VerLocal Attractions Experience: Ramen! Shelby Lamm

Our first experience with the sharing economy was through VerLocal, where we found a local chef and small business owner teaching homemade ramen and sushi courses in a community kitchen in downtown San Fran. Our experience was very smooth, from browsing to booking to the experience itself. Our host was very polished, and had clearly been doing this a long time. We think it was the experience with this specific host that made the experience enjoyable. Having built a strong profile with many reviews, we felt confident working with her. This was an individual experience though, and the platform (VerLocal) has no way to standardize the experience, because everything is up to the host. It is their prerogative to accept your request to book, cancel at the last minute without reason, or make any other changes they see fit. This leaves users on the edge of their seat until the last minute. Our host, Mari, was excellent. We learned about the history and various types of ramen, and we were able to make our own ramen and gyoza dumplings. This experience aligned with everything I had read online and on the hosts reviews, and our group was very happy with this experience overall.

An excellent example of why this is not ideal is our groups experience with Viator. We booked a tour for yesterday afternoon, had confirmation, but our host cancelled a few hours before the tour with very little communication or explanation.

Sites like VerLocal need to find a way to standardize UX or more heavily regulate hosts who cancel frequently, or dont respond.

Another major takeaway is a lack of interest in how our experience was. We have not been contacted to review our experience or write a review. The company needs to follow up to find out how their hosts are doing for customers.