"In store pickup is free"

WINE TALK
1

I saw this phrase on a retailer’s email offer, and my immediate reaction was “well, of course in store pickup is free.” Unless you’re leaving your order there for an extended period of time–raising issues of long-term storage–why wouldn’t in store pickup be free?

But we live in a weird world, so I thought I would ask–have you ever encountered a wine merchant who charged EXTRA for a customer who came into the store and picked up their order?

Bruce

2

I hope not !
But I also remember the first days of ATM when we were told that we will never pay a fee to take out our money from the bank.
Also the airline/delivery (FedEx, UPS) charging for gas :slight_smile:
I hope the wine industry is not going this route.

3

I’d imagine that they were emphasizing the point to entice people not to ship as in “We can ship this to you for $X nearby customers but remember it’s free if you pick it up.”

I’ve not ever heard of someone charging a fee to pick up a product but I can see people charging a storage fee past some reasonable timeframe and, of course, if you’ve not paid for the product but merely put it on hold, I can see them selling it after it’s not picked up for a period of time.

4

“bottles extra”

5

Some places definitely charge for local pickup, especially auction houses.

6

Any wine retail shops? Again, I’ve never heard of a wine store taking your order (over the phone, Internet, etc.) and then charging a pick-up fee if you pick it up within a few days.

Bruce

7

I’ve never heard of a pick up fee from a wine retailer but we would make an exception for you neener

8

I’ve never heard of that either. However, I do frequent a store in Eatontown, NJ that has cheaper online prices than they do in store. In some cases, as much as $50 on mags of CdP. And the way their online system is set up, you can’t just go in there and ask for the online price, so I have to place the order from my phone, wait for them to receive it, and process it. In some cases, it takes 4 hours or so. So I’d go there at lunch, see what I was interested in, place the order from my computer, and pick it up after work. Kind of strange, but I guess it makes sense. The pick up was indeed “free” though. :wink: -mJ

9

Maybe it’s for retailers with multiple locations. I order some Burgs from Wineclub San Francisco and it’s shipped free to Wineclub Santa Ana for local pick up. I’ve never been charged for local pick up at the SoCal auction warehouses. If they tried to pull that kind of BS, I would stop doing business with them.

10

I’ve always said you were exceptional. neener

Bruce

11

Surdyk’s in Minneapolis will charge for any orders over the phone to pick up later in the store. I am sure some clueless people pay for it thinking they will save five minutes from getting it themselves. What a joke!

12

And what do they charge for this incredible, time-saving convenience?

Bruce

13

+1

There is a store here in Denver that is just like this and it is not a “multi location store” sort of thing. So although they don’t “charge” to pick up, their story is very similar to mark’s example.