I previously placed a 6 bottles future order of 2020 Pontet Canet through KLwines for $685. But for the past couple months, KLwines had been selling the same future for $595 now. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try asking them if there is anything they could do about my existing order. They responded to my email same-day and offered me a store credit (gift card) refund for the difference. It’s always nice to have a local wine shop you can count on. 
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Yes I’ve bought almost all my futures from K&L and customer service was always great. Then they stopped shipping to a bunch of states and my business with them has cut to zero.
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I find it weird that K&L only ships to a handful of states…I have found that most other wine retailers in CA ship pretty much everywhere…I would buy a lot of wine from K&L if they shipped to NJ…
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I buy from a few CA retailers who have zero problems shipping to Nevada. Don’t understand why K&L won’t.
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Same here, they used to get a lot of my business and then suddenly stopped shipping to WA. Reason I was given was that any state with expensive compliance was axed. Still seems weird since WA is certainly a reciprocal state but whatevs
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100% agree on this.
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Totally agree! Bought from K&L many times (and sold a couple) and it was always a great experience. Then they suddenly stopped shipping to AZ. Such a bummer.
I wouldn’t even consider consiging with them again because the states that they ship to are so limited now.
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Yep.
I’ve beaten that drum here for years. I don’t even acknowledge they exist anymore. Waste of my time.
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I buy some stuff from them and just pick it up in LA or SF when I’m in town which is usually at least every 6 mo. They sometimes send me an email complaining about the wine not being picked up and I’ll reply and tell them they’re free to ship it to me and they stop complaining about it.
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They stopped shipping to Ohio too - shame, because I used to love them
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Same as Michael. I buy a lot less than I used to but I do get to CA or DC often enough to still buy some stuff and either pick it up when I’m in LA or the Bay Area, or have them ship it to DC and pick it up when there.
I track an auction lot now and again and it doesn’t seem that their hammer prices have taken any kind of hit from the limited shipping, for those worried about consigning there.
Love that they’ve slowly been knocking off states that they ship to, less competition 
K&L was one of the stores that I first started buying from 15+ years ago, top notch and one of my frequent stops when I’m in the Bay Area doing pickups.
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Does anyone know K&L’s stated reason for only shipping to so few states? It can’t due to tax or license fees, because all of the other big wine shops in CA (Woodland Hills, Benchmark, for example) ship everywhere…It would seem that K&L is giving-up a lot of online business with their shipping rules, and anything that they have to pay in fees would be dwarfed by the increase in sales…
I would suspect that is was not technically legal to ship to many of the states they used to. Many retailers don’t care. What can the destination states do?
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Yeah, there are a bunch of obvious reasons discussed on several previous threads. That includes not wanting to put themselves at risk breaking laws. Alluded to above is the fees they have to pay to many states. If you aren’t operating at capacity, taking a smaller margin on some additional sales makes sense. But, they seem pretty maxxed out with their four locations. To expand further would involve large costs while risking the oversight and organic training needed to maintain their level of quality service. Then there are costs associated with shipping snafus and a huge hassle with shipping windows. Build more warehouse space for all the orders on hold? Having to deal with all the asshat customers who insist on shipping in hot weather, then wanting a refund because you did what they asked or go into an internet flurry if you won’t?
The way they gradually trimmed away states implies they found those particular states too much hassle. They clearly didn’t throw away business for no reason, right? So, it’s only fair to assume it was in reaction to something out of their control that took shipping to your state break even or worse.
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In previous threads, it was stated they received cease and desist orders for shipping to certain states. Another retailer (note many states treat producers and retailers differently) on WB stated they had also received cease and desist orders from various states.
Also, note that they stopped shipping to NM a few years ago, but now are shipping to NM again. What changed? Presumably, NM shipping laws.
Here is a reference guide from FedEx listing states where they will ship wine direct to consumer (wineries and retailers listed separately).
Not really a customer service issue.
-Al
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I would suspect that is was not technically legal to ship to many of the states they used to. Many retailers don’t care.
As I understand it, this is their reasoning.
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The cease and desist letters help clarify the reasoning.
-Al
I discovered that Nevada changed the law two years ago to disallow direct to consumer shipping from retailers. I had no idea. Yet, many retailers seem to be ignoring it. However, still ok for wineries to ship DTC.
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Yep. Like you said I think many retailers are ignoring it though. Haven’t had any issues.
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