Winebid: Wrong Bottle

[Victor_Hong]

Customer: Wrong Attitude

[Rob_Lynch]

OK, partial reset. My opening post was a request for comments and not meant as the opening shot in a flame war.

My concerns coming into this:

1. That I was expected to provide single bottle packaging, which I do not have. If Winebid provides, accepts the 12 bottle shipper I have, or UPS lets me slap a label on the bottle (not likely), then issue resolved.

2. That I would have to be home to facilitate pick-up. Given my schedule, that is a problem. Given local shipping laws, I’m concerned that you cannot ship alcohol without someone over 21 present. I hope you can recognize the inconvenience of having to detour to drop the bottle off at a UPS facility. The stores close at 6.

3. That I was counting on this bottle and have passed on similar purchase opportunities. It’s getting too hot to ship and I don’t have a 5,000 bottle cellar that makes the loss of this bottle insignificant. Apologies for being one of the little people on this board.

4. And this should concern anyone buying wine at auction: What happens to the bottle after I return it? Back into the auction hopper? How is provenance documented?

[David_K2]

OK, partial reset. My opening post was a request for comments and not meant as the opening shot in a flame war.

My concerns coming into this:

1. That I was expected to provide single bottle packaging, which I do not have. If Winebid provides, accepts the 12 bottle shipper I have, or UPS lets me slap a label on the bottle (not likely), then issue resolved.

2. That I would have to be home to facilitate pick-up. Given my schedule, that is a problem. Given local shipping laws, I’m concerned that you cannot ship alcohol without someone over 21 present. I hope you can recognize the inconvenience of having to detour to drop the bottle off at a UPS facility. The stores close at 6.

3. That I was counting on this bottle and have passed on similar purchase opportunities. It’s getting too hot to ship and I don’t have a 5,000 bottle cellar that makes the loss of this bottle insignificant. Apologies for being one of the little people on this board.

4. And this should concern anyone buying wine at auction: What happens to the bottle after I return it? Back into the auction hopper? How is provenance documented?

1. They never said it had to be a single-bottle shipper.

2. The other day I ordered a soap dispenser from Amazon. It was defective. I had to take it back to UPS to return it. Such is life. Deal.

3. See #2.

4. Their problem, not yours.

[Arv_R]

OP:

If I was WineBid, I’d refund you in full, tell you to keep the bottle, and close your account.

Seriously.

(Also please pay Alex the $10 you owe them)

[Andrew_K]

Wow I missed this thread, but the OP is really what I needed to read right now to wake me up from my own temporary pity party. At least I’m not this guy! I was a bigger douche than this guy at one time. But I just can’t get there anymore. I truly feel much better.

[Marc_Hauser]

I want a $10 credit for having read this entire thread.

[Mark_Golodetz]

I think the sad part of this is that by posting on the board with the “shucks I just wanted to ask a question” is clearly designed to humiliate WineBid and force their hand. I am with Arv on this; refund and close the account. Nobody needs clients like this.

[jordan_whitehead]

This thread goes in the hall

[Adam_Powadiuk]

This reminds me of a hilarious sketch about a customer complaint from the Kids In The Hall

Kids in The Hall - Customer

[Alan_Rath]

Mountain, meet molehill. You got a quick response, offering you two good solutions. Pick one and move on.

[Craig_G]

OP:

If I was WineBid, I’d refund you in full, tell you to keep the bottle, and close your account.

+1. This is unbelievable.

[Jmigliano]

Are you just trying to find a reason to complain and be cheap? The screwed up, the fixed it immediately and your looking for $10 bucks. FYI, your email to them was rude and childish.

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

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

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”

[JBucholz]

This thread goes in the hall

Exactly what I was thinking.

[Jason_T]

but my time and effort has value.

But not so much that you’d avoid p*ssing it away in a pointless internet debate.

[Wes_Barton]

I think the sad part of this is that by posting on the board with the “shucks I just wanted to ask a question” is clearly designed to humiliate WineBid and force their hand. I am with Arv on this; refund and close the account. Nobody needs clients like this.

While in the customer service industry, i got a client like this about once every two years. No resolution satisfactory. Some minor human error was never the issue to begin with, just an excuse to vent when the person had some greater frustration in life.

[w.fu]

So they are offering you the 1988 vintage for ~$50 which you otherwise can’t find at a retailer for under $300 and you don’t want to accept it because a couple people said it’s past its prime? One of the individuals who claimed it to be past its prime also gave a 2015 Caymus a score of 98. You should view this as a windfall and drink it instead of complaining about CT drinking windows because Caymuslover1967 said it was flawed.

[Mark_C_Johnson]

BTW, maligned as it may be, I’ve had many vg to great 1988 CA cabs. Still drinking well now.

[Mattstolz]

OK, partial reset. My opening post was a request for comments and not meant as the opening shot in a flame war.

My concerns coming into this:

1. That I was expected to provide single bottle packaging, which I do not have. If Winebid provides, accepts the 12 bottle shipper I have, or UPS lets me slap a label on the bottle (not likely), then issue resolved.

2. That I would have to be home to facilitate pick-up. Given my schedule, that is a problem. Given local shipping laws, I’m concerned that you cannot ship alcohol without someone over 21 present. I hope you can recognize the inconvenience of having to detour to drop the bottle off at a UPS facility. The stores close at 6.

3. That I was counting on this bottle and have passed on similar purchase opportunities. It’s getting too hot to ship and I don’t have a 5,000 bottle cellar that makes the loss of this bottle insignificant. Apologies for being one of the little people on this board.

4. And this should concern anyone buying wine at auction: What happens to the bottle after I return it? Back into the auction hopper? How is provenance documented?

IMO: you requested comments and that’s what you got. if those were your concerns, posting the exchange didnt make that clear.

for the record, I have the worlds worst record when it comes to getting correct wine shipments. I have never seen something ive sent back return to inventory for a shop/retailer/auction house that ive sent it back to.

[Luca_Giupponi]

Conclusion:

1. I can continue to use WineBid with confidence as their customer support seems to be top notch.
2. This forum is truly a treasure trove of entertainment.

[Rob_Lynch]

Sent this morning:

To:service@winebid.com

I apologize for my tone and my unreasonable demand for a $10 credit.

Please send the shipping label and appropriate packaging and I’ll return the bottle.