Backstory:
Twice in the past year (Jan & Jun) I corresponded with a West Coast wine shop owner asking very basic questions about in stock items with the intent of ordering a case. Both times I spaced on placing the order (this has been a crazy busy year) and some of the bottles sold out. Since I won’t buy/ship anything less than a full case from the West Coast when the cost of shipping is full freight, I didn’t buy anything either time. What I did do, however, is after the second time set up a system with the owner’s assistant allowing me to buy bottles over time and they would ship to me once I reached a full case. This was late July.
There was no correspondence until I requested to buy 4 bottles (totaling $200+) to start the case on 11 Nov with a follow on e-mail 13 Nov inquiring about additional bottles. I likely would have placed an order sooner but have been busy getting married and traveling both for fun and for work. Like I said, crazy year.
I received the following two responses on Monday, 13 Nov. They are copied verbatim below (typos included).
Response to 11 Nov e-mail, for which I was trying to buy bottles to start case:
"Adam,
We’re going to pass. See explanation in the reply to the other email you sent us.
Thank you,
xxxxxxxxxx"
Response to 13 Nov e-mail, for which I was asking some questions about additional bottles:
"Adam,
I though your name rang a bell and when I checked you account profile I was reminded of why. A few different times this year, you’ve asked multiple questions and for advice on xxxxx and xxxxx wines. We answered all of your questions, and as requested, took the time to give you advice and recommendations. After spending a fair amount of time (over multiple email exchanges) counseling you, we have not received an order since your original order in 2015.
Respectfully, I don’t think we’re your best option going forward.
Thank you,
xxxxxxxxxx"
What is totally troubling about the response was how the owner used the fact I hadn’t placed an order since 2015 as a primary argument, after I had attempted to place an order just a few days prior. I also stated in my order e-mail that I would likely round out the case in the next few weeks. Also worth noting is that both of their responses came within a minute of each other, so the owner was clearly looking at both when they responded.
Initially, I was sure there was some sort of misunderstanding or the owner was confusing me with someone else. So I called. The owner defended their position, making paranoid comments about data mining and being busy in relation to taking time to answer questions. It was really strange considering how little correspondence there had actually been. The tone had been almost accusatory. There had been(1) e-mail in January with questions, for which there were two responses and (1) in June, for which we exchanged three or four emails discussing very basic stuff (vintage/shipping/discounts). They were all friendly, professional and very straightforward . I then went and tracked down my July correspondence with his assistant (who responded using the owner’s e-mail address) setting up the case shipment deal and forwarded it to him with this response:
"Just so you know, just a couple of weeks after my second inquiry this year and after some of the wines I had initially inquired about had sold out, I set up the below with xxxxxxx. I did this so I could piece meal a case and not have to try to plan a cross country case all at once. And could buy worry free even if some of the bottles sold out.
This was the last correspondence before I attempted to BUY (not ask about) 4 bottles of xxxxxx to start the case and ask a question about additional bottles.
I show you this not because I want to buy from you but to show you I was far from stringing anyone along. Instead, after the first two failed attempts I was proactive in setting something up to prevent it from happening again. So as not to waste YOUR time.
In short, you are turning away a customer for asking questions.
I have collected wine for many years and purchased loyally from many establishments on the east coast and the west. Your interaction today is by far the most unacceptable and frankly bizarre customer service experience I have ever had.
Have a nice Monday,
Adam"
Has anyone else had an experience like this? Am I totally off base here?
Were you paying as you went along? I can see them getting frustrated for setting things aside without payment, especially if the wines are a good value or rare enough that they are selling out so quick that there is less than a case left. I am not trying to make an excuse for them and I don’t think it is good customer service at all, however there is at least one wine shop I have visited where a response like this would not have surprised me at all.
As a business owner I can tell that sometimes you have to fire a customer. He had his reasons, right or wrong, but he decided that you weren’t worth the effort.
There was no payment and nothing was pulled as the questions were very basic in nature and only really had anything to do with one or two bottles I had planned on including in the case. The only reason the owner knew I was planning on buying a case is that I started the e-mails with “I am looking to pull the trigger on a case in the next few days and have a question about a couple of the bottles”.
Your experience is unusual but generally, businesses can choose not to deal with specific customers. Whether you agree with their judgment or not, its the business’ decision. It looks like their communication was more courteous than your reply.
Fair. If you think it was completely irrational I would just ascribe it to general weirdness you find sometimes and move on. It’s odd but not the worst thing that could come of dealing with a wine retailer.
I’ve had to let clients & prospects go on a rare occassion. Usually because they are more work than any potential business could overcome.
Not suggesting this is the case here, but maybe that’s what they figured.
FWIW - I hope you don’t out them. You may not be impressed, but they didn’t do anything wrong.
I don’t plan on posting the retailer in the thread. I disagree with them. But I also respect their right not to sell to people, even if the decision doesn’t necessarily seem rational. I doubt they will be able to run a successful business if that sort of customer service is commonplace.
Adam – I agree they shut you down and that’s unfortunate, but I wouldn’t call the decision “super bizarre” and certainly not the “most unacceptable and frankly bizarre customer service experience I have ever” heard about. I would just let this one go. For what it’s worth, I know small-ish wine retailers who will hold bottles for shipping for me but I know that’s not going to fly with all retailers. Just find someone who doesn’t mind doing this and give them your cash.
The phone conversation was what made it super bizarre, when the owner started talking about data mining and insinuated that my intent for asking questions had some sort of weird intentions. They just came off as paranoid and just not right.
But other than that, you may be right. In essence, I was told I wasn’t worth their time because I asked questions and that the few minutes it took them to answer made my business not worth it. That is absolutely their right as business owners, even if it is not a particularly great business practice. Although if it was going to be such a big deal they shouldn’t have strung me along then at the moment I begin to buy be like “nope, hard pass”.
![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}