Retailer Rant.......

WINE TALK
1

[soap.gif] Maybe I’m just being a curmudgeon, but tell me if this would piss you off…

There is a retailer in Connecticut whom I have bought from exactly once who keeps calling me (on my cell phone) to offer me wines that he ‘knows I will love’, even though I have asked him multiple times to stop! The first time this happened, the caller ID on my phone came up with the name of the store, but since this place has the same name as another retailer in Westchester County that I do buy from (you New York-area guys with the ‘Columbo’ gene have probably already figured out which store this is…) I answered, thinking it was ‘my guy’. When I answered, the guy quickly said his name and said he has a bottle of wine he’s ‘put aside’ for me and wants to know when I can come by…? Thinking I was talking to the store I knew and he was offering me a freebie, but not recognizing his name, I asked him who he was. That’s when it became apparent I was talking to the other retailer! Then when a asked what he meant by him ‘putting something aside’ for me, he goes off on this long-winded description of how great the wine is and it’s exactly the type of thing I like (remember, I set foot in this place once!) and then says the special price is only $X.XX…! I politely tell him I’m not interested, thanks but no thanks and hang up.

A few weeks later, I’m on a job, literally on top of an 18 foot ladder, and he calls my cell phone once again. The same deal…I have a great wine for you, yadda-yadda-yadda…but this time I’m pissed off. I tell him I’m on a job and to please not call me again with his offers…if I want a wine I know where he is and I’ll call or come in if I’m interested. Of course, he called back a month or so later and now I just tell him to lose my bloody number and I will never buy from him again. That was about 4 months ago…

Then today…again, I’m on a job, just about to start a shoot…my cell phone rings…"…Brad, Hi…it’s Bozo from XXXXXX Wines and I know you didn’t want me to call, but I have a wine I just know you’re gonna wanna buy…"
headbang
Holy Effing Crap…if I could, I would have reached into the phone and beat the living snot outta this guy! I reminded him that I had asked him to never bother me with his blind sales calls for cheap-ass plonk and he said he knew, but this deal was "…too good to pass up…!!!

So…am I right to wonder WTF, or should I just say that the guy is prolly feeling a serious pinch from the recession and give him a pass?!!

BT

2

Brad

They cold call people all of the time. I was at lunch with a client once when they called.

Sorry, I should have changed our store name years ago.

Great holiday card, by the way, as usual.

3

Same number?
Is it a branch of the store you do business with?
How can this clown have the same number as the guy you like?
Best, Jim

4

Same number…no…but my cell phone ID came up as the store name, which has the same name as another place that I do business with.

BT

5

I think you should just ask him on a date and tell him you’ll pick him up at 8 and take you’re taking him to this swanky new club on the east side. And tell him to bring his chaps.

6

You’ve got a record of the number in your cell. Block it.

7

That’s about all I needed to read to know “Grapes of Norwalk.”

8

Brad,
I had some guy call me in the middle of the night for several months. I made his number a very soft and unobtrusive cell phone ring so that when he called, it wouldn’t wake me. But I had a record that he did.
If it were me, I’d tell him that if he calls again, I intend on filing a police report about harassing phone calls and then I’d do the assigned ringer thing that I did.
Or the chaps thing.
Best, Jim

9

Brad disappears for months at a time, then re-appears to kvetch during the holidays…[g]

I agree that you should get the number blocked. Also, if you want to take the extra step, write a letter to the state ABC office to complain about harassing sales calls from this store, even after they’ve acknowledged that you asked them not to call. Copy the store on the letter. In fact, if you’ve told them not to call, you could also complain to the FTC, since they are sort of violating the “do not call” rules.

Bruce

10

You wrote: Location: On Top Of You Mom!

Errr, either you like incest or you forgot to add the letter “r”… [shock.gif]

11

I would play a practical joke on this guy somehow

12

Look up the owner’s home number and call him at night?

13

Brad,

I was with you completely until I realized that the guy you think you’re taking the calls from is Posner. At that point, you derserve whatever abuse you get!

[tease.gif]

14

Marketer here, so I would contact the store manager/owner and threaten him with a do-not-call violation. While they may be able to claim an “existing business relationship” exemption, the theat of an $11K fine per instance might get your name off the list pretty fast.


Oh, and BTW, the “clubs” in question are in West Chelsea, not the East side. If you want to make fun of gay men to get a laugh from the straight guys, at least do your homework.

15

Curtis Raskin wondered: "…You wrote: Location: On Top Of You Mom!.."

Yeah…I just saw that… [scratch.gif]…I think a mod must have hacked my account to punk me!

BT

16

Oh, come on now! That’s not true!

17

He is just messing with you. He knows it bothers the sh*t out of you, so he does it on purpose.

You want to get him back?

Call him and say “Hey_________, I found this great wine deal at (biggest competitor). I know its a deal you can’t pass up so I picked up a bottle for you?”. When he says no thank you , just oh, ok, I thought you might be interested.

If he happens to call your bluff, just give him some plonk name with an outrageous price.

If he just says no,
Do it again in one or two weeks.

After about the 4th time, he should get the message and stop calling you.

Even better if you can get his cell or home #.

For added satisfaction, pull the same stunt on the owner of the wine store…

I know time is money, but sometimes taking time to laugh is rather healthy.

18

If my intention was to make fun of gay men, I would have inserted Whore-Hey into the equation. You’re obviously new here, don’t yet know my sense of humor, and it was never my intention to make fun of gay men. (and I thought gay men had a sense of humor!?!)

And yes, I’ve stayed in Chelsea before. Great rates from VRBO for NYC. This CA bozo gets confused with directional situations when there is water on both sides. No harm, no foul. Cheers.

19

I would point out that while this post appears to refer to Grapes of Norwalk, it could also be construed as referring to Mount Carmel Wines in the New Haven area- the “other” Mount Carmel Wines is in the Northern Bronx but it’s pretty close to the Westchester border. I was confused until the “real” store was revealed!

20

But there’s no controversary surrounding those folks. Grapes has a reputation. neener
Now now. We all know I mean grapes in Norwalk.

Grapes the Wine Co has a good reputation; as for the owner, well that’s always a topic up for discussion. [grin.gif]