This was poorly organized and to be honest, kind of a scam. I say “kind of” bc shopping in India is based on knowing where to go and who is not going to gouge you. The very nature of being a tourist means- you’ll be up charged. I knew this, but I naively thought that it didn’t apply to the tour itself. It does! Firstly, the tour guide showed up late and said he could find us for 30 minutes. (We were standing right in front of the hotel). There was no answer from the tour organizer. We almost left, but “Joseph” found us. He asked us what we wanted and I was very clear. A specific market and a few items we were looking for.
Basically, the tour guide calls his buddies and lets them know you’re coming. They take you to an expensive place. They offer you tea, they use the word “family” and are super nice to you. Then they go in for the kill of a crazy high price! The price they tell you is ridiculous so you walk out. Then the tour guide takes you to another place (they all know each other) and that guy gives you expensive prices that aren’t quite so outrageous. It doesn’t seem so bad and you make purchases. The tour guide gets a commission for bringing you there and the shop makes a sale. Win for them- shopper overpays.
This tour is no exception.
The only reason I didn’t give it zero stars is because we weren’t harmed or robbed and were taken back to our hotel in one piece. I recommend staying at a high end or reputable hotel and going through their concierge. They will give you the real places to shop and how to do it. Ask them for a trustworthy guide. Better yet, if you know someone in India, ask them.
We told our guide exactly where we wanted to go, he took us all the way to the opposite side of town to his buddies shop. They don’t tell you the prices up front and try to upsell you. We left there when their prices were ridiculous. We told our guide “Joseph” that we wanted to go to another specific market. He did NOT listen and were at the mercy of the driver. He said, this next place is really great “just try it”. I told him I didn’t want to but they did it anyway. I’m not arguing with a driver who has me and my family in a vehicle in a place I don’t know so we didn’t really have a choice. The store we went to was fine, but it wasn’t until after the tour that we realized what was happening. By this point, what was supposed to be a nice stroll through a market with my kids turned out to be an exhausting waste of time. To be fair, the guide did offer to NOW (3 hrs later) take us to the market we originally wanted, but it was on the other side of town. We were tired, hungry and disgusted with the experience… and an hour in Delhi traffic from our hotel. We had NO intention of going that far or spending that much time. I did say that to the guide BEFORE we started. He just didn’t care and wanted his commission. The best part is that in the car ride back the guide sensed my frustration and mocked me by saying “Princess” before my name.
In the end, I am thankful that our kids did learn about shopping in India…be careful who you trust and of course, DO NOT take this tour.