invisible

Same here.

motulele

This is a great thread!

I once went on holiday with about 20 or so extended family members to the Scottish Borders. On our way to see Hadrian's Wall, we stopped off at the quaint village of Kelso. It was all expertly planned, and we were to meet back at the tour bus in 15 minutes. Most of us grabbed a quick bite or a pint, and others did some light shopping.

We ended up waiting on the bus for two hours while the driver searched on foot for my aunt and her children. It turns out they decided to have a six-course Chinese meal, in Scotland.

We never did see Hadrian's Wall, but we did come up with new clever lyrics to the Gilligan's Island theme song.

DragonSoul

But why? They knew they only had 15 minutes. They must really dislike their family members, or they're really selfish.

tentseller

They are paying to eat a Chinese six-course meal in Scotland. Enough said.

If it was a whisky tasting or waiting for the staff to locate a rare bottle, then it is acceptable in my eyes.

rbwpi

On a tour bus in Ireland at a brief stop the driver made the following announcement. "If you're not back to the bus in time don't worry, there will be another bus 24 hours from now."

DragonSoul

Takes me back to the days of the Magic Bus from London to Amsterdam (70s-early 80s). At every stop we were told when the bus would leave and that it wouldn't wait as it was on a schedule. One older (elderly?) couple didn't return in time at a stop at a French motorway service station. Somehow they were able to get a taxi and followed the route of the bus. About half an hour later a taxi pulled in front of the bus, flashing indicators, so the drivers (two, shift), thinking something was wrong with the bus, pulled over the bus to the hard shoulder. From the taxi the couple stormed up to the bus, hammering on the door to be let on. They were pissed that this "tour" bus (not a tour bus, a scheduled one) didn't wait for them. Read the f***ing ticket! No waiting!

But I like the Irish way.

MissJ

I would not have been kind about that one. That's a complete waste of people's time and very rude. I would have, at the very least, moved the bus so when they got back, they got a big scare.

Norri

My suggestion would be to wait 10-15mins then go.

Loren Pechtel

Yeah. I hike with Meetup groups--and having a quarter of the people no-show at the rendezvous is common. I've seen 50% no-show at the trailhead, although that's a little more understandable as there is no cell service in many of the trailheads around here and people who aren't prepared could find themselves without navigation.

simons1

You can only blame those stupid enough to wait....

aquamarinesteph

This may not qualify as a horror story, but it's a recent one.

When we went to Ecuador, we did a small group tour. One of our fellow travelers told us at the first dinner that they knew - well - everything. It was like traveling with a walking, talking version of Wikipedia.

Fast forward to another meal where I was describing our previous travels to Italy. It's the country which I have visited the most (outside my own, of course.) I was talking about Rome to another person, and the walking Wiki butts in to tell me where I should go on my next trip. This person had been to Italy once. Twenty years ago. For one week. And yet they expounded on all of the things which I must do, never mind that I'd already said that I'd done those things or something similar.

Thank goodness it was a short tour!

DutchessPDX

As soon as you said group tour, that was enough of a nightmare trigger for me. Last tour we did, it was only a full day tour, but it was advertised as a "small group" and we were going to several places that weren't easy to get to on our own. When we got picked up and discovered that 20+ freaking people apparently qualifies as a "small group " tour. The day was so annoying. Tour guide was obnoxious, and a group of young ladies in the group from NJ were very loud and abrasive, never showed up on time once, constantly delaying the tour and forced us to cut short our time at one of the stops. My boyfriend and I got yelled at because we weren't walking exactly with the group "You need to stay with the group!" When we were walking maybe 10 feet behind. Yet the young ladies get a smile and welcome back after waiting for them for 30 minutes. Tour guide even stole food off our table at lunch. The worst was on our drive back, 2.5 hour drive back in traffic, we're all tired and just wanted to maybe nap on the bus the tour guide decided he needed to talk on the PA the ENTIRE WAY BACK, and of course did the plea for tips for the last 10 minutes of the ride. I was so freaking annoyed, vowed never to do any group thing again. Private or bust.

Fraser

I am not a tour person either.but in South Africa about 10yrs ago the hotel said they had a great small group tour of Cape Point, Boulders Beach, etc. for an afternoon.The van only had room for four other people so chances of having someone really annoying were low, but of course luck wasn't with me that day. For most of the trip this just-retired couple from California were whinging about how the winelands didn't compare to Napa, how this restaurant that was recommended to them wasn't as good as one of their favourites in California, etc. everything was compared less favourably to something in CA. Those people grew very tiresome.

HMPS

Then it becomes a question of do you have the right to enjoy the tour you came from halfway around the world ? The PC culture stops us. I remember years ago on a tour in Venice, this woman kept on asking minute questions of the guide about " Byzantine" this and that. I finally said " Madam most of us here cannot spell Byzantine here let alone know more than the poor guide know. So how about letting us learn about the Canals and the tides/ Silence fro her for the rest of the tour. Appreciative glances from all others including her husband !

jakejohnson

That's really awful, buddy. Next time, be strict and careful in choosing your travel companion.