A bad review on Giunone Weddings. Company registered in Italy but owner is 1 woman show based in Singapore.
Imagine this…. You paid for a premium price at $4000 for a 5 days Latvia trip and you were bought around by a 15 years old Russian teenager and an Italian lady (who speaks no Latvian).
And when you questioned the tour operator about the guide, her reply is “We just say guide, we never put in the contract that it must be a professional guide or that it must be meâ€
And that this is just the starting of the trip and how will you feel for the next 2 weeks with the tour operator?
I asked this question to Guinone Weddings owner,Olga Jastrebkov and till now she has never given me a satisfied answer but the fact she still thinks that it is not her fault.
This review here is our pre-photo shoot + tour package with her that we thought it was a good deal but in fact is pegged with many problems. Hopefully, this review will give you a better idea before you signed up a package with her. There are a lot of issues which is impossible for me to highlight but I will just pick some examples for you to consider and conclude.
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Before the trip:
Her inexperience started the moment we signed the contract. Without informing us that she will be booking the flights. She uses just my wife’s English and surname to apply for the flight and when we realized it, we have to pay for the difference on a mistake that she had done. Tickets have to be repurchased because obviously passport name does not have the English but only the dialect name.
It was a sign of more negative things to come; we did not heed it and gave her another chance. It is a moment that I regret till now.
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Trip to Latvia:
1. Based on the above statement, initially she stated that we were supposed to be the only group and that we will have the premium service however at the last minute her “VIP†customers signed a package exactly the same time and she had to tour with them instead of us since we were the normal customers. So she assigned, her 10 year old son, 15 year old Brother, Italian Sister-in-law to tour Riga with us. 2nd time was her 15 year old Brother and Italian sister-in-law.
Now here comes her answers: [“I thought about trying to get a certified tour guide for you but I am afraid that he/she will cheat you (I don’t know who is the cheat here, tour guide or her), my family members are also busy but I still asked them to guide you for this tripâ€]
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Trip to Italy:
1. After we came back at about 11pm from a volcano climb together, we went to the gear shop to return our stuffs and were very exhausted. Once my wife and I came out from the shop, she was nowhere to be seen. The street was in total darkness and we lost our way.
Her reply: [“you should have call meâ€] That’s her best answer to this situation. I have bought my customers on trips before and this is pure common sense that we wait for everyone before we go back. Olga never fails to amaze me.
2. Sorry this is long but probably the most frustrated part. Madonna concert in Florence. Her Plan: Send us there, bring us to the ticketing booth after concert pick us back. Sounds easy. Well, not for her.
During this point of time, another couple had joined and we were touring together. And obviously, there she had an issue with us already. So we had a tour in Florence main city but we have already told her that we were rushing and that we just wanted a quick glimpse of the main attraction. [“Ok†“Okâ€]. So we hurriedly went to a museum by ourselves and told her to make arrangement and go look for us when they were done at the gelato shop.
A while later, her sister-in-law came with her and she explains [“well you know the other couple can’t understand Italian and I have to go back to themâ€] ………………………*speechless* didn’t know we can speak Italian now. For your information, her sister-in-law can’t speak much English and we were to be frustrated a while later. Ask Olga how we are going to the concert, she says my wife and I will take the taxi there by ourselves and she will pay for it. What happen to fetching us there and ticket booth??
However, the worse thing is that, we couldn’t get a taxi there. We were running around like mad but no taxi wanted to fetch us there because certain roads were blocked due to Madonna’s arrival. Called her to go fetch us but she says she is with the group now and it will take a long time to come. There are many arguments here but i think i will stop here.
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Photos selections arrangement when we come back:
1. She will contact us after 10 days moment we leave Europe. After 10 days, no reply from her. Emailed her still no reply. Couldn’t wait any longer and contacted photographer ourselves due to wedding date.. when she reply back, instead of apologizing [“As far as I know the photographer has contacted youâ€] We can only shake our heads when we saw her email. After we discussed about this almost a month later. [Her reply: “You have no right to contact the photographer†]
So these are just some of the many issues that we had with Olga and I probably need to write an essay if I continue. However, below are some additional comments that I would like you to take note of.
Personally, I feel that she makes too many promises initially to entice you. I not going to say all are empty but when she can’t make up those promises and giving you an excuse to cover it. You feel very much cheated.
I am not sure how many have joined her trip, but one thing for sure is that “GET HER TO GO THROUGH EVERYTHING IN DETAILS WITH YOU, WRITE EVERYTHING SHE PROMISE DOWNâ€
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Example 1: She will probably tell you that she knows a place that has the best eg. shoes which I asked but upon reaching the place. She just casually point to you a touristy shoe shop while walking along the street ????????
Example 2: She is bad at planning trips because she doesn’t check the schedule of the closing hours of certain places. Unlike trips where you plan yourself or guided tour, I’m scared to use this term "guided" now, next time please check with Chan Brothers or SA tour the meaning of guided tour.
