It's a darned good deal! Good pricing, friendly staff and very accommodating. We showed up and went through the line, got to the counter and it turned out our tickets were issued for the next day. No problem. We were on the bus within 10 minutes without any fuss at all.
The drivers were friendly and bent over backwards to make sure everyone had the best time possible.
At $80 per ticket for an all day experience you really can't go wrong.
The crux of most, if not all, of the negative reviews and complaints seems to come from people who are not living in the real world.
Buses DO break down - just like cars do. If your car breaks down in the middle of the dessert it is not reasonable to expect AAA to be there in 20-30 minutes. If a bus breaks down anyone with a clue should understand things can get more complicated. That said, our bus was fine. It wasn't the newest with wifi and some of the lights didn't work but the bus was clean and comfortable making the long drive there and back quite pleasant.
We were roughly two hours late getting back but that was not ANY fault of the Grand Canyon Tour Company. At each stop different clusters of clueless and/or selfish people took their sweet time getting back to the bus which put us further and further behind schedule. On our first stop at the South Rim we waited 45 MINUTES for THREE PEOPLE to return. Two were a couple of dudes traveling together and another was a young lady on her own. The drivers weren't sure what to do but after some of us were expressing our frustration, a call was placed to the main office and we were on the road - three people short - and on to the next stop on the tour.
Long story short? If you want to see the Grand Canyon for a low price these guys are the only way to go. If you want a premium experience then pay the premium price of flying in to the canyon via helicopter.
I'm not being sarcastic -- I've done both so I speak from experience.
With a helicopter tour you have a VERY SMALL group making delays almost impossible. Just in case, the pilot runs the show and keeps everything on schedule and you get a good picnic meal - complete with Champagne. Plus you get epic aerial views and your total tour time is less than half the time of a bus tour.
The thing is, you won't get a ticket for a helicopter tour (which includes landing in and actually being at the Grand Canyon) for less than $450 - EACH.
So.... You can pay $80 per ticket and get on the bus or pay 550% more for EACH helicopter tour ticket.
I wish more people would get a grip on reality -- this tour is a seriously good deal.