I emailed the company directly after my experience and never got a response. I hate leaving bad reviews but others shouldn’t be bamboozled into this overpriced Uber, and at least a Uber picks me and drops me off at my home. We arrived at the Apple farm area and when we approached the driver and checked in with a very unhappy man that I hoped wasn’t our guide. I asked if they provided water and he said “ all places have water “ ok got it I will get my water out of my car. So because this was my first time in the area I didn’t realize the majority of places had free tastings. I thought a tour would be a great way to learn about the area and try some spots. Our first stop the tanger outlets. We go into the distillery ( not junction 35 which is amazing but that was not part of this tour. If you get a chance go to the junction 35 and restaurant at their other location , great food and you can have a great tasting experience with one of their knowledgeable servers after you eat. ).
The server had us all cram together so he wouldn’t have to work hard. Lined up our cups and poured 12 thimble shots in about 12 minutes. I felt like a sorority girl at the bar. Most of these were not good. We passed on buying anything. Then we got in the van and drove 1 minute to another parking spot at the outlets to the cider and winery place. There we were lined up again given 6 thimble shots NOT of our choice. Cider was good , wish I could of picked my flavors so passed on purchases here.
Onto the old mill restaurant area , another frequented spot in the area , I know because we had dinner there the night before and had been in the Old forger distillery luckily we hadn’t tasted. There we had angry Amanda who did not like pouring moonshine and told us nothing about it. All she said was what do u want next and that she worked for tips.
We stopped at one winery and then onto Tennessee shine which was the one great place we did go to and had BJ who was a great charismatic server that gave us our one good experience on this tour.
Now the tour guide , we don’t know his name because he wasn’t talkative or friendly. He also never got out of the van except to open the door and leave. He said he didn’t know most the servers so he doesn’t go inside. Perhaps if he walked in he could see what below average service we had been getting. He told us nothing about the area , the shine. We got a couple of chuck norris jokes. Now we paid for a 4 hour tour and arrived back to our parked car 2 1/2 hours later and was told to enjoy the winery and cider
place on the premise. Have a good day. He left and we all stared at one another. The other couples were just as confused as I. I just paid $70 a person to be drove less then 2 miles from my parked car to taste at places that are already free with a non friendly tour guide that shorted our tour an hour and half early. I would of shopped at the outlets and stopped somewhere to eat along the way had I known this. Save your money. Go check well rated distilleries responsibly. I felt most places don’t like the tour guests vibe.
We went to Tennessee legends and junction 35 during our stay in pigeon forge and had phenomenal experiences by ourselves.
For the owners if they read this we did the tour on 11/8 at noon. Have no idea what the drivers name was.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Nov 2023
My name is Dustin ... my name is above my head on a plaque which I pointed out once we got everyone on board. Did you know Chuck Norris built the hospital he was born in? Since the tour was only a few days ago its still fresh in my mind. I remember the group and I remember you asked if we have water, a question which I answered. No we do not have water but it's avaliable at most every stop we make. If you had water already why are you trying to get water from me? You admit you didn't like me as soon as you walked up, that's odd since you don't know me at all. I don't recall being the least bit unhappy that day. I was in a pretty good mood best as I recall. It was a warm sunny day and I had a small group of people. Town was not very busy at all and each stop was fairly quick since there was no lines to wait in. Our tour visits 8 locations, we go until we get to all 8 or until we run out of time. Let me make this clear to everyone who does this tour and reads this review ... you are not paying for a time based tour ... you will not get 5 hours every time you join the tour. You are getting tastings from UP TO 8 locations OR until time runs out. We don't put restrictions on guests to be in and out in a set amount of time. The group is welcome to move at their own pace. If you just want to taste and run then that's your call. If you want to browse around a bit, chat with the servers, take a back room tour ... then you can do that too. I didn't talk much because I couldn't, you all were to busy talking to each other and even with a microphone on I couldn't get a word in. This is fairly common on the moonshine tour so when people like to enjoy conversations