FedEx party at Villa Creek: Eyes Wide ....?

zachary_l_a_n_g · February 8, 2009, 5:16pm

Forget all this, I have the most important question…IS the Reese Witherspoon look-a-like single?

Mary_Baker · February 8, 2009, 5:37pm

Yes, and Timko will get to meet her next weekend.

Linda_Baehr · February 8, 2009, 6:12pm

Well, she’s technically single.

Linda_Baehr · February 8, 2009, 6:57pm

She’s been dating the same guy for a million years.

Mary_Baker · February 8, 2009, 7:07pm

Well technically, she’s dating a barrel salesman and a winemaker.

zachary_l_a_n_g · February 8, 2009, 9:02pm

and soon…a lawyer from Boston!

Linda_Baehr · February 9, 2009, 12:46am

Are you planning on taking Paso by storm Zach?

N_Weis · February 9, 2009, 1:06am

Well technically, she’s dating a barrel salesman and a winemaker. >

are these people one and the same? If not, isn’t she hogging up a disproportionate # of the datable guys in Paso?

Reese never struck me as the playa type.

Mary_Baker · February 9, 2009, 1:29am

Ow! [blackeye.gif]

Yeah, yeah, she’s got a multi-tasker.

You should talk.

Jeff_Pf0h1 · February 9, 2009, 1:53am

All of them.

So what about those labels? [imnewhere.gif]

N_Weis · February 9, 2009, 2:04am

Ow! [blackeye.gif]

Yeah, yeah, she’s got a multi-tasker. >

You should talk. >

So, the barrel salesman and winemaker are the same fella?

Not meant to be Ow. Just looking out for Linda. She makes it sound as though the pickins are slim. Wanted to be sure Reese wasn’t juggling two guys.

And I have taken up exactly “0” of the datable guys in Paso, thanks very much. There’s always the future, though, right?

Linda_Baehr · February 9, 2009, 2:11am

Well…I’ve tasted his wine…ahem…

heheh

Mary_Baker · February 9, 2009, 2:14am

Both labels have exactly the language required by each state. Plus.

I just can’t resist ridiculing these requirements. Okay, so we’re shipping to NY. AND, we are paying $3.50 extra for each box to get the federally required adult signature. But is that good enough? Oh no. NY requires an ADDITIONAL sticker advising the driver not to deliver to the inebriated. Because, I assume, we don’t want all those non-drivers negotiating the sidewalks, drunk and in charge of a cellphone. So I added “And Probably Not Advisable Anyway.” Because, really.

And AZ … Deliveries ONLY to a residence? So, my uncle Bubba in the Gun’n’Golf Range Trailer Park is more legal than a dentist or lawyer in Flagstaff? He’ll be pleased to hear.

Mary_Baker · February 9, 2009, 2:21am

I was referring to your sexy quotient and ability to multi-task, O Daddy of Triplets.

Funniest thing I’ve seen in recent years is my incorrigible youngest brother sitting splay-legged on the floor trying to change diapers on his twin boys. As soon as he flipped one over, the other was crawling away … he went back and forth like a pancake cook. No one in our family deserves it more!

N_Weis · February 9, 2009, 3:25am

Sexy quotient?

I’m not nearly as good a multi-tasker as my wife. The biggest harvest day in the world doesn’t scare me nearly as much as her walking out the door and me having three babies staring me in the face. You should have seen me try to feed all three of them at once one time while she was at the spa. Ugly.

We’ll see how it goes once they crawl. And walk. And run. And drive.

William_Segui · February 9, 2009, 4:20am

Sorry to get this thread back on topic, but here goes.

I will never ever ever use FedEx unless I absolutely have to. Their customer service is hands down the worst. They WILL NOT re-route a package under any circumstances (even though a former co-worker swears they did it for her once). I’ve had more damaged, lost and generally mishandled packages with FedEx than all other shippers combined.

Otherwise most of the information in here seems correct. UPS uses rail (somewhere in NoCal to Chicago), FedEx goes truck. GSO is the best option where available. I didn’t think you could legally get around the adult sig?

I do not work for any shipper - just lots of personal experience.

CFu · February 9, 2009, 5:05am

isn’t it cause Fedex ground drivers are all independent contractors?

Mary_Baker · February 9, 2009, 4:14pm

You can’t. FedEx waives the fee for Wine Institute members. Multiply $3.50 times a few thousand shipments and that’s a significant savings!

Kevin_Klym · February 14, 2009, 5:21am

Mary,

I applaud you for simply looking into getting a better deal for your customers.

It seems these days that there is a HUGE disparity between shipping costs to us, the consumer, from wineries located VERY close to one another. I recently purchased some Pinot Noir from two RRV producers and the per bottle difference was $8! Appalling, IMO.

I will never pretend to understand a tenth of what you as producers have to go through to get a bottle(s) to us, but the one thing I appreciate more than anything is when I am given OPTIONS for shipping. I mean, seriously, when a winery, who is making more $$$ off of selling to me direct anyway, tells me that they will only ship via 3rd party or something less than ground (2-day, 3-day, etc.), I am immediately turned off. And in a number of cases I have dropped producers for this reason alone. Let’s face it, most offers ship in the Jan - March and October - December timeframe anyway. Why not at least offer a ground option? Particularly to the East Coast.

Anyway, good on you Mary, for looking at options and thinking of your customers. Shipping is a HUGE thing for us wine geeks, and I think too many producers forget that.

Mary_Baker · March 6, 2009, 7:42pm

Their sterling customer service continues …

I’ve been comparing prices on randomly selected memberships across couriers and I noticed in the FedEx Ground software, I seem to be getting the Wine Insitute discount on Ground, but not Home Delivery, or else the rates are just higher to residences? Plus, I want help exporting/importing all my shipment data …

But now I’ve misplaced Jeff’s phone number. No problem, right? Just call and ask …

So I can’t get ahold of anyone who knows anything. I leave a message. I am very specific about what I want–the phone number for the Santa Maria regional office. I am assured that someone will get back to me after 24 hours. That was last Thursday, sure enough someone calls on Friday, but I’m busy with customers. Do they leave Jeff’s phone number? Heck no, ‘Kia Rue’ from ‘sales development’ leaves a canned message and number for me to call back. Then on Monday ‘Declara Dixon’ leaves a canned message and another extension for me to call back. Then my tasting room guy has the brilliant idea to open the phonebook and get the local number for Fedex Freight. Bingo. They give me the Santa Maria number, but it’s for Greg Johnson, who wasn’t in.

I’ll keep trying. In the meantime, can anyone here explain the rate discrepancy?