Bumping your bump. See something interesting . . .
I took a flyer on an exploratory six pack since the prices were attractive and I was not in a risk averse mindset. One thing that is a little annoying is that they quote a range of estimated time until arrival for pre-arrival wines, but after you purchase the wine, there is no way to see an updated estimate or even a record of what the estimate was when purchased. It just shows as “processing.”
I recall the estimate was 2-4 months (could be way wrong), but the current listing for the same wine shows 12-24 weeks. The price went up almost $40 since my purchase and still shows “1 available,” as was the case when I made my purchase (I’m guessing a marketing maneuver to reset prices or so they can ask for more from the source).
I’m fine with the flexible rates, but it would be nice to see a record at least in the purchase email showing when I need to follow up if the wines are still outstanding. If the arrival is 24 weeks, I’m SOL back in spring/summer shipping weather and will end up paying for a few months storage (when the first 3 months are up).
I found them very responsive when I emailed them with questions. Maybe reach out and get the scoop?
Great to hear they’ve been responsive. I’m always hesitant to spam someone too quickly after ordering when not much has changed.
My previous comments were to convey what it’s like for a first time customer, but I am neither an expert on their services nor someone with any negative experiences so far. It’s possible they send a bunch of status updates along the way, but my current critique is that it would be nice to see the updated ETA in your profile.
Got my first case yesterday that was ordered mid-July. Very responsive email customer service and nothing but good things to say here!
A long pre-arrival is my ideal scenario, so ymmv. Having a ballpark eta would be nice in case I need to hide the shipments immediately upon arrival
I received my wines yesterday. I live in DC but Adam reached out a few weeks ago to offer to ship them to me for free to save the hassle of in-person pickup. (Though to be honest a part of me was looking forward to picking up to see what their operation looks like.) They even coordinated with me around some warm weather we had here last week to ensure the wines shipped only when I was comfortable with the temperature. The wines appear to be in perfect condition. Overall I’m thoroughly impressed and highly recommend Vint. I’ll be meeting up with some friends later this month and we plan to place an order to share. Happy to answer any questions I can here.
Great news!
Hi all. First WB post. ’m considering making a purchase with Vint instead of my usual (local K&L in SF). Any further updates on deliveries or negative surprises?
All positives here with a couple more cases arrived but not yet shipped.
Thank you for the update!
I bought a pre-arrival six pack to try them out back in October. Unfortunately, the ETA disappears after you purchase, and there is no record of the original ETA in your receipts or on your account. I have no idea if this wine is going to arrive in two weeks or in the middle of next summer. Since they will only hold for three months, I’m not sure what they’ll charge if I need to hold for say May through November.
Long story short, take a screenshot of your ETA and/or expect to ping them to figure things out. Full experience impressions are TBD, but things could be greatly improved with even very crude estimates of wine arrivals.
Wine arrival forecasts from Europe are one of those areas where I’ve seen US retailers utterly fail. Luckily most of the wine we’re likely to buy won’t be harmed by aging an extra six months or a year. Nobody that I’ve worked with seems to have any clue about when wine will actually be coming.
For those who have received shipments from Vint, are the wines in good condition when you get them?
I don’t really mind if they arrive immediately, but I’d like to have some idea as the guesstimate changes or becomes more solid. Also, I don’t necessarily want to order wine that will arrive at the beginning of warm weather and will end up incurring hidden expenses. I’ve not looked into what they charge to keep wines beyond three months.
Only have the one in hand but I that case is in good shape.
Three of my four orders have made it to the US, and all were right about three months between purchase and arrival
timelines for importing wine to the US are always tricky. Vendors can’t always give you accurate information, and worse, if you don’t have a full shipment to send then it’s very costly, and not worth it. So you have to wait.
There is usually good reasons for it. The issue is that there are examples of failure that are out there causing uneasiness in the market, which isn’t good.
As I’ve stated above, I have no worries about Vint. Their business model is sound, and if you want to pay best prices, waiting for the wines to arrive is necessary.
I get it. And I figure retailers are in a double bind. They know they have pretty much no clue when the wine will ship. But customers want a date for delivery. So they give one, knowing full well it will probably be wrong. So I’m pretty forgiving. But there are a few grey market retailers that are so hilariously off on estimating delivery (3 months going on three years) that I have given up on buying from them.
For now I have two 6-packs on pre arrival from July and October. I will wait until those are delivered until I order anything else.
I’m not sure which retailer you are referring to, but that seems more like “we can’t fulfill that order at the price we quoted you, so either continue to let us hold your deposit interest-free or ask for a refund.”