F**k Spectrum Wine auctions

[jordan whitehead]

Haven't bought from them in almost 2 years as they royally screwed up the first time I bought at auction.

Well gave them another shot and they did it again. Won and paid for 2 lots. One of which is a very hard to come by wine that I have been looking for for close to 6 years. Was told the 13 bottles amongst the 2 lots would should this past week. I received the 3 bottle lot. The 10 bottle lot did not show. Box i received was marked 1 of 1. SO where is the other box? sent an email and left voicemail. Called again and finally spoke with someone. Was told that the lot was offered by mistake and should not have been in the auction. What the hell does that mean? I bid, won, and paid for the wine. Are they contractually obligated to sell me the wine? Regardless, it was apparently a mistake to try them again.

[Carl Jensen]

They have some good deals, but I can't think of an online auction site that screws up even half as much as they do. I won a 6 bottle lot of Qupe magnums a few months back only to have them tell me after the auction closed that the lot 'didn't exist'. That, coupled with numerous errors in lot listings in EVERY auction and a wacky auction schedule that they never seem to follow makes me think they need a management shakeup.

Jordan, I'm not sure what they are legally obligated to do for you, but at the very least, I would call the owner/president and raise some serious hell.

[Andrew Demaree]

Sorry to hear that, Jordan. I've considered bidding a few times but never did. Hearing your experience makes them a definite "pass" for the future.

[JKim]

Hmmm...that sucks. I hate poor CS. I've had decent, not great, interaction with them, but difficult to actually talk to someone. Ok, your poor repeat experience with Spectrum is enough for me to wash my hands of them. I don't really think they care about the US market anymore anyway. It appears they have embraced the Chinese market in a big way. Too bad cuz they're literally in my back yard.

[David K o l i n]

I though you were talking about sales of the radio bank by the FCC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrum_auction

[jordan whitehead]

not saying that this is what happened in this particular situation, but what prevents them from doing this if and when they are not happy with what an item sold for?

In 10 years of buying at auction, I have never had this happen before from the 10 or so auction houses I have bought from

[Jay Miller]

I only just started bidding with them in the last 2 internet auctions. No problems to date but that certainly seems like a warning sign.

They do seem disorganized, though most recently in my favor. They undercharged me for shipping but after they noticed it said they would honor the lower price. So no complaints about customer service there.

[Victor Hong]

Winebid has always provided me with excellent customer service.

[Andy Steinman]

Dealt with Spectrum once and it was a poor experience....5 phone calls to get a auction lot shipped.....

The site can be really clunky too.

[ryancurry]

Jordan, didn't you also have a falling out with wine bid and get banned? Seems like you have some pretty bad luck.

Spectrum has experienced some growing pains, but I have had very good luck with the wines I have purchased at their auction. I'd be happy if there was a boycott so I can continue to get great deals. Any issues that I have had were addressed promptly.






Disclaimer: I do photo work for spectrum.

[jordan whitehead]

Jordan, didn't you also have a falling out with wine bid and get banned? Seems like you have some pretty bad luck


Disclaimer: I do photo work for spectrum.

not sure where you came up with that one but I have never been banned from wine bid or any other auction house. and this is how rumors start.

[c fu]

Disclaimer: friends with Ryan and another guy who works there

Things have gone smoothly for everything I've bought, they even send one bottle lots to lockers for my pickup.
One negative was a selling experience. "sold" a bottle and it re appeared at the next auction and kept re appearing till they sold it for a higher price. Not entirely happy with that (knew it was mine, not too many 1929 chateau de la tour clos v's floating in th market) as I would have just kept the bottle. I did get ok money for the money but almost 40% of what they ultimately got. My fault for not complaining , now it's a bit late haha.

[ryancurry]

My apologies. I think it was Justin bonner thatbi was thinking of. I always get you guys mixed up.

[Chris Buddress]

For what it's worth, I've been both a buyer and seller with Spectrum and I've never had an issue on either end. Any time I have needed to contact them, they respond quickly, whether it's someone on their warehouse staff, someone in accounting, or someone in their sales/bidding dept. I've used email as the primary means of communication almost every time, so perhaps that is a more expeditious way to get in touch than through a phone call.

[Mel Hill]

Jordan, didn't you also have a falling out with wine bid and get banned? Seems like you have some pretty bad luck


Disclaimer: I do photo work for spectrum.

not sure where you came up with that one but I have never been banned from wine bid or any other auction house. and this is how rumors start.

I heard that Ryan drank your 10 bottles....
and all his photos were out of focus...

[Ken V]

Disclaimer: I do photo work for spectrum.

Why are so many of their photos purple?

[WarrenLoui]

've bought from them twice without a problem--each time, i had some questions and they were answered promptly (first time i decided to pick up the case i'd purchased because i was concerned about shipping temperatures, and was able to do that, although i had a little trouble finding the warehouse door, second time i wanted to confirm shipping window and wanted another copy of the catalog).

[Chris Seiber]

Winebid has always provided me with excellent customer service.

Ditto. I've won many hundreds of winebid auctions, and I have yet to have any complaint. One time, I got some white Burg where the vintage was mislabeled by one year, and they took it back with no hassle, and I think that was the only thing wrong that ever happened with them.

[Michae1 P0wers]

Haven't bought from them in almost 2 years as they royally screwed up the first time I bought at auction.

Well gave them another shot and they did it again. Won and paid for 2 lots. One of which is a very hard to come by wine that I have been looking for for close to 6 years. Was told the 13 bottles amongst the 2 lots would should this past week. I received the 3 bottle lot. The 10 bottle lot did not show. Box i received was marked 1 of 1. SO where is the other box? sent an email and left voicemail. Called again and finally spoke with someone. Was told that the lot was offered by mistake and should not have been in the auction. What the hell does that mean? I bid, won, and paid for the wine. Are they contractually obligated to sell me the wine? Regardless, it was apparently a mistake to try them again.

