Review of 1 Day Tour: Mutianyu Great Wall and Ming Tomb by Alexandra

I signed up for my boyfriend and I to take part in a group tour, but due to some lack of communication, we had to change to a private tour the morning of the excursion. I have mixed feelings about this; having to change tours was inconvenient and costly, but the tour we received was good. I will explain the good and bad points below. Good: After the group tour left without us and I was finally able to make contact with someone by phone (see bad points for more on that), they did everything they could to quickly arrange a private tour for the same day since it was the only day we could do so. The tour guide Michael was friendly and accommodating. We got off to a late start due to the last minute change, but he and the driver went to great efforts to make sure we could still do as much as possible despite having to cut some things. We did not have time for lunch and only drove by the Olympic Stadiums, but in exchange they took us to a brief tea ceremony and then drove us to where we would have dinner. Dinner was not included in the tour, but they still waited for us to have our meal and then took us back to our place of lodging. For the private tour itself, I would give 5 stars! Bad: The reason I am not giving full stars is because of the communication problems that led to us having to spend more for a private tour. We were using AirBnb, so there was no hotel number we could give in advance. I would be getting a Chinese SIM card during our visit, so I was told to call the night before to give my number and discuss a meet up location. Once we arrived and got the SIM card, I tried calling the number provided several times, but could not get anyone on the line. I then sent an email giving my number, alternate email address, and WeChat info. Luckily it went through and I was told the tour guide would call. I waited but did not get a call (and no missed calls showed on my phone), so I went to bed expecting to be contacted in the morning. I had still not been contacted in the morning, but when I looked at my phone, it suddenly showed two missed calls that had not been displayed the night before. I called the number and it was the tour guide, who said he had tried calling "many times" and that the group was already on the way to the Tombs and Great Wall. This is why I was annoyed: I realize it is nobody's fault that my phone did not get the calls or display them until it was too late, but trying twice without attempting to use either of the other contact methods I provided does not seem like "many times" to me. It can't be helped that I did not get the call, but that is why I gave other info as well. I did not get any email or message saying that they had tried to contact me, nor did they try at all the morning of the tour. It wasn't until I finally reached the tour guide and they had someone from the office call me to arrange a private tour that communication started going smoothly.