We found Aaba Limo through a wine tour offer posted by Amazon Local:
https://local.amazon.com/san-jose/B00L9DR8YS
We invited another couple to join us on the tour. My wife made the arrangements. She first tried to call and set a date, left a message, but didn't hear back. A week later she called again and talked to someone who told her about the need to pay a gratuity (almost another $100, kind of unexpected), and we set a tentative date. Then she called back after talking to all of our party and set the date and time. At their request, she texted that info, along with pickup address, to their number.
She was also told to follow up on the day before the tour and to text them again to reconfirm, which she did about 26 hours before our pick-up time. In their response they said they didn't cover fees, and we could pick whatever wineries we wanted. Also that if we went over the four-hour limit by any time, we would have to pay for the extra time used.
My wife doesn't carry her cellphone in her pocket all the time, so she didn't get their text message until the next morning that if we didn't reconfirm within 30 minutes, they'd have to cancel the tour. They also called her cellphone and left a voice message. When she got the messages, it was about 30 minutes before we'd set our pick up time, and we had another couple on the way to our house. She immediately called and reminded them that she *had* reconfirmed the day before and asked if they were coming or if we needed to cancel. They said they'd contact their driver.
About 15 minutes after that she texted them and asked if we were still on and they texted that their driver was on his way. Driver arrived on time and since we'd printed out a wine trail map of the area we wanted, we gave him the first address for his GPS and off we went. We had a fun time visiting several wineries and got out of the last winery about 20 minutes before our deadline, so we ended up having to pay for the extra time it took to get home.
In summary...
Pros:
Pretty nice initial discount (though see details below).
Nice to have someone else drive (designated driver).
Good driver, safe and polite.
Fun time overall for our foursome.
Cons:
Gratuity added almost 50% to our base cost.
Accidental overtime beyond 4 hour limit added even more cost.
Winery fees were not included.
No pre-planned winery itinerary--you pick your own.
Town car was a bit cramped with 3 of 4 in the back seat.
Communication setting up the date and time was spotty and confusing, and appeared disorganized at their end.
Conclusion:
Essentially a transportation service rather than a hosted tour. About three stars because we had a good time and the driver was safe. About two stars for confusion and disconnections in the surprise costs and in just getting it all set up. read more