Example 3: Her usual answers are â€let’s see what we can do when we are there†So being gullible, we think that it will happen and when it doesn’t “I already told you so it’s maybeâ€
Example 4: Her huge ego problem. One thing about here is whenever you raised an issue of let’s say 10%, she will counter propose to you that, to cover up that issue, she will talk about the other 90% good points to make makes you forget about that 10%. We paid $21,500 for the trip and told her that we deserved a better service. Her reply : [“It was initially $31,500 so I have actually given you $10,000 discount. You should be appreciativeâ€]
Quite similar to a car sales man telling you that the engine is working fine and you have a kobe cow leather seats when the steering is not working properly. She always have an excuse over another one and after a few talks, we have totally given up and it’s plainly wasting our time trying to talk to her.
Example 5: The other couple initially wanted to go Pisa for photo taking which is a far from the where we were going. She tried to convince them not to because the trip was long etc etc. and she even want us to help her convince them. So much so she even used the four letter word on them because she couldn’t convince them to.
What I am saying here is, this kind of things happens when you have 2 couples or more.
Example 6: The food prices. Contract: Although Ala carte food however to her that means only Pasta and Pizza, no meat dishes. Wine and drinks included = HOUSE wine only, You can’t select wine of your choice.
When we were back in Singapore, she commended that we order ala carte menu and that she was providing a better service for us.
So why put ala carte in the first place?????? This is definitely misleading because if in the first place if I know that I would be having pizza and house wine in europe for all my meals. Nobody in the right mind would actually sign up.
My wife throughout the trip was sad and for me it was painful to watch her like that. During the whole time, we really wanted to end the trip and tour by ourselves. But practically, we paid a total of $21500 for it and there is no way we are going to let her off so easily and suffer the losses ourselves. However, having said all these, being fair. There were moments which we enjoyed the trip but somehow or rather when we calculate the cost. Its seems too high a price to pay for the enjoyment. Whether if it's worth it, it's all subjective. You Decide.
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VERY IMPORTANT: We have tried to ask her to remove our photos- groupon and videos - youtube (both still there) for her promotion but she refused and this is what she reply in message [“In the contract says that I can publish it. And I have all rights for your videos and photos. If you want, you can buy the rights from usâ€]
It was only when we have checked the back of the contract that we realized that she put some fine prints in.
A check with other photographers states that they will seek your permission for their own advertisement should they want to use your stuffs.
Bottom line is, if you choose to go on a package with her, please follow these important guidelines:
1. Please check how many couples are going together with you.
2. Write down all the details that she has promise. Make sure she fulfills it or money back.
3. You would probably get a wedding planning service as an icing from her. I pray for you that she don’t call her maid to replace her when she has a last minute VIP guest.
4. You better start praying.
If you need more information, please contact me at [email protected].
Imagine this…. You paid for a premium price at $4000 for a 5 days Latvia trip and you were bought around by a 15 years old Russian teenager and an Italian lady (who speaks no Latvian).
And when you questioned the tour operator about the guide, her reply is “We just say guide, we never put in the contract that it must be a professional guide or that it must be meâ€
And that this is just the starting of the trip and how will you feel for the next 2 weeks with the tour operator?
I asked this question to Guinone Weddings owner,Olga Jastrebkov and till now she has never given me a satisfied answer but the fact she still thinks that it is not her fault.
This review here is our pre-photo shoot + tour package with her that we thought it was a good deal but in fact is pegged with many problems. Hopefully, this review will give you a better idea before you signed up a package with her. There are a lot of issues which is impossible for me to highlight but I will just pick some examples for you to consider and conclude.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before the trip:
Her inexperience started the moment we signed the contract. Without informing us that she will be booking the flights. She uses just my wife’s English and surname to apply for the flight and when we realized it, we have to pay for the difference on a mistake that she had done. Tickets have to be repurchased because obviously passport name does not have the English but only the dialect name.
It was a sign of more negative things to come; we did not heed it and gave her another chance. It is a moment that I regret till now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trip to Latvia:
1. Based on the above statement, initially she stated that we were supposed to be the only group and that we will have the premium service however at the last minute her “VIP†customers signed a package exactly the same time and she had to tour with them instead of us since we were the normal customers. So she assigned, her 10 year old son, 15 year old Brother, Italian Sister-in-law to tour Riga with us. 2nd time was her 15 year old Brother and Italian sister-in-law.
Now here comes her answers: [“I thought about trying to get a certified tour guide for you but I am afraid that he/she will cheat you (I don’t know who is the cheat here, tour guide or her), my family members are also busy but I still asked them to guide you for this tripâ€]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trip to Italy:
1. After we came back at about 11pm from a volcano climb together, we went to the gear shop to return our stuffs and were very exhausted. Once my wife and I came out from the shop, she was nowhere to be seen. The street was in total darkness and we lost our way.
Her reply: [“you should have call meâ€] That’s her best answer to this situation. I have bought my customers on trips before and this is pure common sense that we wait for everyone before we go back. Olga never fails to amaze me.
2. Sorry this is long but probably the most frustrated part. Madonna concert in Florence. Her Plan: Send us there, bring us to the ticketing booth after concert pick us back. Sounds easy. Well, not for her.
