Thoughts on this?: Consumers Short-changed Again on Shipping | Wine-Searcher News & Features
I can’t find much more information online other than this article, and wanted to see if anyone has heard anything about this. This would be such a bummer for so many of us.
Constitutional abuse by the WSWA truly knows no bounds.
FYI, the new contracts from UPS and FedEx allows them audit the retailer’s books at will to ensure the retailer is compliant. Sign it or don’t ship. They will be going after third party shippers soon to ensure small retailers, well priced large retailers and small wineries are hammered and unable to offer better pricing than what’s available in your state. Evening the playing field if you will. The WSWA will control distribution AND pricing.
Here’s an excerpt: Shipper Compliance Program: … (3) Self-assessments of the Shipper Compliance Program to guarantee its effectiveness. UPS shall have the right to demand from Shipper evidence that the Shipper has complied with all applicable laws and regulations. UPS shall also have the right to audit Shipper at any time an for any reason. The scope of UPS’s audits of Shipper may include but are not limited to: opening an inspecting Shipper’s packages; examination and review of Shipper’s books, records, facilities, and/or customer lists; and auditing the Shipper Compliance Program. Shipper acknowledges and agrees that UPS may not return to Shipper any unauthorized shipments it may find through its package audits.
About the same as a convicted burglar, robber or rapist. Search and seizure without probable cause AND you have to register.
Hey Terry, are you busy??
So they aren’t necessarily new ‘laws’, per se, just stronger enforcement by the major carriers of existing laws?
Thanks for the great info, Randy.
So if this happens for every wine retailer (and winery?), no one will be able to ship to any state other than the 13 or 14 have no restrictions whatsoever. Perhaps I’m making an assumption here, and I’m obviously hoping that this will not be the case.
I didn’t see where they list the states without restrictions, in the article it says there are 16…Can someone point me in the right direction for that list?
Wrong just wrong especially as it’s easy to get a gun shipped.
That’s what’s effed-up about this country: guns over butter (or vino), and no lobby group that can support the dollars that sway legislative bodies.
Careful, folks - keep politics out
What’s allowed and what isn’t by state is pretty well summed up here: U.S. Wine Shipping Laws, State by State | Wine Spectator
I guess the point of this string is that it has been loosely enforced as I live in MD and have up to now received numerous shipments from retailers. In the remote areas (such as southern Maryland, alcohol tax @ 9%) it is pretty difficult to find the wines you want to buy. Even if you can - there is always a retailer in states such as CA, NY and IL that typically provide the most competitive pricing.
Matt, you’re absolutely right that it has been loosely enforced in most states (like Maryland), up until now. The article (and Randy’s comments above) makes it seem like there will now be stricter enforcement, as it has been passed on to the shipping companies. I guess the question will be whether the shipping companies actually do this. In the case of The Wine Connection in California, this enforcement has already occurred.
It is just so unfair for all of us, because it’s not like every wine is available in every state. What this law would effectively do is to limit what wines we all are drinking, certainly for those who do not live in urban or highly populated areas.
Ryan,
These restrictions in the UPS/FedEx agreement have nothing to do with winery shipping, they have different licensing and compliance than retailers do and wineries are able to ship to many more states if they want to apply for permits and comply with what is required from them.
The new retailer shipping agreements are much more binding than the shipping companies have had in the past. A lot of this has to do with the states cracking down on the shipping companies more than they ever have, also because WSWA are busting their chops. In addition the wine shipping licenses can NOT be used to ship ANYTHING but wine. If retailers ship anything else then UPS will generate a 2nd account for the retailer. That’s another way they will keep tabs on who is doing what.
Per my UPS rep below
Also, moving forward this account cannot be used for any merchandise items. If you ship anything other than wine please let me know so we can get you a merchandise account generated.
I had to get two UPS accounts to be able to ship my food products. Got a letter stating that since I ship wine I can have any of my packages opened and seized. Went mama bear on my UPS rep. So now I have a separate account for wine and food products…What a pita!!
Nola - Any of your food packages can be opened too? Or is that just the wine now that you have two different accounts? Also, are FedEx and UPS eye to eye on this or is one worse than the other in terms of enforcement/audit?
We have two accounts also, but if I get my way, next Monday we won’t be shipping wine via UPS.
Well supposedly, one is for wine and the other is for food. I really don’t know the future of shipping altogether though. I will look for the letter I got from UPS when I have a free moment, but it essentially said for New York, since at some point I had shipped wine to NY they could at any time seize any package whether it contained alcohol or not and they could block all further shipments. UPSNazis. I never concluded that it was the WSWA, but that certainly puts a big piece of the puzzle together…bastards.
Just a data point, but here in Colorado I use to get probably 80% of my wine deliveries via UPS. Last year it suddenly switched to approximately 80+% FedEx.
This is so incredibly short sighted by WSWA. This is an incredibly strong market that is expanding and has been for several years. The niche market of wines for the secondary market is small, but very vocal with lots of money and plenty of attorneys. Not people worth annoying for no good reason. If they cannot buy Lafite 1982 they are not going to put the money into anything Southern et al offer.
Last year UPS dropped quite a few accounts in the NYC Metro area because they refused to sign their arm-bending contracts. Guess when? Yep, right around the Thanksgiving holiday crush.
I wonder what this means for the people that have cases of wine at out of state retailers waiting for cooler weather. 