Club Wine Tours
Club Wine Tours
4.4
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Bill Jack Club Wine Tours has resigned, Donna Jack can re qualify for all her own licenses & product. The transfer will be done in the next 6o days Good Luck
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
4.4
137 reviews
Excellent
103
Very good
12
Average
1
Poor
11
Terrible
10
Michelle G
2 contributions
Sept 2020 • Friends
We did a quick morning and early afternoon wine tour with Bill. He picked us up right on time and brought us to 4 wineries on both the East and West sides of Kelowna. He is very knowledgeable in all things wine and even had a bit of trivia for us during the tour. We told him we were also looking at wedding venues and so he took a nice tour of Kelowna pointing out great wedding venues for us. We also got a special surprise for our engagement. The bus also had a speaker with microphone to connect your own music if you wanted to skip on the trivia. All in all, fantastic day. Great service and greater tour guide!
Written September 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bill Jack Club Wine Tours has resigned, Donna Jack can re qualify for all her own licenses & product. The transfer will be done in the next 6o days Good Luck
Written July 24, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Mardee516
Texas29 contributions
Aug 2015 • Couples
The Club Wine Tour was the highlight of our trip to Kelowna. Our driver, Ron, was excellent. Not only did he take us to a variety of wineries from small to large, he was knowledgeable about the wines and the area. The photos he took at each winery were an added bonus. We would go on the tour again in a heartbeat.
Written September 1, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bill Jack Club Wine Tours has resigned, Donna Jack can re qualify for all her own licenses & product. The transfer will be done in the next 6o days Good Luck
Written July 24, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Janice B
Edmonton, Canada98 contributions
May 2017 • Couples
My husband and I decided to take a wine tour when we were in Kelowna to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Bill worked hard to make sure we had a memorable experience. He took us to four diverse wineries, introduced us to all the right people and made sure we were warmly welcomed every where we went. We tasted a variety of wines, which suited us well as I enjoy reds and whites but my husband prefers red. The sparkling wine was a thoughtful focus - this was at Summerhill -and we had a fabulous lunch on the patio there. Our guide was personable, knowledgeable and very interested in making sure we enjoyed our outing.
Written June 2, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Bill Jack Club Wine Tours has resigned, Donna Jack can re qualify for all her own licenses & product. The transfer will be done in the next 6o days Good Luck
Written July 24, 2021
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
LauraWine-o
Calgary, Canada3 contributions
May 2015 • Friends
I booked the "Signature" package, and Bill said to have the girls all call in and reference our tour by calling it "Laura's Stagette on May 30". Here is how every single conversation went: "Hi, I'm Amanda and I would like to pay for my spot on the tour for "Laura's stagette on May 30." Bill- "Hi Amanda, are you the bride?" Amanda- "oh, uh no, that's Laura. It's for Laura's stagette. Can I pay for my spot on the tour, my name is Amanda." Bill- "Ok, sure... there you're all paid up. Oh by the way, there are a bunch of girls calling to register for this one, but what is the name of the bride anyway? Nobody has told me." Amanda- "Laura is the bride."
Then I called him again to see if everyone had paid or if I needed to remind any of my girls. He said to me “so remind me what wineries you chose? Remind me what time of day? How many of you are there again? Where was I supposed to book your lunch reservation?.... Oh, I said I would arrange a special vineyard tour at Summerhill? Ok no problem.” So I reminded him of everything but it did no good, he still failed to follow through on any of that.
I selected my favorite winery Summerhill for lunch, months in advance and wanted to go to all smaller ones for the other three wineries, and asked for his suggestions. He gave me a list of options for the remaining 3 wineries. Then, since he had been telling each of my girls a different pick-up time, I phoned him the day before to verify if he had changed our pick up time from what I had requested months ago. When I called, he also suddenly tried to swap our favorite winery (the first one we chose) in an attempt to cover up the fact that he forgot to make our lunch reservation there. He tried to say the reason was because it was on the far side of the bridge, too far from all the other wineries we chose. That is actually not even true though, he just didn’t know where the wineries he had suggested were located. Two were on one side of the bridge, and two were on the other side. If it wasn’t ok to pick wineries on the other side of the bridge from Summerhill, then he shouldn’t have given them all as options when he knew we wanted Summerhill. Either way, these 4 wineries were chosen months ago and discussed a bunch of times previously, so why was he suddenly changing our plan to visit my favorite winery the day before?
