Be aware, that this is NOT a free tour. In the end, they will ask you to pay 10 USD as a “tip”, even though it states on the website, that it is free, and that you can tip however much you feel based on the experience.
Before the tour we received a message saying the tour tip was going to be 10 USD. I replied, that the website states, that you can tip however much you feel like (and it is not even mandatory). The response I got was, that 10 USD is the minimum tip SUGESTED.
In the end we were told we had to pay 10 USD each, and that the “free” in “free walking tours” was old. But then they should delete it from their website, because it says multiple places on the website, that it is FREE and you can TIP whatever you feel like. They should change it to “10 USD walking tours” instead, because now it is just misleading people.
Our guru was very good though, and we had a great experience. We of course wanted to tip him, but we didn’t feel like 10 USD was in our budget, and we got the idea, that you could tip whatever you wanted. We ended up giving him 8 USD each (two people), which his boss wasn’t happy about. But one from the tourgroup sugested that he talked to the boss and explained what it said on the website, but the boss didn’t want to. So I think he knows they are doing something wrong, when they call it “free”, but still ask people to pay 10 USD each in the end.
Tipping is mandatory. If they want 10 USD from every walker, then they should make the tour cost 10 USD.
Response from Benjamin
Firstly, in the past, we did not require a minimum tip of 10$ USD before the tour happened. There are a few reasons we want to say here: 1. Many previous guests participated in the tour without bringing any cash with them, They even borrowed money from other guests to pay for the local food, which was very complicated and troublesome. 2. From the first reason would cause to the second reason they did have money to tip us, or they would borrow someone's money in the tour 2$ USD to tip us. Don't you think 2$ would be worth it? We want to follow the rude on Guruwalk, but guests abuse the free tour to give nothing back to each other. If we give, you must give back even if it is just a tip not even a payment. Secondly, it is known as a free tour for travelers, but we have to pay the commission for the app we will be charged 2$ USD for each guest. And this is fair enough for our labor, we provide you the tour in 3,5 hours, and we work very hard to provide you knowledge, passion, and personal perspective, an experience like a local that is something guests can't find anywhere else. Therefore, we deserve to receive what we dedicate. In addition, We write at the end of the description about the guiding tip that we want to have a minimum tip of 10$ USD per person, we also don't expect to receive more than that as the tip is between 10$ - 50$ USD. And even after we receive a reservation. We will message about this one more time in the group chat before the tour happens. Everything is very clear and it is very polite and does not force you to join the tour. The most important thing that we ask for is the minimum tip before the tour not after the tour, so it is very polite and does not force you to join the tour.
