Although I have not read all the posts is it safe to assume that Costco has enough clout to dictate to their vendors that they have to take back something that does not work? I’ve been able to return a Kerueg machine after a couple of months. No questions.
BD
I’ve had my VT600 for 4 years with absolutely no issues. This is an old thread that was resurrected…
Little late to the party and did t read every single post.
I had the exact same experience. What I asked Costco to do for me was to call vino temp and get them off their butt.
Their buyer did call and mroblem was solved the next week. Prior to that I couldn’t get a straight answer out of anyone
I may end up doing that. The customer service from Vinotemp has been so horrific that I may be permanently scarred.
Here is my story for anyone interested: I purchase a Vinotemp 500EC from Costco in May of 2010. Upon delivery, the cooling unit won’t cool. I call Vinotemp. They tell me to remove the cooling unit, find a big box to ship it in, and send it back to them for repair in Southern California. I tell them to instead have someone come out and swap a new cooling unit for the defective one, and that the weather is getting hot and I can’t wait for them to repair it, and that they sold me a defective product so they should make it right. They refuse. Not a good start. I tell them they are in breach of express and implied warranties. They finally agree to have someone local swap a new cooling unit for the defective one. Cooling unit works for 17 months.
In December of 2011 cooling unit goes bad again. It runs constantly but won’t cool. I call Vinotemp to request a referral for a local repair tech as I still had a warranty on parts, but not labor, and did not want to go through the hassle and expense of shipping the cooling unit back to Vinotemp. They give me two national repair chains. I contact both. Both are unaware they are authorized to repair Vinotomp/Winemate products and have to look up the manufacturer, finally seeing it on a list of some kind. Vinotemp can’t recommend any actual local repair techs familiar with their products, only national appliance repair chains.
I contact the repair company and arrange to have a tech come out. Repair tech tells me the control box is bad. I order the part from Vinotemp (a story in and of itself), pay for shipping. Repair company comes out again. They swap the control box, which does not fix the problem. They open the cooling unit and tell me the cooling unit was poorly constructed and needed replacement due to corrosion. (There was green corrosion everywhere) They charge me $200 for accomplishing nothing, but I figure at least they gave me information to take back to Vinotemp to get a new cooling unit.
I tell Vinotemp that the repair company they referred me to said the unit was not repairable, give them the repair company name, and ask them to send me a new cooling unit. Vinotemp will not agree to send me a replacement based on that representation and tell me to remove the cooling unit and send it to them so they could look at it. I remove the unit, go on a search for a huge box to pack it in, pack it up and ship it to them on February 21. Shipping costs $30, unit arrives at Vinotemp on February 23.
I send them multiple e-mails to check on the status over the next few weeks. E-mails are either ignored entirely or a response is sent that they are checking on it. After weeks of failed promises to make it a priority (despite promises this was their “top priority”) and failures to respond to e-mails despite promises to check on things (they kept saying the unit was “in-testing”), on March 16 Vinotemp claims the repair company (that they recommended) “severely damaged” the compressor and coils in the unit when attempting the repair. I personally watched the repair company work on the unit and they barely, if at all, touched the coils or compressor.
Vinotemp refuses to send me a new unit, instead charging me $125 for labor + $59 shipping (more than their cost) to repair it. Interesting that Vinotemp charges a flat repair fee of $125 for all repairs. I ask Vinotemp to waive the repair fee since the repair company they claim caused the damage was recommended by them. Vinotemp refuses. I agree to pay because I just want the unit back before the weather turns warmer. On March 29 I finally received the “repaired” cooling unit. It was in worse shape than when I sent it in, made strange new noises and was clunking. I install it anyway to see if it will work and run it over the weekend. Of course it does not cool.
I contact Vinotemp again on April 2 and tell them that the unit was not properly repaired and was not cooling. They arrange a call tag to have the unit picked up and repaired again. So again I remove it, and pack it up for shipping. It was picked up on April 5 and delivered to Vinotemp around April 9. Then several more days of silence and I am passed on to someone else. Finally Vinotemp tells me the cooling unit had been damaged in shipping when they shipped it to me the last time (blaming UPS), but now it is “in testing” and working fine. We agree they will test it over the weekend and ship first thing on April 16. On April 16 they contact me to verify my address. (Why they need to verify an address when they have already sent and picked up the cooling unit from that address is a mystery.)
I verify the address on Tuesday, April 17 in writing. It takes me a day because I am on vacation. Vinotemp tells me it is shipping the cooling unit on April 17, and sends me tracking information. The rep e-mails me to tell me she is personally walking it through shipping. I figure I will have the unit by Thursday April 19 since UPS ground only takes two days. I think good thing, since the weather is turning very warm for the weekend. I check the tracking over the next few days and see the unit has not shipped and no delivery estimate has been provided by UPS. I again contact Vinotemp first thing in the morning on April 19 to inquire as to status. I receive a response the next day stating (without explanation) that the cooling unit did not ship until April 19 and that it was now scheduled for delivery on April 25. I express my dissatisfaction in the further delay, talk about retaining temporary storage, potential loss. Vinotemp says not its problem, and that Vinotemp is not responsible for my damages and that Vinotemp did everything it could to expedite. They also claim they called me on April 16 to verify my address. I have no record of a telephone call. I ask them what number they called me on. They don’t respond.
