We booked a tour with this operator through Viator and received our confirmation which i printed out and took with us. As we were on a cruise into Penang, we walked through the maze of corridors until we reached the exit point. We arrived 10 minutes earlier than our meeting time, but could not see anyone holding a sign with our name on it. We waited another 20 minutes ,before phoning the operator who told us he was only 20 metres away (again no sign). When we approached him he introduced himself as AG and said that he had not received any money from Viator or a confirmation, although I showed him my confirmation from Viator. Instead he asked us for more money, but we refused. After 5 minutes of discussion we walked away, promising to follow up with Viator and report his scamming technique. When we returned 90 minutes later, we noticed that he was still touting for business, unsuccessfully. Obviously we were the only booking and he wanted more paying passengers than just ourselves. The whole thing was a scam.
Upon our return to Australia, I phoned Viator, who immediately phoned him and confirmed that he had been paid. They demanded that he repay the money and has had a report placed on him.
Viator apologised profusely for the experience and inconvenience and imediately refunded our money.That is why I always use Viator and have done for over 10 years when traveling overseas.
