Graz Graziano

Those of you who have read my reviews know that I am Blessed to be able to travel frequently to amazing venues.

My wife and I planned a 3 week safari to Kenya and as we enjoy Dubai decided to have a 3 day stopover in Dubai prior to traveling on to Nairobi.

We have been to Dubai many times and merely looked at this visit as an opportunity to enjoy some Middle East culture as we adjusted to any issues from our 16 hour Emirates flight. Also as Nairobi is only one hour difference from Dubai, it seemed to make sense.

During our planning, I decided to book a 6 hour Dubai with ‘Tours By Locals’. They immediately assigned me Mohammad Rafiq Al Faisal as my guide. We did not expect much as we thought we had a very good understanding of this beautiful place. We were wrong!

From the moment I began to plan with Rafiq, I knew something was different. His professionalism and wonderful friendliness was apparent in every correspondence. We have had professional guides all over the world…never one this good. Ever!

I usually inform guides about the things that we are interested in prior to traveling. After corresponding with Rafiq, I decided to trust him. Wow, what a good decision.

Rafiq was even more friendly, professional, and knowledgeable in person. A tour that was to last 6 hours ended up being 9 as this wonderful man took us through every interesting aspect of this ‘city of hospitality’. As the afternoon continued, I asked him where he would recommend that we go for a traditional Arab meal when we returned to our hotel. Instead of throwing a name of a restaurant out, this generous soul suggested that he take us to a restaurant in Old Dubai. Oh my…what a magnificent experience. The food was the very best that I have ever had in the Middle East..and I have lived or eaten in most of the countries here. There was no comparison to anything that we had experienced previously. The food, entertainment, cleanliness, and service was truly the best we have had in this region. We asked Rafiq to order for us and he did so magnificently. This restaurant had very few, if any tourists…it seemed to be an Arab favorite. What a blessing for us to spend time with this incredible man.

I will not enumerate all of the sites that he guided us through…way too many to mention. He did not only accompany us to all of the marvelous places, instead, he provided us rich stories of the history and was an incredible source of cultural and historical understanding.

Do yourself a favor, if you are traveling to Dubai for your first or your 10th visit, do yourself a favor and allow Tours By Locals Guides and Rafiq to guide you.

Today we met a guide but gained a special friend. He is the better at what he does than anyone we have interacted with anywhere in the world.

Those of you who have read my reviews know that I am Blessed to be able to travel frequently to amazing venues.

My wife and I planned a 3 week safari to Kenya and as we enjoy Dubai decided to have a 3 day stopover in Dubai prior to traveling on to Nairobi.

We have been to Dubai many times and merely looked at this visit as an opportunity to enjoy some Middle East culture as we adjusted to any issues from our 16 hour Emirates flight. Also as Nairobi is only one hour difference from Dubai, it seemed to make sense.

During our planning, I decided to book a 6 hour Dubai with ‘Tours By Rafiq’. We did not expect much as we thought we had a very good understanding of this beautiful place. We were wrong!

From the moment I began to plan with Rafiq, I knew something was different. His professionalism and wonderful friendliness was apparent in every correspondence. We have had professional guides all over the world…never one this good. Ever!

I usually inform guides about the things that we are interested in prior to traveling. After corresponding with Rafiq, I decided to trust him. Wow, what a good decision.

Rafiq was even more friendly, professional, and knowledgeable in person. A tour that was to last 6 hours ended up being 9 as this wonderful man took us through every interesting aspect of this ‘city of hospitality’. As the afternoon continued, I asked him where he would recommend that we go for a traditional Arab meal when we returned to our hotel. Instead of throwing a name of a restaurant out, this generous soul suggested that he take us to a restaurant in Old Dubai. Oh my…what a magnificent experience. The food was the very best that I have ever had in the Middle East..and I have lived or eaten in most of the countries here. There was no comparison to anything that we had experienced previously. The food, entertainment, cleanliness, and service was truly the best we have had in this region. We asked Rafiq to order for us and he did so magnificently. This restaurant had very few, if any tourists…it seemed to be an Arab favorite. What a blessing for us to spend time with this incredible man.

I will not enumerate all of the sites that he guided us through…way too many to mention. He did not only accompany us to all of the marvelous places, instead, he provided us rich stories of the history and was an incredible source of cultural and historical understanding.

Do yourself a favor, if you are traveling to Dubai for your first or your 10th visit, do yourself a favor and allow Rafiq to guide you.

Today we met a guide but gained a special friend. He is the better at what he does than anyone we have interacted with anywhere in the world.

I have utilized The Wine Exchange (Winex.com) for nearly 30 years to keep my substantial wine room stocked. During that time, I have purchased thousands of bottles of wine, including many Bordeaux futures. I have never written a review on them, and only after trying Vivino, did I get motivated to do so. These guys at Winex are pros. Unlike my experience with Vivino, Winex are not middlemen. They have been accountable for every order that I have placed. Selection, price, and customer care are hallmarks at Winex. Even as I have moved many times for work during my time utilizing Winex. Octavio, one of the customer care professionals has always been there for me. He answers my questions quickly and professionally. Again, a stark difference from my Vivino experience. If I had one suggestion for Winex, it would be to provide occasional perks for long-time customers. Perhaps, free shipping occasionally. Just a thought on an otherwise terrific experience over many years. Give these folks a try. Having strayed from Winex for just a couple of wine orders with Vivino, I appreciate Winex more than ever. Thank you for decades of outstanding service.

So I have used WINEX for nearly 30 years to keep my substantial wine cellar stocked. Recently, I thought that I would try Vivino. The first two orders worked out fine. Today I received my third order. A bottle of 2012 Dom Perignon which I ordered as a 30th birthday gift for my son. The cardboard box arrived in less than stellar condition and I was surprised to find that the Dom box was not shipped with the Champagne. I had also paid extra for ice packs. The single very small pack was old and certainly was not cold. I immediately wrote Vivino Customer Support. I just received a reply. It was condescending and unhelpful. It basically said that Vivino uses many stores to fill orders and they were not responsible. In essence Vivino’s stressing that they are middlemen. He also wrote that maybe the ice pack had warmed during the shipping. With respect to my request to send the Dom packaging, he said the cardboard box was all that was required. The reply was terrible. I know now why I have used WINEX for my wine needs. I have always received what I paid for over the many years from WINEX and they are responsible and accountable for what they sell. Shame on Vivino for passing the buck on this and sending such a horrible response. Buyer beware with this sophomoric business model.

Update: The written reply from the company looks strangely similar to all of their other replys to constructive comments. What is missing from their reply to me and everyone else is an effort to make the situation right. All platitudes…no action. This is not a serious customer focused entity.