Wow! Loved the tours! I want to go again! I learned so much and sincerely cherished the opportunity to meet so many wonderful women. I would gladly recommend AFA and their tours to my single buddy friends. If they are truly serious about finding a lifemate, this is the way to go and the company to use.
I have made some great contacts and am presently dating a lady I met via the San Jose tour. I don't know what is going to happen in the future - but I am excited - and my confidence level is very high that I am on the right path towards finding the love of my life.
My comments refer to both tours that I recently came back from - Medellin and San Jose.
1.YOUR STAFF
Incredible people you have! So helpful and understanding and with infinite patience - you have a very special organization to be able to have staff like yours with their motivation and principles to assist your clients however way that they can.
Your office managers are absolutely sensational people! Estefania is a special lady, so friendly, and always there for you if you have any questions or concerns. Gustavo has the heart of a good man, very caring, and always wishes the best to work out for his touring men meeting the lovely ladies.
Your interpreters are such a valuable resource for the participating men coming to an unknown country and engaging in a new purpose in life for themselves. Susanna in Medellin was extremely helpful, teaching me all that she knew about the ways of the latina women, and understanding their sometimes strange but different actions and reactions. Susan in San Jose was so easy to talk to and willingly offered her female intuition and insight into the male interaction with latina relationships. Right now, I am having Andrea come and do translation on my dates with the lady in San Jose. She has been an immense help with her continued caring and patience to hope for the best for both of us. All of the interpreters did a very thorough professional job translating our conversations.
Bud is a straight-to-the-point kind of guy that I appreciate because of his logical answers and suggestions. And about Michelle - well what can I say? - she has the patience of Mother Teresa when dealing with me - and she played a very important role in all of this for me because she put me on a path of understanding and action after surviving my prior online fiasco. She is my main advisor in AFA when I need clear decisive answers and advice.
Your staff up front have been an immense help to me as well. Briana always has a welcoming greeting (and smile I am sure hahah) when she answers my enquiring calls and questions. Jennifer is very friendly and always relays her best advice to my concerns. Kirk has always given very good customer service and assistance. Anna was very sincere about assisting me however she could when I initially made contact with your main AFA office.
And yourself, John - well, actually I talked to you when I was first contemplating going on an AFA tour. I phoned your after-hours tour line number and you answered. I wondered what-the-hell the CEO of a major organization like yours is doing answering the phone in the evening? Now I know - you are good man, very dedicated, and consistently wanting your company and people to improve and offer the best service possible. Thank you, John.
2.THE SOCIALS
Eight minutes was not much time to consider six women at each table, but it actually turned out okay (statistically, it takes women only about 30 seconds to assess if they are interested in a man).
I made it a point to have my interpreter mention at the start when we sat down at the table to all of the women: a) put your cell phones away b) if you have a need to chit-chat or gossip with the lady you are sitting beside, leave the table to do so, and c) if you are busy watching what is happening at the other tables, then go join that table. All of these items proved very distracting to the women who actually wanted to listen and ask questions.
The biggest problem with the socials was the noise - for the ladies sitting on the opposite side of the table, it was almost impossible for them to hear the whole conversation. I appreciate that this would be a difficult problem to solve - maybe wall dividers would be a thought - or a bigger room.
To make matters worse in San Jose, music was being played during the socials. I had to ask the guy 3 times to either turn the volume down considerably or just simply stop playing - he eventually stopped playing. It helped - but it was still very noisy.
Having servers offer the men and the interpreters drinks while they were sitting at the tables was a brilliant idea - that was very thoughtful, thank you! - and having some quick snacks available was a nice touch as well. The meals at all of the socials were more than satisfactory and very good.
The slips of paper the ladies filled out with their names and contact information at San Jose were way tooooooo small! The ladies had to cram their information in on the forms - and some as a result were partially unreadable. The forms need to be at least 4 times bigger to give more space to write, and also to have a place for the ladies to write down any comments that they may have.
I have a suggestion for you. It is a waste of time for ladies to be repeatedly filling out those forms at the table. How about making a template - and putting it on your website - that they would fill in to include their name, contact details, and a photo - and let them print off a bunch of copies at home before they arrive at the socials. I appreciate that many ladies may not have a printer at home, so perhaps your office (for a nominal fee) can print off copies for them which they will get when they arrive at the social - or maybe even better - have a printer set up right at the social - to knock off copies for the ladies when they get there. The photo idea would be a HUGE help for the men because it is virtually impossible to remember who-was-who after meeting 100 women.
