TopView Sightseeing Reviews 300

Absolute scammers. Street vendors promise you a bus every 10-15 mins, where we ended up waiting at a bus stop for 1.5 hours before the bus came. They also said the last bus is at 12am where in fact it is at 6pm. You end up wasting your whole day. Better to save yourself the time and money.

Horrible experience. Had 4pm tickets to Tea Around Town NYC, got sent to wrong address...(kitchen address), then finally got to right pick up spot. Our bus had left without us (4 of us friends bday), called customer service probably 15 times without an answer. 5pm bus comes, and the server says customer service is closed but they will answer, left 2 separate messages on website and still have never heard from anyone. The 5pm bus was full so we weren't able to get on. Spoke to someone who had done the tour before and she said good luck getting any help, they have the worst customer service around, I happen to agree. Do not care if I get my money back, but would like to do the tour because my friends were here and we wanted to do something different. Would like an acknowledgement, but afraid that is asking too much seeing the other reviews.

I want to express my strong dissatisfaction with this hop-on hop-off bus service in London. Unfortunately, my experience fell far below reasonable expectations and significantly impacted my visit. Never choose this company!!

To begin with, the number of buses in operation appears to be far too low to meet demand. This resulted in long waiting times at multiple stops, making it difficult to rely on the service as a practical means of transportation around the city.

Additionally, many of the buses were running late, with no update in the app. This lack of communication created confusion and frustration throughout the day. We were frequently left waiting for buses that either arrived much later than indicated or did not come at all.

Furthermore, I find it misleading that customers are not clearly informed about the limited operating hours by the person you buy ticket from at the bus stop. The late start in the morning and early stop in the evening significantly restrict the usability of the service. Due to these constraints, it was not possible to complete multiple routes in a single day, as advertised. Consequently, we missed several attractions that we had planned to visit, which was extremely disappointing.

Overall, the service did not deliver what was promised and felt misleading in both its marketing and execution. I believe customers deserve clear, accurate information and a service that operates reliably and frequently enough to justify the cost.

My daughter and I visited London on 11th February and had pre purchased tickets for the red line sightseeing hop in, hop off bus.
We disembarked the bus at Westminster to view the attractions in the area and returned to the same bus stop shortly afterwards, to resume our tour.
We were told by the TopView representative that the bus would be 12 minutes. Over 40 minutes later we had to run the far side of a large building to catch a connecting bus as none was coming our route.
After making this hurried dash, we discovered that the bus we were on was returning us to a route we had seen already.
We had to get off in Temple area just to get a tube to Victoria to view Buckingham Palace.
At this stage, it was 4pm. We eventually made our way back to Victoria to catch a TopView bus to see the rest of our sights.
The next bus that came along told us it was the end of the route for him and that he could not honestly tell us how long we would have to wait until the next bus, but it would be at least 30 minutes.
It was 4.25pm at this stage. It’s London and I was a female with my 13 year old daughter left stranded by not just one but two of Top View buses.
I was not satisfied with their service at all. I contacted them on two different occasions to raise my concerns to try and avoid this happening to other vulnerable customers. To date I have heard nothing back.
Avoid this bus tour company if you want a reliable, fun, safe and enjoyable tour of London.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!USE BIG BUS EVERY TIME

Paid for 3 adults for 3 days pass and literally used it for roughly 5 stops all in. The bus did not come back despite being told last bus was 6pm on the live app- waited from 5pm and still no bus so cost us €50 to get home by taxi. Following day we waited 1 hour for the bus to come to then get put off half way through the tour as the ‘bus needed to wait 40mins’ this did not happen we go off went for a takeaway coffee to walk back 7mins later to the bus leaving the stop and did not stop for us. Again we were another 1 hour 30 mins for another bus. To then get to the end of the tour to be stranded again at 5pm no bus again and there we were €60 for a cab home. So in all we paid €300 for a 2 day pass to not see the full tour, to be put off two tour buses, to eat ridiculous times on buses and for them just not to turn back up- the customer service guys couldn’t care less!!!

Made a complaint through customer service and surprise surprise no one has responded

Tea around town MIAMI, total scam! They cancelled while we were there waiting, an hour later of the original scheduled time. No one to talk to, and no refund issued. Be aware!

We had a terrible experience with TopView. The busses were filthy - hadn’t be cleaned for days. The downtown bus narration didn’t work and no stops were announced. Our uptown bus broke down and after 30 minutes the driver told us to get a taxi or train back to midtown as there were no further busses. We co reacted TopView twice and received NO response - very poor. I would never use this company again!

Omg don’t waste your time. Longest hour of my life. Repeats every sentence at least 3 times. At this stage i have entered the tribeca area 4 times!!!

