I had the same experience. When they changed systems, they deleted my entire profile, which meant I was relying on memory and email searches for futures orders. I wound up having to accept a 2012 Dom from them for a 2008 pre-arrival they didn’t deliver/didn’t have in stock. I finally was able to pick up a 2019 LMHB future order this week, but was informed I would have to accept a refund on 2019 375ml of Malescot as they “must have oversold that.” I also have had them cancel online orders after I placed them.
There is no way I would place a futures order with them again. Online orders also seem iffy at this point.
It’s too bad. They didn’t have these issues in the past.
you were lucky. They’ve had these issues for decades. I used to live 3 blocks away, would order and pay for something, go to pick up, and it was gone. As I said upstream, I’d buy nothing unless I was holding the bottle at the register tightly with both hands.
I agree with Alan that these are not new issues. I had myriad problems with online and futures orders placed throughout the 2010s. Unless the bottle is actually in hand, there’s a substantial chance you will never receive it. For me, it became not worth the hassle, particularly given the inflated regular prices, but even for “tent sale” or other deals toward the end. There are many better wine retailers (with real ecommerce websites) in LA.
If Wally’s cant reconcile their order book with cashflow coming in - because they’ve lost orders - then their company financial statements must by default be misrepresentative of their actual financial position. Which must mean they actually dont know how much profit they’re making, which must mean they dont know how much they owe the IRS.
I suspect this is an implosion waiting to happen, if they are ever audited.
I would be VERY VERY careful about using this place. Any retailer that loses even 1 order is immediately suspect (I can understand how orders dont get confirmed, get held up, etc, but actually dropping transactions is nowhere near acceptable).
This place is probably one audit away from being shut down and a heavy, heavy fine.
So I’m not just a lurker, I’d like to add my recent experience:
I’ve ordered from Wally’s at least a half a dozen times over the past few years and never had a hiccup until now.
I was finally going to pick up an order I had placed 6 months ago (I appreciate that they allowed me that flexibility in the first place) But when I arranged to pick it up, they were not able to locate the original order. They ended up substituting for different vintages of the wine that were in some cases much more expensive and provided free shipping.