Winebid: Wrong Bottle

Comments on this exchange?

I paid $81 hammer price for the 1998
It was shipped as part of a case, so shipping one bottle back in a 12 bottle box doesn’t make a lot of sense.
I’ve averaged 5+ cases over the prior 5 years from Winebid, so a consistent but not major customer.

Read bottom up




To:service@winebid.com
Sorry, that’s not going to work for me.

I didn’t buy the 1988 and I won’t take the risk on it.

If you want the bottle back, send me a shipping label, the packaging, and issue me a $10 credit for the inconvenience in dealing with this.

The mistake is yours.


-----Original Message-----
From: WineBid Customer Service <service@winebid.com>
To: XXXXXXXX
Sent: Mon, May 17, 2021 8:10 pm
Subject: Re: (Case 694794) Wrong bottle

Hello Robert,
Thank you for contacting the customer service team at WineBid. Unfortunately this is due to an inspection error during the initial inspection of the bottle (meaning the 1998 vintage is not is not available). The 1998 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, 750ml has a reserve value of $55.00. If you would like to accept this bottle, we would issue a refund for the difference in price ($26) plus the difference in the premium fee and sales tax.

If you do not wish to accept the bottle, we can issue a call tag for the bottle and issue a full refund for the bottle once it is received into our Napa facility. Please advise.

We regret the inspection error and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

We look forward to your reply.

Regards,
Brian Connors
WineBid Customer Service Team
service@winebid.com
(888) 638-8968
-----Original Message-----

To: “service@winebid.com” <service@winebid.com>
Subject: Wrong bottle

Bought the 1998 Beringer Reserve, but the 1988 showed up.
CellarTracker suggests the 1988 is past it’s prime. Would appreciate a credit to my card.
April 4, 2021Robert Lynch
Customer 398094 – Invoice 317064851998 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon [I7790186]Base neck fill

Seems like they offered to right by you. Kudos to Winebid.
Alex

Sounds like a pretty polite response, considering the abruptness of your note.

So: Ship me the wrong bottle , one that I consider too much of a risk to purchase, and it’s up to me to go through the hassle of finding an appropriate shipping package and make the arrangements to return the bottle (albeit with their shipping label)?

They offers you full credit and a return shipping label, nice simple response.

Query: Does the shipping label come with a box? I’ve never done this before.

A call tag means they send someone to pick up and pack the bottle. So they didn’t ask you to do any of that. Please send me $10 for explaining this to you.
Alex

It’s not finished yet, so don’t know what to think.
When Winebid wrote “ we can issue a call tag for the bottle.” What does that mean? Is that a shipping label? I agree they should pay the return shipping, regardless.

$10 credit? Do you really want to be that guy for $10? I get it if you’re negotiating, but I try not to give customer service people reasons to hate me.

A call tag means they come pick it up and apply the label. They offered to get the bottle and ship it back at their expense. With their label. And he asked them for $10 to cover his inconvenience.

Touche’ on this: “Please send me $10 for explaining this to you.”
But your response was voluntary. My involvement wasn’t.

Wow…

Unfortunate mistake. But Great customer service by winebid.

I’ll add. U don’t need to “find packaging” if u don’t already have a bunch of empty foam shippers. Just use the box the wine shipped to you in.
Even if it’s a 12 shipper. They won’t care.

Full credit. Shipping label. No questions asked. Doesn’t get much simpler than that on a human mistake.

Well, your involvement was kind of voluntary. You ordered a thing. That is voluntary. You got something that is different then the thing you ordered. That part is involuntary, but everyone who orders things knows that it sometimes happens, so in a sense it feels like part of voluntarily participating in ordering a thing. When it happens, the person who sent the wrong thing sometimes acts badly. That isn’t what happened here. They gave you two alternatives: make you whole or make you more than whole. You took neither. You asked for whole plus a $10 credit. Then you asked people for their opinion of the exchange. My opinion is that you don’t come off very well in the exchange, and also that you owe me $10. I’ve had terrible experiences with winebid so I don’t use them. But I’d they treated me the way they treated you I’d be a customer. Sorry if you don’t like my response but you asked for my take on the exchange so I gave it to you. Also - you owe me $30.
Alex

Your grammar is incorrect . There should be no apostrophe and the word that should have been used is “its” (since it is not possessive) and not “it’s”. That would have been a show stopper if I received your email.

“Just use the box the wine shipped to you in.
Even if it’s a 12 shipper. They won’t care.”

This helps, and makes it a bit more palatable. Not sure it makes sense, but the 12 shipper for one bottle is not my problem.

I think you mean “showstopper”. “Show stopper” or “show-stopper” signifies a positive impact. You also owe me $10 for my inconvenience.

Please clarify which scenario makes me “more than whole”.
I’ve had issues with Winebid previously too, but that’s beside the point.

If there is a predominate point it is that: “Winebid made a mistake. Not the end of the world, but my time and effort has value. The mistake is theirs, not mine”

Search: 1988 Beringer private reserve cabernet sauvignon winebid
And you get the last two purchases at $65 ( Feb 21 and May 17, 2021). Add 17% = $76.05.
All prices irrelevant if it’s a wine I’m not willing to risk being past its prime.

Then maybe let them pick up the bottle at their cost and give you your money back like they offered?