3.THE INTERPRETERS
I know now that interpreters play a critical role on the singles vacation. They are not just an interpreter - they are a mother, a babysitter, a tour guide, a money-saver, a cultural advisor, a safety monitor, and most of all - a Matchmaker. I learned so much from my interpreters - and I am so very grateful for the knowledge they have bestowed upon me - especially about latina women, the latin countries, and the cultural differences between our countries. Bless them for their patience and understanding and the excellent advice they consistently gave me.
With this level of importance in mind, I feel that it would a good idea to schedule 1 hour before the first social to be with your interpreter, so you can get to know each other. Her knowing your background and what kind of lady you are looking beforehand would be a big time-saver at the tables so the same basic information does not need to be repeated and she can answer the lady's questions directly.
4.THE HOTELS
The hotels in both Medellin and San Jose were very good. The staff were extremely helpful, having the breakfast buffet available was a great idea and very handy, and the rooms were more than adequate considering we didn't spend much time there hahaha!
I did notice that wi-fi in the San Jose hotel was weak, so sometimes I had to use my cell time to access any internet connections.
5.YOUR WEBSITE
Very nicely done! Lots of information (which us wife-seekers need hahah!), very thorough, great use of colours, well-working search engines, a much improved change made recently as to how the women's photos show up now, excellent media coverage, and most importantly - having the acknowledged engagements and marriages listed is a huge selling and convincing factor! The videos and photos are also a BIG plus for any guy checking out your offered services.
You definitely have the best website of all the online agencies - my congratulations to your programmers and staff!
6.MEN'S COMRADESHIP
One of the fellows at San Jose started a WhatsApp group - a great idea - because we all made some very good friends and it would wonderful to be able to stay in touch with each other. Perhaps AFA could "officially" hand out a sheet during the orientation for the men to sign up for such a group to be able to stay in contact.
6.THE WOMEN'S PHOTOGRAPHS
One of the chronic problems in all of the online marriage and dating agencies is the photos of the ladies. The men viewing their profiles have no idea how long ago their photos were taken. AFA is actually pretty good with theirs - in other agencies, this is a huge problem (on one site, I caught a 28 year old lady who finally admitted that her photos were 10 years old, taken when she was 18, graduating from highschool).
I have a suggestion that would elevate your agency to a new standard in online dating - when the ladies come into your office to put their profile on your website, have the office manager take a minimum of 2 photos (one facial and one full length) - that will then be DATE-STAMPED, verifying that the lady's photos have been authenticated by the agency.
This would have multiple benefits. For the men, it will be easier for them to make a decison between a lady whose photos are 3 months old and one whose photos are 3 years old. For the women, this would be a good incentive for them to go to the office to get their photos updated accordingly.
The women could still put on their own photos - but with those, there should be a notation on the page indicating that they are not verified as to how old they are.
I appreciate that this would be extra work for the local agency office manager - but it would be well worth it - men can count on you and the ladies who have their profiles on your website. Remember that men are making their decisions, and investing their hard-earned money and vacation time solely based on a few photos and some words in a profile - put dates on the photos and you will be setting a new standard in the industry!
6.THE HALLMARK OF A GREAT COMPANY
In all my interactions with the AFA staff, every one of them offered ways for me to save money, or time, or aggravation. I very much appreciated that - especially when it comes to saving money - giving that advice out to your prospective clients does not increase your bottom line in the short term - but it certainly rates a noble and honourable reputation that AFA is truly there to help their clientele, which in the long term is so precious for the continued success of your company. Thank you, AFA staff.
Thank you for taking the time to read my comments. I wish you continued success and all the best in the future.
Very sincerely yours*,
Wayne
*This review comes straight from-the-heart. I have received no compensation for writing it, nor have I received any discounts or benefits thereof.
To the men thinking of participating in an AFA tour:
The "scorecard" for my online intent of meeting women on chat-type dating sites is a dismal one.
After spending 9 months and $US 22,000 on multiple chat sites, looking at over 1,000 women's profiles, talking to over 100 ladies online by chatting hundreds of hours online with them, and having 6 serious relationships where I was planning to fly over to meet the ladies who were mostly in Colombia - I ended up never meeting any of them. It was an emotional, heart-breaking, and financial disaster for me.
Then, after better research on my part, I discoverd AFA where I was understood, coached, and advised by very empathetic people who placed me on a path of success of finding a latina wife.
It is one thing, gentlemen, to chat online with some anonymous lady for over 100 hours, knowing that you cannot prove if she is for real or her photos are truly her, thinking that there will be a positive outcome - versus - being at a tour social, meeting a pretty adorable affectionate latina, sitting beside you, seeing her sensual welcoming smile and the sparkle in her eyes, and witnessing "the scent of a woman" - there is no comparison - and with that, brings the hope of finding true love for the future.
I wish all of you guys out there, all the best,
Wayne
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