I think that they are contractually obligated to sell the wine to you. They would have the option to find the wine or cover the difference in what you paid and what it would cost to get the wine elsewhere. Hard to imagine the recovery would be worth the effort.

[Gkapoor]

Sorry to hear about your experience, I probably would react the same way you have.

I have bought multiples times from Spectrum without any issues and very good customer service. One time they fully refunded a case because it was not described properly in the catalog, which can be very subjective but they did not question my opinion.

[David_T]

Haven't bought from them in almost 2 years as they royally screwed up the first time I bought at auction.

Well gave them another shot and they did it again. Won and paid for 2 lots. One of which is a very hard to come by wine that I have been looking for for close to 6 years. Was told the 13 bottles amongst the 2 lots would should this past week. I received the 3 bottle lot. The 10 bottle lot did not show. Box i received was marked 1 of 1. SO where is the other box? sent an email and left voicemail. Called again and finally spoke with someone. Was told that the lot was offered by mistake and should not have been in the auction. What the hell does that mean? I bid, won, and paid for the wine. Are they contractually obligated to sell me the wine? Regardless, it was apparently a mistake to try them again.

I think that they are contractually obligated to sell the wine to you. They would have the option to find the wine or cover the difference in what you paid and what it would cost to get the wine elsewhere. Hard to imagine the recovery would be worth the effort.

Their terms & conditions are a bit murky here. I'm not a lawyer to discuss the legal details, but on the one hand they state

"Auctioneer reserves the right to withdraw any lot at any time, even after the hammer has fallen, until the Bidder has taken physical possession of the lot."

Contrast that with

"on the fall of the Auctioneer’s hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest Bidder"

As a third caveat:

"Once the hammer has fallen and the Auctioneer has announced the winning Bidder, the Bidder is unconditionally bound to pay for the lot"

So the title is yours, you're unconditionally bound to pay for it, yet they can withdraw it at any time, even if it's yours and you've paid but not taken posession??

[andy velebil]

I've generally had very good luck with Spectrum. However, on two occasions I've won a lot and they delivered the wrong wine (completely wrong wine and vintage). When I've called them to return the error and get the wine I won, they've told me both times they made a mistake and don't have the wine I won. That seemed odd to me as how do you list a completely different wine that what you have. I could understand a vintage error (typo, hard to read old label, etc), but how do you mistake a 1970 Dow's for a 1963 Quinta do Noval?

I've only had one other bottle to return due to being in a condition not as described, but this is no different than any other auction house I've dealt with so no biggie there.

That said, every time I've dealt with them they have been very responsive and took care of the issue (refund, or I still kept the wrong lot as it ended up being something I liked and was at a good price). This good customer service is why I still bid there as it makes up for the odd error.

[AAgrawal]

Haven't bought from them in almost 2 years as they royally screwed up the first time I bought at auction.

Well gave them another shot and they did it again. Won and paid for 2 lots. One of which is a very hard to come by wine that I have been looking for for close to 6 years. Was told the 13 bottles amongst the 2 lots would should this past week. I received the 3 bottle lot. The 10 bottle lot did not show. Box i received was marked 1 of 1. SO where is the other box? sent an email and left voicemail. Called again and finally spoke with someone. Was told that the lot was offered by mistake and should not have been in the auction. What the hell does that mean? I bid, won, and paid for the wine. Are they contractually obligated to sell me the wine? Regardless, it was apparently a mistake to try them again.

I think that they are contractually obligated to sell the wine to you. They would have the option to find the wine or cover the difference in what you paid and what it would cost to get the wine elsewhere. Hard to imagine the recovery would be worth the effort.

Their terms & conditions are a bit murky here. I'm not a lawyer to discuss the legal details, but on the one hand they state

"Auctioneer reserves the right to withdraw any lot at any time, even after the hammer has fallen, until the Bidder has taken physical possession of the lot."

Contrast that with

"on the fall of the Auctioneer’s hammer, title to the offered lot will pass to the highest Bidder"

As a third caveat:

"Once the hammer has fallen and the Auctioneer has announced the winning Bidder, the Bidder is unconditionally bound to pay for the lot"

So the title is yours, you're unconditionally bound to pay for it, yet they can withdraw it at any time, even if it's yours and you've paid but not taken posession??

I would absolutely love to hear a legal perspective on this. It's fascinating.

[J Wei]

Spectrum is very local to me . . . free delivery. With that said, only bid and won 1 auction, pair of 1999 Bouchard Montrachets. Lot's of people mentioned they can't get a hold of people on the phone, but I've always gotten through . . . think I talked to a gal named Lauren? (could be wrong on the name) Anyways, not jumping for joy on Spectrum as they do indeed cater to the HK audience far more than here, but not complaining either.

[J a y C a i n]

I've got a buddy who work there. too. I've never bought form them. Nonetheless, I emailed a link to this thread to him.

[T. Altmayer]

Funny, a couple of years ago, I sent off a list of wines to them and WineBid to get estimates. Two emails and no response from them, so off they went to WineBid. I have been using Heritage for both buying and selling lately and both experiences have gone very smoothly.

[jordan whitehead]

will update if and when this is resolved

the issue 2 years ago was one, the auction starting a few hours late (after midnight local time) and moving in slow motion. Second, I had won a lot but they decided about 20 lots later to reopen the lot. Was outbid by someone in HK