I’m not the only one finding Bryan’s tone condescending. Just the way his response is written is aiming at making Yong look ridiculous for making a stink about returning a $24.99 bottle. Is it ridiculous? Probably, but that’s not the point. Yong had a bad experience and was looking for some at least an acknowledgment. I know how frustrating that can be, the dollar amount is not the focus here.
Everybody was already on Bryan’s side, with many sharing their good experiences and backing him up. There was just no need for it this type of response. Now I have a bad impression of both of them.
What dollar amount does one have to spend before getting decent customer service - or even an e-mail response? Asking as someone who doesn’t spend thousands of dollars with any one wine merchant, to the apparent scorn of some.
He didn’t “roast him” for substituting the bottle. He “roasted him” for ghosting him by ignoring multiple emails and phone calls after agreeing to take the return.
I don’t think Bryan was belittling him. Substitute 2015 DRC Richebourg for 2015 Guettes and 2015 La Tache for Dominode and it’d have the same effect. He thought he was doing the customer a favor by giving them a better wine which he assumed they’d liked because it was already part of the order.
Definitely falls in the no good deed ever goes unpunished category for me.
I don’t think the analogy works. Yong ordered both Guettes and Dominode, and only received Dominode. He had a reason for ordering Guettes. You’re talking about 1000s of dollars difference and this is 10 bucks. He had a reason to order what he did. (Besides, if I’m ordering Richebourg, you need to send me Richebourg not La Tache or Musigny or Beze unless we discuss it, or unless the request is for three bottles of Burgundy, you pick, and here is what I want to pay.) Burgundy more than any place else has these subtle, nitpicky differences that people pay a lot of attention to and spend a lot of time discussing, so it’s a little ironic to me that a seller says, without asking, take this instead of what you ordered else you’re not a Burgundy drinker.
I suspect that Bryan has run a very fine business for many years making suggestions like this to long term clients about great Burgundy to drink. That’s the best kind of service a wine merchant can provide and I expect that’s why some long-term Burgundy drinkers on this thread think a lot of him.
People that is making me out to be the bad guy, would you just take what a seller ships you without discussing it with you first if you ordered an item from amazon and the seller sent u something else? Even if that item is $5 more? Do I care that the item is more expensive? I am pretty sure I can pay extra 5 bucks if I wanted that item. Would you just accept the item from amazon and not contact the seller for the correct item? And how would you feel if the seller just ignores you for 3 weeks? What if you ordered a dish at a restaurant and they gave u something else thats $5 more and told you “just accept it because its $5 more and I thought you will be ok with it”? Wouldnt you feel extremely insulted like you are asking for charity? Is your opinion on these types of matter the only correct one? Are others not allowed to want what we actually ordered no matter the value? The fact of the matter is I just needed what I ordered and asked to return the wrong item. I didnt do anything wrong. I never demanded refund first. I never demanded instant reply from vinsrare. Why am I being set out to be the bad one? If you or your family ever tried to get what you purchased from any type of products and you are putting me down, shame on you.
I guess I don’t feel that way, but YMMV. If I ordered a bottle of the 14 and 15 Lambrays and he sent me two 15s for the same price I would be happy about it.
I don’t think anyone thinks you are in the wrong for asking for what you ordered. You certainly have that right. Just seems like bashing a retailer over $5 is a little petty.
Second time this was said. How is the retailer being “bashed” exactly here? Someone sought answers about a transaction that went unanswered. It took this thread to get answered after the OP was grilled over about what happened. Not to mentioned discounted by other posters. Retailer substituted wines without confirming with the client. Then ignored the clients attempts to get answers. Only answering him once he found out he was getting some exposure. Did I miss something?
I find these posts really helpful regardless of the “severity” of the issue and dollar amount attached. Why such determination to deter people from posting their experiences and instead come to the rescue of the merchant? I think most people are capable of determining themselves if the consumer is overreacting or not.
It’s really odd reading responses telling the consumer to “do the right thing and move on.” Being a small operation isn’t an excuse for poor customer service, and there’s no excuse for shipping bottles that people didn’t ask for. Don’t take someone’s money if you don’t have the capabilities or time for them. I had a recent order from a vendor that didn’t have the correct number of bottles in stock and I had marked no substitutions, they sent an email, refunded the money, shipped my order, done. That’s what doing the right thing and moving on actually looks like.
Losing a future customer over $25 you refuse to refund until the bottle is returned just seems silly and out of touch.
Crazy thread.
The problem is communication. If Bryan contacted Yong we would not be discussing it here.
Bryan’s substitution was more than fair but he never communicated this. Also doesn’t it cost about $15 to ship a single bottle?
What is an acceptable $ value then?
I wasnt bashing him for $5. He didnt give me a lesser value wine. Theres no $5 in this equation. I was commenting about his lack of communication and ghosting me and giving me something I didnt ask for. If you must add a value in to this “petty behavior” then it would be $50 since I paid $25 (375ml).
Would this be an issue if the retailer had not outted all the details? I’m at a loss about the defense here. What difference does the dollar amount make as to the issue at hand and how is it “Karening” to question it? How many people here would put up with random substitutions on any of their orders without answers from a retailer?
It’s like popular Burgundy sellers get the same deference as the wines. People will fall all over themselves to apologize for any subpar performance.
I have no horse in this race but after reading the thread and re-reading the initial post, it certainly feels like the people piled onto the OP pretty hard for what was a very accurately written description of the situation (that is often not the case when people complain about vendors on boards).
My takeaways:
The OP was upset more by the lack of communication more than anything else - which I can fully appreciate. We get it, stuff happens - just take the 30 seconds it takes to let me know what is going on and I will be fine. Ignore me and I will take that as an insult.
Whether or not you or I would have been upset by this type of treatment over a $25 transaction is irrelevant - the OP felt it was worthy of posting and that should be sufficient.
Bryan has engendered a great deal of loyalty from many customers over the years which means that he at least knows how to take care of customers.
Bryan’s comments about the ‘little things’ and the fact that he highlighted that this, in wine terms, was a relatively small transaction signals to me that if you are spending big money with him you will probably be treated very well but otherwise, you will be viewed as a ‘little thing’ and who knows what will happen?
I can assure you that any vendor who dismisses my transaction as a ‘little thing’ probably isn’t getting any more of my business.
This is the key. I am sure most people here agree you deserve to get the bottles you want, pay only for what you ordered, and have your issue resolved in a timely manner. I am also sure most of us feel that Bryan would ideally have let you know about the substitution and answered your emails more quickly.
Had you continued to pursue this issue privately, I am absolutely sure it would have be settled eventually to your satisfaction. Instead, you chose to take what many of us feel was a very small complaint – a little extra chasing, a small amount of money in limbo, a little frustration to deal with, but no evidence of fraudulence or dishonesty – into the realm of public shaming. Some people here obviously feel your choice was justified. They are entitled to that opinion, as you are entitled to pursue whatever course you feel is appropriate. To many of us, though, myself included, that action was not only not justified, but also distasteful and an overreaction to the size of the complaint, even if it did speed up the resolution. The distaste we feel at that action is probably what leads some to sound upset with you, or to give the impression that you are in the wrong - not so much because of the particulars of the dispute itself, but because of the extremity of how you chose to address it in proportion to the issue itself.
That’s a personal choice. I’ve given exactly one retailer a negative review on here and that was after they canceled 3 orders I’d placed for several thousand dollars, and even then, didn’t make a separate thread in Wine Talk about it. You certainly have every right to complain just like Karen has every right to demand to talk to the manager because the employees aren’t demonstrating enough holiday cheer for her taste.