ComplaintsforVinesse Wines

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I received a letter/brochure from Vinesse on 11/8/21 Promoting some variety of wines and indicated the shipment would go out 12-17-21, if no response. I went into my account the next week,11/15-21 and ask to delay shipment to 12/27/21. I received a shipment of almost the same wine I had before 11/30/21. I could not find a phone number anywhere, waited 30 minutes because the chat line would just stop working and I had to start over. I was eventually texted that the processing had started by the time I delayed my order. I am confused, there were 2 shipment dates? The other ship date is 11/27/21. Why send letters with other ship dates also? It seems to me they would have charged me for those promotional wines as well. I feel as though they have taken my credit card as a form of hostage and they will do what they want. I initially said to cancel My membership and I wouldn’t fight this, but I’m mad, because they are doing this and probably getting away with doing this to so many other people. I went into my account to try to remove my personal info. and it’s not possible! this is very scary and diabolical on there part. Please help me bring closure to this case. Either way I want Vinesse to know I’m no push over. Thank you.

  

  Business response

  12/01/2021

  
  We apologize for the inconvenience that you had. We did take a look at your account, and we do see you enrolled into the wine club online on October 26th. This was an introductory offer for $39.98 to join our wine club which then continues to ship each month six bottles of wine for the price of $17.67 per bottle plus shipping and tax. The shipment which you got a letter for was our holiday bonus that is included for your December shipment. The order which you are referring to in your email is your November shipment, so there are two different orders. If you do not want the additional bottles for your December shipment, there is an opt out option, but this does not reflect to any other club shipments. If you review your welcome email when you signed up on October 26th it will show the next processing dates and November 22nd will appear as the second club shipment. Based on the activity on your account, you delayed shipments on November 22nd at 7:11 P.M PST, this did not take into effect for November because the order was already processing and once orders process they generally cannot be canceled. You did delay your following shipment which was scheduled for November. If you were to continue in the club, the way shipments are scheduled for your account are to process on the fourth Monday of each month. We do see the order was delivered on November 30th. If you are interested in returning the shipment, we can send you a return label and provide a full refund once returned. If you prefer to keep the wines we can offer a discount for the order. Please email [email protected] for which option would work best for you. We hope this clears up any confusion that this was a monthly membership therefore you had a shipment for November and December scheduled, and the changes made to delay shipment did not take effect for the current order processing, only for next month order.  

  
  Cheers!
  Vinesse

• Initial Complaint

  08/02/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My complaint is against Vinesse, a wine delivery service. Typically, these services email you before they send you a box of wine to ensure you want the delivery, will be home at the time of the delivery and they allow you to choose what kind of wines you will like. I have used several other wine delivery services before, and never had any issues. Today, my credit card was charged $222.87 without my authorization. I called their customer service and they claimed this is what I agreed to. First of all, their website states that for memberships, we can accept or reject an order - but their customer service denies this means they will communicate with us in any way. Their policy is to just send us whatever they want whenever they feel like. Secondly, my email confirmation of the wine membership states that membership costs $167.88 + tax, and shipping is free, so they grossly overcharged me anyway. They are denying me any type of refund, only store credit.

  

  Business response

  08/09/2021

  
  We apologize for the experience. We do see you originally signed up through a promotion offer during the month of April. This was an offer to join our wine club for automatic shipments on a quarterly bases. When you do sign up there is a welcome email which is generated which outlines the next two processing dates and it also provides you with login information to manage your account online. At this time, we do not send emails prior to shipping rather this information is available on your online account and the option to make changes such as delaying shipments is available here as well. We do apologize if this was not more convenient for you. We do see the shipment you received did include our summer bonus. We do this special shipment every year and we let everyone know well in advance.  Most people love it because of the convenience and the value of the extra wines shipped for free. A letter is sent to the billing address on file a month in advance advising of the extra cost and the option to opt out. I do see on your account you did work with another representative and were provided a 50% discount on the order. If you are still interested in returning the order, we can certainly create a return label and process a full refund for the order. Currently, our return policy is a merchandise credit which is similar to a store credit. You can read more about this by visiting https://vinesse.com/pages/policies-and-terms.cfm. As a one time courtesy if you do chose to return the wines, this can be waived. Once again, we do apologize for the experience here. Please let us know if there is anything else we can help with.

• Initial Complaint

  07/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I was just charged with a $30 annual fee by Vinesse which they claim they MUST now start charging due to their licensing. At no point prior to this charge was I informed about this new charge nor did I agree to it. When I did a Chat with a CS rep to get a refund and cancel my membership, I was informed I can cancel but the annual fee is nonrefundable. Instead they provide a $30 merchandise credit which I won't use since I have canceled my membership. This is a shady business practice. I am sure they could have informed their customers in time to cancel before the so-called mandatory annual fee could kick in. Instead Vinesse chose to automatically charge their customers and inform them after the fact. See attached screenshot of chat.

