained the itinerary, and he tried to be attentive. However, he could not resolve the two problems that we had all day: the WIFI did not work (do check their website and their brochures, it does say that there is WIFI on EVERY bus), and we did not have any trash cans on the bus.

So, we could not go online, but just as well, since our hands were full with the trash that we could not throw away until the bus stopped (every few hours) and we finally got off and found a trash can. The company earned THOUSANDS of dollars on just this one single day, on this one single bus. Why not buy a trashcan and fix the WIFI?? They seemed not to care as long as they get the money coming in. ($18 fuel surcharge on top of the "no extra fee' price of the tour. What a joke! What surcharge?! WHY??) The first stop (bathroom stop) was in Kingman, AZ. I assume the company has some kind of a deal going with this place, so all the buses stop here and the tourists spend their money there. Well, the place is a dump. No toilet paper, not enough bathroom stalls for the hundred of passengers that the buses bring in at roughly the same time.

When I asked the lady behind the bar about the toilet paper, she said, "Well, it must have run out..." and proceeded to ignore me and my request to give us new rolls. Well, seriously, this is the first place to stop at? For $177?!?!?! This trip was supposed to be a surprise birthday present for my husband, something to remember for a long time. Well, we will! But for all the wrong reasons. We are actually locals, live in Las Vegas, but we chose to travel with a tour company, so we can travel in comfort and enjoy the day rather than focus on the roads, the driving, getting food etc. How wrong we were. We would have been better off doing it all by ourselves. or choosing another tour company. But this company advertises themselves as 'the best' and 'most experienced'. Really!??!?! They might need some self-examination, or go on another tour run by another company to see what 'customer service' is.

I did, a few years ago I went to the Grand Canyon with another company and I couldn't stop raving about their trip. At the end of the day our driver commented that there are many Grand Canyon tour companies, and he thanks us for choosing yours. Well, it was a mistake. A mistake that cost us $177 and a less than perfect birthday outing. As a result of all the above, I wanted a refund at least half of the money we paid for this. I also wanted to know how they were going about putting all the problems right. As a person living in Las Vegas, I was embarrassed for them when I saw how the foreign tourists looked at each other incredulous when they had to go through all the above. I talked to some of them, and tried to apologize, but I think it should be the company's job.

Also the public needs to know that if they have any problem climbing to not go down to the boat. I had heat exhaustion, and all I could do is sit in the heat and wait. My records will be on file at the fire station there. Also when we talked to the company and told them about this and no way to lock the bathroom door on bus and no way to wash hands and no air on return trip. We were told "oh well that's too bad." And when my husband wanted some answers you could hear someone in the background telling him to hang up. There were two other couples on the trip with us who also didn't get to see anything up top. Our flight group that day for us six was A11.

Our tour consisted of 38 people, who were all boarded without any major issues. I will also note that the comfortable seats I enjoyed on the motor coach that took us to the bus station were replaced by very hard and uncomfortable ones for the drive to and from the Canyon. Before we pulled out, we learned that this was our guides first day on the job and were delayed when our guide realized that some of our passengers had not picked up their tags that indicated which tour they were on. Both of the other tour buses had been gone for a minimum of 15 minutes before we finally made it out.

There were no major issues on the ride there, though we did stop twice for bathroom breaks. I believe two stops is a bit excessive for a 3-hour drive, especially when there is a restroom on the bus if necessary. Our guide did also blame the passengers for the delays and threatened that we didn't have enough time to even watch the videos on the Hoover Dam. I can overlook some personality quirks, but this came across as rude.

When we finally arrived at the visitors center and gift shop around 12 PM, we were instructed to not enter the gift shop and to wait at the picnic tables just through the breezeway. Some of our fellow tourists made it to the picnic tables, but a majority of the group seemed to have lost their way. Since several of the people on the tour were not English-speaking, I cannot fully blame them as only verbal instructions were given as to where to wait for our guide while he got tickets. When our guide finally arrived, we were informed that everyone who was participating in the bus tour ONLY would be ticketed and on their way first. This logic does not make sense to me, as they did not also have to fit in a boat and helicopter tour and the Skywalk. So, my travel companion and I waited patiently as all but 4 other people on our tour were rounded up before we could walk over and go through the process of getting ticketed for our helicopter and boat tour.

