If I could write like Isak Denison, I wouldn’t be posting here. Though I would certainly be drinking more red Burgundy. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Well he’s been a crank and a hassle in the past, so I guess I am not surprised.
Glad this has been resolved Ian.
I seem to remember Bill Klapp posting about issues with this seller as well.
This thread makes me grateful for the retailers who tolerate ‘hold til ship’.
The retailer here welcomed it, explicitly, until there was a problem shipping this order.
Weird implications by him
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his business model barely makes money so as soon as there is a problem it is the customers fault?
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you chose wine to buy that barely makes him money meaning your close to scamming him?
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he only performs customer service on loyal customers who buy a lot of wine from him?
Was he slow in fixing this or is this about you being such a value player he’s irritated by your selections and his lack of profit? The bottom line is he would of written much worse things to say to you about you if he could and that was his best angle which shows to me he was wrong. I would imagine over the years he probably has serviced these situations faster and this was an anomaly but it was an interesting view into his psyche.
Are you trying to make me feel sorry for Max?
WineConnection was my second worst wine buying experience after Premier Cru. Avoid. Can’t believe he is still in business.
I will not comment on this incident, but feel the need to say that I have been a very happy and satisfied customer of Max for well over 10 years. In recent years we have become friends as well. Any glitches with orders were always resolved promptly and to my satisfaction, some well before we became friends.
I don’t mean to suggest that anyone’s else’s experiences aren’t valid, only to share mine.
Complaining of customers because of your profit margin is a bit like going to a gas station or grocery store, 2 notorious low-margin businesses, and having them say “Sorry. Can’t sell you anything today. I’m only going to be making pennies on your order, so, thanks but no thanks!”
People like this are in the wrong business.
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day. As much as one can tell from thread exchanges, Bill was justified in his complaints in this case. It happens.
When I placed the order by phone, I spoke directly with Max and asked if this was the real price; he said yes. I asked why the price was so favorable and inquired about the provenance; he said he’d purchased them upon release from the distributor (perhaps he’d lost them in the warehouse for a decade?). I asked if I could buy four at that price, he said ‘yes.’ I don’t feel I pulled a fast one on him.
I went back a month or so later to see if I could get a couple more bottles, and the price had been bumped on his remaining eight bottles, closer to contemporaneous winesearcher pricing. In itself, increasing the price in the remaining inventory is a perfectly reasonable move on Max’s part.
Max’s emails are strange, and perhaps a window into his soul. Thanks for sharing, Ian.
While occasionally it’s totally legit to “fire” a customer, this ain’t one of those times. Just a bizarre response and an example of how not to handle a problem in the age of the internet.
That email exchange is super bizarre. You’re not missing anything, Ian. There are clearly problems there, but not of your creation.
I don’t know what you mean by this.
(At one point Klapp and Max had some online argument about non delivered futures)
Sorry; poor attempt at humor on my part
My reaction as well. Amazing what a self interest will do to some people…
Ok. I tried to find that comment/thread, but either my googlefu or searchfu is not strong enough … or the mods removed it.
I suppose the cruelest irony is that some of the Premier Cru FoxenFuhrerBunkeren Fanatics are now being chased by the Trustee (or his agent) for Clawbacks and/or Avoidance claims. (not that I agree with those claims)