I’ll tell you why. On the tour, he kept disappearing to make phone calls. He had forgotten to schedule any of our tastings, nobody was expecting us at 3 of the 4 wineries. He had also forgotten to make our lunch reservation or arrange for the special vineyard walk at Summerhill, even though he had told me months ago that it was all arranged with the wineries.
My girlfriends and I live in different cities and are never all together anymore, so this was a pretty special trip for us. We brought a nice camera to take lots of photos because Bill had said we would have two walks through two different vineyards during which to take lots of nice photos! He failed to arrange for either vineyard walk though, so we had to just find a spot with a good view instead, which was fine... but then he kept turning down our camera or phones promising instead to take photos on his own phone to give the photos to us later and to post a few on his facebook page. He was actually just holding the phone in front of his face, he did not actually take most of the photos that he pretended to. He only had a couple photos, which was really disappointing because we were counting on him, and if we had known that then we would have taken some ourselves or asked a stranger to use our camera. As I said, we are never in the same city and don't get to all be together anymore so those photos were really important to us.
If you are still considering using Club Wine tour, can I suggest that you just pay a taxi to drive you around? It will be cheaper and more reliable. Just call each winery yourself.
Then I called him again to see if everyone had paid or if I needed to remind any of my girls. He said to me “so remind me what wineries you chose? Remind me what time of day? How many of you are there again? Where was I supposed to book your lunch reservation?.... Oh, I said I would arrange a special vineyard tour at Summerhill? Ok no problem.” So I reminded him of everything but it did no good, he still failed to follow through on any of that.
I selected my favorite winery Summerhill for lunch, months in advance and wanted to go to all smaller ones for the other three wineries, and asked for his suggestions. He gave me a list of options for the remaining 3 wineries. Then, since he had been telling each of my girls a different pick-up time, I phoned him the day before to verify if he had changed our pick up time from what I had requested months ago. When I called, he also suddenly tried to swap our favorite winery (the first one we chose) in an attempt to cover up the fact that he forgot to make our lunch reservation there. He tried to say the reason was because it was on the far side of the bridge, too far from all the other wineries we chose. That is actually not even true though, he just didn’t know where the wineries he had suggested were located. Two were on one side of the bridge, and two were on the other side. If it wasn’t ok to pick wineries on the other side of the bridge from Summerhill, then he shouldn’t have given them all as options when he knew we wanted Summerhill. Either way, these 4 wineries were chosen months ago and discussed a bunch of times previously, so why was he suddenly changing our plan to visit my favorite winery the day before?
I’ll tell you why. On the tour, he kept disappearing to make phone calls. He had forgotten to schedule any of our tastings, nobody was expecting us at 3 of the 4 wineries. He had also forgotten to make our lunch reservation or arrange for the special vineyard walk at Summerhill, even though he had told me months ago that it was all arranged with the wineries.
My girlfriends and I live in different cities and are never all together anymore, so this was a pretty special trip for us. We brought a nice camera to take lots of photos because Bill had said we would have two walks through two different vineyards during which to take lots of nice photos! He failed to arrange for either vineyard walk though, so we had to just find a spot with a good view instead, which was fine... but then he kept turning down our camera or phones promising instead to take photos on his own phone to give the photos to us later and to post a few on his facebook page. He was actually just holding the phone in front of his face, he did not actually take most of the photos that he pretended to. He only had a couple photos, which was really disappointing because we were counting on him, and if we had known that then we would have taken some ourselves or asked a stranger to use our camera. As I said, we are never in the same city and don't get to all be together anymore so those photos were really important to us.
If you are still considering using Club Wine tour, can I suggest that you just pay a taxi to drive you around? It will be cheaper and more reliable. Just call each winery yourself.
Written May 26, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
On behalf of Club Wine Tours we are regrettably found it hard to work with your group due to the facts that we gave you a schedule. You decided to change the schedule on the bus informing us you had gone to the recommended winery restaurant the day before. Then you requested a change in venues unfortunately at the last minute our driver tried to accommodate your requests and found that only a few changes could be done. Next time further communication is greatly appreciated to help accommodate a great experience and a great tour. I recommend for future dealing with people please have good communication it will go a long way. My drivers are very accommodating and tried there best.
