Vinesse

I got a call, with no message, from Vinesse. I had to call to find out that they were telling me that because I hadn't answered a flyer they mailed nearly 6 weeks ago (a flyer: from a company that sends me ten emails a day), I was getting wine I hadn't ordered, because I hadn't opted out. That is illegal. I then tried to contact customer service. I tried to contact customer service FIVE TIMES. I waited on hold for more than an hour. I never got an answer to emails. The one manager I spoke to told me "Oh, well, I guess we'll cancel your membership then. " Then they contacted me, told me to call customer service. I wrote back to tell them "I'm not waiting on hold again for 30 minutes. Here's MY contact info. You call me - it was YOUR fault." Silence.
There are better outfits out there than this one. The wine is NOT so good as to take this kind of nonsense.

They send the first month before you've even tried what they sent for the promotion. We canceled and sent back the wine but they will not refund our money.

Received 1st shipment wine was at best ok. Was charged on my card for the 2nd shipment on March 10th, just got off the phone with customer no service on April 6th because I still have not received my shipment for the March 10th charge. Was told it was on the way even though I i had requested the week prior to cancel and to refund my charge. They had previously sent the same shipment out twice and both times requested it back to them even though they had my money already. I was told by their customer no service that they do not request return to sender even though if you type in the tracking you can clearly see it was them that requested it. I will be filing a complaint with Choice Hotels who they advertise through. Absolutely horrible experience.

Vinesse is the WORST. Scam. After responding to a $40 intro offer they attempted to charge my credit card $115. When I reached out the same day to cancel per their confirmation before anything shipped they refused, insisting on shipping anyways; attempting to process the full charge.

Claimed they couldn't cancel because shipping began processing on 5/9/16... despite the fact I didn't even order until four (4) days after.

Upon follow up they attempted to charge me for processing and shipping despite the fact I cancelled before they shipped. Required disputing the charge because Vinesse refused to process my cancellation.

RESPONSE FROM VINESSE REP "Bryn J.": A complete refund will suffice. 80 complaints on BBB, 100s on other social media sites (google "vinesse wine complaints") all complaining about the same issue. Vinesse needs to recognize that there are problems with their business "model."

I was a day or two late to cancel an introductory membership and when I called to ask to cancel membership and shipment they said I couldn't. I originally paid for the info wine by check and I found out that they deducted $133.00 without my knowledge or consent -or without even sending me an email to remind me prior to sending which would have been my cue to cancel- from my personal checking account. I have contacted the California Attorney Generals office to complain and request legislation that prohibits this practice. It is unethical. The customer service people who always tell you to have a nice day never give you a choice if you have to be stuck with 6 bottles of wine or tell you that money is being deducted from your personal account. AVOID THIS WINE CLUB.

I understand you always need to read the fine print with these promotions, but Vinesse is extra shady in their non-disclosure. The first shipment is $41.95, but the second will be $133 AND if you're excited about the AAdvantage miles promotion, you will need to wait 21 days AFTER the second shipment. This means you will also get roped into at least one (possibly more) holiday 'special shipments' that cost considerably more. NOT WORTH IT!

I have to admit, I ordered from Vinesse Wines after receiving an advertisement in the mail and I read the reviews AFTER I ordered. I was completely freaked out after all the negative reviews. Turns out, I got EXACTLY what I ordered, on time, and clean! The only thing I agree with is the lack of notification before shipment. However, I got my first shipment in a timely manner and I was able to cancel so easily! Other posts freaked me out about the inability to cancel but I emailed the support email and received confirmation within 20 minutes.

I ordered the introductory 6 bottle package for ~$30 and found the wine to be of very poor quality... I figured it was a chance I took when ordering and planned to cancel the membership, but they beat me to it and charged my card another $133 this week for a phantom shipment that they couldn't even track when I called them (probably because it never shipped). Now they are claiming they will charge me shipping and restocking fee for not reading some fine print on their website. I was never notified of an upcoming shipment, even though I've been bombarded with marketing emails from them ever since I signed up.
This is a horrible business "model" and all they do is bottle CHEAP wine (borderline vinegar), ship it or threaten to ship it to charge unwitting customers a shipping charge + restocking fee. I have already contacted my credit card company, and based on the multitude of angry responses, I really think they deserve to be hit with a class-action suit as well.
STAY AWAY FROM VINESSE!

YOU HAVE TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE. All wine has to be signed for. You have to wait all day. They auto bill and say they send email before hand, but send so much spam mail, you cant figure out what is what. They have a terrible return policy. They charge shipping way to much, then return shipping and a restock fee. Might as well just keep the crap and give to homeless. There tactics of sending dso much email is over whelming. Don't join, you will be sorry. Your $89 dollar charge will become $130++ then they send you stuff you did not order, and say it is a special Christmas event.

BEWARE

I was signed up for a 2 bottles per month plan (white wine). Had been meaning to cancel for a while anyway, didn't like the wines very much and was too expensive for me ($54 for two bottles). This month, they sent me 5 bottles of wine (two white, one rose, two red), and charged me $106. Once I got around to calling them during work hours to find out why, they said it's their annual summer "bonus" wines. Which they charge you for without your consent. They told me they sent a letter informing me of this (didn't get this, but also live with a roommate and get a lot of junk mail, so could have been tossed) and that in order to opt out I would have had to call them to cancel these wines that I never asked for or signed up for. They said they could refund me the additional amount charged if I sent the wines back, but after five days the shipping cost is on me. It's been 7 days. Personally find it super sketchy to send me "bonus" wine I didn't ask for... and then charge me for it! Not really a bonus then, is it?

