6 Day Tour from Denver with Yellowstone Grand Teton and Salt Lake

The driver was not...

The driver was not professional, professed his constant "born in america" offensively, was loud and inappropriate a lot; the sound system was hard to hear in the back 1/2 of the bus and with a guide who's accent made it hard to understand; no cup holders; no bathroom!! very early mornings were never mentioned beforehand; catering to only 1/2 the visitors was frustrating; we missed seeing the Great Salt Lake because "we were running late" but why??; frivolous stops took too long; only got one hour in Jackson and needed more time to explore; need to change guests seats more often than every other day; no specific instructions to meet at airport (tell us to meet at the yellow flag!!); there wasn't much tour guidance and we couldn't understand half of it anyway; even when the bus driver told us something (such as having a trash bag up front! that we finally realized after 3 days) the tour guide should have been telling us important things since the driver only seemed to tell the first row--frustrating!; no bathroom was so frustrating; driver would say something then do something different and always in a non-professional snarky way; one good thing was the tour guide telling us loudly and frequently what time to be back on the bus; we felt rushed so much especially early mornings when we weren't even aware that would happen every day; the snarky snotty responses from the driver were irritating, bitching about other drivers and tourists, etc.; we felt the 6th day was cutting the "6-day" tour short and the tour description for the last 2 days seemed to be duplicated yet we still got cut short; we'll choose a different tour operator next time.

Response from the operator: Thank you for taking the time to share your detailed feedback regarding your recent tour with us. We have carefully reviewed your comments alongside the response from our tour guide, and we would like to address each of your concerns in a clear and transparent manner. 1. Our driver is an energetic individual who enjoys interacting with guests to create a lively and engaging atmosphere on board, with the intention of keeping everyone alert and comfortable during long journeys. We have confirmed that at no point did he use offensive language or display inappropriate behavior toward any guest. His comments about being "born in America" were made in a casual, conversational context and were not intended to offend. We regret if this came across differently to you. 2. Our guide is not a native American English speaker, and we acknowledge that accents can sometimes pose a challenge. However, this was his 10th tour with the same itinerary, and we have received positive feedback from many previous groups. On this particular tour, approximately half of the passengers were international guests, and no other guests raised similar concerns about the guide's accent or the sufficiency of his commentary. 3. The tour itinerary clearly outlines the activities for each day, and we assure you that no part of the 6-day tour was cut short. We would like to clarify that the visit to the Great Salt Lake did take place on the morning of Day 6. We believe the time allocated to each stop was reasonable. Regarding Jackson, the one-hour stop was consistent with the published schedule; we understand your desire for more time, and we will take this into consideration for future improvements. 4. Seat rotation is typically conducted every other day to ensure fairness. We acknowledge that the bus does not have cup holders, and we apologize for any inconvenience. The restroom is available for emergency use and can be opened upon request; we regret if this was not clearly communicated to all guests. We truly regret that your experience did not meet your expectations. While we stand by the professionalism of our team and the accuracy of our itinerary, we also recognize that there were gaps in communication and guest comfort that we need to address. Please be assured that we will use your feedback constructively to improve our services.

via Viator