Regards,
Sharon Chartrand
Written December 31, 2017
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Jess M
4 contributions
Jul 2014 • Couples
The guy was on the phone the entire time, instead of answering a single question of us. I don't know how a guy can run a wine tour business out of his car, but the reviews are true- I saw people's credit card info including name, number and expiry date in full view.
Good luck getting him to be on time or to answer any questions- he has no clue! He was unreliable, and forgot to book anything my husband had requested and then acted like we should be thankful when he got us in to the final winery... (We paid for a certain number of winery tastings so taking us to all of them is really just the minimum he could do, yet he bragged about it as if it were some impressive favor.
Then he had the nerve to sit in on our private dinner. It was very awkward and unexpected to have to make small talk with this creep when this was our quality time together. Then when we wanted him around to "guide us through a tour" he was always missing or on the phone! What a disappointment.
Good luck getting him to be on time or to answer any questions- he has no clue! He was unreliable, and forgot to book anything my husband had requested and then acted like we should be thankful when he got us in to the final winery... (We paid for a certain number of winery tastings so taking us to all of them is really just the minimum he could do, yet he bragged about it as if it were some impressive favor.
Then he had the nerve to sit in on our private dinner. It was very awkward and unexpected to have to make small talk with this creep when this was our quality time together. Then when we wanted him around to "guide us through a tour" he was always missing or on the phone! What a disappointment.
Written May 21, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nizamibrahim80
Calgary, Canada2 contributions
Aug 2011 • Couples
My wife and I took an anniversary wine tour with Club wine tours in August 2011. When we booked the tour our credit card was charged for the tour. The tour wasn't bad but after the tour the owner Bill who was conducting the tour charged us for the tour again (we didn't know we had initially been charged). Later that month when I got my visa bill I noticed that we had been charged for the tour twice. I informed the owner of the issue on 3 occasions via phone and once via this email and he assured me every time that it would be corrected and I would be reimbursed. I have now notified my credit card company of the issue as I am still waiting for my refund and it has been 2 months.
Written November 2, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
OffCentre3
Nanaimo, Canada1 contribution
The tour started out alright, but soon had us very confused. We had a large group for a stagette and were told that it would be just us, and at first it was. At the second winery we visited we were stuffed into a corner because our guide (Bill the owner) had told them we would be there an hour earlier than we were. He then took us to a third winery, but instead of letting us out, we picked UP three people and proceeded to drive them to their accommodations. Needless to say we were NOT happy with becoming a taxi service in the middle of the tour. Then to add to the frustration, at the end of the tour we went back to the same winery where we had picked them up.
Bill seemed like a nice guy but very VERY unorganized and all a bit unprofessional. To top it all of he phoned the person who paid afterwards and tried to tell them that the deposit had not gone through, when it had. I would never recommend anyone to book with Club Wine Tours.
Bill seemed like a nice guy but very VERY unorganized and all a bit unprofessional. To top it all of he phoned the person who paid afterwards and tried to tell them that the deposit had not gone through, when it had. I would never recommend anyone to book with Club Wine Tours.
Written September 12, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
MadMaxx1313
Kirkland Lake. Ontario1 contribution
Club Wine Tours of Kelowna badly misrepresents itself. Below is the online blurb from the companies website which is also reflected in it's print pamphlet.
Signature Tour and Lunch
5 Hours. 10am $75.00.
Club Wine Tours' most popular tour with excellent value and maximum enjoyment.5 Visits to Award Winning Wineries.
5 Hours of Touring.
Includes Vineyard Lunch.
The contact info of same is;
Club Wine Tours
Kelowna,
British Columbia, Canada
V4T 1T6
Phone: (250) 762-9951
Toll Free: 1-866-FUN-WINE
Toll Free: 1-866-386-9463
When a tour of this nature says it includes lunch that means the lunch is included in the price of the tour. This was not the case. Indeed a "group lunch" was suggested by the tour operator, without indicating the tour members would be paying for it, that came to over $50 per couple increasing the tour from $75 to more than $100. We were given the song and dance that the print pamphlets were old and the online website hadn't been updated as the webmanager was away on holiday. How convenient. We are visiting from Ontario and will NOT be promoting the Okanogan as a place to visit. This was the 2nd instance of a tour not matching it's advertising and this is unacceptable. I advise avoiding this tour company.
All this said the wineries themselves were well worth visiting.
