My question… how come wineries don’t read the special instruction box with my comment on shipping dates? It’s as if the order defaults to the date they say everything will ship.
You’ve never worked in “customer service”, have you? 
+1
I’ll have a few bottles sitting in a UPS warehouse this weekend.
Doesn’t make much sense.
I’m told that the shipper didn’t read the instructions. This happens 2-3x’s a shipping season.
Annoying… that already destroyed one bottle of wine for me this season…
there are more moving parts to shipping than you could imagine. from ‘Does the box you entered your information into print on to the packing slip the end-user uses’ to simple oversight to everything in between.
This is a big peeve of mine also. Sometimes there’s no one at my shipping address for several days at a time, so I’ve often had to pay extra to schedule alternate delivery dates because shipping is not coordinated the way I ask. I always ask to be able to choose a specific date, and many places send it out anyway after agreeing to do it the way I want. It even just happened with a winery whose winemaker frequents this board (not that it has soured me on that producer, but it is an inconvenience). It was no big deal, but when I’ve been in contact with them and they agree to contact me to schedule a date, then I get an email notification that the package has already been sent, it’s a little frustrating. I know the logistics can be a bit complex, and I understand that some places say they can’t accommodate my requests (Cayuse, for example), but when they say it will go a certain way and then it doesn’t, I am not really happy.
Some wineries do their own shipping but a great number rely or have to rely on a fulfillment center to handle orders because it is financially or logistically required. Fulfillment centers make their money by minimizing labor costs. Likewise, some of the wineries that do their own shipping also try to minimize labor costs. Everything is done in bulk to simplify operations and reduce errors. Special instructions will disappear or go unread to maintain efficiency. Small producers probably are more attentive, but you can’t maintain a “shipping” staff all year for release day.
I’m sure most of my issues have been with fulfillment centers rather than winery staff. The recent one was with the latter, but I’m sure it’s because they are ridiculously busy right now. I forget stuff sometimes under similar circumstances, and I hope our customers also understand that.
I just received another e mail notification that my wine is shipping. Only problem is that I asked for it to be shipped mid December. 
Winemakers Please read the note in the comments section, or at least tell your shipping people to read it.
Bastards.
I’ve had amazing service from “No Girls” winery. It’s been largely around the fact that I’ve needed to have my wines shipped to a state that I don’t live in…and that the addresses have had to change for shipping. I can’t say enough about Cindy and all her efforts to ensure that I get my wines…and that they’re shipped at a time that is safe from both ends of the Country
Kill them all.
I always call on the phone and talk to them. Works ever time.
+1
Just start in another state.
They let you talk to the “winemaker?”
Then why should they bother putting in a comments section on the order form if they’re not going to read what I write?
I use a fulfillment center because they fill out all the compliance paperwork and pay all the state sales taxes, etc. I could never do all that. I haven’t screwed up yet (that I’m aware), but it can be tough to juggle everybody’s requests when it all needs to go out on one day or the weather window will close again. I have orders now for people who are vacationing in Hawaii, etc. It is hard to keep track of all these on top of coordinating with the fulfillment center on the small weather windows that open and close. When my customers return from Hawaii it might be too cold to ship, then I’ll need to make sure they are home before I ship if I wait an extra week. For example, it was really cold in the Rockies last week and it is warm there early next week, then it is forecast to be very cold again, so you are trying to thread the needle where a wine needs to leave one day or you might be waiting two more weeks for weather to cooperate. It is like being a short order cook where you’re trying to get the tables their plates at the same time and then somebody wants to have their omelette deconstructed and whites only. And another table wants no onions but extra cheese, etc. If you place a special order appreciate that it is an added burden.
The best thing is to have it shipped to a business address, or alternatively ship it to the nearest FedEx Office (formerly Kinko’s). I have several customers who ship to their nearest FedEx Office store and they generally seem to like that service.
And how, or why, should any of the above be the customer’s problem?