B21 Wine in FL - Major Disappointment, Ending my 25+ Year Relationship with Them

[Art_R]

Just blocked their offers!

[Robert.A.Jr]

I had pretty much stopped doing business with them around 12 years ago when one of their employees was very rude to my wife at one of their tastings. Gave them another shot 7-8 years later on some insane deals they were having, only to have them call and tell me they couldn’t fill 1/2 the order and now what they could fill was below the free delivery threshold…so ended up cancelling the rest.

Damn, Kevin, that is your backyard!

Well this thread has certainly helped me. I always feel badly being critical, but sounds like some others have come to a similar conclusion. Thanks all for the input. Makes me feel more comfortable that I wasn’t just being a PIA first-worlder.

[RehbergK]

I had pretty much stopped doing business with them around 12 years ago when one of their employees was very rude to my wife at one of their tastings. Gave them another shot 7-8 years later on some insane deals they were having, only to have them call and tell me they couldn’t fill 1/2 the order and now what they could fill was below the free delivery threshold…so ended up cancelling the rest.

Damn, Kevin, that is your backyard!

Well this thread has certainly helped me. I always feel badly being critical, but sounds like some others have come to a similar conclusion. Thanks all for the input. Makes me feel more comfortable that I was just being a PIA first-worlder.

Yea, I used to love visiting the store and bringing home a few cases. Loved back when they would highlight their staff, their knowledge, etc which was always confirmed when you had questions. Now, all that personal touch has been removed. Its hard to completely blacklist them since 1) they are so close and 2) have the best selection in the area at typically good pricing, but they certainly aren’t a must go to anymore.

[Victor_Hong]

I had bought some stuff there recently for Robert. The customer service was as friendly and helpful as a past-due corpse.

LOL, but I did get those bottles, and thanks again! Had one on Friday sitting on the ocean with cheese and meats!

I did have to pay the Florida protect-the-children pricing premium.

Who knew that wholesalers and retailers were such vulnerable children themselves, at risk of under-age alcoholism with premium wines?

[AAgrawal]

Sorry you had issues like this. I have had more customer service issues this year than ever before, mostly big retailers that I didn’t have a long-standing relationship with. Maybe they are too busy to need more business. Retailers that I’ve bought from regularly and that have more personalized service have been great, and I’m consolidating more and more purchases with them.

[Victor_Hong]

Almost all of my wine purchases during the past two years have been via WineBid, with which I have no commercial affiliation.

Prices, shipping, bottle conditions, and customer service have been fine. Retailers could learn from it.

[Troy_Stark]

Not surprised to hear this. As a resident of Tampa with many wine-drinking friends, the stories of their poor customer service are a pretty common thread (including one friend who was charged 3 times for the same in-store order!). We live about 20 min from the shop and I decided to go in one day as we were up in Tarpon goofing around. I spent about 30 minutes wandering around and not once was I asked if I needed help. That and the way certain high end bottles were being displayed told me everything I needed to know about the place.

Robert, there are a lot of other very good wine retailers in the Tampa area who have great pricing and may make deliveries to Orlando (not sure). I’m sure you’re aware of them, but Craft & Curd and Redneck both come to mind, though I’m not sure how deep their selection of Loire reds is!

[Jayson_Cohen]

Sorry you had issues like this. I have had more customer service issues this year than ever before, mostly big retailers that I didn’t have a long-standing relationship with. Maybe they are too busy to need more business. Retailers that I’ve bought from regularly and that have more personalized service have been great, and I’m consolidating more and more purchases with them.

What happened to Robert is really unacceptable. But I feel like some of the retailers I buy from, including brand new contacts and both big and small stores, have gone out of their way during COVID to provide good service, including offering me wines I never asked for. This has only occurred because of personal contact, whether email or phone or even in-person (socially distanced of course).

So I think it has gone both ways, with the retailers who do provide strong personal service able to really shine (as you suggest).

[Julian_Marshall]

Sorry to read about this - what a lot of hassle. It seems strange that at a time when so many retailers are struggling to survive, one of them would treat a faithful client like this.

[Jay_Miller]

Sorry you had issues like this. I have had more customer service issues this year than ever before, mostly big retailers that I didn’t have a long-standing relationship with. Maybe they are too busy to need more business. Retailers that I’ve bought from regularly and that have more personalized service have been great, and I’m consolidating more and more purchases with them.

What happened to Robert is really unacceptable. But I feel like some of the retailers I buy from, including brand new contacts and both big and small stores, have gone out of their way during COVID to provide good service, including offering me wines I never asked for. This has only occurred because of personal contact, whether email or phone or even in-person (socially distanced of course).

So I think it has gone both ways, with the retailers who do provide strong personal service able to really shine (as you suggest).

Agreed. I’ve had great service from both Chambers St. (long time customer) and Flatiron (haven’t bought much from them in the past though that’s been changing this year). Also Winebid who has improved their service (notably in the new shipping options) from an already high level.

I remember looking at B21 20 years ago and wishing they could ship out of state. The experiences described are exactly the sort of thing that would put me off ever ordering from them.

[Mike_Cohen]

It’s not you…its me, but I think it’s best that I start seeing other wine stores. Of course, I still want to be friends with you.

Seriously. I have zero patience for bullshit. It would have been so easy to handle this properly on their end. Sorry it happened.