  

  Business response

  07/22/2021

  
  Thank you for your feedback. We do see you were charged an annual fee for being part of the wine club. This is a requirement that is part of our licensing to ship products and gift. The annual fee is something we have been required to charge for many years now; it is not something that was recently implemented. It is charged approximately 90 days after enrolling into the club and it is charged annually on the same date for following years if you continue to stay an active club member. The process does continue and a voucher is always provided for the annual fee charge.  You should have already received a letter in the mail last week which explains this annual fee in depth and the voucher is attached to this letter with instructions on how to redeem it. The voucher is the only form which we can provide you a type of reimbursement for this annual fee. We do apologize if we failed your expectations. Most customers love this voucher and can be easily applied to any order- there are no restrictions. Since your account was cancelled earlier today, we can honor to refund the annual fee as a one time courtesy. We will cancel the voucher from your account and it will no longer be redeemable. Please allow up to 7 business days to see this refunded back to your account. Please let us know if there is anything else we can help with.
  Cheers,
  Vinesse

  Customer response

  07/22/2021

  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 15683985, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  K**** ***
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/21/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Vinesse violated laws outlined in the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA). The Act prohibits any person from charging or attempting to charge any consumer for goods or services over the Internet through a negative option feature, unless the person (1) clearly and conspicuously discloses the material terms of the transaction before obtaining billing information; (2) obtains the consumer's express informed consent before charging the consumer; and (3) provides "simple mechanisms" for a consumer to stop recurring charges. They do not inform customers of upcoming recurring charges and shipments of wine, they just go ahead and do it. There is no correspondence or email in advance that a shipment and charge to the credit card is about to be made. They also do not provide a simple mechanism for customers to stop charges, only to "delay." I contacted support about how to cancel, and they said I have to contact support to cancel. It doesn't say this anywhere on their website.

  

  Business response

  07/22/2021

  We are sorry to hear your experience. We do see you activated this account on April 22nd. We do show there was a chat was initiated the same day requesting how to cancel and the agent interpreted with wanting to cancel your account. It then shows you requested to not have this cancel and it was confirmed with this account was then reactivated. You did mention in your email correspondence with us that the account was deactivated and a delay was sent- this is not something that is possible if an account is canceled then there is no reason to delay if nothing is scheduled to be shipped. The chat agent stated it was reactivated and a delay was sent for your next order. We have attached a copy of the chat transcript for your review. It  does show you went onto your web account that same date and set a a delay for a different date which was July 19th. When you logged into your account, it does state My Active Wine Clubs so this is an indicator that the account is active and not canceled. The delay was set from your end therefore, there was awareness when the next order was scheduled to process as this was a specific date that was chosen. A resumption email was also sent to you a week before on July 12th informing you that shipments were scheduled to be resumed and if changes needed to be made to please contact customer service.
  The email agent you were working for went above policy for you and offered to reroute the shipment and process a full refund for the order. Per our return policy online, it does state any return would be subject to a store credit. The request has been made to have this order returned, once it is returned a refund will be issued. Typically it takes about 7 business days to post to your account.
  Our website does state if you wish to cancel to please contact customer support. There are three ways to contact us: phone, email, and chat. It does show you initiated a chat with the subject line of “How to cancel” and at 12:22 PM Chat ended by Sajjad. The agent did go ahead and take initiative to cancel the account since this is what the subject line was indicating and to prevent any additional misunderstanding down the line. It does appear this account was canceled hassled- free and it is simple to cancel. The request must be made and customer service will process the request as soon as possible. You can visit our website which displays the following information regarding club memberships. https://vinesse.com/pages/policies-and-terms.cfm
  Please let us know if there is anything else we can help with.
  Cheers,
  Vinesse

• Initial Complaint

  07/19/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  ON THE 8TH OF JULY, 2021, I CALLED VINESSE TO CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION FOR AUTOMATIC SHIPMENT. THIS WAS COVERED BY CONFIRMATION #7****8. MY FIRST WORDS WERE, WE DONT NEED ANOTHER DELIVERY AS WE JUST GOT A DELIVERY OF 12 BOTTLES A FEW DAYS AGO. 10 DAYS AFTER, WE GOT A DELIVERY ON THE 18TH OF JULY, SUNDAY. WE SAW THE BOX RIGHT BY OUR DOORSTEP AS WE WERE LEAVING AT 9:30, SUNDAY MORNING. THE CONTRACT SAYS WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SIGN THE DELIVERY RECEIPT OR REFUSE THE DELIVERY. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED HAD THEY EMAILED US OF A COMING DELIVERY. THEY DIDN'T ALTHOUGH THEY CONTINUE TO EMAIL US ABOUT THEIR OTHER WINES; NEVER ABOUT THE COMING DELIVERY FOR US TO REFUSE AND RETURN. SINCE THERE'S NO WAY FOR US TO RETURN THE HEAVY BOX AT OUR AGE, I WISH THEY CAN AT LEAST ADJUST THE PRICE TO THE SALE PRICE WE GOT THEM AND GIVE US STORE CREDIT FOR FUTURE TRANSACTIONS WITH THEM. THIS WAY OUR RELATIONSHIP IS MAINTAINED. HOPE YOU CAN HELP US. THANK YOU.

