Glasses arrived yesterday. Super sweet. Was wondering how these would ship without breaking but the packaging is awesome.
Card arrived as well so went to my local watering hole and bought some cans with the card and got my points.
Have BD off and ready for action.
1 Like
FYI ā I used Safari this morning and it worked fine.
Safari worked for me as well. Card and glasses were received yesterday.
GIMME MY CARD! I have orders to place, even before BerserkerDay!
Have no fear my glasses are here!
The packaging is second to none.
Thanks!
This mileage junkie is more than happy to place your orders with my just received card. Thank you Matthew Goldman. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Thereās nothing better than Wine Miles!
Well fuĀ¢k me! ![[swoon.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/f/f425e8dac3e7344bee264da02e55428971be23a9.gif "swoon"){kind=small}
You know I can ban you, right???
![[smileyvault-ban.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/426cc97ad8dd530c8304b0918ca75ff841d4d950.gif "[smileyvault-ban.gif]")
Before BerserkerDay? As Rodney Dangerfield would say, take my wifeā¦ please. Or in wine speak, thank you for maintaining my cellar. ![[whistle.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/87d24eb81ec6dc01d84f3d6c19fa9a357e90218e.gif "whistle"){kind=small}
![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
Just curious - I signed up and was approved today. Do you get our addresses (to mail us the glasses) from the credit card company as the Berserker login link only asked email and Berserker name?
Separately, I wish the bankās login system would let you generate credit card numbers for online purchases (like some other banks do), then Iād have a number before Berserkerday!
Thanks for applying Bruce!
Your Grassl Glasses will be shipped to the address on file for your credit card.
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide a card number prior to card activation. Thanks for understanding!
Anyone else having to enter a security code every time they logon to the Grand Reserve website. Iāve logged on 4 times and have had 4 separate text messages with a security code. Seems kinda redundant unless they donāt use cookies but they have a remember me box so they use cookies.
When I activated my card I also filled out the Berserker GCC link for the extra 10,000 points. I saw someone mention upthread that they received their points. Donāt see any posted to my account, plus it reads āYou have until 4-13-2021 to earn your bonusā of 50,000 points. Isnāt this supposed to read 75,000?
Am I the test dummy for system glitches?
Hi Brian-
Our authentication system (powered by AWS) uses its own internal algorithm to decide when to query for text messages. It asks for text message login as a method of dual factor authentication for your security.
We have not issued any Berserker Grand Cru Cru bonuses at this time. Some other folks in the forum were users of our previous previous program, which entitled them to an additional bonus. Grand Cru Cru bonuses will be posted following the end of the promotion, close to the beginning of February.
It is important that when you applied you clicked on the official link in this thread. If you did not you have may ended up on our default offer. Please email us at hello@grandreserverewards.com from the email address registered with your account so we can look into things and adjust your account if necessary.
Matthew
1 Like
Matthew, does the Grand Reserve system āknowā thereās going to be massive spending for BD12 or should we call them? I was planning to call Chase Sapphire to let them know, but will be using my new GR card instead.
It could be interesting if GCC Members had their purchases rejected because a spending slam triggered some sort of system throttle or shutdown.
We are working with our bank to ensure that they are aware of the spending increase and the merchants at which we expect to see them. Itās our first BerserkerDay, but we are attempting to make sure everything goes smoothly!
I hate to be a wet blanket here, perhaps itās just my exhaustion from the year of three catastrophesā¦ but I have both knowledge and strong opinions about the abuse of small business that is represented by credit card processing fees, hence so many new disruptors in this industry (Affirm, etc.), yay.
Iāll remind you all of Econ 101: There is no such thing as a Free Lunch.
The price you pay remains the same, soā¦ where does all that free stuff come from? The fatter the card, the more it hurts the merchant. Thereās an illusion out there that credit cards only charge us 2%, couldnāt be further from the truth. Who pays Jennifer Garner? I get the draw of the miles, and for frequent flyers you gotta do it. To not have a mileage credit card is to shop at Safeway/Kroger without your club cardāyouād be a chump.
But please know that flaunting so publicly all the excitement over all the free benefits, well, just be aware who is paying for them.
As a small business, my access fees, monthly fees, A-Z bs fees (And Iāve recently invested MONTHS in negotiating a flat rate with my processor, which STILL bills me A-N fees). Add on top the heavy cost of a points-reward card vs a bank debit card, well, we can only hope for more AMEX ordersāthe idea they charge merchants more from bygone days, before the rise of the points-rewards card.
