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Tom Barefoot (tombarefoot.com) has 638 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 4.8 out of 5.
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customer
We had booked a catamaran sailing cruise for the manta rays. When we got there, we are on a catamaran but no sailing. It’s a motor catamaran. It was misleading when I also asked if we will be sailing on a catamaran not just be in a catamaran. Very disappointing and felt mislead
CJ N.
TOUR ADVERTISED AND THOUGHT WE BOOKED *This is the exact itinerary we were provided by Tom Barefoots Tour* Take a helicopter flight, tour Hilo town on the ground and go to a zipline course all in one tour. View the area surrounding Kona in the helicopter and also the volcano area and Hilo Land in Hilo and take a short self guided tour. Grab a lunch. Be picked up in Hilo by van and transported to the Botanical World Zipline course. When your dropped off back in Hilo your helicopter tour will continue around the north side to visit the dramatic rain forests of the Kohala reigon and return to Kona. Approximate duration: 10 hours. 2 hours in helicopter. 6 hours visiting Hilo, lunch and zipline experience. TOUR WE GOT!! Very disappointing, we didn’t do what was outlined at all.. was a lot of money for what we got.. totally ripped off. We were under the assumption we would helicopter Kona and volcano side getting dropped off in Hilo for the on ground tour and zip lining. Then back on the helicopter to return to Kona... well we were dropped of by helicopter in the middle of the Forest (to a very average zip line course Kohala and short waterfall hike ), then dropped in Hawi, for the hour and a half DRIVE back to Kona... didn’t even see Hilo at all, which was very disappointing as it was the main reason we chose the tour.... ruined our plans on the Big Island as we really wanted to see Hilo... $2450AU absolute daylight robbery, could have done a lot on big island for that.. 2 hours of helicopter time is false advertising, we were in the helicopter for 50minutes max... zip lining over waterfalls and amazing scenery... there was none of that... and a waste of an afternoon hanging around in Hawi whilst the zip line company cleaned their equipment before their staff DROVE us in their minivan back to Kona airport where we had parked our hire car at paradise helicopters, where we were expecting to end our tour, VIA helicopter So upset upon reflection, I’ve been building up the courage to contact, but very thankful for the email and offer to review..
Response from Tom BarefootDec 1, 2019
Catherine. I am very disappointed to hear this review. In going back to review it it looks like an error had been made. Paradise helicopters offers two somewhat similar helicopter flights on the Big Island. The first of them, and the one we booked you for is called 'The Family Helicopter Ride and Zip (reg price $773). The second one is called ' The Kona Air and Zip Adventure' (reg price 847). In putting the pieces together it looks like when we made the booking for the original flight it was misinterpreted by Paradise as being the other. This is highly unusual because we send the actual voucher for the tour directly to the vendor. Another oddity as well is that they actually sent you the specific itinerary of the tour they believed to be the correct tour they had booked for you. Presumably you could have read the description and realized that it was a different tour but unfortunately that precaution was missed in the shuffle as well. In realizing the error Paradise offered us the remedy of sending you $100/ea as a means of recompense. We will be doing this when our office opens at the beginning of the week. The tour you actually took was valued at a higher price point then the one you actually paid for so the additional value of the cash refund will helpfully help with the unfortunate mistake. We deal with thousands of transactions each month and we are sorry that the vendor did not connect the dots in the paper work we provided them. Once again, our apologies for the misunderstanding.
customer
Our cruisr was canceled and your alternative cruise didn't offer the same thing. We ended up having to start over and find another cruise with 1 day notice
Response from Tom BarefootOct 25, 2019
Sorry. There are some things we simply don't have control over. The boat you were booked on had to cancel with short notice because of mechanical problems. There was no other boat available that was exactly the same as the one you signed up for.
customer
I won’t be using this site anymore. First and last time
Response from Tom BarefootSep 9, 2019
Sorry you did not like the website. You gave no indication as to why. In researching your booking it appears that you attempted to cancel your dinner cruise two hours prior to boarding. Because of the cancellation policy the boat would not permit a return of your money on such short notice. Perhaps that was the problem.