amongst themselves I will peep in on occasion to add to the conversation or if things get quiet I'll start talking and will tell guests about the area or on subjects related to moonshine. I will not tell grown adults to stop talking or to listen to me. I do not go inside the facilities, it's not much fun watching people drink while I stand in a corner waiting. I start every tour with the same exact speech that's not changed in years ... we take care of you in the van, they take care of you in the facility. Your attention should be with your bar tender learning about each facility and the drinks they pour. If you have questions about the drinks, ask the servers. They will be very happy to answer those questions but no guarantees you will like the answer. I'm still kinda hung up on the water thing ... like is it normal to have strangers give you water or something? Like that's not a thing here in Tennessee, we don't offer water to everyone who walks up to our window. Anyhow ... yeah most of the tastings are free, you don't need us to go do them. What's not free is drinking and driving, that's illegal and deadly. We offer a safe way to enjoy yourself that starts and ends at a very nice location with 2 restaurants on site and plenty of activities to do while you SOBER UP from your tour. Why do we end there at those 2 wineries you might ask? Cause not everyone can hold alcohol well and after the other 6 places they are really feeling it so some skip the last 2. Other people can hold it better and if they want they can go to the last 2 for a total of 8 locations. I don't see why you'd want me to wait on you to come back out before I leave ... did you want me to ask you if it was good or offer you some water? By the time you finish all 8 if you tasted at every location you will likely be unfit to drive so at that point a lot of people go eat at one of the 2 very good restaurants or shop for a bit. Your car is already there waiting for you once you get some food in your belly, no need for me to wait around for all that. Since you didn't buy anything you likely didn't realize that another benefit of joining the tour is that a lot of the facilities offer discounts and gifts to tour guests. These are only available to you while on tour, not when you come on your own. Not sure why you are complaining about the staff at the facilities on this review, they are not employed with us and we have no control over them at all. Even if they were horrible we can't fix that, you need to tell the manager at the facility you visited. I really doubt they were all that rude though, I mean you hated me right from the very get go just cause I didn't give you any water (even though you already had water). You wished I wasn't your driver before I even spoke a word just cause you thought I looked unhappy. Sorry I'm not pretty enough for you and don't wear a fake smile like some of you all. You never once spoke an ill word on the tour to tell me you didn't like me or my unhappy looking face. You never said any of the servers were rude and you didn't act the least bit unhappy during the tour so I assumed all was well, that's what you get when you use fake smiles though. If you act happy then people will assume you're happy even if you aren't. To alln future guests reading this ... I won't give you water, bring your own. I won't try to talk over you if you are talking. I don't follow you inside to make sure you're drinking or to talk to you while you're drinking. I don't know much about moonshine or wine so if you have questions on those topics ask the servers. I do know a lot about this area and I'm happy to share all my knowledge with you. If the bus is to loud and you want to hear me talk more then after everyone gets out then come tell me instead of waiting 3 days and doing it in a review. I can't resolve your problems after the fact. Last but not least, she never sent an email to us. I've got access to the email and we never got one. As a tour guide I want everyone to have the best possible experience. As a multi generation local im glad you all are here visiting our area. We are kind and respectful people who value the traditions of southern hospitality. I will most times bend over backwards and give the shirt off my back to accommodate a guest ... but I can't help you if you pretend nothing is wrong. I'm not a mind reader so speak up. Oh yeah and that whole robot thing "Thank you for your valuable feedback, we will take this into consideration when moving forward in the future. All feedback is welcome and we appreciate your time in giving us this review. We look forward to improving in the future". Last last last thing ... even though you didn't like me and thought I was an unhappy person I thought you all were a delight. Your group was very enjoyable and I hope the rest of your vacation and all your future visits are amazing and memorable. At least you will never forget me after this huh ... my daddy always said if you can't be famous then be infamous, either way no one will forget you.