Let me state up front, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. They are unreliable and deceitful. I am flabbergasted by the miserable experience I had with them, but also by the presence of so many positive reviews on this site (which I am now convinced must be faked). I'll explain.
I booked a wine tour with Anjanette a couple of months in advance for my wife's 40th birthday with some of her friends. PF Wine Tours, and Anjanette specifically, came very highly rated, both from sites such as this one as well as word of mouth from other wine tour companies in the area (I called around a lot before finding what I thought was the right option).
I should've seen the signs much earlier, but I kept reassuring myself with the reviews on this site and the great word of mouth I'd heard. Starting from the very beginning of the process, though, what I now realize should've been obvious is that Anjanette is a flake and you cannot rely on her. She'd send emails swearing up and down to get back to me with details, but they'd never come. She'd say things like, "if I don't send it to you within an hour then it means I'm dead" (that's a direct quote), then days would go by without any communication, until finally I'd have to nudge her again.
Despite all of that, we ended up with what I thought sounded like a great plan. Anjanette shared details that were basically a copy-and-paste that I assume she uses for every client, but they sounded good and her casual tone made me think the group was in for a fun time.
On the day of our tour, here are some things that happened:
- Anjanette did not show up when she was supposed to
- She wanted until AFTER the scheduled pickup time (in San Francisco) to bother telling us she hadn't even left Napa yet
- She claimed her car had been stolen the night before
- She promised to have a rental car that she'd use to provide the same experience we'd booked
- She had our party take an Uber to meet her in Sonoma (~$130) while she picked up the rental car
- She waited until AFTER the time she was supposed to pick them up in Sonoma to inform them she hadn't gotten the rental car
Finally, our group gave up on that day and did their own thing. Anjanette swore to reschedule everything for the following day. She promised it'd go off without a hitch. I called and spoke to her that morning, while she was supposedly on the way to pick them up, and she assured me everything was set. Then what happened:
- She again did not show up when she was supposed to
- When she finally did show up, it was in a car that was completely trashed: the exterior was filthy, and there was spilled dog food and other garbage all over the interior
- There was some random dude behind the wheel (no other participants had ever been mentioned)
- She was behaving erratically and mixing up her stories (this was supposedly the car that had been stolen, but now it was miraculously back)
- She was only able to confirm a tasting reservation with a single winery (we were supposed to have visited four), and it was already past the time that the reservation was supposed to be for
At that point, our group cut their losses and cancelled entirely. The biggest regret is that we kept giving her chances to make it right, rather than realizing what we'd gotten into much sooner. Since the pandemic began, you can only do wine tastings with a pre-booked reservation. My wife and her friends were able to find two wineries that took pity on them and gave them last-minute bookings, which they had to take Ubers to and from. It was a far cry from the experience I'd intended for them to have.
After the trip, I found a charge on my credit card for a winery that they had never visited. It turns out Anjanette had used my card, which I'd provided to secure our booking with her, to pre-pay for a tasting at a winery that she never took them to. (I had NOT authorized her to use it for this or any other purpose.) Thankfully, this winery was a legitimate business and we were able to get that money refunded (though it was a hassle).
I don't know if things have changed at some point, or we just caught her at a bad time, or what, but I do know that I cannot imagine this woman being capable of providing anything resembling a pleasurable experience, much less the amazing-sounding ones you read about in the other reviews on TripAdvisor or Yelp. She was a complete disaster, she ruined not one but two days of my wife's birthday trip, and there is absolutely nothing positive I can say about the entire experience of working with her. Don't make the same mistake I did. read more