Anonymous
We felt like we were taken advantage of on this fishing charter with Start Me Up. It didn't seem like the guys even tried to catch any fish. Felt like a VERY expensive boat ride.
customer
The customer service was very bad. I talked to a lady and she made me feel incompetent. She was very rude to me, on top of that my trip wasn’t what I hoped for. I over paid for what I got. I wouldn’t have cared as much about the trip quality if it was not for the disrespectful customer service agent at Toms Barefoot.
Response from Tom BarefootAug 15, 2019
This is absolutely the worst type of letter to respond to. We pride ourselves in our customer service and to hear that any of our staff was rude to a client is the total wrong direction we need to go. I found the six minute audio of the actual phone conversation you were referring to between yourself and one of our agents, Joy, and listened to it a couple of times. You sounded very pleasant to me in your inquiry. You were perplexed about the voucher you received for payment. It was a considerable amount more expensive than you had anticipated. Just so you understand, when we send payment to someone it always comes in the form of a 'voucher' and a 'receipt'. The voucher will state the activity providers name, where to catch it, when to be there, give a phone number direct to the vendor and also will always list the 'regular price' prior to any discounts. The receipt which can be found right below the voucher will always state the exact discounted amount including any fees or taxes that were charged to the charge card. If a discount was applied to the sale, the receipt will always be considerably less than the price shown on the voucher. The verbiage we include with the voucher and the receipt will explain the difference. The entirety of the phone call had to do with the concept as explained above. Joy explained the process a couple of times in a professional manner. Each time it was explained the initial question was re-asked and was re-explained again. The conversation did seem to go in a circle. She had explained the answer but somehow the question still remained. At some point you simply hung up leaving her still on the phone. In my opinion she did her very best to answer your questions in a professional manner but somehow it did not get through. I have the recording of the entire conversation from beginning to end and if you would like I could send it to you via email for you to listen to and re-evaluate the discussion as it actually happened. I'm truly sorry you were left perplexed and frustrated but it was in no way due to any rudeness expressed to you by Joy. I was initially very disturbed to hear that there may have been some rudeness expressed to a client by one of our staff but I was relieved after reviewing the conversation that this was not the case at all.
customer
Changed cruise pick up at last minute.
Response from Tom BarefootJul 22, 2019
Sorry there was a problem with boarding. The day you were scheduled there was extremely high surf and the regular boarding area was not safe enough for boarding. Both emails and texts were sent to you by Teralani Charters in the morning alerting you of the new boarding location for the sunset sail that evening. Unfortunately you did not check emails or texts that day which is understandable as you were on vacation. The boarding location had to be changed and notifications did go out to you. I'm sorry you missed your sail as I know your family would have enjoyed it immensely.
Audrey L.
Five days later and I'm still disappointed with my Pearl Harbor experience, booked through Tom's Barefoot Tours. My entire day is detailed on Trip Advisors, so I'm not going to reiterate it all again here. Suffice it to say, the only thing I wanted to see when I came to Hawaii for 10 days was Pearl Harbor. That tour, for sentimental reasons, meant something to me. I trusted Joy and Tom's Barefoot Tours and it was a huge mistake. It was a series of failed promises from beginning to end, which was interesting because that's what the tour was called, From Kapalua - WWII Begin To End/Day at Pearl Harbor with Aloha Sunshine Tours. From the scenic views that were not available on the right side of the plane, to the time wasted in a hot parking lot waiting on our Hispanic "Expert World War II Narrator" who didn't have the credentials to get us further in the tour, the whole day was frustrating and hugely disappointing. We were rushed at the most important sites only to wait for him and/or wait at the airport when we arrived and when we were dumped off at the airport 1.25 hours early when it's a tiny commuter airline not requiring more than 30 minutes. Tom's Barefoot Tours, Aloha Sunshine Tours and Mokulele Airlines all dropped the ball on this. This tour cost $500 when you add the cost for transport to the airport, but I happily paid it for the experience they listed. All three companies profit from the emotional connection to this sacred place - the least they can do is provide the client what they list on their website. Every other tour I've been on, and I've been traveling for decades, the tour company far exceeded