Thursday, February 26, 2009

Cursed customer service

Recently, Mr. Lush and I went to a winemaker dinner. I've had their wine before and enjoy them. The winemaker was fun, the wine was great, and the food was good. A good Lush time was had, so we signed up for the wine club, which sends things not available here in Lou.

Well, Friday the 13th my wine was sent to my house, which of course I wasn't there. I returned home to find the Info Notice on my door, called, and requested the wine be held for pick up that night. They called me and said to come after 7. I arrived at 8:30....and waited....and waited....until 9:45 when I was told, sorry, we don't know where your wine is and there's nothing we can do because I'm not the shipper.

A-W-E-S-O-M-E. That's exactly how I wanted to spend my Friday night - waiting for wine I wouldn't get.

So I leave, furious, and write an email to the wine club marketing manager. Long story short - I feel that I deserved a little something from them. It wasn't their mess up, but they choose who to ship through and they are the ones who have recourse to get shipping fees back. I don't have either option. I didn't want a lot....half of my shipping charge ($8) back, or a bottle of their merlot (on sale for $12) included in my next shipment. She can't give me back my lost Friday night, nor my valentine's day without the wine we wanted, but she could've given me something to say, hey, we're sorry, we value you as a customer and let me make it up to you.

But no. She told me "you are free to resign from our club without penalty".

So I did. But not before I wrote an email stating why I was cancelling - solely because of her lack of customer service. (and bcc'd the winemaker)

Maybe it was omen-getting my wine on Friday the 13th it was destined to be cursed??

I don't know if its unreasonable to expect a little something, I don't think so, but feel free to weigh in with your thoughts.

***note, I did actually get the wine, on Monday. UPS just didn't know where it was that night***

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I definitely think you were well within your rights to expect a little something -- at the very least and apology and a "let me see what we can do" in regards to replacing the shipment. I'm a long-time wine club lover, so I've had more than my share of different memberships over the years. The vast majority of them definitely valued my patronage a lot more than it sounds like this particular club valued yours. Many would have happily replaced my shipment without a second thought.

Luckily there are plenty of wine clubs in the sea, so to speak -- especially in this day and age when the economy is inspiring more and more people to enjoy their wine at home instead of at a restaurant or a bar. I run a site and wine club blog at wineclubguide.com where we find, explore, and write extensive wine club reviews on a regular basis. Feel free to stop by any time and find a new membership to sign up for that will better fit your needs.

WineLush said...

Thanks for the links- I'll have to check that out when I join a new club.

To clarify, I DID get the wine. I'm just upset because who I'm really mad at, UPS, I can't do anything about because I'm not THEIR customer....but I was this other wine club's customer and thus, its their job to ensure I'm happy with both the wine, and the delivery method.