On Thursday, October 20th we had pre-paid for a full day tour to the North Shore; including the Dole Plantation. Waking up at 5am, we prepared for another great day. To ensure Polynesian Adventure Tours had our correct pick-up, I called the night before to confirm both our location and time of departure. We skipped having a breakfast and opted to wait early at the spot for our tour bus to come get us. An hour later, my boyfriend called and was rudely told the driver had went to a different hotel because we had told them the wrong pick up place (which was a lie). I called them back and was passed off to Hawaiian Discounts. The whole day was spent trying to sort the mess. We had paid $140.00 total for the both of us to go on the Oahu Land Tours Gran Circle Island Tour. While waiting for Shirley, the manager to return my calls, I researched the tour more. They advertise that the tour included admission fees, yet Dole Plantation is free and another place only cost a three dollar donation. In the end, we came to realize this tour was a rip-off! Furthermore, me having to spend a day sitting by a phone waiting was frustrating. At 4pm Shirley called to tell me how sorry they were as they were in the wrong and offered us another tour at half price, which was an insult. I demanded our money back and she complied by telling me we would receive it back in 10-15 days! I have told others, including those staying at the hostel, about the terrible service and lack of respect for customers received from both of the companies mentioned in this posting. I also will be following up with a Trip Advisor review. That said, this was the first time in our 18 day holiday that a tour let us down by not showing up. There have been many wonderful tours and Johnny the guide was fantastic! My advice is to check out the places you want to go, then compare the prices between tours and personally going yourselves. In the end, we were able to catch up on some much needed rest and take in a beautiful evening walk along stretches of beach, we had not seen. Needing relaxation was key as a planned hike would be in the hot sun of the next day. As I strolled along under a canopy of stars, my bare feet being skimmed by the tropical waters, I revelled in the notion that in Hawaii...even a bad day is a GOOD day(-:
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