my expectations. This one was far in the opposite direction. ---------------------------------------------------- I'm updating my experience to wrap up this story. Tom, I appreciate your apology. I wish I had the same "expert" as your other reviewers doing my tour instead of Jorge. I would assess 10% of blame to your company, another 10% to Mokulele Airlines and 80% to Aloha Sunshine Tours. Joy was the best part of the entire experience. She was responsive and did her best to be helpful. She did give me a lot of time and a lot of information. Unfortunately, some of it was inaccurate, at least according to Aloha Sunshine Tours who said your website wasn't up to date on the description of what was included on the tour. That's the reference to lies - call them whatever you want, misinformation, inaccuracies, omissions, whatever. What I bought, based on the descriptions I saw through your website and through the paperwork from Aloha Sunshine Tours, was not what was received. Regarding Bait and Switch; your company may be unwittingly involved. I don't believe that Mokulele Airlines canceled my original tour because "the plane had to be inspected." I am then able to be booked for a similar tour on the same day, from the same airport with the same airline at the same time but it’s through Aloha Sunshine Tours - for more money. Finally, Kylie from Aloha contacted me to discuss my extreme displeasure (after reading my reviews, no doubt.) She asked me what did I want? I told her, good question! What I wanted was to see Pearl Harbor and have a great experience, how do I get that back? I asked her to figure out what it's worth and tell me. After 4 days she calls me to say that she negotiated "on my behalf!" and, PENDING THE REMOVAL OF ALL MY NEGATIVE REVIEWS she'll credit 15%. Hilarious. When I told her 50% would be more of a starting point she jumped at it and said she'd get back to me. Clearly it's all about the money with Aloha. She called me back to say that - as soon as I remove the negative reviews - she'll credit 50%. I told her I couldn't trust a word she was saying because everything about the tour was misrepresented so how can I believe her. I wonder how many negative reviews she's bought back. I told her to keep my money and I'll keep my reviews. I truly hope they implement all of the fixes that need to be made with this organization because their customers deserve nothing less.
Response from Tom BarefootJun 26, 2019
We are very sorry Audrey did not like her tour. It looks like there are quite a number of points she addressed that she was disappointed with. We will be addressing these with the management at Aloha Sunshine Tours. We know that the logistics of putting such a comprehensive day together are challenging. The complaints expressed were attributed to not only our company, but Aloha, Mokulele and the actual operation at Pearl Harbor as well. We truly regret that she had any problems and hopefully the points, particularly regarding the timing of the events and pick-up times can be addressed and rectified. Her one assertion however, that Joy from our office, and our company in general, were deceitful and operated as a bait and switch operation is both offensive and untrue. Joy spent a lot of time with this lady, first organizing the first tour she was on, and then after it was cancelled, the second one. She tried to make the transition as effortless as possible under the circumstances. She did manage to make certain she could leave out of Kapalua which was evidently very important for her. Because of the switch of tours Audrey evidently confused certain of the facts that were true of the first tour but not of the second such as the lunch which was offered on the first tour but not on the second. Her reference to a series of 'lies' we told her was also 'so far' from the mark. I doubt very seriously that we would still be in business after 45 years of service if we built our business upon lying to the public for the sole purpose of being able to make a profit. For what its worth. Every tour is different and every person that takes one is different. Here are two client reviews of the same tour by different people: Norm Davis Tour was June 22. Guide was Kona. My wife and I took this same tour route about 30 years ago with our daughter. On wed we took her son, our 10 year old grandson. It was better than remembered, and more educational that expected. We all came away with a Ph.D. after the tour. Kona is very gifted: he is very knowledgeable, articulate and intuitive in his interaction with the guest - he makes each Person feel special, as if it's their own private tour. Discovery Hidden Hawaii Tours (recently changed name to Aloha Sunshine Tours) is Blessed to have Kona as a valued member of the organization. I would also like to thank Kai, and the staff at Tom Barefoot's Tours for organizing and guiding me to this great learning adventure. A big Mahalo to all. Norm Davis Marcie Akiona We absolutely loved our tour! Hana was our guide, and he was so personable and knowledgeable. We recommend this tour to anyone interested in knowing more about Hawaiian history, the landscape, culture, et