Signature Tour and Lunch
5 Hours. 10am $75.00.
Club Wine Tours' most popular tour with excellent value and maximum enjoyment.5 Visits to Award Winning Wineries.
5 Hours of Touring.
Includes Vineyard Lunch.
The contact info of same is;
Club Wine Tours
Kelowna,
British Columbia, Canada
V4T 1T6
Phone: (250) 762-9951
Toll Free: 1-866-FUN-WINE
Toll Free: 1-866-386-9463
When a tour of this nature says it includes lunch that means the lunch is included in the price of the tour. This was not the case. Indeed a "group lunch" was suggested by the tour operator, without indicating the tour members would be paying for it, that came to over $50 per couple increasing the tour from $75 to more than $100. We were given the song and dance that the print pamphlets were old and the online website hadn't been updated as the webmanager was away on holiday. How convenient. We are visiting from Ontario and will NOT be promoting the Okanogan as a place to visit. This was the 2nd instance of a tour not matching it's advertising and this is unacceptable. I advise avoiding this tour company.
All this said the wineries themselves were well worth visiting.
Written July 13, 2008
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Tony F
Westport, Ireland62 contributions
Aug 2012 • Couples
Myself and my Girlfriend went on the Sunset tour. We were picked up late and then sat in an unconditioned van (in 35degrees C) for an hour as the driver BILL located the rest of the guests.
We went to 3 wineries in total with a 'free' tasting each of them all (most of these tastings are free to everyone if you arrive by car anyway). We purchased 2 bottles of wine along the tour. I found it odd as when we were at the checkout Bill stood over us and made the Winery know how much wine we were buying (I guess he gets added commission from the Wineries).
After the 3rd winery we were dropped to Quails Gate where he had previously informed me on the phone we could avail of Dinner for about $20, when we opened the Menu the cheapest main course was about $35, I was annoyed at been mis-advised and felt especially bad for the other 2 people who were siting at our table as they were on a tight budget having done the Eastern tour of Canada. They ordered a starter each and a glass of wine to Share which came to $70.
At the end of the meal we waited half an hour for Bill to return. He then asked up had we had a free tasting at Quails Gate. ( we were never in formed this was a option)
We were dropped off at our Hotel where we payed the 'Bill'
80 Dollars each + Tax + Fuel surcharge of $10.
He never mentioned Tax was not included or even mentioned the fuel charge prior to this.
The Bill had a big box where it was expected to enter your tip amount, needless to say this box was left empty.
Summary
The wine tour entailed 2 hours driving max (4 hours of work total)
We payed extra for fuel which you would expect to be included in the $80
(There were 16 people on the tour 16x $100)
We wee not informed of the schedule for the day and the options that were available.
Some nice wine's included Ice-Wines.
Verdict
This Company is a rip off and mis-informes its customers to suit itself at your expense
Advice
Stay clear or get a cab to the winery which will work out cheaper or otherwise designate a driver and like a previous 'ad-visor' wrote 'do it over the days and take turn as the driving.'
We went to 3 wineries in total with a 'free' tasting each of them all (most of these tastings are free to everyone if you arrive by car anyway). We purchased 2 bottles of wine along the tour. I found it odd as when we were at the checkout Bill stood over us and made the Winery know how much wine we were buying (I guess he gets added commission from the Wineries).
After the 3rd winery we were dropped to Quails Gate where he had previously informed me on the phone we could avail of Dinner for about $20, when we opened the Menu the cheapest main course was about $35, I was annoyed at been mis-advised and felt especially bad for the other 2 people who were siting at our table as they were on a tight budget having done the Eastern tour of Canada. They ordered a starter each and a glass of wine to Share which came to $70.
At the end of the meal we waited half an hour for Bill to return. He then asked up had we had a free tasting at Quails Gate. ( we were never in formed this was a option)
We were dropped off at our Hotel where we payed the 'Bill'
80 Dollars each + Tax + Fuel surcharge of $10.
He never mentioned Tax was not included or even mentioned the fuel charge prior to this.
The Bill had a big box where it was expected to enter your tip amount, needless to say this box was left empty.
Summary
The wine tour entailed 2 hours driving max (4 hours of work total)
We payed extra for fuel which you would expect to be included in the $80
(There were 16 people on the tour 16x $100)
We wee not informed of the schedule for the day and the options that were available.