During this point of time, another couple had joined and we were touring together. And obviously, there she had an issue with us already. So we had a tour in Florence main city but we have already told her that we were rushing and that we just wanted a quick glimpse of the main attraction. [“Ok†“Okâ€]. So we hurriedly went to a museum by ourselves and told her to make arrangement and go look for us when they were done at the gelato shop.
A while later, her sister-in-law came with her and she explains [“well you know the other couple can’t understand Italian and I have to go back to themâ€] ………………………*speechless* didn’t know we can speak Italian now. For your information, her sister-in-law can’t speak much English and we were to be frustrated a while later. Ask Olga how we are going to the concert, she says my wife and I will take the taxi there by ourselves and she will pay for it. What happen to fetching us there and ticket booth??
However, the worse thing is that, we couldn’t get a taxi there. We were running around like mad but no taxi wanted to fetch us there because certain roads were blocked due to Madonna’s arrival. Called her to go fetch us but she says she is with the group now and it will take a long time to come. There are many arguments here but i think i will stop here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Photos selections arrangement when we come back:
1. She will contact us after 10 days moment we leave Europe. After 10 days, no reply from her. Emailed her still no reply. Couldn’t wait any longer and contacted photographer ourselves due to wedding date.. when she reply back, instead of apologizing [“As far as I know the photographer has contacted youâ€] We can only shake our heads when we saw her email. After we discussed about this almost a month later. [Her reply: “You have no right to contact the photographer†]
So these are just some of the many issues that we had with Olga and I probably need to write an essay if I continue. However, below are some additional comments that I would like you to take note of.
Personally, I feel that she makes too many promises initially to entice you. I not going to say all are empty but when she can’t make up those promises and giving you an excuse to cover it. You feel very much cheated.
I am not sure how many have joined her trip, but one thing for sure is that “GET HER TO GO THROUGH EVERYTHING IN DETAILS WITH YOU, WRITE EVERYTHING SHE PROMISE DOWNâ€
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Example 1: She will probably tell you that she knows a place that has the best eg. shoes which I asked but upon reaching the place. She just casually point to you a touristy shoe shop while walking along the street ????????
Example 2: She is bad at planning trips because she doesn’t check the schedule of the closing hours of certain places. Unlike trips where you plan yourself or guided tour, I’m scared to use this term "guided" now, next time please check with Chan Brothers or SA tour the meaning of guided tour.
Example 3: Her usual answers are â€let’s see what we can do when we are there†So being gullible, we think that it will happen and when it doesn’t “I already told you so it’s maybeâ€
Example 4: Her huge ego problem. One thing about here is whenever you raised an issue of let’s say 10%, she will counter propose to you that, to cover up that issue, she will talk about the other 90% good points to make makes you forget about that 10%. We paid $21,500 for the trip and told her that we deserved a better service. Her reply : [“It was initially $31,500 so I have actually given you $10,000 discount. You should be appreciativeâ€]
Quite similar to a car sales man telling you that the engine is working fine and you have a kobe cow leather seats when the steering is not working properly. She always have an excuse over another one and after a few talks, we have totally given up and it’s plainly wasting our time trying to talk to her.
Example 5: The other couple initially wanted to go Pisa for photo taking which is a far from the where we were going. She tried to convince them not to because the trip was long etc etc. and she even want us to help her convince them. So much so she even used the four letter word on them because she couldn’t convince them to.
What I am saying here is, this kind of things happens when you have 2 couples or more.
Example 6: The food prices. Contract: Although Ala carte food however to her that means only Pasta and Pizza, no meat dishes. Wine and drinks included = HOUSE wine only, You can’t select wine of your choice.
When we were back in Singapore, she commended that we order ala carte menu and that she was providing a better service for us.
So why put ala carte in the first place?????? This is definitely misleading because if in the first place if I know that I would be having pizza and house wine in europe for all my meals. Nobody in the right mind would actually sign up.
My wife throughout the trip was sad and for me it was painful to watch her like that. During the whole time, we really wanted to end the trip and tour by ourselves. But practically, we paid a total of $21500 for it and there is no way we are going to let her off so easily and suffer the losses ourselves. However, having said all these, being fair. There were moments which we enjoyed the trip but somehow or rather when we calculate the cost. Its seems too high a price to pay for the enjoyment. Whether if it's worth it, it's all subjective. You Decide.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VERY IMPORTANT: We have tried to ask her to remove our photos- groupon and videos - youtube (both still there) for her promotion but she refused and this is what she reply in message [“In the contract says that I can publish it. And I have all rights for your videos and photos. If you want, you can buy the rights from usâ€]
It was only when we have checked the back of the contract that we realized that she put some fine prints in.
A check with other photographers states that they will seek your permission for their own advertisement should they want to use your stuffs.
Bottom line is, if you choose to go on a package with her, please follow these important guidelines:
1. Please check how many couples are going together with you.
2. Write down all the details that she has promise. Make sure she fulfills it or money back.
3. You would probably get a wedding planning service as an icing from her. I pray for you that she don’t call her maid to replace her when she has a last minute VIP guest.
4. You better start praying.
If you need more information, please contact me at [email protected].
