Guide refuses child-free couple on family-oriented tour, 'I'm not gonna budge;' AITA?

Child-free people can often feel excluded or dismissed by parents, but being banned from a tour is a new one...

So, when a conflicted tour guide decided to consult the moral compass of the internet about rejecting some 'lying' child-free people from a kid-friendly tour, people were ready to help deem a verdict.

AITA for refusing a “child free” couple on a family tour group?

My family runs a tour company that operates small to large tour groups around the surrounding region. These span from scenic tours, historic sites, and even some whale watching.

In order to make things run more smoothly, and also to the benefit of our customers, some of these tours are group focused. For example, we have tours specifically for Chinese and Taiwanese tourists with bilingual guides.

Along these lines, my mother started organizing family tours a while ago specifically for parents with young kids. She is very family oriented and these tours are her pride and joy so to speak, being specifically geared towards making sure the kids enjoy themselves as well as their parents. It’s also a great opportunity for kids to make new friends.

Now, because these are a hobby of my mother and done for the benefit of new families, they are significantly cheaper than the main tours. 1 or 2 parents can simply buy a family pass for a set price and bring up to 3 kids at no extra cost.

The family pass costs significantly less than two adult tickets for the equivalent normal tour group. For this reason, bringing at least one kid is mandatory, else people would take advantage of the price discrepancy. We are very clear about this requirement.

Fast forward to yesterday, a couple without any kids shows up to a family tour they had booked online. I immediately bring this up and they explain they’re “child free” and booked this one since the normal one was full.

I explained that this is a family tour and we are very clear about this requirement, which sparked a ridiculous argument about them being discriminated against as a child free couple.

The online booking system requires them to put in how many kids they have (1+) so they 100% knew they about this. They definitely lied to book the tour.

Eventually I relented and offered to let them join the tour provided they pay the difference between this and the normal one for two adult tickets. They refuse saying they already paid online and shouldn’t have to pay more than the advertised price. Again sparking a ridiculous argument about them being discriminated against.

Eventually the tour is set to leave and they, accepting Im not gonna budge, demand at least a refund. I refuse since the tour was fully booked meaning their fraudulent online booking almost certainly meant we missed out on another family.

They claim this is illegal, at which point I gave them the contact details of our family’s lawyer and said we would be happy to see them in small claims court. They swore at me before walking off defeated.

Since then our tour group has seen a bunch of fake reviews from a “child free” Facebook page claiming we’re evil etc. Luckily we got them removed since they’re obviously fake, but AITA for my response to them?

Here's what the jury of internet strangers had to say here...

ThrowAsideWhenDone said:

ESH. If you can afford to make a family pass of up to three kids plus parent(s) cost 'significantly less' than just a regular tour for two, you're basically charging people without kids extra to subsidize your mom's hobby.

That's pretty crappy. Also, if it's that much of a difference, you should expect people trying to cheat the system and that's entirely on you. (I guarantee you at least one 'family' you've had has been a couple with a nephew or watching a neighbor's kid or something just to get the cheaper rate).

But at the same time, having an obnoxious system doesn't excuse their fraudulent booking, and they drastically overreacted.

Papafynn said:

NTA. They lied & tried to take advantage of your generosity. Not only that but by lying they denied a family with a child an opportunity to partake. F-k those folks.

digamma10101 said:

Definitely NTA. You said it, it is fraud. They tried to gain benefit by deception. The booking they tried to get REQUIRED them to list the number of children they are bringing, and that is a REQUIREMENT of that type of booking. Anyone who says differently is a person who sees that sort of deception as acceptable.

It isn't discrimination. If you had not allowed them to book ANY tour because they are child free, then they would have something to complain about. They had other options available, you were even prepared to accommodate them for the regular price.

They tried to lie and cheat and when they got caught out, they doubled down instead of trying to show any honour or decency and admitting they were in the wrong.

Mirianda666 said:

ESH. Former tour-guide, here. Tours that are designed for children and families are different than those designed for adults. They have to be, because kids are, well, kids. Part of the reason that family tours are often cheaper than adult tours is that they are less content-based and are more 'oh, look at this! do you know what THIS is?' and hands-on, 'touch this tree bark and now go touch this tree', all with the parents as co-leaders of the tour for their children.

It is a dynamic that simply does not allow for a guide to cover the same information that the adult tour covers, it does not allow for a lot of conversation (because kids get antsy), and there is a lot of 'down' time as the group moves from place to place.

I find it hard to believe that the two child-free adults who signed up would have been at all happy with the tour they found themselves on. They'd have been affronted that it was a 'different' tour and that they didn't get the stuff that comes with the 'regular' tour.

That being said, your mom should have told them all of this. If they still wanted to go on the tour, that would have been their choice and your mom should have taken them. The child-free couple wanted to go on a family tour? Let 'em. I imagine they would have regretted their choice within the first half-hour, but that would have been THEIR problem. As it is, your mother kinda made it her problem.

king_kong123 said:

YTA For not just giving them a refund. Look if the normal tour is full it's a normal response for people to book one that they think is similar. It's not uncommon for small businesses to have websites that make you put in a junk info to go to the next screen.

I know that you think that they were trying to cheat the system but unless you have a very well design webpage and a huge warning label saying repeatedly that you must have a child present attend it's possible for people to make mistakes.

Horror_Mathematician said:

YTA what an absurd policy where's it's cheaper for 5 people then 2.

So, there you have it...

While the opinions were fairly divided here, most people thought everyone was at fault. The couple should've accepted that the rate was set for families, but they also should've received a refund. Better luck next time, everyone!