Some nice wine's included Ice-Wines.
Verdict
This Company is a rip off and mis-informes its customers to suit itself at your expense
Advice
Stay clear or get a cab to the winery which will work out cheaper or otherwise designate a driver and like a previous 'ad-visor' wrote 'do it over the days and take turn as the driving.'
Written August 19, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ronan K
Dublin, Ireland1 contribution
Sept 2011 • Couples
We chose the Club Tours leaflet from a choice of 4 or 5 at our hotel as it seemed to promise what we were looking for. Phoning the number listed we were told that the tour we wanted wasn't available but we could come on another later that day & would be picked up at 3pm sharp. The price of the tour - which we were lead to believe included dinner - was agreed at $75. So, that's $150 for an evening of plentiful wines and food... let's do it. Anyway, 3pm comes and no sign of the bus. 30 minutes later an empty bus arrives and we jump onboard. As he wasn't volunteering any information we queried the driver who told us this was only a pickup and we would join another tour across town. Fast-forward to a bus switch in a random car park and we're off to pick up 3 more groups. The 1st group doesn't show (presumably they had waited long enough). The 2nd group are surprised to see us on board their bus as they believed they had booked a private tour. The 3rd group, a couple, magically appeared on a THIRD bus after the 1st winery, having missed first tasting of the evening. Anyway, no issue here with any of the wineries. Hard not to enjoy a winery. However, in one we were informed that beyond 2 complementary tastings all subsequent tasting incurred a $5 charge. A bit much to have a surcharge on wine tasting on a wine tasting tour? We arrive at the final winery and are sat with another couple at a table in the wineries expensive restaurant. We weren't given an option of a private table, thereby increasing the pressure to buy dinner & furthermore, a bottle of wine. In the meantime, Bill, our tourguide had made himself scarce and only returned later to nudge us in the direction of the bus as he wanted to go. Hard luck Bill, we're drinking our own wine now, you're going to have to wait. So, we arrive back in town and Bill announces the fee for the evening which has magically increased from $150 to $160, presumably based on a shocking price-hike in fuel since our conversation that morning. I can only guess that Bill figures that his customers are nicely toasted at this point, making it easy for him to slip in an extra few dollars on the bill. So, retiring for the evening we calculate that we spent $300 on the evening. Granted the wine was great & the food excellent, but it's difficult not to wonder why we didn't just get on the bus for $5 leaving us with $295 spare to enjoy fine wine for the rest of our holiday. One word: Shambles.
Written October 12, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi Deanna,
I found two off the guest from your party were very nice and respectful. They said they did not share your opinions or your thoughts in the pyramid.
Thank you for commenting on Club Wine Tours it needs diversity, your thoughts just a show one's sided focus.
On the tour after your comments about Bill, I know you did not hear what I said when I was giving you the history of our community, The Okanagan Valley and the businesses, wineries and the winemakers are important information. I did redirect the conversations, why your comments were rude.
I did think the vehicle that passenger transportation approved for small groups like yours was appropriate vehicle for 4 people for the vehicle seated 7 people.
The problem that I saw was you wanted a man driver to play with, not a female that was focused on history, I am only a driver for Club Wine Tours, next when booking and ask to have Bill as your driver for you found him hot. I know Bills tour is amazing..
I did ask you questions on what you prefer for wines I wanted to give you a nice time.
I am sorry you picked a place, that was out off the way in West Kelowna and you did not stay in Kelowna - for your comments where all focused on lap dancing and sex statements. As you said You were looking for rich men.
Did you check out the Trainstation and was I right the crowd were more age 45-70-year-olds.
Do you remember I did recommend you going to the Okay Corral for it is a younger group? I also said Bill knows the owner and can get you door passes. Did you call him for the door passes?
Yes, you did have a few extras experiences that you did not appreciate. Extras
The Summerhill Pyramid experiences was an extra.
Your dinner - stayed 20 minutes longer at the table so you were late to getting back.
If you are in customer service then you know to rate your statements at time rude and inappropriate.
Otherwise, I never did place gratitude on your bill, for I heard you say the tour price it was already over your budget from your comments for a 6 hours.
I gave your group a Savings of $84.00 (GRATITUDE) not CLUB WINE TOURS.
I did enjoy the interaction foremost with the other ladies.
Sincerely,
Sharon
Written June 28, 2019
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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.