Also, they travel during the weekends, so for an east coast delivery, it’s often better that they’re traveling on a truck that gets wind chilled and is passing through colder climates/nights during the weekend, than sit in a truck at depot close to end point.
A little sample from the last 2-3 weeks orders: After contacting all the buyers individually, telling them about the challenges of shipping in summers, here’s how it pans out for 10 orders:
3 never responded to multiple emails.
2 asked them to be put on hold until fall (obviously wine nerds;)
5 want them as soon as possible, but understand the challenges. But basically want them as soon as there’s a window.
So, those are the real day shipping realities. We’re wine nerds on this board and are accustomed to waiting, but most buyers aren’t. They just want the stuff they ordered as soon as possible. I get that.
But most interestingly - what do you do with the 3 that never responded to multiple emails? I’ve found that next week seems to have manageable temperatures for the eastern parts of the US (most are going to PA), so I’ll just ship them today in the cooler window for next week and pray that they don’t get stuck or damaged. Not sure what else I can do.
That goes to policy. Many places I buy from state everywhere on their website and order confirmation forms that wine will be held by default in warmer weather. If you want it now you have to reach out and request it and often sign a waiver. That way when they don’t respond and you don’t ship it, you don’t end up with angry customers unless they didn’t read. Better than your email going into their spam folder and you ship the wine and they complain and want you to re-ship in the fall.
I sent the package. Maybe I could have driven to deliver it, but at the time it wasn’t looked at as that big a deal. The express package was supposed to be there the next day.
Oh, that’s probably why it went to Florida. I’ve seen overnight packages take weird routes sometimes, probably something only an algorithm could understand. Ground seems to be more logical, at least to humans.
They finally returned my email and offered nothing. Just pointed me to their delivery policy on their website. Buyer beware.
Please be advised that deliveries will NOT be held despite possible low or high temperatures in your area. Your purchase confirms authorization of immediate arrangement of delivery. To hold delivery for up to 90 days free of charge, please select “Store in Zachys climate-controlled warehouse” as your Order Option at checkout.
Ordered something with a 90 day hold, got an email saying my time is almost up and they’re shipping out regardless of weather. Checked their PDF attachment and saw I still have 84 days left. Lol, Zachy’s so impatient.
But still, a strict 90 days means shipment goes out in late September when it’s still pretty hot out (prob wouldn’t pay for additional storage since it kind of negates the sale). Guess I’ll swap my wine for whisky. Ha