Vendor we purchased tickets from was lovely but everything else not worth it

The Downtown buses didn't stop at number 9 and didn't inform you that it wasn't going to stop at number 9 and it's a long walk then to the Statin Island ferry terminal for the FREE boat to Statin Island that takes you past the Statue of Liberty 🗽. The buses are past their best. The Uptown bus should be banned from the road, it was polluting everyone whether upstairs or downstairs on the bus. You could actually see the smoke pass your window it was that bad and I believe only 1 bus was on that route. The downstairs windows are tinted so it's hard to see anything out of them and in the winter it's not helpful.

We bought a 2 day pass for 3 adults costing over £200 .The first day we waited for an hour for a bus to do Uptown. The audio didnt get turned on until half way round Central Park so we missed where we wanted to go. We got off and walked, which for 3 seniors with medical issues wasn't easy, we never saw another bus all day. The next day we waited again over 40 mins to do Downtown and no bus turned up so we used the subway. We had booked on the Liberty Cruise but didn't make it as no buses were to be seen . Absolutely terrible false advertising company. There are loads of people on the streets selling the tickets but no actual buses to hop on and hop off, plus £200 out of pocket. It spoilt 2 days of our short break and would advise other visitors not to use thrm.

The best bus tour commentaries are live, delivered by local people, with their own stories and insights. Our bus had a cold, pre-recorded commentary with no warmth.

Partway through the tour it did a change of route which was announced, but without mentioning this meant it did not go near the Statue of Liberty area. Worse, it went near the World Trade Centre area without mention, the prerecorded commentary being unable to deal with the change of route.

Bus tours are known to have some long waits at stops, but to wait up to 15-20 minutes was ridiculous.

Sadly, a waste of money. Avoid.

"What went wrong?" -"How can this company improve?"

These are questions they want answered when you start a new review, so this is what they'll get.

My name is Anthony McLaughlin and this is my review.

What went wrong? Where do I begin?

1) I bought a so-called 'discount' ticket for 72 Hours and it appears to have been cheaper on-line by $10

2) There is mention of "Access" to two museums - City of New York Museum and the Museum of Natural History - mentioned on the brochure. A vague term so I asked one of the "Street Sellers" and they said "No you don't have admission to the museums". It says online that you DO have admission to the museums with a 72 Hour Pass - so which is it?!!

3) There is also mention of admission to 'The Edge' and 'Top of the Rock' - though this might be with caveats - however, still vague.

4) I almost missed the Bronx Tour because one of their genius 'Street Sellers' said I wouldn't be able to get to the pick up stop which was only two blocks away. I didn't trust him and ignored him and went on the Bronx Tour.

5) The Buses were infrequent and one, maybe two of the buses (might have been the same bus the next day) - needed maintenance on the Audio system - many people gave up and didn't bother listening to the audio because you either couldn't hear it or it was crackly - the audio sockets maybe needed replacing or something like that.

The Street sellers were only there to sell tickets it seemed - any additional help was putting too much pressure on them bless them. Many of the street sellers were immigrants from Africa and barely spoke English, so this may have been a factor.

6) The App came up on a Search on Google App Store but as with many others who bought tickets from this company, I had to get a Printed ticket because the App was 'Incompatible with my Smart Phone'. This was convenient when considering the limited amount of information on the Printed ticket as to what was included.

- I made the most of what I could with my ticket. Uncertainty around the 'Museums' question left me with no motivation to try getting in - as the 'Street Seller' said they were not including 'Admission' to the museums. I would have gone on the Night Tour with Narration which was included, but by my last evening in New York I was too tired, with tired legs, it was raining heavily and did not wish to get soaked getting to the Departure point which was too close to get on the Metro, but too far to walk in the heavy rain.

I have already launched a complaint and I was open to a compromise, but the 'Customer Services' rep did not follow up on my concerns and disappointments - so they get this review and rating by default.

Overall, dissatisfied - but I made the most of what I could, because I have seen enough with the 72 Hour Ticket - Did Uptown, Downtown, Bronx and Statue of Liberty Cruise.

-

Anthony McLaughlin

I wish I came on here earlier before bookings and will definitely be advising anyone and everyone to stay away from this company.

I echo everything that has been said on here. Audio not working, buses not arriving on time, even within the hour. Drivers rude rude rude! When the Audio works, it’s music or the driver shouting again about something no ones knows about.

It was such a sh*tty experience for us and I am asking for a refund which they are refusing and offering to reissue my ticket when I am no longer in NYC and never want to use them ever again.

I have used other service providers so I had high hopes for this.. do not listen to their marketing.. they are simply the worst. And for the amount they charge, DISGUSTING!

Fantastic New York Experience with TopView Bus Tours!

Our experience with TopView Bus Tours in New York City was absolutely fantastic! We did the Uptown, Downtown, Night Tour, and Boat Tour over 48 hours, and it was worth every minute. The tours were well-organized, the routes covered all the must-see landmarks, and the commentary was both fun and informative.