What can I say, inside this winemaker is an old school CPA with an economics degree. Because I had to resort to a fixed fee with my processor, Iām now paying 2.75% on everything (forced my processor to match Square) instead of rolling dice, sometimes paying the much higher rates from a system like this one, but I sure miss when customers would use their bank debit/VISA at like .15%ā¦
Alas, I canāt fight American consumerismā¦
Matthew told me itās ānot his expertise,ā but heād find a better processor so I can sign up; I donāt want to be rude, but (1) really? And hook that up into my ecommerce site for me? Cuz Iām crazy busy, (2) the presumption of my financial ignorance is a mistake, IMHO, and (3) just sayin, please no personal offense, where does his own compensation come from? And time to offer me such services not even in his expertise. Me, the merchant, again, is where his compensation comes from. He is taken aback and argues, Well, you gotta pay the toll Emily so it might as well go to wine! OK, true dat, the whole thing is out of control, and the consumer doesnāt really GET IT, but for sake of philosophical digression here, when the tolls get so high, in a world where fintech is now crazy efficient, these cards are halcyon daysā¦ Enjoy it while it lasts.
Just sayin, Berserker Day was initially about helping small wineries make offers direct to wine lovers and getting those wine lovers killer pricesā¦
Iām a purist. I like truth in pricing; you pay $5, I receive $5 maybe less a small fee for the quick cash. For a small biz, credit card processing will typically run 10-15%, mine has been higher, and thatās setting aside all the fixed fees in the months of no/low sales.
The more celebrity promoters, miles and free stuff, the less I can afford to give the discounts I want to give you, the Berserkers I truly love. Just a simple fact.
I considered doing a 5% discount for mailed checksā¦ Talk about INSTANT BENEFITS (cue all the salesy exclamation points). But that pits me against the happy herd cashing in on the 6x points. Over the years, Iāve sent a lot of SASEās out with my wine orders, never a Beserker who didnāt pay me. Truly the only reason for a merchant to take a credit card is the risk of nonpayment for goods shipped. How much risk is there here in this community? In the old days, Iād say none. Of course, BDay has exploded beyond that. And shame on me with my tornado, pandemic and wildfire, Iāve not posted all year, so shut up Emilyā¦
Alas, just sharing a merchant perspective. Berserkers, this organization, represents wine BUYERS. Initially, though, BeserkerDay was looking out for the producer, too. My favorite thing, the win-win.
Back to my offer, apparently everyone started early this year. Iām running about four months behind in everything, sorry to sound crabby.
6 Likes
Itās a very fair point, and represents a whole world of things consumers want/expect without thinking about consequences on the businesses - like Opentable/DoorDash/UberEats/etc which are incredibly bad for restaurants in many ways. I try to avoid using all of those in favor of working directly with the businesses, despite any inconvenience. Paying by credit card is such a dominant method of transacting that most consumers probably donāt give it a second thought.
Credit cards fees have no doubt become a pain point for small merchants. Itās tough to fight against such a convenient form of payment though. Iāve got friends who donāt even carry around cash anymore. You add in the other card benefits like points, miles, etc and as you noted, it becomes a no brainer from the consumerās perspective.
At the end of the day, its important that credit card companies and card processors realise that the merchants are their main customers, not cardholders, and they should really strive to add value to the merchants and not just cardholders.
The economist in me tends to view the whole issue as a misspricing issue. That credit cards are essentially the de facto form of payment now and since that has increased the costs of sales to merchants, merchants perhaps ought to raise prices to cover their increased costs of goods sold. The consumer in me wants the lowest possible price, but itās tough to beat the convenience of credit cards. I donāt even remember the last time I wrote I check was.
I do think your check idea may be one in the right direction though. Maybe not with checks, but perhaps another alternative digital form of payment that doesnāt carry the costs of credit cards if done effectively by sufficient enough merchants, can potentially offer enough incentives to consumers to both help guide consumer behavior away from CCs at times; put pressure on credit card companies to shift their pricing; or incentivize new digital payment alternatives to be further developed.
Sorry to express a negative view. I think this entire enterprise-promoting a credit card as part of BD-is most unfortunate. For many reasons including those expressed by Emily, but more.
This is the cherry on top of the tabulation as to who spent the most on BD. While a lot of people are hurting. There is something both crass and elitist about it.
I have more wine than space. More wine than my liver can ever process.
I enjoyed BD for the sake of supporting small wineries I enjoy and sure, getting a nice price on wine was fun too.
I think I am going to sit Wednesday out. Seriously.
1 Like