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"Behavior" -- Has this always been there?

JaneP

I was looking at my pre-tour resources for my next trip and found this gem --> "Behavior" - "Tauck reserves the right to terminate the journey of any person who creates a hazard to other guests, impedes the pace of group as a whole, is abusive of others or whose behavior is disruptive. Tauck will make no refund and will accept no liability for persons who must leave the trip."

While it makes perfect sense to me - has this always been there? I do not recall seeing it before. I wonder if they are having issues like airlines these days or if this is the result of a specific traveler who caused problems.

Comments

OurTravels34

Jane, that’s a good question. What defines bad behavior? I’ve been on 17 Tauck trips and have not seen anyone or experienced anyone with bad behavior; annoying yes, again bad behavior has to be defined.

Smiling Sam

Bad behavior is one thing.

How about the clause 'impedes the pace of group as a whole'. I know I've been on tours where the same person/people are always late or other times lag behind the group as a whole. I think that would be 'impedes the pace of group as a whole', but I think this behavior would have to be so egregious, with several warnings involved before Tauck would actually take any action.

I've never seen anyone removed by Tauck. I've seen people having to leave due to injury, sickness, or family issues, but that was of their own accord.

Claudia Sails

Behavior of guests actually has been a thing with Tauck from the beginning. The very first advertisement started with "All I want is a congenial party. Ten minutes after leaving Newark, we shall be just one happy party, properly chaperoned, out for a real good time. I want no grouches or pessimists."

I went back to my very first green book from 2014 and it has this line "Please note that Tauck reserves the right to terminate the tour or cruise of any guest who is abusive to others or whose behavior disrupts the operation of the journey."

Like Sam, I've never seen anyone removed. There have been a few who did some annoying things -- though nothing worth sending them home. I'm sure we all have stories.

MikeHenderson

Jane, that’s a good question. What defines bad behavior? I’ve been on 17 Tauck trips and have not seen anyone or experienced anyone with bad behavior; annoying yes, again bad behavior has to be defined.

I suppose, like pornography, you know it when you see it.

But seriously, since Tauck is a private company and you enter into a contract with them, they can include a statement that they are the sole judge of what behavior would cause you to be removed and that the guest has no recourse to their judgement.

[Note that certain rights, such as free speech, only apply between you and the government. A private company can fire you for anything you say that they don't like.

In a similar fashion, you don't have the right to dress any way you want, do anything you want, or say anything your want when you're on a tour. Your relationship with the company is contractual and if you accept the contract you're bound by it.]

British

I’ve never seen those exact words before! There must have been complaints about those things mentioned. We did have one guy on a Bridges tour that almost had the TD in tears several times. And another grandfather on the same tour who kept dropping the F bomb, especially not appropriate when there were all those children present.
Annoying people, yes. Demanding people, yes. Only a couple of late people in all our tours, same with people slowing down the group.

OurTravels34

British: well said. I have never been on a tour when a guest had a TD in tears nor have I heard dropping the “F Bpmb”. On another note: when did that become part of every day vocabulary and secondly, why? One can have the same conversation with the same impact without cussing like a sailor.

CathieOK

On our Italy tour we had one couple who was always late for the meet in the lobby time slot. Our tour director would have none of it and told them they would be left if they did not arrive in time given. One morning they were about 15 seconds from being left. No one in our group would have blamed her. Anyone can have one bad morning, but every morning?

mil

I little too late! I know of 3 ladies' candidates that had all the requirements!
Botswana, Bali, India.

kfnknfzk

For as long as I can remember Tauck has published cautionary warnings about inappropriate behavior on tours, perhaps not in such strong terms as now.

Just recently there were two seething rants on this forum about perceived injustices while on tour. Respectfully offering an opinion and libelous mudslinging are two very different things. Tauck promptly removed those posts and, hopefully, barred those individuals from ever touring with them. I like to think that anyway.

SandyFeet

I simply ignore the ignorant and feel sorry for them. I have no respect for someone who airs their dirty laundry on this forum and then hides behind a computer to malign people.

Claudia Sails

The problem is some people - mostly new comers - think the forum is some version of Yelp or Tripadvisor which exists to air their reviews and ratings of their experience. Businesses do often pay attention to those posts. Some even respond. The forum isn't that. Its mainly just for guests to connect, ask questions and share experiences. We can't do much to solve what went wrong with their tour. Being honest about what you liked or didn't like is fine. When it starts veering into getting revenge on Tauck its time to stop.

SandyFeet

Claudia Sails 💯‼️

TravellinTracey

When I was on Jewel of the Nile, someone asked the TD about the worst guest they had ever had. It was the Jewel of the Nike trip, an 88 year old who needed a walker, took a long time getting on and off the bus and everywhere else, and expected the complete attention and assistance of the TD.

British

All he had to do was send them home

JaneP

I was on a trip once and there was a couple that was getting on my last nerve - always 5-10minutes late, always talking really loudly on the bus (when everyone else was settling in for some quiet time) like they thought everyone needed to hear their conversation, every time the TD said something one of them had to chime in with what they thought was a funny comment that usually was not....nothing really serious, but annoying to me. I was thinking what saints the TDs had to be to put up with some of the people they must have to deal with. I got to be more friendly with a TD on another trip and asked what kind of people were the hardest to deal with and unequivocally the answer was "the entitled ones." I can only imagine...and thank my lucky stars that I do not have that job - like herding squirrels some days...

MikeHenderson

Yes, I think the TD job is difficult. In addition to putting up with problem guests, they are away from home for long periods of time, which would make a relationship difficult. Just think if you had two children and your spouse had to take care of the kids and the household for months at a time. It would put a serious strain on the relationship.

OurTravels34

Tour directors should be psychologists too to deal with some types of behavior. I am not that patient.

Bob Burch

I have been on a number of Tauck river crusies, and have seen it all! LOL. The one I remember most vividly was actually a couple that I met on the trip, and his character on the cellphone during a trip back from our nice Palace dinner. He was very loud and used a lot of profanity. It was really embarrassing to both me and his Sister. I am sure he never even remembered the trip based on his alcohol consumption.

SandyFeet

Package tours are just that with all the good, the bad, and the ugly. Everyone who travels has stories like these. We need to be better humans.

Goddess

I look at the group as a microcosm of society.