A Bust or Ball of a Bus Tour ?

For the first time in our lifetime all of the girl cousins, seven in total, were going to be together in the same city for Annie’s 40th birthday bash, which I had been planning for many months.

It’s not easy to plan a memorable day that is fully accessible and inclusive for everyone to enjoy therefore this required some creativity. Our daytime celebration was going to be a fun girls day out in the city and our evening soiree was to be a private dinner with karaoke. After months of poring over the variety of choices - museum visits, private brunch, shopping, walking sightseeing itinerary, hop-on/hop-off bus tours, I settled on a Sex and the City tour, how fun right? Annie plus two cousins are huge fans of the show and I thought a guided bus tour would be a relaxed way for the out-of-towners to see our amazing city while also being entertained. Annie was fully on board as was the excited family crew!

Having worked in this industry for 20+ years, I used my connections to be introduced to the owner of On Locations Tours. As in all planning for our blog outings, I am meticulous on accessibility details. Upon being introduced, I inquired about private and public tours, and while I initially preferred the private tour, it was difficult to find a private wheelchair accessible vehicle provider and therefore settled on the public tour. I was given a generous 30% discounts on tickets out of industry goodwill. I went over all the details: that this was for my sister’s 40th birthday and that she’s a wheelchair user who cannot transfer from her wheelchair to a seat, and I expressed our major excitement as well as the fact that we blog about our experiences. Days later an intern processed our payment and I requested she checked all of the stop-off points to ensure accessibility, which she confirmed a few days before the tour. Note: while engaging with the travel industry, I asked around about challenges in welcoming and serving PwD, and had heard that lifts on the private tour buses do not work well or the drivers are not trained on operating the lift. Being the diligent accessible planner I am, a few days before our tour, I sent the owner and general company email address a note to check with the bus company on both of these items. I got a reassuring email back from the owner that they work with a good bus company and the drivers are very well trained, the reservations department also confirmed they would contact the bus company so that everything would be in “good working order.”

Come the day of the tour, we were fortunate to have brilliant sunshine with temperatures starting off cool and turning warm by noon. Annie and I had a smooth ride into the city with plenty of time to peruse Tiffany’s and select her birthday present. Her mood was set and ready for her girls’ day out. We eagerly awaited everyone else’s arrival at the Plaza Hotel and once everyone showed up it was non-stop chatter.

I checked in with the tour guide and continued our chit chats while waiting around to board the bus. The rest of the guests were asked to line up away from us since their policy was to board the wheelchair user first.

Everything that could go wrong went wrong from here onwards.

1. The bus driver did not know how to use the lift. He had to call his office for instructions and finally was able to get the lift out.

2. We were allowed to board the bus and by that time a few guests were also seated. Upon getting in I apologized for the delay since you could feel the tension. There was no acknowledgement from anyone.

3. The bus driver was unable to get the lift back in place.

4. Not once during that time did the tour guide asked us about our reservation process or if we had alerted the company about having a wheelchair guest in our party, however, she had gone back to the other passengers a few times which I assumed was to keep them abreast of the situation.

5. While the bus driver worked on getting the lift back in, the tour guide started her spiel and interacting with the crowd. In the meantime, there is an annoying beeping sound over Annie’s head every minute while the driver tried to fix the lift.

6. By that time the tour was running 45 minutes late, everyone was getting antsy. Annie started to shake her head, indicating that she is no longer interested in being on the bus.

7. I emailed the owner to say “Surprise, the lift isn’t working”.

8. The tour guide’s phone rings twice while she was giving her speech and on the second ring she says, “Oh it’s the big boss, let me take this.”

9. She gets off the bus then comes back on the say the bus is broken and we should disembark and wait for a replacement or that we can contact the office for a refund. She had no idea when the replacement was coming. I went off the bus to get a word in with her explaining I had booked this tour directly with the owner, which she was quite surprised to hear.

10. At that moment, a guest departed, making condescending and rude remarks about me as if I wasn't there. The tour guide started explaining to the guest “Hey, she did the right thing.”

11. Annie safely gets off the bus on the lift. My cousins departed through the doors and upon exiting apologized to the remaining guests on the bus, who reciprocated with more rude remarks.

12. The tour guide had told the rest of the group that we did not inform her company we had a wheelchair user with us.

Within that time span, there were swirls of emotions that went from astonishment to disbelief with the aftermath of shame and disappointment. After all the meticulous planning to ensure an unforgettable birthday of fun, laughter and creating memories, this special day was marred by this awful experience.

In the week that followed I got a full refund, several calls from the owner with apologies and an offer for a make up birthday dinner or tour. The owner said the broken lift was the main issue, despite the fact that the tour guide had not been notified ahead of time of a wheelchair user as a passenger, and despite the tour guide telling the other guests we had not advised her company of a wheelchair user’s presence. These issues are the heart of this operational failure. If the lift was broken, understandably people would have been upset due to the delay, however they wouldn't have felt they were in the right to say the things they did to us. As this was the owners stance, we declined the private make up tour.

If you're aggrieved while visiting New York City, here are organizations you may contact.

1. The company itself.
2. The Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities.
3. Any membership organizations the company belongs to.
4. The Human Rights Organization
5. Better Business Bureau