  

  Business response

  07/20/2021

  Dear J***** ********,
  We have reviewed your account and we do see the order began processing on 07/05/2021. Since you did call to cancel on July 8th, the order was too far along to cancel; any changes would have needed to be done prior to the order processing. It does show on the notes of the call the agent did explain there was a final shipment in route to you and your options regarding delivery. We do apologize if the part of this conversation was overlooked or not fully understood. We do see you originally enrolled online, when you do enroll online a welcome email is provided to you outlining the next two club shipment dates and information to log into your web account online to skip or delay shipments. You can also manage deliveries and tracking information through this online account. You are welcomed to review this email, it would have been sent after enrolling on June 3rd. We can certainly provide you with a 50% discount in a form of a store credit for this order. The balance on your Vinesse account would be in the amount of $86.73. You can use this credit by logging into your account online at www.vinesse.com or you can always call ###-###-#### to place an order and have this applied. Please let us know if there is anything else we can help with.
  Cheers,
  Vinesse

  Customer response

  07/20/2021

  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 15670734, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Regards,
  
  J***** ********
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/19/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Vinesse mailed my house an invite to purchase six bottles of wine for 30. I read the paper, and it said NO COMMITMENT. It did not mention any club assignment. I took the offer, they delivered it, and I paid the bill. To my surprise, a few days later, I received another letter mentioning a second shipment. Now it is six bottles for 135. I could manage to find on their website an account under my name to receive monthly shipments of six bottles. As there was no option to cancel the account through the internet, I postponed the delivery to December and called them. I was not successful in the call, so I sent an email requesting the cancelation on the same day, June 12. They confirm the cancelation on June 13th by email. Yesterday I received another bill, and they said I was enrolled in a club on June 9th, the shipment was on the 12, and the cancelation was on the 13. They offer me to refuse the shipment and receive credit with fewer expenses. It is a SCAM. I want it undone!!!

  

  Business response

  07/19/2021

  Hello C****** *****,
  We do see you enrolled through a house mailing form. We did attach a copy of the form which is sent out. Below the fourth step it does state that shipments will be sent automatically each month. There is no commitment to the wine club in regards if there is a certain number of shipments that need to be received or purchased. This offer is not intended to be a one time order and it does not state in the literature this a one time purchase, rather wine club is illustrated throughout the brochure. You can cancel your wine club at anytime without any additional fees. We do have our cancellation policy online and it does outline for wine club shipments, customers should contact customer service 5 days before scheduled shipments to ensure any changes can be made to upcoming shipments. This second shipment did begin processing on July 12th, therefore cancellation would have needed to be done prior to this date. It does show the activity on your account and email request came in after business hours, therefore a response was not provided until the following morning, and it does show it was answered within the first hour of opening. If you did call in, the recording does state we are closed and provides you the business hours. We do apologize if there was any misunderstanding regarding your wine club or the enrollment which you took part of. Our return policy, which is also provided on our website, is a store credit less the shipping cost and the compliance fee for your state. This is policy because these charges are still deducted for any orders that are returned. As a one time courtesy, we can process a full cash refund back to the original payment method once the order is refused. Please note in the future, all returns are subject to our merchandise policy and this information can be viewed at https://www.vinesse.com/pages/policies-and-terms.cfm. This order is out for delivery tomorrow July 20th, please refuse it once the package comes and please advise anyone in your household to refuse this package as well. Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

  Customer response

  07/20/2021

  
  
  

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 15664404, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me as long as the full refund is done. 

  I would highlight to Vinesse that small letters under the signature should not be the only reference for a long-term relationship with a customer. It is simply not good business practice. 

  I might have missed that part in good faith as the text starts with regular recognition of statements, and there is another NOTE Box with important information that does not state anything related to memberships or future shipments. I would suggest the company make clear at the beginning of the offer it is designated to the ones who want to join a Wine Club, as a part of the recognition to choose Vinesse. A first special shipment would be that one. 

  
  

  Finally, as a warning, I have already advised all house members to refuse the package today. Still, I have to say that although Vinesse's document, on letter 4, states that a 21 years old or older person should receive the package and sign, the last box was just left in front of my entrance door without notice. I can not warranty we will refuse a package if the currier just left it at my front door as the last one did.  

  Vinesse should also review with his delivering 3rd party the delivering procedures for alcohol. I believe it is against the law to left alcohol unassisted outside of a residential neighborhood, in true less than 200 ft from a middle school, as my residence is. 

  
  

  Best Regards,

  
  

  C******

  C****** *****
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

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