I continue to monitor the UPS tracking number, having lost complete faith. UPS shows an extended delivery time (should only take two days via ground) so I keep checking to find out why. UPS tracking information finally shows delivery scheduled for April 25 to Palatine, Illinois. I live in Sonoma County. I contact Vinotemp again to inquire as to what happened. Vinotemp say they will have the shipping department contact UPS. I hear nothing back. I check UPS tracking and see the unit is re-routed. I call UPS to find out if it was UPS error or Vinotemp error. They tell me Vinotemp sent it to the wrong address. Nobody from Vinotemp responds to explain what happened.
I ask for contact information for a supervisor. Vinotemp provides it. I contact him via e-mail on April 24. I receive a response from the rep that evening saying she will give the supervisor all of the information and he will contact me first thing in the morning on April 25. He doesn’t. I follow up on April 26. He responds via e-mail and apologizes and says unit will be delivered on May 1. I respond and tell him that given the expenses incurred to date, an apology alone is insufficient, and ask what Vinotemp is willing to do to make this right. I figure they will at least refund the repair fee I paid to Vinotemp. I receive no further response, but will update this if I receive one.
To recap, my cooling unit stopped functioning in December. I contacted Vinotemp beginning in early January. It’s been almost four months and I still don’t have a working cooling unit.
They should put this in a textbook for an example of poor customer service. Numerous e-mails ignored, multiple promises broken without explanation, extreme delays without explanation and an indifferent tone throughout.
Anyone want to place bets on whether the unit will work when it arrives on May 1 after its unnecessary trip through the mid-west in the minimal packaging Vinotemp uses to ship?
Mike, sorry to hear about your horrific story. WOW !!!
Again, I would call COSTCO ASAP to return the unit.
You should also email them a copy of this thread.
Lou
Reminds me of when I first purchased a wine credenza unit. Think it was built by Cal-Wine cellars, anyway the original cooling unit failed over and over again through the first year in operation. Think I went through 4 or 5 units, which were Grand Cru’s. The eventually sent me a Breezaire which worked well for 5 years before needing service. Breezaire repaired the unit and had it back to me in 3-4 weeks.
Update from Vinotemp.
They are finally agreeable to refunding my $184 for the labor and shipping. Vinotemp claims that they have begun putting a comprehensive plan in place to provide better and more timely information/service, “more tools and resources for our customer service team and improved procedures for handling operational difficulties in the future. We are confident, as a result of these actions, that this issue will not occur again.”
Still waiting for the cooling unit, which is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.
Update - Received my cooling unit back on May 1. It appears to be working so far. If it goes again, I will explore my options with Costco. I would have done so already but it is a major hassle.
And just like that my Vinotemp has stopped cooling again. I still have PTSD from my last experience with Vinotemp outlined in this thread. Costco says they will take the whole thing back and refund me.
Thinking about that option but the hassle is huge.
Any good garage wine storage alternatives to Vinotemp? Garage ranges between 50 and 85 degrees. Looks are unimportant.
Wow, sounds WAAAY too familiar, only I wan’t lucky enough to have Costco involved. I don’t even have my unit and Vinotemp is already giving me the run around and promising they’ll do better for the next guy. I already posted my experience in some detail on CT (here: Vinotemp Issues. Just me?), so I’ll try and give the short(er) version (apologize in advance for my failure) …
I placed an order, and paid for, a Sonoma 700LUX unit on April 21, 2013 via Appliance Connection. Delivery was initially estimated at June 7. Which came and went with no notice, though my order was marked as shipped in the system. Throughout June and July my ETA was pushed back a week at a time, with blame to the manufacturer. After about 3 times of this, I contacted Vinotemp directly and they assured me the delay was with the seller (Appliance Connection), and that they had built the unit and were awaiting pickup. A full MONTH later I would be told by a different Vinotemp rep, also in writing via email, that the unit that was supposed to be “[done] by the end of the week, at the latest” on June 17, would be done by the end of the week … On July 16.
