Issues with Benchmark Wine Group (WOT)

I’m looking for some thoughtful (and polite) feedback to make sure I’m not in the wrong here.

I bought 4 bottles of 2009 Hundred Acre, using a 10% first time buyer’s discount, at Benchmark Wine Group (www.benchmarkwine.com). They asked if I wanted anything else at the time I ordered, because the 10% was a 1st time purchase deal only. I said no. I asked them to hold the wine due to weather for ~10 days, and then e-mailed them the morning they were supposed to ship before they opened, asking if I could add to my order and use the 10% discount. They said no problem, just call them to finalize.

I called and explained that I wanted to purchase more wine and add it to the existing order to the first woman who answered the phone. When I mentioned the discount, she said the discount was only available for my first order, and I told her that this was my first order. She asked me to hold, and I waited for about 3 minutes, when someone else answered the phone.

The second woman with whom I spoke called me “Richard” (as opposed to my name). She told me that she took my original order, and that she couldn’t apply the coupon because it would be a whole new sales number, and the system wouldn’t accept it. I told her I had received the e-mail that said I could use the 10% discount, and read it to her. She then asked me to hold, and put a third person on the phone.

Unlike the first two, the third person had a tone of attitude in her voice, and said that she could not apply the 10%. I mentioned that this was my first order, and that the wine was still at Benchmark. I also mentioned the 10% confirming e-mail. The woman essentially said the person who e-mailed me didn’t know what she was talking about (i.e. that this order was from a while back), which I found unlikely given I sent it before they opened for business that day, but possible. She then reiterated the concept of the new sales number, and I said, “Look, this is purely a customer service issue. This is my first time buying from you, and we are only talking about a ~$50 discount. You haven’t shipped the wine, and it’s still sitting there. I’m not sure why the 10% couldn’t be applied as this is all a first-time order.” She argumentatively stated that I would already have the wine if I hadn’t asked Benchmark to hold it, and again stated she was unable to apply the 10%. Because of her attitude more than the lack of discount, I then mentioned that I would simply like to cancel my order.

The customer service person next informed me that Benchmark would charge me 5% for the cancellation. Incredulous, I asked why, given Benchmark still had the wine, and had been holding my money for almost 2 weeks. She told me the credit card company would charge Benchmark this amount for reversing the charge. I knew this to be a false statement, and said “I’ve never heard of that.” She then backtracked and said Benchmark now needed to put the wine back in its inventory and remove it from the packaging. At least at that time (they may have changed their site, I don’t know), there was nothing about either the 10% or the 5% policy mentioned anywhere on the website.

I then took the time to explain the situation in a fairly lengthy, non-personal or argumentative e-mail to the Vice President of Operations. Apparently she was traveling out of the country when I sent it (but did not have an out of office reply on). Around 9 or so days later, when I did not hear back, I e-mailed her again. She apologized for the delay and said she’d get back to me by close of business the next day. That was January 28, and I’ve still received no response from her or the owner, who I also e-mailed directly.

While a $50 savings would have been nice, it became a matter of principle once I got the person with the attitude on the phone. Benchmark didn’t owe me anything, but I felt the whole way this was handled showed a complete lack of customer service (I actually felt like their enemy and not their customer) from the “lowest” employee to the “highest.” Any thoughts?

seems like you have invested more than $50 of time so far?

Jeez. You got the 10% when you placed the first order and were asked if you wanted more that day to get more of the 10%. You asked person 1, person 2 and person 3 if they could bend the rules a bit and they all said no. They even gave you a practical reason why. Not feeling like you were wronged, but if you apologized to the sales reps, I’d think more of you.

Apologize for what? The first person (email) said yes. And the third was outright rude. My point we I wasn’t bending the rules as this could all have been my first order.

Yep. I think you’re wrong here (you asked for feedback!). 10% coupon good for first order. Yeah, it could have been first order placed in it’s entirety at the same time, but for 99.5% of the business this is the same thing. You caught the 200 to 1 exception. You wanted more than what they intended. You didn’t get it. Then you decided it’s personal.

Anyway, I think you’re wrong. Stores have to have policies and practices and not all of them can be bent/broken while praying at the alter of Customer Service

The only thing I see that you have on your side is the early morning email exchange telling you it was OK. Without the exact text it’s really not possible to conclude whether they had any culpability at all. All that said, this IS (as has been said) ultimately a customer service issue in which none of the three people you spoke with felt it was right or had the authority to help. They SHOULD have gotten back to you by now with some kind of management response but, without knowing their normal MO, I can’t tell if that’s in or out of character.

