Disagreements with Retailers over Corked Wines?

WINE TALK
1

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve been buying wine from Garagiste on and off (mostly off for the last couple of years) for the last 6 or 7 years. During that time I’ve asked for refunds on about 5 bottles of corked wine. A very, very small percentage of the bottles I’ve opened have been corked (CT says I’ve opened about 450 bottles from them, so we are talking about 1% return rate).

A year or two ago when I reported a corked bottle they told me they had changed their policy of automatically refunding my money (I suspect it was because I reported two bad bottles within about 3 or 4 months), saying I needed to bring in the bottles and have them examined. I balked at the idea of holding onto the bottle of wine until my next pickup and threw it away. About two months ago I had a corked bottle and held onto it, figuring I’d do as they asked and bring it in. When I picked up my wine I gave them my name and told them about the problem. I never ended up receiving a refund and I emailed them yesterday asking what was up.

The woman who answered my email told me it was inspected by the staff and deemed not to be corked. They will not refund my money but offered me another bottle. The wine in question was a Domaine Guion 2009 Bourgueil Prestige. I have consumed a lot of this wine, from several vintages (both the standard and prestige bottlings), and I am very confident about that bottle being corked. It did sit for about 2 months after being opened with a cork shoved in the top and a fair amount of head space, so I’m wondering if the off smells/flavors dissipated during that time?

In any case, I felt offended that my judgement was questioned. I was positive the wine was corked when I opened it. Have you been in a similar position and had your judgement called into question? I’m assuming retailers get bogus claims all the time, but I’m telling you, mine wasn’t and it really chapped my hide for some reason. I think it is because I no longer trust Garagiste and don’t believe they really gave the wine an honest evaluation. They did however offer to make good with a replacement, which works for me. Rant over.

2

I’m curious how most here deal with this issue. I kinda consider a corked wine part of the risk of this hobby, and I generally assume it. Popped a 2008 Produtorri del Barberesco this past weekend that had cork taint. I just ate it even though my local retailer, b21, would likely credit me if I asked. They did a few years or so ago when I had 3 back-to-back bottles of Chinon that were totally spoiled - I did not ask, they just knew about it.

Just my view, perhaps I’m silly. No aspersions being cast against others who request an exchange.

3

No, I’ve never had my judgment on TCA questioned by a retailer, either local (I bring the wine back) or remote (they take my word). I think I’ve requested refunds for 2 or 3 bottles from Garagiste but not very close together and none recently. Your story is yet another reason to avoid doing business with them. Thanks for posting.

4

I think that Garagiste’s response is ridiculous. It is also telling that you had to email them again to get a response. How do they handle returns from other states? Am I supposed to pay the shipping on 1 corked bottle shipped from Minnesota?

I think it’s pretty well established that corked bottles should be absorbed by the industry, not the customer, with a few caveats. I would not return a corked bottle years later to a retailer/winery I no longer do business with. I would return a corked bottle even years later if I still do business with them.

5

There are at least two threads about this issue, one is quite long. Long story short: I’d fight it with my CC and I would stop ordering from whomever won’t take back a corked bottle. The fact they offered you a replacement bottle, though, is certainly something.

In no way do I think that corked bottles fall on the consumer.

6

Garagiste is corked.

7

Here’s the actual exchange:

Me:

Hello,
I few weeks ago when I came to pickup my wine I returned a bottle of wine I had purchased from you that was badly corked (a 2009 Domaine Guion Prestige). I gave you my name and was assured I’d receive a credit. I never got an email confirmation on the credit and today I checked my credit card and never got a credit on my account. Can you please issue the credit and send me some confirmation that it has been done?
Thanks,
Ron

Them:

Hi Ron,
Thanks for checking in. I just spoke with my team and after the bottle was reviewed they did not find it to be corked. We do have some extra of this wine and although we don’t normally do this, we would like to offer you a replacement bottle free of charge. Please let me know if you would like this.

8

[basic-smile.gif] [beg.gif]…but it sounds like. You have already tried that.