After much back and forth with both companies, I (foolishly, it seems now) believed Vinotemp that Appliance Connection was the problem and I moved my order directly to Vinotemp. I paid Vinotemp on July 26 and was told that my unit would be arriving, “by next Wednesday or Friday.” I am given a tracking number that never works and the name of a shipping company they never use, Estes. August 2 comes and goes with no tracking, no contact and no wine cellar. On August 8, after repeated emails/phone calls, I finally hear back from Vinotemp. They send me an invoice from another shipping company that shows the unit didn’t even ship until August 7. Vinotemp denies that this date, from their own internal email forwarded to me, is accurate. On the 14th I receive information from the shipping company that I will need to pay an additional shipping fee of $120 because of my “difficult” delivery, even though I already paid for inside “platinum” delivery. The unit is to be on the first floor, no stairs, standard neighborhood cul-de-sac access. I refuse to pay the extra fee and try to contact Vinotemp. No response.
I finally take my concerns to their Facebook page and, voila, someone gets back to me in 10 minutes. I’m told that they will “take care of” the extra fee (as a favor, don’t you know) but now the unit can’t be delivered for another week. I tell them I’m done. FOUR months of waiting for this unit with excuse after excuse and the delivery date post-poned now more than nine times. I have zero faith in Vinotemp at this point and, heck, if it’s this hard to get the thing, what happens if something goes wrong once I’ve got it? I ask for some reassurance and, perhaps, an extended warranty to calm my fears.
Instead, I’m told that if I don’t accept delivery they will charge me a 35% (!!!) “restocking fee” (for a unit I’ve never even had in the same zip code as myself) and “shipping both ways,” which works out to more than half the cost of the unit.
I’ve exchanged more than 30 emails and phone calls with Vinotemp and paid roughly $5,500 for the unit in April and still have nothing but a threat to charge me more than half the unit’s cost if I don’t accept delivery.
What do I do?
You used a credit card, right?
Well that sounds about right for Vinotemp customer service. I am having horrible flashbacks reading your post Have you dealt with Alvin Patrick?
I would refuse delivery as long as you put it on the credit card or know an attorney. Their terms and conditions of sale are so customer unfriendly (and not enforceable anyway on many levels) - that is all anyone needs to know about them.
Yes, I have contacted my credit card company and they say Vinotemp can’t charge me a restocking me if I never had the unit. Vinotemp says they can and had me sign all this paperwork when I transferred the order and, yeah, I’m hugely nervous. (And kicking myself. Lots of kicking.)
Yesterday, when I was told of another week’s delay, and just stopped and said to the Vinotemp rep I’d been working with (not the one mentioned above), that I had lost all confidence after all the issues and said I wouldn’t feel comfortable accepting the unit without an extended warranty, I was told Vinotemp was “surprised” at my response, because they had done so much for me already. I then received an email from an “upper management” person that said: “We have done
everything we could to get you this unit. Please review your terms and
conditions you signed with Vinotemp. If you choose to cancel the order
you will be responsible for the shipping both ways and a 35 % restocking
fee. Please let us know and we will have the shipper bring the unit back
if that is what you would like.” And telling me that she’d be there “another 10 minutes” if I wanted to call. It ended with: “Please let me know how you would like to proceed. I hope we can come to an
amicable agreement.”
Definitely felt like a threat, though maybe I’m just being sensitive.
I dealt with Alvin Patrick, a supervisor. I will PM you his e-mail. You might want to try going through him. I will PM you some additional information that might assist you as well.
Thank you!
This was my experience verbatim down to the extra charge and re-delivery fee. I also thought about declining delivery after 4-6 weeks delay but the contract I signed was very clear about the restocking fee.
Doors were misaligned upon delivery. To their credit, they sent someone out to fix it within a couple of days. So far, it’s holding up well but then again, it’s less than 1 year in.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have picked Le Cache. I recommend anyone thinking about buying a wine cellar do the same.
Very, very interesting. Seems like maybe it’s their modus operandi? Underestimate shipping costs to look like a better deal and then pile on at the end. Also not feeling great that every report I read (here and lots elsewhere) indicate at least some damage upon delivery, however minor, which required repair, and “my” unit has, theoretically, been floating out there finished for a month now … If anything they have said can be believed.
Today I’m being told …
-
That they will offer me a three-year extended warranty “at their expense” (not the five-year I asked for) and
-
That if I don’t take it they’ll charge me every single penny they can–35% + delivery fees both way “up to $1,000 each”–up to almost the full cost of the unit. (I’m paraphrasing that last bit, but that’s the gist.)
My credit card company, via a call center drone, assures me I’m covered since they never delivered anything and the delivery date came and went, multiple times. Vinotemp just as vehemently assures me they’ll win any dispute.
What to do?
If you used AMEX, they would win for you. Guaranteed.
I would say 95% chance of Visa/Mastercard beating them. Vinotemp has not delivered on their contract, therefor it is all on them IMO.
I hope I’m not jinxing myself, but I’ve had a 220 bottle Vinotemp unit for 13 years and it’s still running just fine. I know that they have a checkered service reputation, but I’ve never had to deal with them on service. I bought the unit through Wine Club Santa Ana and even took a piece of furniture up to their plant so they could match a wood color for me. Seems as if results vary widely with them especially in the past 5+ years.