My husband and I had our private tour on Sat. Unfortunately, it wasn't what we expected at all!
Pro's:
1) Driver was on time to pick us up at the hotel.
2) (Small) cold, bottled water was provided.
3) Lunch (not included) was very good. We were taken to a nice Indian BBQ place (buffet style).
4) (Old) air-conditioned vehicle.
Con's:
1) Our tour guide was NOT Gupta who seems to be getting fantastic reviews here and that's why we booked it. The tour guide we had was average to low, and he didn't seem very knowledgeable about the history of the places we visited (the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Baby Taj). He just provided basic information; nothing you can't probably find on a Google search.
2) The tour guide seem more interested about making a commission! (Part 1) Before beginning the tour he told us not to talk to photographers. He said our phone or camera was fine. As soon as we were inside the Taj Mahal, he signaled to his photographer buddies (like 5 of them) to come over... We declined and he seemed upset about it. Seriously?!
3) The tour guide seem more interested about making a commission! (Part 2) He took us to a marble carving place which, by the way, is not included in the package. If we had known about this prior to booking the tour, we would have not done it. We were not interested in jewelry making, marble carving, or embroidery; not in this tour. Since he was so pushy about it, and we didn't want to be rude, we decided to go to the marble carving place and check it out. We thought that of the 3 options, the marble carving seemed the most interesting to us.
Well, it turned out to be nothing but an annoying sales pitch, SO pushy! It was simply overwhelming (think of a desperate car salesman). At first, the owner showed us how they do the carving and such, which was fine. I even took pics 'cause I thought it was neat. But then it turned into a nightmare! Then he took us to the "store". BTW, we were the only ones there. So, you had to sit down (whether you wanted or not). Then he offered drinks, which we declined, since we just had lunch. Then he began his little show! He tried SO hard to get us into buying that it was exhausting and such a turn off. That's how bad it was. We kept smiling, and nicely declining but he kept showing us pieces and suggesting things to buy. You get the picture here. It was just awful! Finally, he got the message (after so many "no thank you's") that we were not buying anything. His face turned sour after that. The tour guide asked a few things in Hindi to the owner and was also upset that we didn't buy anything, of course, because he didn't get a commission. After all this, he had the audacity to ask if we wanted to "see" jewelry making, UGH! We nicely declined, and he wasn't happy about it.
3) At the end of the tour, we still gave the tour guide a 15% tip of the total amount of the tour price, which is considerate a nice tip here in India when you are delighted with someone's service. Well, he didn't even thanked us. He looked so disappointed that we couldn't believe it. He was lucky to get a 15% tip, especially considering how poorly he did. Someone else would have not tipped this guy at all.
I shared our experience with a local friend, and she said that unfortunately we indeed got ripped off!
