Gran Canaria

  We made a half-day log trip with Simon. He informed us well, took us at noon from our residence and brought us back home in the evening. In his car... read more we felt safe and comfortable, even on adventurous roads, rocky, curvy or up through the clouds with only a few meters of sight.

As we wished, he brought us to the Petroglyphs at the archaeological site of Balos. Breathtaking rocks from Lava with ancient stone carvings by the Guanches (and sadly also some much younger legacies).

In the beautiful old town Aguimes we learned how to drink coffee the Canarian way in the sweet Bar
"El Populacho" and saw very special sculptures.

Then to Pico de las Nieves, the the highest peak of Gran Canaria, with a magic view on fabulous rocks and trees, in between clouds were floating, pure magic, like in a fairy tale.

Later to Roque Nublo, climbing by foot up the mountain exactly in time for sunset, watching it from above a sea of clouds. It was super exciting, much more than expected. It felt like we travelled to another planet.

Simon has a wide knowledge, he offers information and stories on Canarian history and present, mentality and culture, in an easy way. It´s a pleasure to chat with him. He is kind, attentive and knows when to give his customers some space and privacy.

Looking forward to traveling with Simon again!

  The whole day was great. Simon was a fantastic tour guide who gave us heaps of information about the island. The views at the different stop off points were amazing.... read more The local coffee included was great. Would definitely recommend!

  The trip was fabulous, just a small group in a minibus and Simon was very informative, took us places where you wouldn’t probably go without a guide and a nice... read more tapas lunch, highly recommend

  Long story short: He canceled very last minute after confirming the tour and then started threatening and harrassing me via Whatsapp when I left a negative review on google. I... read more guess this is the reason he has a near perfect score. However: You should know that none of his threads hold any value as he already violates european law by harrassing or threatening you in a lot of different ways. I will elaborate in the full story.

Full story (please also check screenshots):
On 2 october we booked this tour for 2 people and paid 138 euros for it via Viator. Tour date was set to be on 22 october. Simon has his settings set to immediately confirm the booking - which is a setting he can choose himself as definitely not all tour operators do this. I booked several tours that had a conformation later, for example because a minumum number of guests are required. These companies communicate honestly about it.

During our holiday I even received a chat message - via Viator - that confirmed the hotel pickup time and what clothing to wear (the last pasrt you can also read in the tour description).

Unfortunately, Simon didn't get enough people for this "Small group" tour (usually small group is 8, which means we would already be 25% of the group) and decided to cancel his tour. He did so on the 20th of october on 21:49. Since we had a tiring tour that day, we already slept about that time. But even if we were still awake: It wouldn't matter. On such short notice it's impossible to find a proper (and affordable) other tour around Gran Canaria. So I left a negative review about it on Google.

In my review I made a mistake, writing that Simon canceled less than 24h before the tour. To that Simon immediately started threatening me and harrassing me via Whatsapp. He was calling me a lieer and threatened to report me to google and my employer.

So I checked about the 24 hours and corrected my mistake (fair is fair). However: you should notice a few other things about what he said:

1: "By using the anonimity of the internet": I was not posting anonymous, my name is right there at the review. He would not be able to find my whatsapp if it was anonymous. - Partially because of this, I think it's a habit of him to threaten people to keep his score high.
2: "Harm us by posting lies": I made a mistake, I did not post lies. And I happily corrected that. Yet he keeps insisting that I lie.
3: "We canceled 2 days before departure": Not quite so if it is at 21:49 in the evening.
4: "Private tour around the island for 96 euro per person": I never requested a private tour. But don't confirm a tour if you need a minimum and just be honest about it that a minimum is required. Since that is nowhere to be found in the tour description, nor in the confirmation: The risk is for the tour operator, not for me as a guest.
5: "Digital Slavery": First of all: It is not digital. As a tour is a fysiscal thing. Second: You offer this tour this way. If you cannot do it, it is YOU who put yourself into problems. It's not slavery.
6: "Your behavior will be reported to the management of Sforza and Google" Well, as long as it is a honest review (and it is), google really doesn't care. Reporting it to my employer would be a direct violation of GDPR law. Besides: in European law your employer is not allowed to act upon things you do in your spare time, unless you do them in the name of your employer (which I clearly didn't).
7: Saying something about me being able to afford a tour is just a very low thing to do.

So this shows just the tip of the iceberg on how agressive this guy is.

So I told him I would correct the 24h mistake, but that I still don't agree on his approach and will keep the 1-star as he threatened me.

Unfortunately he then starts to blame viator for confirming the tour. Like I explained before; Those are settings he can control himself, not Viator. And he even send me a chat message confirming the pickup time. So this was obviously a lie (not a mistake).

Confronting him with this he changes the subject about the amount of people and threatens again to inform my employer and google about it. So I decided to also rewrite that part.

To explain: I had to book for 2 people, since my travel buddy can't book himself. If you read the review well, you can see that I never stated that the tour would leave with only 2 people. However: I re-wrote that part to prevent confusion for others, as maybe other readers would mis-interpret it as well.

I told him that I would sue if he would inform my company about it (which he first said he already did, and then says he will do). I also warned him that he violated GDPR law, but finding my phone number in the booking and contacting me about a review. I never consented to that.

The rest is self explanatory. You can see the original review with his comment, the edited version and the whole whatsapp conversation in the added screenshots as proof that I am not somebody that lies.

  This is a must-do for any visitor to Gran Canaria. When other people who were supposed to join the tour had to cancel at the last minute due to the... read more flight ban from the UK, Simon went ahead with the tour as scheduled so it ended up being a private tour!! This was very much appreciated indeed as other tour operators would have cancelled the tour as they usually require a minimum number of participants, etc.

The tour itself was simply incredible. Seeing the sunset ABOVE the clouds from the highest mountain in Gran Canaria was truly magical and an experience that I will never forget! We also got to witness a once in a lifetime astronomical event, as well as sip coffee with alcohol in a local cafe with some locals (a truly authentic local experience)!

Thank you Simon for all your hard work. I am now back in the UK stuck in lockdown wishing I was back in the Canary Islands!

  Thank you, Simon, for a wonderful day! We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of Gran Canaria. We appreciated your friendly and informative commentary on life in Gran Canaria. We particularly liked... read more the mountain scenery and views, but we also loved the cheese tasting [amongst other delicacies] the lovely tapas lunch and the time looking around Teror. It was lovely to see the more of the island and we highly recommend this tour - you will not regret it!!!

  Trip with Simon was a great thing. We have seen a lot of amazing spots. Seems like he knows everything about the island!

  Very nice tour. Beautiful views of GC and Simon is a great tourguide. He knows so much about the island and loves to talk about it. If you want to... read more see something more than your hotel and the beach go around with Simon. I had a wonderful day.

  Amazing views, nature, mountains and local life, lovely small towns and villages. This trip is higly recommended for those who want to see more then hotel zone. Very good guide... read more - Simon.