Review: South America Vacation, Chile, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, Valparaiso, Vineyard Tours

We had a wonderful trip to South America but that does not mean there weren't several glitches, some minor others more disconcerting. First, the minor annoyances:

-At all 3 of our airport arrivals the transport was late,10 to 30 minutes

-the book with our itinerary did not arrive until late on the second day.

-the telephone we were supposed to get on arrival came late the third day

-our first tour was 30 minutes late because they went to the wrong hotel

-the transportation in general was very sub par I.e. Driving very dangerously on the way home from Santa Rita vineyard, getting lost twice going to our hotel, getting out frequently to kick the tires on Tierra Del Fuega,etc.  we finally had a professional driver in Buenos Aires

Now for my major complaint.  On our transport from Santiago to Valpariso we were scheduled to stop at one vineyard.  I had been very clear with our agent that i wasn't interested in visiting a lot of vineyards. When the guide picked us up she informed us we were going to  3 vineyards.  I complained and read to her directly from the itinerary that we were visiting "a vineyard" , then having a nice lunch with wine before going on a tour of Valpariso.  She knew nothing about the second half of the day.  After several phone calls to her agency and our travel company, it was decided we would do everything including the 3 vineyards.  The fact that this was an independent tour that we were paying for did not factor into the decision.  My take away from this experience was that there were too many layers.  Zicasso, our travel agency, and the tour company and  we were not in control.  

The best thing our travel company did for us was book us our hotels, both of which could not have been more attentive.  This part of the trip where the company handed us off was flawless.

The bottom line is we had a great trip.  But in considering my rating I asked two questions, would I use this travel company again?  Would I recommend them to friends?  The answer to both is NO.