SpiritBoss (NJ) Retailer Check!

Has anyone purchased wine from SpiritBoss in NJ? I purchased a case of wine from them for the first time 10 days ago, got an e-mail confirmation, but can’t reach anyone to arrange shipping DC. The phone number is a generic voice message that doesn’t even say who you have reached? Email is to a nondescript g-mail account. Thanks for any info.

i think the “about us” section on their site is all you need to know…

https://www.spiritboss.com/pages/about-us

I bought something once, and it arrived. That is the extent of my experience.

i was mildly excited when they had a bunch of d’auvenay listed until i did a google street view on the address.

That is terrifying.

Based on that ‘About Us’ page, I’m scared to ask what that “something” was!

That page might scare away a lot of customers. And they might want to use the street name instead of the NJ highway #. There is nothing that bad about Rahway these days. It actually has some good restaurants and shops.

i assume it’s one of those places that just lists whatever is on the book and then places an order for it when they get an order - if it’s available great, if not, then they cancel the order.

To quote: “A great About Us page helps builds trust between you and your customers. The more content you provide about you and your business, the more confident people will be when purchasing from your store.”

The gmail e-mail address isn’t too reassuring either.

Run away as fast as you can. They post all their distributor’s catalogs and then try to acquire the wines. The store is a disaster filled with crap.

I ironically just stopped in here the other day because I saw a lot of nice wines and decent values on the site and I live relatively close. It’s not a quality store in terms of Temp, set up or organization. I mentioned several of the wines I was looking for including an 01 Renaissance and they have to order it…I don’t particularly mind that. I’d be wary of buying something that might be sitting on the shelf in the store though.

Thanks everyone! I just spoke to the store rep. who stated they are waiting to receive the wine so they can send it to me. Nice. We agreed that either the wine ships to me tomorrow or I get a refund. u

I too stopped in once out of curiosity and its a tiny little dump. Just a tiny little joint in the 'hood with just cheap liquor. Nothing in there of any interest to anyone of us but if they are positioning themselves as an online special order house, they certainly seem to have the pricing to back it up.

This sourcing game (distributor books, overseas sources, auctions, etc.) has been tried before…quite a number of times. It rarely works out long term. For the consumer, it’s gambling. You might win…possibly more times than not. The tales of buyer woes from similar dealings are many and sordid. from all indications, especially descriptions of the physical store and personnel, this probably isn’t an ideal candidate for developing a meaningful wine retail relationship…unless, as a buyer, you like to gamble. In which case…good luck.

RT

Thanks everybody for some insightful responses. Sadly, SpiritBoss was only able to source the lesser of the two six packs on wine I ordered. I told them that I would accept the lesser six pack if they charged me half the cost for shipping a full case ($39) as I had ordered a full case to save on shipping. Instead, they ignored my e-mail request on shipping and shipped the half case but charged the full half case shipping price ($29). I called and said either refund me $9 on shipping or send me a mailing label and I will send back the wine. So SpiritBoss sent me a shipping label to ship the wine back to them rather than refund me an additional $9?? Live and learn.

Given the comments in this thread that outcome isn’t a surprise.

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M&D Fine Wine is a store in the 'hood of Trenton NJ. Besides being in a bad neighborhood (I won’t go there except in the middle of the day), it also stocks a lot of cheap liquor and even has a check cashing service so you can imagine some of the clientele who frequent their shop. The store isn’t exactly pretty either.

Despite all that, they have some great deals on very good wines. The wine manager, Rick, is very knowledgeable and will chat your ear off if you meet him. Since they do a lot of internet business, they didn’t feel the need to find a more expensive location.

Now when I click on the Wine tab, it takes me to a Glenlivet offering.