Classic retailer response to a corked purchase

WINE TALK
21

Suzanne, obviously if you had decanted it, and perhaps opened another, different bottle instead, you’d know that your subjective theory that the wine was flawed with TCA, smelling like a moldy basement covered in wet cardboard, was the only flaw in that wine. Dah.

22

A similar experience I had with a placed called Vickers Liquors in RI made me completely stop buying from unknown retailers. Wound up with some badly cooked wines and there response was to accuse me of being the culprit. The guy on the phone said something like…How do I know you didn’t leave the wine next to a radiator or something??..NICE!

23

Radiators cork wine.

24

Yes, we drank the remains of what was brought back since it was open less than 24 hours

25

Standard practice is to take back defective wines, with the possible exception of old wines. The retailer returns it to the distributor, so they don’t even have to pay for it.

26

Exactly, that’s why I can’t believe it’s a problem with any retailer. They just pass the buck to the Wholesalers.

Many years ago when I worked for a wine shop we wouldn’t put an order in with distributors until they picked up their “breakage”, broken bottles and corked or flawed wines.

27

Does the wholesaler for Jadot take back old wines for credit?
Sounds like you guys are arguing for good customer service to retain a customer. That, with the supply and demand, of Grand Cru Burgs (particularly OLD GC) makes it possible for them to say “sorry.” The attitudes on this board are split. I know that any wine I buy that has a cork in it could be corked. Seems the risk is around 5-10% if you read some of the guys with experience here. Comes with the territory, IMO. You guys, Oliver and Dan, didn’t do it either, so why do I blame you for it? You bought the cork, but didn’t make a mistake.

28

I haven’t had a problem with bad bottles recently, but I’ve been told by both my two LWS and distributors that they always take back corked bottles as the distributor eats the cost. They said I shouldn’t buy wine from anyone who wouldn’t take it back.

29

At least they didn’t suggest running it through a magnet to get rid of the problem.

30

Most wholesalers here take the wine back, if you can get them to come get it or bring a replacement bottle. A new issue we are dealing with is wineries changing distributors. The new distributor doesn’t want to honor a vintage provided by another distributor. So far, the CA, WA and OR wineries have been good about replacing the wine. Not having as much luck on foreign wines.

31

I’m not defending it but isn’t it ILLEGAL in some states to take back alcohol?

On the other hand I read that, in Australia, someone took a case of a corked bottle all the way up the legal chain (and won!) on a consumer protection claim that the bottle was flawed when it left the manufacturer.

32

Do you think they will take wine back? [rofl.gif]

33

Nonsense, got the same answer from HDH regarding a purchase, won’t shop there going forward.

As a distributor, I take care of customers wherever I can, I’ve exchaneged a Dm. Leflaive BBM 1999 for a 2007 because I didn’t have a 1999 and it was best I could do, more importantly it was the right thing to do.

34

I think in the early 1980’s the way the law was interpreted by the CA ABC this was the case but it conflicted with a law prohibiting selling “defective” products and the ABC changed their interpretation. I think it is still illegal in CA to straight out accept returns of alcohol but I’m not sure.

35

Thanks, Suzanne. I guess all of us will be crossing that retailer off our ‘buy’ list. Perhaps it would be informative either to send them a link to this thread or simply copy it all and Fax it to them, or, hell, do both. The forthcoming response, or lack there of, could be priceless.

36

Absolutely agree. I think some businesses fail to realize how damaging poor service can be, when multiplied by thousands

37

In re-reading the email - here’s what makes me mad - the harping on the “subjectivity” of wine tasting. Sure. But, if you’re any good at selling wine, you should be able to figure out what a customer likes based on what they tell you. I consider it my responsibility to suss that out and I will take back wine if I miss. Forget flaws, if you don’t like what I suggest, I feel like that’s my fault. In my years of slangin’ wine, I have never had a customer abuse my return policy.

