Curious what people think. Bought arrived ‘16 Canon, 6 pack, in Dec 18 at a very good price and got 10% discount as a first time customer. Box arrived with correct invoice and went direct to storage. A month ago I opened the box and found 6 bottles of 16 Grand Chene, a sub 20$ wine. Called and sent photo. Initially the salesperson said that I could keep the mistaken wine and get a refund or replacement. I requested and was accepted the replacement. Two weeks went by and I got an email saying that they would refund my money but not replace the wine as the current cost to them was ’ too high’ . The salesperson said his boss refused to agree to the replacement because I ’ had waited too long’. The replacement cost of that wine shot up to its current level within months of my getting the shipment so I feel cheated of a legitimate replacement. Have bought wine since the original purchase but wont again.
You asked for an opinion, so you’ll get an opinion.
2 1/2 years? Seems very unfair to expect anything, and they were being very generous in offering to refund your money. It’s on them to send the right product, but it’s also on you to inspect within a reasonable period of time. 2 1/2 years ain’t reasonable.
I don’t think a normal retailer can operate with customers getting a free 2.5 year lookback option to actually inspect shipments. Think about it from their perspective, how would they know it wasn’t your storage facility that pulled the switcheroo? Plenty of bad behavior in that industry too.
Bottom line: inspect shipments immediately upon delivery; if you have agents doing it for you have them do the same and send time stamped pictures. With modern camera phones that is cheap/easy.
I think in this particular situation, maybe there was some opportunity cost of not getting Canon at the desired price, but you also got a free half box of something random. And from the sellers perspective just interacting with you cost them plenty, even if it was their operational issues that could be to blame.
The mistake is on you for not inspecting your delivery. Even if my wine is going to storage, I go and check out the shipment. I can’t imagine buying anything without making certain I got what I paid for and that the shipment was in good shape.
I agree that 2 1/2 years is too long to wait. I think the offer of refund plus the wine you received is reasonable. I inspect everything that doesn’t come in a sealed OWC and suggest everybody do likewise.
Dan Kravitz
As others have noted, the onus really was on you to inspect the delivery earlier to ensure it was correct.
It also seems to me you weren’t really ‘harmed’ by this. The retailer fully refunded your money and let you keep a 6pk of cheap wine so financially it looks like you were made whole and then some.
Interesting that the weight of opinion is on the retailers side when a faulty wine, corked or cooked, at this time frame would be considered eligible for return. Ive been buying wine for 30 years and never had this happen before but have had mixups in orders that were fully replaced. I agree that the delay was inopportune but would have made no difference in cost to the retailers.
Except the delay absolutely does increase the cost to the retailer. If it was noticed on delivery, then they just send you the bottles that they intended to send you, which they presumably still have in stock. 2.5 years later, that wine is long gone and they would have to buy it. Obviously the price has gone up, otherwise you could also use your refund to purchase that same wine now.
David,
Cork tainted or otherwise faulty bottles are something a consumer can’t ascertain until they open the wine, which may come much later post purchase. Whether or not one received the correct wine ordered is something that they should be able to ascertain and bring to the retailer’s attention in relatively quick manner. Even then, it appears that the retailer made you whole by refunding your purchase.
If I purchased a wine for $100 that 5 years later I find to be corked, I’d like a retailer to refund me the money. But it seems unreasonable to expect the retailer to replace the bottle if they now cost significantly higher to source. The retailer isn’t really responsible for a replacing wine costing more as the year go on. Seems you were made whole by the full refund of your purchase.
INSPECT. INSPECT, INSPECT ! ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
If you’ve been buying wine “for 30 years” regularly from this retailer, they probably goofed by not just replacing the wine for you if that’s something you really had your heart set on. OTOH, if you’re not a regular customer, I don’t see how you can fault them 2.5 years later.
Out of curiosity, if you regularly ship to storage sight unseen (as I do, though my facility opens up boxes and logs in the wine for me), has something like this ever happened to you before? If so, what was the resolution with another retailer?
As I said, had never bought from them before. On arrival looked at the invoice, not the bottles. Have had mix up from wineries and retailers, not on this scale or time frame, and had the wine replaced. Live and learn , it’s only wine.
‘Trust, but verify.’
—Dutch
Live by this quote everyday. One of my favorites.
If one is buying wine mail order / internet, the shipping manifest and the carton have to be reconciled immediately after delivery. If there is a glitch, or breakage, everyone is going to want to know right away, especially if its going to be murky who is wearing the loss.
My long run average of problems runs about 1 - 2%, which is not huge, but its variable across vendors - some of them are much higher, and others are amazingly, perfect so far. ----- and Garagiste were both running at no problems for almost 20 years, but then ----- finally had a low level issue (which they notified me of at shipment time), which was no biggy.
The idea of comparing a shipping issue to TCA - while superficially appealing - doesn’t hold any water. The consumer never knows if a bottle is tainted, until consumption time. A shipping glitch can be identified as soon as the package is delivered, without the need to open a bottle.
Shipping mistakes happen more often than you’d guess. At some point, the merchant’s inventory didn’t match. They adjust it and move on. Fundamentally, once it is received, if wine is going directly to storage it needs to be accounted for regardless if it is managed, secure, temp control you contract for or stashed in your mom’s root cellar. If you don’t care enough to check on your investment, it is your fault. It is irresponsible to put a merchant on blast when they are doing their best to make it right.
I think Bounty Hunter’s customer service was excellent on this. Over 2 years later, they have no way of checking inventory to see if you’re even telling the truth or trying to figure out where your wine went. I trust that you are, but a lot of retail customers will engage in some very shady activities. They have no way of distinguishing between you and those people, yet still agreed to a full refund and you get to keep the wine you were sent. I can’t imagine expecting more.
This.
As far as as waiting 2 1/2 years and tasting a corked wine I think it is unlikely that a retailer would replace with the same vintage wine. I think it is also likely that they would not replace if the price of the corked wine when up substantially.
I’m confused. Was this a OWC that wasn’t opened for 2yrs or just a regular shipping box?