A special shout-out to Chris (Christian) at the Empire State Building location. We spoke with him several times before booking, and he was incredibly knowledgeable and patient. He explained all the tour options, helped us choose the perfect package, and even walked us through what to do if we missed a booking or ran into any issues.

Christian is excellent at spotting tourists and speaking to them with the utmost respect. He approaches everyone with a friendly attitude, offers genuine help, and never comes across as pushy. He truly went above and beyond for us. He knows what to say, when to listen, and how to make customers feel valued. He’s a real asset to the company and should definitely be training other reps or leading a team.

Thanks to him, our experience with TopView was smooth, enjoyable, and memorable.

Highly recommend TopView for anyone visiting NYC — and if you can, ask for Christian

Just horrible. Zero organization. Guys on the street pushing flyers in your face. We stupidly bought tickets in NYC. Little headsets only played music and NO audio and NO audio tour. Driver said, OH well it happens. No real number to reach them. I asked for refund and crickets. Do NOT use this company. Go with the BIG BUS company. Very organized and great audio tours.

Awful experience from Top view NYC. Do not buy from this company. Hard road side sales, we waited over 90 minutes when we were told next bus was in next 15 mins. Very expensive. Rude staff

Bad experience. If you have to choose, go for Bigbus instead. Top Viewer has old buses and, above all, you end up waiting between 30 minutes and an hour. Forget about buses every 10 minutes — definitely to be avoided. At every stop we saw two or three Bigbuses go by, and when a Top Viewer finally showed up, there were no seats left. Clearly not enough buses.

It was my son's 14th birthday - he is non-verbal with severe autism. He can point to letters on a keyboard to spell and he wanted to do a bus tour of New York City. So we bought 4 tickets for TopView. When we arrived at 555pm on the small line on 8th avenue the top view staff member was cranky and raising his voice to all the people in line about not having the app downloaded to be able to get on the bus. It was an ambiguous process to buy the tix - once purchased there was an option to download to wallet in iPhone so my husband did this but apparently you also needed to download the top view app - when we were told about the app (tickets were purchased and in husband's wallet on iPhone) the top view employee said he could not wait for us to get the app and would not let us on the bus. I mentioned it was my son's birthday and he is non-verbal and autistic - him and I were on the bus and both the hostile staff member and the driver said we have to get off they did not have time for my husband to download the app - they suggested we catch another bus at 8pm - that was the next bus with live tour guide to provide the audio. When I explained it was my non-verbal autistic's son's birthday - they both showed zero emotion, told us to get off the bus and said they had to go. We then hoped on another bus as the wait time of 2 hours for a personal tour voice guide was not going to work for our autistic son wait time, the audio supplied did not match to the stops and the in between music was terrible. We paid over $240 for 4 tickets and we had the absolute worst experience - my son, non-verbal waited patiently for his birthday trip the whole time - his older sister was as disappointed as we were - very unprofessional, the app was terrible and my son's birthday was ruined with the attitude and dismissive tone we received from the top view staff - very disappointing...
We had previously been on another bus tour in NYC couple years before - it was great - Topview should not be operating. The way they treated the other customers on the bus with the same app issue was appalling to say the least.

Late vehicles told every 10/15 minutes waited 40 minutes for the first bus which also had no sound system and the scheduled once a day was 25 minutes late.
Not impressed

If you don’t believe this review, take a look at all the other reviews! Find another company! We booked the double decker open top bus. We felt the sights listed in the description were all the top things we wanted to see. We bought are tickets online thru TripAdvisor. Then had to email the tickets to ourselves, download the TopView app and download the tickets there. A bit of a hassle but not a big deal. We wanted to make sure we got a seat on the top so we arrived 15 min before boarding time. We found the empty bus and asked the female driver where we needed to get in line. She snapped back, “get on down there, I’m on break” lol. We ended up standing on the side of the street for an hour waiting for them to let us on the bus while they were on break, joking around with each other etc. This was very unprofessional to not communicate with paying customers as to why we were all still standing in line while the empty bus was still sitting there 45 minutes after our scheduled departure time. We had no commentator as described in the tour description and with this being our first trip to NYC we didn’t always know what we were looking at other than a beautiful skyline. When we asked the driver what stops she would be making in Brooklyn, she snapped back, “talk to the tip jar!” I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly and asked her to repeat it. She said, “if you want me to make a stop, YOU PUT MONEY IN THE TIP JAR, that’s how this works!” Ugh! She was honestly rude x10 and obviously shouldn’t be working with first time tourists. Don’t ask questions….you will get a butt chewing! Overall, the sights were amazing but educate yourself about the route because you will not get info from staff and be prepared for terrible service. Find another company!