Long story short:
I bought a custom Grotto Cellars wine cabinet about 3.5 years ago. The cabinet was badly flawed in its design and operation, needed frequent repairs, and was all around a testament to why Grotto Cellars has recently gone out of business.
In August, the split system condenser (which is located in the side yard, on the other side of the exterior wall from the back of the cabinet system) failed during a hot spell. I purchased a new condenser from Wine Cellar Services here in Orange County for just under $2,000, which included a one year warranty. Wine Cellar Services had performed repairs and maintenance for me in the past and done a decent job, though they were referred by Grotto Cellars, so maybe the rest of my story isn’t a coincidence.
A month later, that new condenser stopped cooling the cabinet. They came out, diagnosed it as having had the coolant all leak out, and they refilled the coolant and scheduled a follow up visit for a month later to see what the levels were.
Wine Cellar Services never showed for the follow up appointment, and a week later, the system stopped cooling again. I called them, and their 866 number, local number, and website are all now suddenly defunct.
My questions:
(1) Does anyone know what became of Wine Cellar Services? I assume they’ve just gone under and gone away, but I just wanted to know if anyone knows anything.
(2) Does anyone have any idea how I could get any recourse? Maybe a manufacturer warranty or something? Though I don’t have any information about the unit itself, nor any sort of manufacturer warranty – I had assumed Wine Cellar Services would handle any warranty repairs.
(3) In the likely event there is nothing to be done as far as questions (1) and (2), can anyone recommend to me someone in Orange County who can repair or replace my split system condenser unit? Obviously, after everything I’ve been though, I’d love it if it were someone reputable and upstanding, but I’ll take whatever I can get.
Thank you so much if you have any information or advice. I really appreciate the support of the community here.