By the time we actually boarded the helicopter, it was nearly 1:30 PM, with a departure time from the canyon set for 4:00 PM (meaning we were to be back at the gift shop by 3:30 or 3:45). While we were frustrated at this point, we tried to not let it sour our first helicopter flight and the beautiful views from the boat. Our boat guide was very professional and was shocked to hear about the limited time we had to see the canyon. When we made it back to hop on the bus, we only had about an hour and 15 minutes to do the Skywalk and bus tour. As a result, we were forced to skip the ranch altogether and go straight to the Skywalk at Eagle Point. We had just enough time to get photos taken and run back to the bus.

So we were left with another 30 minutes to visit Guano Point and make it back to the gift shop. Guano point was beautiful, and I would've loved to spend even 10 more minutes soaking it all in, but all of the mishaps throughout the day would not allow it. So we made it back to the gift shop with about 10 minutes to spare and made it back on the bus, which was parked right out front where our guide told us it would be. We then had to wait another 15 minutes for the other family who was doing the Do-It-All tour to make it back on the bus. So we left the Grand Canyon at about 4:10.

I would like to say this is where my frustrations ended, but sadly that is not the case. On the way back, we were all forced to get off the bus at a gas station for our driver to refuel. Why in the world this was not handled while we were all out visiting the canyon is beyond me. We then had to round up 38 people once again to get back on the road. When we finally made it back to Vegas, we waited as each person was dropped off at their hotel. Since our hotel was the last stop and it was 7:30 PM by this point, we asked the bus driver to just drop us on the strip as we could walk to our hotel faster than he could drop us off there. In short, I do not believe this tour was worth the $623.98 that I paid.

The website says: “We provide a FREE morning snack, lunch, and a full four hours for you to enjoy yourself without feeling like you are being rushed from one point to another. Our driver/guides are the best in Las Vegas. They will entertain and inform you as you travel to Grand Canyon West. They are true professionals who love what they do. From the time we pick you up at your hotel to the time we return you, they are there to assist and help you.”

And again, at the very top of the page your website says, spend 4 hours with us at the canyon not just 3 hours like the other company. We were given 2.5 hours. I hope that our tour experience was only an isolated incident and not a reflection of the tour company as a whole, but I cannot recommend this tour to anyone I know. I have traveled a lot this year, so I am well aware that nothing will ever be perfect, but I also believe that people (and tour companies) should be held accountable. I filed this exact complaint with the tour company and followed up multiple times seeking at least a partial refund and nothing has been done in 6 weeks. Every time I have called to check on the status I was informed that a supervisor was still "reviewing the log." Don't use these people.

We asked them to refund the $50, but they refused.

Although the bus driver was friendly and knowledgeable, the bus was hot (A/C not working properly); although there was a toilet on board, it was requested we not use it. The tour went well enough, but at the end of the tour we were taken to Miracle Mile shopping center with the assurance a taxi would return us to our hotel exactly 2 hours after our arrival. Long story short: no taxi! Phone calls to the tour company once again resulted in our getting our own taxi back to our hotel. Cost of the fare was to be refunded to our credit card. So far that has not happened. Never again will be ever for any reason tour with The Grand Canyon Tour Company! It was costly and time consuming and very disappointing.

Upon check in for the trip, nothing was said to me about the weather. When we were almost to Hoover damn, the bus driver told us that when it rains in Vegas, it means snow in the canyon. But at this point, there was no turning back. We drove 15 hours to get to the Grand Canyon to see a blizzard. I have pictures of my self and my children covered in snow to prove it.

I can't describe the disappointment I felt. It wasn't the moment I had planned to share with my family. I contacted the company requesting a refund and was refused. If I knew about the raining weather in Vegas, then they knew about it. And if the bus driver knew that rain in Vegas meant snow at the canyon, so did they.

I spoke to "Michael" whom the driver identified as the owner. He refused to open back up and issue refunds. Said he would have refunds issued the next day. We gave the bus driver a list of our names, addresses, and form of payment. Gone on bus 15 hrs but no Grand Canyon. Called company on Feb 7, 2006. Assured a refund would be sent the following day. Never received.