Response from Barkeno Tours
Hi Andrea, thanks for your private comment. We will like to clarify some things for you.
Even free tours have been around for quite a while, there’s still a lot of people like you that don’t know how this type of tours work. That’s why the guides explain this at the beginning of every single tour.
We’re sorry you felt this information was rude, but it’s m not rude, it’s informative. If they don’t do it usually people pay very little as they don’t realize all the work, effort and taxes that are behind this. Yes ALL our freelance guides and ourselves pay our taxes, even though you don’t think so, the guides receive an invoice from us that they have to pay, by LAW can’t pay it with cash. Also we receive in invoice from guruwalk and we can’t pay it with cash either.
Usually guides pay a fee to the companies, this business model is actually preferred by most of the guides. This type of business model works great for both ends, the guides and the companies. All our freelance guides are professionals that love their job and love how Free tours work.
You must understand there’s not such thing as a free lunch. Free tours are not “free”, it’s obvious that for you to have a professional guide waiting for you just a click away, there are a lot of expenses.
On a free tour you are FREE to decide how much the tour was worth, it’s not “gratis” nor “free” as in you don’t pay anything. This was explained to you at the beginning, also the guide explained to you that he pays a fee for each person on the tour, something you clearly stated you didn’t know. As we mentioned before, that’s why the guides explain this to you.
At the end of the tour you were FREE to decide how much the tour was worth for you.