38

I had a little bit of an episode with an established retailer opening a new location with a new staff. I felt slighted enough to send the following email, which pretty much tells the whole story:

To Whom it may concern,

As a long time customer of the wine department at the Fairfield Jungle Jim’s location and 3 year attendee of the JJ’s International Wine Fest, I regret to say that I was significantly disappointed with a recent experience at the new Eastgate location wine department. I will keep the story brief for your sake (and mine) but my wife and I made our first trip down to the new location a few weeks ago to check it out and see how the wine selection compared to the original. We drove just over an hour to get there (from Dayton where we live) and left with a bottle of the 2006 Sbragia Monte Rosso Cabernet. I was very excited to get a back vintage single vinyard Sonoma cab at such a good price. When we opened it a few days later it was significantly and unmistakably corked, lacking any fruit or even oak for that matter and instead overpowering with musty harshness. It happens, no big deal (we opened an 07’ Hidden Ridge Cab instead, which was delicious) We immediately re-corked it and planned to return it the next chance we got, which was a few weeks later. The wine department staff member that we ultimately ended up speaking with was ______ who seemed to be management of some sort. Not only did _____ proceed to eye my wife and I skeptically while tasting and smelling the wine for a minute or better (it had been open at room temperature for 12 days), but he then proceeded to tell me that the wine was fine and to argue with me asking if I have ever opened a corked bottle before. After several minutes of this, he reluctantly offered a credit for the bottle and never conceded or apologized in any way. I’m not here to say that this is the most despicable behavior I have ever seen or anything like that, but this is not the way things should be done. I have never before had any wine store employee argue with me on a corked bottle and I have had few wines that were as obviously faulted as this one. I don’t know the details of Jungle Jim’s wine department, but the proper and typical path for something like this is for the retailer to return the full bottle to the distributor and the distributor issues a credit to the retailer for the bottle, then sends it back to the winery for their credit; the retailer has nothing to lose in an unfortunate circumstance such as this, making the defensive attitude that much harder to explain. The winery ultimately pays for faulted bottles and I know for a fact that they appreciate the information as many corked bottles go un-returned with customers thinking that the winery makes bad wine (and they may have a bottling issue if the percentage of returned bottles suddenly increases). I have had many wines from Sbragia in the past and enjoyed them immensely.

I am not asking that any specific action be taken, just that this information is seen by the proper parties. A response would be appreciated.

Thank you for your time,

Dustin Gillson

After sending this, I though I might have gone too far, but wanted to give the retailer a chance for redemption as their selection and tastings are second to none in Ohio. A week or so later I received the following email in response:

Mr. Gillson,

Greetings, my name is Todd Wiggs and I am the Beer and Wine Department Manager at Jungle’s Eastgate. Thank you so very much for taking the time to share this information with us. Let me begin by offering you my sincere apologies for you and your wife’s disappointing experience while visiting our store. It was frustrating to read your description of how ______ handled taking care of crediting your corked bottle. And yes, your comments on the proper way to handle such problem were spot-on. For purely pedantic purposes, it is common for us to smell a returned bottle of wine and to make an assessment of its flaw(s). However, this should only be done after the customer knows that we are happy to replace or return the wine. And, of course, it should never be done with skepticism or criticism of our customers’ palate or wine knowledge.

I am embarrassed by how my employee behaved. I have already discussed this with him and I know he understands what he did wrong and how to properly handle this situation the next time it occurs. I have also scheduled a time to discuss this situation with my entire staff to make sure that future customers never have to tolerate a similar experience. I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to make me aware of this. It won’t happen again.

I love working with our customers and being part of the local wine community. I have been a passionate member of Jungle’s team for 8 years. It is rare that someone takes the time to write to us to share their experiences at Jungle Jim’s. Thank you for doing so. Your email helps me to do my job better. I would love it if you would introduce yourself to me the next time you are in our store. I want the opportunity to thank you in person and to try to extend some goodwill to satisfy your frustrations and poor experience.

Sincerely,
Todd A Wiggs

Thereby fully restoring my faith in mankind. I don’t mind using the store and/or manager’s name because I feel this response is more than admirable. They have locked me in as a long term customer at this point. [cheers.gif]

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations, I know it was a rather lengthy post.

39

[welldone.gif]

40

I had a problem a few years back with a large Piper Heidsieck purchase - including some Cuvee Rare. About 25% of the bottles I got across the line were corked. I wrote to the US rep and, to their credit, they contacted the house in Reims, which did a review of the line to make sure there wasn’t a systematic problem, and they sent me some very nice bottles to make up for my loss. Made for an even more loyal customer.