[Andrew_A_r_n_t_f_i_e_l_d]

Thanks for this post. I’ll avoid them in the future.

I’ve placed a handful of orders with them over the years. Never a problem with the orders, or with shipping to NY state. My last order was a futures order in April 2018. The order was ready to ship in November 2018, but at that time they told me they were no longer able to ship to NY. They were very helpful, though. They suggested that I arrange the shipment myself via Fedex and send them the shipping label PDF. They gave me all the necessary info (box dimension, weight, etc.). They packaged the shipment (at no cost to me) and applied the label. Package was picked up and delivered without an issue. (BTW, I’ve suggested that method to other retailers who are unable/unwilling to ship to NY, and they’ve said it can’t be done.)

So nothing but good experiences with B21’s customer service in the past, and I’m sorry to hear the situation has changed.

[Robert.A.Jr]

Agreed. I’ve had great service from both Chambers St. (long time customer) and Flatiron (haven’t bought much from them in the past though that’s been changing this year). Also Winebid who has improved their service (notably in the new shipping options) from an already high level.

I have a long-standing relationship with Chambers, Crush and Weygandt for my geeky stuff. All three of them have first-rate customer service, in addition to a fantastic selection of unique wines. Chambers is like a good friend, truly wonderful people. There is such a range of great retailers, especially in California, like Golden8, Martin Steinley, K&L, Benchmark, etc., I just tend to purchase as much as I can on the east coast given how tricky it is to ship from Cali to FL, plus a very short shipping window.

I’ve been very happy with WineBid as well. I have not had much luck recently, however, as I think Covid seems to have run pricing and competition up. I used to win something almost every week, it’s been some time (couple months?) since my last purchase. Solid service, though, and a very fun platform. I have a couple bids in already, so fingers crossed.

Sadly, Florida is really limited on high quality retailers that carry the things that this Board seems to rave about. I’ll check out those two Tampa retailers highlighted above.

Thanks all.

Robert

[MitchTallan]

They just sent me a great offer for '18 Pegau @40. I guess I will pass. Really.

[Ian_Dorin]

Robert- Bob is still the owner but they have made it difficult to get folks on the phone. Not sure why other than some changes due to covid and I think their volume is up quite a bit. I’ll send you Bob’s email. He is usually very responsive and I think he would hate to lose you as a customer.

Thanks, Fred. Much appreciated.

I just drove back from the beach and was reflecting on this whole thing. I’ve had my cathartic, I think I will pass on reaching out to the owner. I’ve spent enough time on this mess, including another call to Am Ex to make sure this retailer is blocked. Am Ex said them not deleting my credit card information on my request is a problem, and they are looking into that business practice. I’m very disappointed, and actually upset, that a retailer I used to love is basically gone for me. I am assuming that the owner decided to embark on an internet, transaction-based model over a customer-service model. There are no names and emails on the website, as far as I can tell. You cannot reach a live person. The call-in system is fully automated. That was not the case before. I assume this was a business decision, and I assume perhaps it means there is more volume now with the internet and the ease of interstate shipments. It’s really no longer a family business in the old sense of the word. If it remained customer-oriented, I do not think I would have experienced what I experienced. While I know in life there is some gray and “he said, she said” stuff in most disputes, but what cannot be disputed, or explained, is why they would respond to some of my emails but they never ever once would give me the contact information to the owner. I asked five separate times in five separate emails. These emails went to the sales department and the shipping department. No less than two people responded to me, including the rude person on Friday. So two “live” people acknowledged receipt of my emails, responded to part of them, but deliberately chose not to give me contact information. That’s pretty basic customer service, and for a family business, totally surprises me that the contact with the owners has basically been blocked. These employees failed, but customer service starts at the top. Seems like the owner checked out and nobody is properly training or monitoring these people.

I know you said you made your peace with it, but if the owner heard from you, I think you may get more out of this than you expected, especially if he’s a good guy.

The only way a business can get better is when they know the issues going on. Can’t fix things if you don’t get feedback.

[Dan_Hammer]

Robert, another way to deal with this is to use multiple #wine related hashtags on twitter and instagram. Don’t forget to include surrounding area towns and counties. #DontGetMadGetEven

@b21wine (twitter). Also #b21# There are some responses posted there


B21wine on Instagram

[Robert.A.Jr]

Robert, another way to deal with this is to use multiple #wine related hashtags on twitter and instagram. Don’t forget to include surrounding area towns and counties. #DontGetMadGetEven

@b21wine (twitter). Also #b21# There are some responses posted there


B21wine on Instagram

Ha, I’m not even on those platforms, nor Facebook. Unlike the rest of you heathens, WB.com is my only love.

#boomer

[MitchTallan]

I could not resist. I ordered. Sorry R-Alf.

[Robert.A.Jr]

I could not resist. I ordered. Sorry R-Alf.

Traitor! I will never be your lead out man for the final sprint.

Damn, $40!?! I was ecstatic when they listed the 2017 for $50 per bottle, bought it in bottles and magnums. Incidentally, what is the word on the 2018 vintage in southern Rhône.

The funny irony is, perhaps they wrote me off. I did not get that offer, and I usually get a daily email. LOL.

[R_M_Kriete]

I could not resist. I ordered. Sorry R-Alf.

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”