Guide lets a tourist oversleep, 'she missed the day trip she paid for.' AITA?

"AITA for not waking up a tourist who overslept and missed the day trip she paid for?"

Hi guys! I’m (21f) a Bulgarian tour guide who accompanies groups to Sicily. On a recent trip, one woman who was traveling alone (mid-30s) was consistently oversleeping. The first day after we arrived, we had a day trip to Etna and Taormina, for which we depart at at 8 am, as we do all other day tours.

I make sure that all tourists are informed of the departure times on the bus the day before and they also have my number to call in case they forget so I can remind them. They also all have printed out pamphlets with the schedule made by the travel agency that I hand out that has the time for departure on it.

All of the group was on time, except one woman. She was late by 10 minutes, which, okay, maybe she got caught up in something and was late. I excused it, then mentioned to the whole bus in the mic that I do not tolerate lateness beyond 15 minutes at most in case of emergency like a forgotten possession, and that I must ALWAYS be called and informed in case someone is running late.

Trip went by okay otherwise. The next day this same tourist was late again, by TWENTY FIVE minutes. Almost an entire half hour. I called her twice to no answer and we were just about to leave without her when she came out running and got on the bus (she got lucky, as the receptionist of the hotel asked me about a missing piece of info on the rooming list and earned her some time).

I reminded everyone AGAIN that I will not be waiting anymore for late tourists in the morning, and waking up on time is their responsibility. When we came back that evening, she asked me if I could "make sure to wake her up on time." I reminded her a THIRD time that I’m not responsible for waking people up.

Everyone gets a printed itinerary with departure times, and I announce everything the day before. She kept saying, "No, no, just knock on my door if I’m not out by 8:15" and I kept repeating "I really can’t do that for everyone, please set an alarm."

Well, on the day we were visiting Syracuse, she didn’t show up. I waited 15 minutes after the supposed departure time, called her twice to no response, then left with the bus and the rest of the group. She called me in a panic about an hour later asking where we were. I explained the situation calmly. She got angry and said that I had one job and that I cheated her out of the money she paid to go on that day trip.

She missed the whole day trip and was furious the next day. Later she told the rest of the group that I abandoned her and also called my agency, leaving a bad review about me. AITA for not personally waking up a grown woman despite warning her multiple times I wouldn't?

Here's what people had to say to OP:

Yavanna83 said:

NTA, I have been on many tour trips and it is always their own responsibility. Contact your agency yourself and explain to be ahead of the accusations.

Muted_Kangaroo6973 said:

NTA. She is a grown woman who I’m guessing is chronically late to everything based on the lack of care or shame for being late and holding the entire group back. If she knows she struggles getting up it’s her responsibility to make sure she has the accommodations needed (a loud alarm clock, prepping the night before, ect) to be on time.

As someone who also does work in a similar field you have every right to leave someone behind if they’re not responsible. Making sure someone is awake is not on you, you have plenty of other things you’re responsible for, but not that.

7625607 said:

NTA. Not your responsibility to wake her up. And if the tour company tried to make it part of your duties, the first time you knocked on a door the person would say “I’m ill and will be staying in the hotel today” or something, and give you a bad review for waking them.

Want2BnOre said:

NTA. You have to be on time when traveling with a group. Limits have to be set. My tour bus in the Netherlands left me at the public garden venue when I was 5 min late.

Ok-Calligrapher1345 said:

ESH - you for not being strict with your policy. As stated, you must be called to inform of a late arrival and you won’t wait. Day 1, 2 and 3 you wait anyway without calls and one time even 25 minutes. At that point just go up and knock on their door. Every day you should have left on time as you never received a call she was going to be late. Follow your policy on day 1 and avoid this.

Melin_Lavendel_Rosa said:

NTA. You are not her mother. She has a lot of audacity to actually complain about something that is entirely her fault. I hope you didn't get in trouble.