When all else fails you might try asking for [inquisition.gif]

…or you could chalk it up to the cost of doing business with Garagiste. [wink.gif]

Hank [cheers.gif]

9

Several years ago, I emailed them about a corked bottle and it was refunded without question. I didn’t buy a lot from them and didn’t have an issue for a couple years. I ended my purchasing with Garagiste about a year ago and days after my LAST pick up, I had a corked bottle. I emailed and asked what their protocol was - refund, replacement, do I need to bring it back, etc? Took 2 emails to get a response. 2 weeks later they finally replied and aksed me to bring it in. By that time I was sick of it sitting on my kitchen counter and had dumped it. No more business with Garagiste. Very happy to visit Full Pull down the street instead. Way better customer service and a small operation I am happy to support. Paul and his guys are great, and I have never had any duds when ordering on a whim. When my wife… I mean… “self”-imposed buying moratorium is over, that’s where my money will be going.

10

I love Full Pull. I agree completely. And I have the honor of being the first person to correctly guess the blind bottle in the bag in the new warehouse!

The only items I really buy from Garagiste anymore are wines from Loire. Locally the selection is piss poor.

11

Actually, that is what I would do - or use it as a good excuse to stop buying from them. And remind myself of the experience if I’m ever tempted to buy from them again.

12

Seems fair that they would offer a replacement bottle.

13

Garagiste
Caveat Emptor

14

I agree. It isn’t great that you had to follow up with them, but they did offer a replacement bottle. What’s the problem, exactly?

15

Do you think oxidized wines fall into the same type of category? I had a bottle of CA Chardonnay from a top class vineyard and a very good producer that I bought from a local retailer and I took it home and it was clearly off, far too advanced for being three years old and while not corked was clearly showing some oxidized type flavors. I brought it back to the retailer and she of course wanted to open it and taking the first smell from the bottle she says yeah this smells off. Well she proceeds to want to try the wine and then says actually I think this is how this wine is supposed to taste, and follows it up with have you ever had any wines from this producer before because this is how they taste (stainless steel aged Chardonnay that had no acid or fruit). She reluctantly agreed to exchange the bottle, which I proceeded to drink and which was a much more representative bottle. But needless to say I have little interest in buying from them again (I know many other board members have chosen not to buy from this store either because of their business practices).

16

The only producer that has ever argued with me was Scott Paul, every other time I’ve had a corked bottle, I’ve informed the retailer/e-tailer and they replaced/credited me without any problems.

17

I have been on both sides and neither is fun to be on. When I worked at a winery, I was not prepared the first time someone brought a bottle back in and said it was bad so I did what came natural, I poured me a taste and realized it was correct. I was unsure what to do and started the hired help two-step. Luckily, I only had to stall for a few minutes and the winemaker came in and immediately refunded the purchase. After the customer left he explained to me that while the bottle was correct there was nothing to be gained by arguing with the customer and better business to agree the bottle was flawed and refund the cost.

More recently, we picked up a bottle of Bollinger RD from a local place where we knew the guy running the wine program but he was out that day as was the owner. We get home and its obviously flawed so we call to ask what they want to do. This time I am on the other end of the two step and its decided we should bring it back. Luckily its only five miles. Three different employees taste it and all agree its bad but state they can’t do anything until someone from management returns tomorrow. We end up getting refunded but someone ends up telling us that management claimed it was not bad and poured tastes for the staff to taste so that they don’t claim another bottle is flawed if returned. Credit where do, I confronted the wine guy and he stood by his story that I just did not understand what an RD champers is suppose to taste like. Not sure what the bottle tasted like 24 hours later but what we opened was flawed. Even though we got our money back, we have not been back.

Sometimes it is more than the money.

18

What else should they have done? While I strongly agree that retailers should take back corked or otherwise defective bottles (and send it back up the line), it seems they offered a replacement of the same wine and, well, that’s all you can expect. pileon

19

They offered a replacement bottle; that seems fair to me.

I consider replacing a corked bottle or refunding the purchase price to be good customer service and I patronize retailers who do that.

20

Same as here: what would you do (shipping error) - WINE TALK - WineBerserkers