Just last night I was reading the Yelp reviews of a local retailer with whom I’ve shopped a few times and had no problems but have heard, from reps, that the owner can be very difficult. From the Yelp reviews, what you went through would seem minor. It takes all kinds I guess.

Life is short. Open a nice bottle. Move on. That is my two cents. It is worth a lot less than that!!!

(The Benchmark folks are great folks. People are human. We are all flawed.)

Fair response and good advice, Eric, thanks.

FWIW, here’s the text from the e-mail copied word-for-word:

Hi Bill,

Thank you for you for your email. I will hold shipment until you add more bottles. Please call the sales department and let them know about your 10% discount, they are happy to help you place another order.





Best Regards,

Rayna Halsell
Client Relations Representative
Cellar Shipping Coordinator
rhalsell@benchmarkwine.com

Benchmark Wine Group
445 Devlin Rd.
Napa, CA 94558
Telephone 707-255-3500
Fax 707-255-3503

From: ____________@yahoo.com [mailto:___________@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2015 5:04 AM
To: Rayna Halsell
Subject: Re: BWG Shipment

Hi-

I’d like to add to this order before it ships and use the 10% discount. I will call later to discuss, or call me at ________________ Thanks.

Bill, that email seems pretty clear. They screwed up. I think you are correct.

In the grand scheme though, hey, life goes on. The Benchmark folks really are good folks. (More than pricing, they are diligent about sourcing, good, real, serious stuff.)

OK. This is purely a service attitude issue. If you sent that email to someone in management and did not get at least an apology plus discount on a new order then this place has seriously f#%*!ed up. Write them off and enjoy that wine. Life IS too short.

curious. how do u get a first time buyer discount? :wink:

There’s a code. I did a Google search for coupons for their site.

Love Benchmark. No problems so far.

^This.

Yep. The email changes things for me. If I got that email and when trying to use it got rejected, and then got either attitude or no response from management, I’d also be pissed and is just write the store off forever.

You said no. I know to a lot of guys no means yes but in this case it still means no.

anyone have a valid 1st time buyer 10% off code? Can’t find it online, and asked the OP but no response yet… would be a nice discount to have [cheers.gif]

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I was going to LMGTFY but I’m trying to be less of an ass. Might be WINELOVER2015 by now though.

Sorry i shoulda clarified… but a WORKING code at the moment… not from 2013 :wink:

(i found/tried that code too but it didn’t work) [head-bang.gif]

Hey Bill,

I’m glad you decided to post this on Berserkers, as I was unable to directly respond to your One-Star Yelp review because Yelp has some crazy rule that a company has to have a picture of the owner of the business posted before replying to a review.

Given that Benchmark specializes in back-vintage wines, I’m sure you can imagine that most wine collectors who have diligently stored their wines for years or decades do not generally let those prized possession go for a bargain. As a result, Benchmark operates on very thin margins, choosing to pay more for well stored wine while offering those wines to our clients at market leading prices. To give our clients further clarity, we choose to come to market with new wines at our best possible price, no need to wait for the next weekend sale or coupon. Aside from a Bin Sale two or three times a year, we have traditionally offered very few discounts, and recently we have moved to offering no discounts unless there are extraneous circumstances.

…To sum up my long explanation above, we rarely discount our wines, which is why we could not extend the First Time Buyer discount on your second order which we gave on your first.

Regarding our 5% cancellation fee, a store credit is always the preferable choice instead of charging fees; which was offered but declined. The fee is stated on our website here: Terms and Conditions | Benchmark Wine Group | Benchmark Wine Group, the Credit Card processor absolutely does keep their cut if you choose to cancel your order after the credit card transaction has been finalized. They actually charge a percentage when the order is changed, and then they charge the same percentage again on the refund – which actually adds up to more than the 5% fee. The only caveat is a situation where you cancel your order the same day.

Our VP of Operations was disappointed to hear that you did not receive the emails she sent regarding the situation on 1/28/15 @ 9:19pm and 2/1/15 @ 7:13pm. Lindsay will be in the office the majority of this week if you would prefer to discuss on the phone – 707.255.3500

If we can help you further in any way, please let us know. As I’m sure you are aware, our Operations Manager did wave the 5% cancellation fee in an effort to bring this matter to an equitable resolution.

Best Regards,

Mike Sai
Director of Marketing
Benchmark Wine Group