Am I the only one to have had trouble getting wines owed to me by Winex (Wine Exchange)?
I’ve shopped at Winex.com online for a few years and had mostly positive experiences (other than the consistently buggy and slow website). Their prices are mostly great. There were some issues last year with the confusing and highly imprecise shipping and available inventory information, but I received everything owed to me ultimately during the 2022-23 fall through spring shipping window.
Since last October, I’ve been shrugged off through multiple emails, not been given correct information multiple times, and ultimately, they are claiming I’ve had multiple bottles delivered that I never received per my records and after double-checking during a recent inventory. They are claiming they’ve delivered more wine than I think is possible given the number of shipments created. I was foolish for my first delivery in October and didn’t take a photo of everything that arrived, but lesson learned…
I’m trying to get them to fully list the bottles that were delivered and in which box. I believe they will have to admit they are off when they try to assemble the list unless they try to claim they overpacked a box, which absolutely didn’t happen. Anyone have luck getting Winex to admit they messed up?
I’ve done a lot of business with Winex over the last 15+ years with 0 issues. Futures and in stock. Bought a case last week and it was delivered 3 days later.
Part of my issue could be that I’ve purchased a lot of 2x and 3x bottles of wine, and wines from different orders come available at different times. In this instance, I’ve tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I double-checked (more like x8 different times) my inventory and the math doesn’t add up. I’m still working with them, but I’ve already had to eat 3 bottles that they claim were delivered and they offered nothing in terms of the possibility they messed up.
I have had issues in the past, but they were minor compared to what you describe. At one point they told me that HTS orders were packed, and then just put aside til a shipping window was available. There are pros and cons to that method, but my real takeaway would be that I think it’s safer/easier with this vendor to just order what’s in stock, and get it shipped right away, and inventory upon arrival without dawdling.
If those don’t work, it’s just asking for trouble. I feel like all vendors are having more trouble with the nuts and bolts of online wine shipping.
My first (and only) futures order sucked, never bought anything since that.
Ordered a case of riesling as futures. When other retailers started receiving theirs, I received a bunch of excuses. In the end, they sent me a check as refund, as they “didn’t get the amount they expected”. Nice 2 year tax-free loan from me.
I agree the selection and prices are great, and my customer service experiences have been mostly great to this point. They reached out to me when a previous Champagne order was no longer available in the stated release to ask if I still wanted it, and they absolutely are trying to work to get things shipped.
My issue was more with getting information about the availability of my wines, which has been “say one thing and do another” a few times of late. I’ve asked about some wines I thought were still outstanding multiple times over multiple months. Recently, I asked about an outstanding order for Pichon Baron, and they responded that it “[is] here and we can ship [it] if you like.” When I followed up to ask why it wasn’t delivered with other wines I had shipped, they said it was delivered back in October. Back in October, I got a shipment packed with this:
The Rauzan Segla also noted as “N/A” above was just sent in this February shipment (so they agree it wasn’t delivered earlier). Again, they claim they already sent the Pichon (the “x” with a circle is my marking from an inventory, and the “N/A” is their marking on the packing slip). It isn’t really helpful to send a packing slip with wines listed that aren’t in the delivery, and they’ve never been able to list for me the wines they think they sent in earlier shipments. Hoping for a positive resolution, but it has been a huge waste of my time.
I guess it went over your head. The current owners were former Winex employees. They left and formed a company called bestwinesonline.com
I don’t have exact story but as I understand it. The old owner had to move out of long time location and merged/sold the company to former employey/current owners. So Winex became bestwinesonline.com then back to Winex
The opposite happened with me on a pre-order - I picked up half an order in person, and the next time I came in (for the second half), they asked me if the first part had been picked up yet as they didn’t show any record of it. Probably could have doubled up on some bordeaux, but told them the truth.
Seems like their process is manual/handwritten? Not great.
Just an update. I sent an email asking for their records of delivery on Monday and a follow-up yesterday, but so far they are ignoring me. I’m not sure if they have someone looking into it and are just afraid to respond the wrong way or if they just don’t want to deal with me anymore. I’ll give them a call next week if they are still ignoring my email. It’s $376.90 worth of wine before tax that I don’t believe I ever received.
They are about 5 minutes from my office when I actually show up. I have had nothing but good experiences with them but I have not bought much at retail.
