For those not on the Northern District’s mailing list, The Wine Broker has filed for bankruptcy protection.
Chapter 7 is liquidation, not reorganization. Ugh.
That is correct. I’m not a PACER user, so I haven’t been able to look up filing online. The question would be whether there are assets or not.
A good reason to avoid having a large amount of undelivered purchases with any specific retailer. I wonder about people who had ordered futures from here. Its site is not operational now.
One of the reasons I passed on the bargain 08 bdx futures at the bowels of financial abbys (Mar/April 09) was the fear of undelivered futures from bankrupt counterparties (woe is me for saying nay to multiple $2400/cs 08 Lafite). Best wishes to those who have outstanding orders. While I would definitely advocate buyers to focus their purchasing with blue-chip merchants that don’t fiddle in the exotic and have a long track record, I also fear that type of mentality only exacerbates the woes of the smaller merchant.
Faryan
I agree with you and, in fact, I have bought no futures from anyone since the 06 EP. I was and am as concerned about the negotiants going belly up as the US retailers. In the case of TWB, I was a customer of their retail operation for over 10 years and later also a customer of their storage facility before I saw signs of trouble. I had already halted futures purchases with all merchants when I started to become concerned about TWB. I have tried for some years now to get satisfaction on many large orders that I did not recieve. Most of these were undelivered futures, the most recent of those from 05 (as in, EP purchases from May and June of 06).
I’ve been surprised that there have been no threads up until now about TWB given the number of people who claim to have been burned. I chased this for a long time and received promises along the way for delivery and restitution that never materialized…and won’t.
I am sorry. Have you pursued the matter with your credit-card company?
No. Insurance claim can be an option for some. And then there’s pursuing fraud with the DA’s office on the futures. IIRC, Chapter 7 doesn’t discharge debts when fraud is involved.
Fortunately, my Chubb insurance covers loss of off-premise wines, especially given how I had taken possession before shipment to storage.
Sorry to hear that. We used to do some business together back in the day. Jim Leeuw was always a stand-up guy in my dealings.
That’s what I previously thought, too. I’ve seen the filings now (corp and personal), and it’s bad stuff.
A falling tide lowers all sailboats, and also reveals what each swimmer has been wearing.
Is there any reason to suspect fraud? I haven’t heard any allegations or facts that would give me a presumption that this is anything other than a perfectly legal bankruptcy…Unfortunately, it happens, and always leaves creditors with little recourse…
When Carolina Wine Company went under a couple of years ago, I was able to successfully get the money back through my credit card company via the “chargeback” process, even for wines that had been ordered five years prior (and were still undelivered). The key was convincing the credit card company that despite the fact that I’d paid for the wines several years earlier, the wines were still due in the future, and were not supposed to have been delivered already. If they were SUPPOSED to have been delivered more than a year before, then you can no longer initiate a chargeback. I stressed to them that I’d had numerous conversations with CWC and they had indicated the wines would be arriving in the coming months…At that time, there were allegations that somehow the sale of wine futures constituted the sale of “securities” and therefore should have complied with the securities laws, etc., but that was (and is) a crazy idea…
In any event, if it’s wine you ordered from them in the last year, there should be NO issue at all–just call your credit card company and explain to them that you ordered and paid for the wine and it was never delivered.
Only individuals can receive a discharge in a Chapter 7 case. Business entities liquidating in Chapter 7 do not get a discharge.
I took a quick look at PACER and reviewed the company’s Schedules of Assets and Liabilities. It lists total assets of $89.00 (consisting of an account with a negative balance of $511 and computer equipment with an estimated value of $600) and total liabilities of $3,234,957.94. You are listed as the holder of a general unsecured claim. PM me if you would like to know the amount.
It seems like they should have more assets than that.
Around November, I bought two bottles from Jim at a price so alluring that I should have seen the giant red flag waving in front of my eyes. my card was charged but then I got no responses to multiple emails about shipping. When I did receive a response, it was that the bottles were in Minnesota and could not be shipped until a break in winter weather. More patient waiting, and then more unanswered phone calls and emails. A month ago, I got the credit card charge removed, after appealing that I was fed bullshit stories that the phantom product would be delivered.
A few years ago, I trawled its site, but did not find any notable deals, figuring that the store was meant for locals who could not buy from out-of-state sources. Your story indicates an effort to raise cash without really selling wine, and that other consumers may have been similarly juiced.
I don’t know what their recent business model was. I have never looked at their website though I have seen their name pop up on Wine Searcher. Years ago, their focus seemed to be on cellar acquisition, futures, and limited “deal of the day” type recent or current releases. There was never a retail store front to my knowledge though I can’t speak to pre-'93 or '94.
I continue to be amazed that other customers-now-unsecured-creditors are reluctant to publicly talk about this. There are some heavy hitters on that list including names that pop up here, but as you can see, few have spoken out here. I got fleeced after a very long buying history prior to the partnership change in 06, but embarrassment? That’s the last thing I feel.
What would be the utility in posting on a message board about it?