Could this really be?? No way...maybe?? Oh no!!

WINE TALK
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http://www.cellarhound.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.contactUs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The rebirth of Cellarbrokers? 20,000 wines listed, no stock, all available 4-6 weeks. He’s back!!!

East Meadow, Long Island, NY…brand new spanking license. Careful out there!

If this is indeed the case, and I would be truly shocked if it isn’t (unless some other brainiac really came out with this amazing, new, and highly successful business model), this is really shameless and outrageous.

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38000 wines, according to wine searcher…

I just purchased 25000 of them!

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Just ordered some Truchot and '97 Pahlmeyer.

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[rofl.gif] [rofl.gif] [rofl.gif]

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FYI, they have the same address as MAB Wines?

http://www.mabwine.com/index.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Never heard of the place, but they have 36400 wines less than their “sister” store.

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That’s pretty rich…

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Any relation to the multiple NJ listings that always come up on Wine Searcher for every wine? The ones that say “need 3 days to confirm availability” and all have slightly different pricing?

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Mo

Those stores just download the inventory of various suppliers and then work on tiny margins on the hopes that, one day, they will hit the big one. Most are on my ignore list.

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Well, I contacted wine searcher, out of curiosity as well, and the person heading up this operation is the same person that headed up cellarbrokers, subsequently, wine searcher is taking the proactive step of removing their listing, along with their 38,000 wines that they do not have.

Kudos to W-S!

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Good detective work there by our very own Sherlock Posner. 38,000 wines listed, all 4-6 weeks arrival. Hello???

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I prefer Inspector Gadget, due to my clumsiness.

Go go gadget…

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Daniel and Max

My name is Jake Lambertson and I want to respond to your posting about Cellarhound vs Cellarbrokers. You have been posting some accusations about our site that are somewhat unfounded. Yes, I used to work at Cellarbrokers ( for about 8 months). I, along with many clients, was lied to by the owner of that company about what was really going on. In fact, I am still owed a lot of money by the guy who ran the company and endeavored upon what I consider to be shady, horrible business practices. I was a salesman on the phone with people and had no control whatsoever over the site, what the site displayed, or the fact the owner was blindly charging people for wine he had not confirmed or paid for. I started to realize that my days were being spent on the phone with people who had not gotten their wine and the next thing I knew the company was defunct (Christmas week might I add). The last 3 weeks I was there the owner/president never even came into the office.
I spent the first half of this year unemployed, trying to rebuild my career. I, like you, have a passion for wine and I love what I do. After some time I found a great company here in East Meadow that has been in business for more than 50 years. It is everything that Cellarbrokers wasn’t, and for that I was grateful. I took what I considered to be a good idea, that was being handled in a flawed way by Cellarbrokers, and made policies to protect our customers, and us, from anything like the mess that was created by Cellarbrokers.
Our policies are as follows:
We post if a wine is in stock or available in a week, or available in 4-6 weeks. This way the client knows exactly what they are getting into. This information will be updated weekly to be as accurate as we can be.
We do not charge any cards for non stocked items until the wine is confirmed stock at the supplier and ready to ship to us.
We offer a written guarantee of delivery date to the customer or a full refund will be provided.
None of these things existed at Cellarbrokers. I have had clients that have been with me for years because I have always provided them with great wines at great prices and am an honest and good person to work with.
There are thousands of good people who happen to work for AIG or Goldman Sachs who lost their jobs due to companies that cost people and the Government millions of dollars. Should these innocent people never be able to work in finance again?
To attack our business and myself without knowing the full facts I feel is irresponsible on your part. You are attacking a company that has done nothing wrong and has no intentions to do any suspect business. I am truly sorry if you had a bad experience with Cellarbrokers, so did I.
I would appreciate it if you would consider retracting your statements in light of the truth.
I invite you to communicate with me directly if you have concerns along with anyone else who reads this.

Jake Lambertson
Cellarhound.com
877-WINE-866

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Jake

Good luck with our business.

Max and I found a new wine website, and we questioned it. Winesearcher, before I emailed them, was investigating you.

Cellarbrokers cheated people.

Based upon your website, your business model is very similar, so Max made the connection.

Nowhere did Max or I say anything bad about you, or your business. We just questioned it, like we question a 100 point score on a $30 wine.

I hope you do a bangup job with your website.

Personally, I do not understand your business model and knowing the problems you had at Cellarbrokers, I am not quite sure why you would want to pursue the same business model.

You were the point man on many transactions, I imagine. So I am sure when people place orders with you, that got screwed at CB, they may remember your name.

A shame? I do not know. I do not know you or anything about you.

I do know that Cellarbrokers also had one post on the Parker board…remember that?

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Jake,

What Daniel said. Don’t know you at all and I certainly wish you well with your business ventures. Cellarbrokers did screw a few people (including me in one instance but I was able to recover through Citi) and quite a few of my clients who were lured by their deals. The business model just looked too familiar and this is obviously nothing personal. Unfortunately, when a company, big or small, does something stupid, the stigma is carried through and everyone in the chain gets burned a bit, even unwilling or unknowing participant. It is sad, but true.

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Furthermore, what accusations did I post, Jake?

Looks like I posted a few facts, which you, in turn, confirmed to be true.

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Here is some info from their extremely cursory website:

"If Cellarhound, for any reason, is unable to fulfill its obligations to the Buyer, Cellarhound’s sole obligation and the Buyer’s sole recourse shall be a refund of the purchase price.

Cellarhound makes no warranty, expressed or implied, about the wine being sold except that Cellarhound is conveying clear title to the wine and, Cellarhounds’s knowledge, the wine is what its label describes it to be. Specifically, because wine by its nature is subject to change in the bottle over time, Cellarhound makes no warranty or guaranty of the quality or drinkability of any wine sold."

So…

No obligation to deliver wine actually ordered and paid for. No warranty whatsoever on the wine itself–the wine can be completely undrinkable and they have no warranty or obligation at all. What a pile of manure (and I’m not talking about terroir). Pass, pass, pass…

Bruce

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Thank you, Bruce. I am sure Jake will come back to us with a reasonable explanation.

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Jake should have been transparent about the Cellarbrokers connection…but seems much ado about very little…just how many ITB peoplle here plug their friend’s wines, etc…without any disclosure about past relationships and businesses?..and perhaps Jake intended to say something about his connection before Dan & Max brought it up…BTW…I almost met Jake once for a total of a minute or two…and would have seemed charming and professional…let’s discuss more juicy stuff…what do Scott & Eric know about the mysterious …and now defunct Cellarbrokers??? ?..I need to thank Scott and Eric for not letting us know about Cellarbrokers, and the new company connections… blahblah blahblah blahblah …I have more to say, but I have to have another drink… [cheers.gif] … [drinkers.gif] [drinks.gif]
-Pobert Barker

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That was actually funny Manzi… there may be hope for you yet…

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Yost of the Pear!!!

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