Tasting & Touring Fees - anyway out of these?

[NYJen]

Sorry I've been MIA lately - work has been CRAZY!!!

 

So I'm going down to Cabo this weekend to do site inspections and meet my planner. I also have a few appointments to do some tastings. And I just found out there are fees that go along with the tastings. (I'm not happy about that.) Anyone else have that problem and maybe got out of it somehow?

 

Deena from Sweet Dreams is charging me a $50 cake tasting fee.

Jennifer Hatton is charging me a $25 cake tasting fee.

Not sure if The Lazy Gourmet is charging me anything. And my planner hasn't mentioned it so I'm assuming they won't.

 

Does this sound right to you? Do you think I even need to do these tastings?

 

And get a load of this. . . Suncabo is charging me a $250 "touring fee" to look at villas I want to use for my wedding. They say they would apply the fee to the cost of the villa I end up renting, but what if I change my mind and have my wedding at Dreams or somewhere else? Anyone else have this problem and maybe found a loop hole.

 

Thanks for your help,

[MikkiStreak]

I can understand a little bit about charging fees for some of the items---- but this is also something called "The cost of doing business"!

 

That's insane about the $250 fee for viewing villas! That seems *really* expensive for someone to drive you around to view places. That would be like a realtor charging you for taking tours of properties...

 

I'd argue the fees, especially the villa site fee---- if they want the business, they should be willing to make accommodations! Just tell them that some of the resorts offer a 2-3 night free stay just to get people on site to visit the resort and do their tastings in order to get their business...

[mridgway]

My WC set up a menu tasting at our reception place and a cake tasting and we were not charged. (However we are not using these vendors...) She even arranged for 4 of us to take the Sunrider Sunset Cruise (where we are holding the Welcome Party) for free.

 

I was most worried about the cake and food tasting good - so I would say do the tasting! It helped me to put my mind at ease to be able to see and taste things first hand.

[KAMEYER70]

We paid for our menu and wine tasting during our site visit. My family is renting a villa (Villa Helena through Cabo Villas), so we drove by it but did not go in. $250 to tour the villas is really expensive.

 

I would recommend contacting Cabo Villas to see what they can do for you. The have been great to work with and are very responsive. Their website is: Cabo San Lucas Vacation Villas, Resorts & Hotels, Los Cabos Mexico

 

Good luck!

[NYJen]

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

I have argued the fees. My WC has even helped me argue the fees. Apparently there's no way around them.

 

I had been in contact with Cabovillas and ended up having a HUGE fight with them over something else. So in return, they offered to wave their $200 touring fee. However, one of the villas I want to see is not in their inventory. So they can't help me there.

 

So it looks like I'm stuck paying Suncabo the $250. I may make them just take me around and show me every villa they can - to get my money's worth. HA!

 

Thanks for your help.

[deleted]

That sucks, but one thing about getting married in Cabo is that I swear they will try to bleed every last penny out of you. It is one of the downsides for sure. I'm not sure if it's because they can, or if it's because we are "rich Americans" so they assume it's no big deal, or whatever, but things are NOT CHEAP in Cabo.

 

At some point, you will have to decide how much you want to argue and how much you just want to let go and go with the flow. Honestly, it's a really tough balance. I would definitely try to work with vendors who do not try to tack on fees for everything, but it's tough.

 

Actually, that was one of my favorite things about the Cabo Surf. I was told all of the prices up front and I could decide if I was willing to pay them or not. At the end of the wedding, my bill was exactly to the dollar what I thought it would be. (And my wine and appetizer tasting was free. We didn't try entrees or cake though.)

[CourtneyV]

No, seriously the $250 fee is STUPID! I don't know why I missed this thread before, but just reading that makes me angry. That's complete BS. Why should you fork over so much money for their sales pitch to their property?

[jak27]

I can't believe I missed this thread, but I cannot believe you are having such a terrible time with all of these fees...although, I guess it's just Cabo for ya. They nickel & dime professionally. That's why we didn't even pursue Palmilla, $7.50USD for a Coca Cola...with no room to negotiate.

 

The touring fee is ridiculous, especially when you're going to fork over a chunk of change for a villa. Ridiculous.

 

The cake fees I guess I will just consider a "deposit" if you will. I'm using Deena, so I'll put down $50 or whatever and it'll be applied to the cost of the cake. But I'm also not tasting two vendors.

 

Keep us informed for sure. But these hidden fees are exactly how vendors make their profit margins...GOOD LUCK!

[NYJen]

We may have found a loop hole around the touring fee with Suncabo. American Express is affiliated with a property management company called Villas of Distinction. They have the villa we want to see. We have a call into Amex to see if they can set up the tour with no fee. As long as Villas of Distinction is not affiliated with Suncabo, it may work. Then again, Villas of Distinction may have their own touring fee. Hopefully Amex can help us out. I'll let you know what I find out.

 

I also just found out we have to pay a $75 tasting fee to The Lazy Gourmet. It never ends! I know these fees get applied to whatever we order (so you could look at it as a deposit.) But what if I end up doing a resort wedding instead. Then I'm out the villa touring fee and the Lazy Gourmet tasting fee. This STINKS!!

[laurelandjamie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenandBrendanWedding Sorry I've been MIA lately - work has been CRAZY!!! So I'm going down to Cabo this weekend to do site inspections and meet my planner. I also have a few appointments to do some tastings. And I just found out there are fees that go along with the tastings. (I'm not happy about that.) Anyone else have that problem and maybe got out of it somehow? Deena from Sweet Dreams is charging me a $50 cake tasting fee. Jennifer Hatton is charging me a $25 cake tasting fee. Not sure if The Lazy Gourmet is charging me anything. And my planner hasn't mentioned it so I'm assuming they won't. Does this sound right to you? Do you think I even need to do these tastings? And get a load of this. . . Suncabo is charging me a $250 "touring fee" to look at villas I want to use for my wedding. They say they would apply the fee to the cost of the villa I end up renting, but what if I change my mind and have my wedding at Dreams or somewhere else? Anyone else have this problem and maybe found a loop hole. Thanks for your help,

Hi Jen,
I'm new to the forum. It sounds like you and I have some similar ideas about renting a villa and getting a caterer. Soooo, I'm really interested in hearing how your site visit went. Did you have a great time? What villas did you see and what were your impressions? Did you learn anything on your visit that surprised you in a good way?
Hope it went well,
Laurel