As an update to our previous review on Vinesse, this incredibly fraudulent company, we still have not received the promised credit to our account for the unauthorized charge of 123.49 (issued AFTER we cancelled our membership!).

And now, 2 days after we were promised the credit, WE RECEIVED ANOTHER CHARGE of 123.49 to our credit card for yet a 2nd unauthorized shipment.

We called today and were told they have no record of the 2nd unauthorized credit - and that we would have to provide them with a copy of our credit card statement to prove it. Are you kidding me?!?

We are filing a complain with the Better Business Bureau and have reported this organization as fraudulent to our banking institution.

Stay FAR AWAY from this company!

Side note: when we called today, they asked for our membership number. I told them we didn't have a membership anymore; it was cancelled by us over a month ago. Yet, they still show us as having a membership numbers... hmmmm...

I joined the club. The next day I realized that a signature was required for deliveries so I called to cancel. They told me that they do not cancel orders and if I wanted to send the wine back after it was delivered they would charge me $25 for the initial delivery and 15% restocking fee (on top of the cost of shipping the wine back). They hadnt even prepared or shipped the first order yet! I again explained that I wouldnt be home to receive the order and I wasnt trying to ship it back and reminded them that it hadnt even shipped yet. One week later the bill shows up on my credit card with NO ATTEMPTED DELIVERY! The cust service rep had a very bad attitude and was no help at all. This was basically a robbery! Stay away from Vinesse

STAY FAR FAR AWAY!
Signed up for intro offer of 8 total bottles for $39.98 (including the shipping). Arrived promptly and the wine seemed decent enough. The offer fine print stated I would then get 6 bottles/month for $96 (=$16/bottle) plus shipping, plus tax (no specifics on those).
My first regular shipment showed up about a month later, 3 bottles each of a white and a rose (which are our preference). No invoice in the box though, which is odd (I belong to 4 or 5 other wine clubs, and always get either a paper invoice or an emailed one). Went to check online and discovered that I had to contact their Customer Service to set up online account access. But that went smoothly. Next I found the shipment in my account history, total charge was $164.39 for the 6 bottles! Their "Club info" page had stated that wine was $17/bottle (the mailer had stated $16/bottle...), and their Shipping Info page stated $30 for a 6-bottle shipment. Add that up and I'm at $132. So what's the other $32.39? Can't be just taxes right? Chatted with Customer Service and after a couple attempts to run circles around the question, including one offer to downgrade me to their "Mystery Box" club that's <$100/mo, he finally agrees that Taxes were $32 - on $102 of wine! Almost a 32% tax rate! (more than 2x the tax % I pay through any other wine services) To which I replied "Holy f*@#ing $#*!! Please cancel my membership". He got mad at my choice of language:-) but did cancel my membership (and the chat session).

STAY FAR FAR AWAY!

Very misleading company. They get you with a very attractive promotion, saying that you have the freedom to delay or cancel an automatic shipment any time. Yeah right! You do not get any notification of an upcoming shipment, and when your credit card get charged, it is "too late" as the shipment is supposedly processed. I actually called 5 days before I get the charge on my credit card, and still they would not cancel it at that time. They told me that I can refuse the shipment, but then I can claim refund minus S&H, minus 15% restocking fees. Like many other fools, I will probably end up accepting the wine this time and cancel my membership. I don't know how they can keep customers for more than two rounds by selling wine at over $20 a bottle that I'd say is worth less than half. I wish I had done some research before giving them my credit card, and I'll tell my friends to stay away from this scam. After reading all these reviews, it seems like a class action may be warranted. There must be some minimum consumer protection against this kind of fishy, if not illegal practice...
Update: the company has provided a small credit, which was a nice gesture.

I'd like to add to the list of consumers saying stay away! I have bought a couple of times. Wine was OK but not great! This last Friday I was checking on an order # for delivery on Friday, It was delivered OK BUT, when I logged into their site, I was "automatically sent" the special of the day, I wasn't on email until late Saturday... I cancelled the order BUT today, Monday 9am told, NOPE TOO late, shipment is gone! Looks like the force feed Buyer specials... Yes there is a 15% re-stocking fee. NO more wine from Vinesse.

After the initial offer, they start automatic shipments within a month. They stuck me for $159 for 6 bottles of wine. I immediately cancelled and will not order again.

I joined Vinesse through the bonus mileage program of US Airways. However after I joined it I did not get the same amount of miles as they advertised.

Anyway, so far Vinesse appears to be a legit business to me. They send out their monthly shipment on time (overly on time), but charge your credit card a good deal of $120 without noticing you in advance about that amount. If you call them them they will tell you that, the monthly fee is previously set and agreed, sorry if you are not satisfied, if you want to you can switch to one shipment per two months etc.

So in general, the customer service is pretty good. Their reps answer all sorts of questions and make an effort to help you resolve your issue. Seems like these reps have a certain amount of flexibility in their hand to "customize" the company policy to suit your specific needs.

Last but not least, the wines! Usually one shipment comes in 6 bottles. If that's too much you can switch to bi-monthly shipment. I have had several bottles now and the quality is... The desert wines/sparkling wines are ok. But this is only a personal opinion. The avg. Value of the ones I got is probably just around $10-$20. Maybe that explains the quality.