Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Vermont Inn to Inn Walking, LLC's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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Vermont Inn to Inn Walking, LLC has 2 locations, listed below.

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  Vermont Inn to Inn Walking, LLC

  321 Main St Chester, VT 05143-9864

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  Vermont Inn to Inn Walking, LLC

  PO Box 788 Andover, VT 05143-0788

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/09/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband (*******************) and I booked a ** *** to *** walking tour to celebrate his 60th birthday. The tour was scheduled for Oct 22 - 26 2023 and costs $2800. We paid in full by Sept. 8, 2023 as required by the tour company. We also booked one extra night with Victoria *** for Oct. 26 so we can sleep and head home in ** the next day. Unexpectedly and unfortunately, my husband fell very ill on Oct. 22, the date of scheduled departure (abdominal pain), was taken to a local ER and admitted to the hospital for 3 days. The hospital's name is ***************** near us. **** is a healthy 60 year old man and had never been admitted to the hospital before. We are both active walkers so **** miles per day is non-issue for us. We informed the tour company of ****'s illness on Oct. 22. This was a huge disappointment for us as we were so looking forward to this tour. We reached out to the company to see if we could receive some refund or credit so that we can take the tour next year. This was declined. Our total cash outlay was $3000. This is a great amount for a 60 year old couple who live on budget. We are hoping you can help us to recoup some money, either refund or credit as we do wish to take the tour next year. Respectively,

  Business Response

  Date: 11/11/2023

  It is unfortunate that last minute cancellations need to happen and we do not take pleasure in being a part of difficult circumstances. As we explain in our cancelation policy (included below), our Walking Tour is a cooperative effort of four small independent businesses and we cannot afford to absorb the cost of cancellations, even in the face of a crisis.  Our cancelation policy, which encourages guests to purchase trip insurance independently, is stated clearly and emphatically on our website and in our FAQ sheet (that was sent to this guest on 8/31).  It is also stated in the first invoice for the first deposit (sent to this guest before payment on 9/1); it is reviewed after payment of the deposit in our Confirmation Letter (sent to this guest on 9/8); and then it is restated in the second invoice which requests the second and final payment (sent to this guest on 10/1).   Our Walking Tour inns are so small that we have very limited space available and we rely on filling our vacancies to capacity. This guests reservation was for peak season; we turned away many inquiries in order to honor their reservation.The guest courteously called on the day of arrival to communicate their situation and said they hoped for a speedy hospital discharge and maybe they could still attend the next day.  The next day, one day into the four day tour, the guest called and communicated that indeed they would be unable to attend any part of the tour. There is no way possible that we could have filled this reservation with someone else or in any other way recovered the financial burden of such a last minute cancelation.  The rooms were reserved, the staff was scheduled, the food was purchased, other guests were turned away. This is why we very strongly encourage trip insurance to our guests when they book.  We know that the cost of this trip is significant to many of our travelers, but similarly the financial burden of cancelations is too heavy for us to carry. While the unfortunate circumstances for this guest are uniquely personal to them, last minute cancellations due to a health crisis happen too frequently for us to be able to afford the cost of them.  
  
  This is how our cancellation policy is described in our FAQ sheet that was sent to this guest prior to any invoices or payments:
  What if I need to cancel? Or just postpone?
  This is not a fun topic. No one books a trip planning to cancel (or postpone). Weve seen all the very real and often tragic reasons that require guests to change plans unexpectedly sudden illness, an extreme weather event, a death in the family. While we acknowledge that no one cancels for a happy reason, as small businesses we cannot afford to absorb the cost of cancellations or postponements.
  With this, know that our cancellation policy described below is strictly enforced. Changing your tour dates impacts us similarly to a cancellation, and therefore the same policy applies. We encourage you to purchase trip insurance from a third party to protect yourself in case of a crisis. Check with your credit card before booking your trip; some cards offer it. Or purchase it independently. A couple of our innkeepers swear by Allianz Travel, but of course you can do your own research.
  Our policy for cancelations and postponements is as follows:
  If a cancellation is made more than 14 days in advance of your tour start date, 50% of the deposit will be forfeited and 50% refunded (or applied to a future reservation). If a cancellation is made within 14 days of the tour start date, there are absolutely no refunds of any portion of the tour payments.
  
  And this is how it was described in the first invoice the guest received prior to their making any payment:
  Cancellation Policy
  If a cancellation is made more than 14 days in advance of your tour start date, 50% of the deposit will be forfeited and 50% refunded. If a cancellation is made within 14 days of the tour start date, there are absolutely no refunds of any portion of the tour payments.
  
  In conclusion, we try very hard to communicate our policy,and its strict enforcement, clearly, repetitively, and in advance of any payment.  We are indeed small business owners which means also we are humans behind each decision. We dont feel good when people need to cancel and lose their money (which is why we strongly encourage trip insurance), but we cannot afford to absorb the cost of every guests individual circumstance. With this, we stand by our cancellation policy and we cannot offer a refund or credit. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/28/2023

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  Case is not resolved to my satisfaction, as no money was refunded to us.  $3000 outlay is not a small sum
  Businesses need to have soul, where this business does not appear to have one.  We missed the tour due to medical emergency, completely out of our control. 
  If they mandate insurance to be purchase by each vacationer, or better yet, they purchase insurance on behalf of each vacationer and package that into their price, this burden would not be on us, and made known to us after my husband went to ER unexpectedly.
  I would warn anyone who wishes to use this companys services again to read this complaint. 

  Business Response

  Date: 11/28/2023

  We wish we could help the guest feel better about what we perceive to be a fair and consistent enforcement of our clearly communicated cancellation policy.  We are frustrated by the guests casual claim that it was made known to us after my husband went to ER unexpectedly as we have records proving that the guest received two communications from us PRIOR TO ANY PAYMENT, both of which included our cancellation policy in plain, direct language.  And the guest again received two more communications prior to their second payment,again both of which included our cancellation policy, front and center.  In our policy, we note that our zero refund within 14 days policy is strictly enforced; we remind guests that emergencies are never anticipated; and we encourage guests to purchase trip insurance from a travel insurance company (we are too small for a travel insurance company to offer it through us,weve checked). We have contacted the guest directly and explained that our tour is the result of four very small businesses working together to provide a logistically complicated and cost-intensive product, and we cannot afford to absorb the cost of every guests emergency.  It saddens us that this is not enough to assuage the guests dissatisfaction with us, but we do stand by the appropriateness of our enforcement of our cancellation policy.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/29/2023

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  [You must provide details of why you are not satisfied with this resolution.  If you do not enter a reason for your rejection, your complaint will be closed as Answered.]
  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  Jingjing