I ordered 2 bottles of wine from Wine.com for Thanksgiving on Nov. 5th. On Nov. 14th, I was contacted by a member of the Customer Service team, who informed me that there had been a restocking delay, but that my order would ship on Nov. 18th. The rep also gave me the option to modify or cancel my order, but I replied that I was fine with a shipping date of the 18th, as it was still sufficient time to have the wine in hand for Thanksgiving.

On the 18th, I received an e-mail from Wine.com stating that my order was being held in the warehouse, "...[d]ue to current extreme temperatures" and that I would be informed when it could be shipped. Then, on the 21st, I received a follow-up email with "Great News!" in the subject heading, informing me that "Temperatures are now safe for shipping your wine. We're getting your order ready and will notify you when it ships." This wasn't exactly great news to me, since - by the 21st - it was clear that I wouldn't have my wine by Thanksgiving, but I let it go and purchased substitutes from Total Wine. At that point the wine I ordered was redundant, but I figured I could use it later on - Xmas is coming, after all.

BUT... I never received a shipping notice. And then, this morning (the 25th) I received yet another email from Wine.com, flatly stating, "Your recent Wine.com order ######## has been cancelled. We hope you'll shop with us again soon."

Just like that. No explanation. I'm forced to assume that the "we're getting your order ready" email was total BS.

So, I'm done with Wine.com - as the saying goes, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression." Fortunately, I was covered for the holiday (thanks Total Wine!) and - in the end - I'm not out any money, but I value transparency, as well as... well, humility. I understand that s**t happens - people make mistakes, weather happens. I'm not angry. But I *am* disappointed: it would have been nice to get a brief explanation and apology of some sort, especially after I made it clear to the Customer Service rep back on the 18th, that I wanted the wine for Thanksgiving.

All of the above was made that much worse by the daily influx of marketing emails I received over the 20 days I was nominally a customer of Wine.com, exhorting me to order *more* wine. Like, why would I do that when they screwed up my first order?

I've used Wine.Com in the past because of the convenience of it. Recently, though, ran into an issue that showed me this company doesn't not care - or care to understand - the meaning of customer service.

I ordered a bottle of $75 bottle of champagne for a colleague's birthday, and the site indicated there was plenty of time for it to be delivered. When the birthday came and I hadn't received any kind of shipping notification, I checked my account and saw my previous two orders had gone through but not this one. I then checked my AMEX bill and discovered a pending charge from Wine.Com for this purchase.

I then reached out to customer service via the online chat tools, and the (live) rep told me there was a system glitch, that this had been happening a lot (and IT was working on it) and that the charge would be reversed. I cared more about getting that bottle of wine delivered than the charge itself so pushed the rep to figure out a way. She said would have her team handle it and get back to me in email.

I waited several hours and, after not hearing back (big surprise), reached out again and spoke to a different rep. This one told me "there is no charge on our side whatsoever today so the decline on the charge is from your bank. You must contact them." This was weird because there was no charge, right? So I pushed more and the rep repeated I should talk to my bank (umm it was AMEX) and re-order (which wouldn't get the wine to my colleague on time). Told her fine. I was done with Wine.Com. I then ordered a similarly priced bottle through InstaCart, which got the wine to my colleague on-time that day. Yay!

NOT THE END OF THE STORY. So yesterday, which was Wednesday, two days after my colleague's birthday, I get a text from FedEx saying a shipment was coming that would require someone 21 or older to sign. Thought it was a Xmas gift from my son, but when it didn't show up last night, looked into it today and discovered... yeah, you guessed it, they delivered that original "non-order" after all. Three days after my colleague's birthday.

So, reached out to Wine.Com today and told them I wanted the charge reversed since they'd said the order hadn't been completed and my charge would be reversed. Rep refused. She looks into her system and says I'd apparently bought the bottle using a different login (I'd apparently clicked log-in with Apple ID instead of my email address) and that's why it hadn't shown up. My argument: If their system is so inefficient that they're not linking all the possible login options (Apple, Google, Facebook, Email) they present to customers, why should the customer have to take it in the shorts for that? Moreover, if it took four different reps to figure out what was going on, how could a customer be expected to know what the issue was and how to resolve it? Finally, had their reps advised me correctly or had their site accurately shown me my order had been placed, I would not have spent the additional $75 with InstaCart (it was a colleague not a wife after all; my colleague would have still appreciated the overture a few days late).

Adding fuel to my fire, I tell this third rep I'd like to speak to a supervisor to get the charge reversed. She puts me on hold 10 minutes then comes back and says everyone is in a meeting and she'll leave them a note about my situation. I ask if they'll be getting back to me and here's what she says, "you should call back this afternoon." GREAT customer service. Really trying to avoid inconveniencing me even further. I can tell they truly "understand" my situation (something they repeated over-and-over again from their customer service playbook without really understanding anything at all).

I hope someone in a position to make change at Wine.Com reads this and trembles with rage over how their staff is treating people. I know Rich Bergsund has been CEO for 15 years. Guessing it's too long if he lets this kind of thing happen. These guys get a horrid 1.8 rating on this site. Well done Rich! You deserve a bonus this year.

I have been ordering wine from wine.com for about 5 years now, maybe 6 years. For part of those years, I was a Stewardship member (free shipping for an annual fee). I have ordered Bordeaux futures as well as wines they have in stock. This is a summary of my experience with the company.

Website: 5/5 stars. Their website is by far the best website for finding information about wine. They have a tremendous number of wines in stock, and they contain not only information about that particular wine and vintage, but also information about the vigneron and other wines produced by that vigneron. They post the reviews of all the major wine reviewers, and you can see what the ratings were for that particular wine during other vintages - even if they do not have that wine in stock. Their layout is super helpful and pleasant. Their filtering options are above average. I disagree with some of their categorization of wines (e.g., some wines should be Rhone rather than Languedoc, etc.), but that is a rare issue.

Pricing: 3/5. Generally, wine.com has higher prices that elsewhere. Bordeaux futures are comparable. If I use a 10% case discount and utilize my Stewardship membership, the price is roughly equivalent to what I would pay locally with the high Chicago taxes. However, this is when I buy a case of wine. I don't find buying less than a case economical unless there is a 10% > $200 coupon or something with the free shipping membership. There's probably an overhead and a desire to make a profit here, but that's OK. This is just an assessment of their competitiveness in terms of pricing.

Phone App: 4/5. The App (at least the android app) is almost as functional as the website. It is a little buggy at times, but it has the basic functionality that the website has with the addition of using a barcode scanner and camera to search for wines. When I am in local stores in Chicago, I typically use the wine.com app to look at prices and ratings.

Customer Service: 3/5. I've had a mediocre-to-above-average experience with customer service reps. The wait can frequently be long, and if you're not looking for recommendations and want to ask questions about your order, shipment, etc., sometimes they can be helpful; sometimes they are not. This can be frustrating, but I don't frequently have to involve customer service.

Shipping 5/5. I've had about 30 cases of wine delivered over the years. One case was substandardly packaged (they forgot the top casing that stabilizes the wine bottles upright). I informed them about it, and since none of the bottles were damaged (ha! California cabs and their thick glass bottles), there was really no recourse. The first time I ordered, I had them send it to my home. This was a major disaster since my wife and I weren't home the three times FedEx attempted to deliver, and I had to pick it up at a regional FedEx store. I don't consider this to be a wine.com problem, rather a FedEx problem. If people are complaining about the delivery, they should complain to FedEx -- the company actually delivering the product. Certainly neither FedEx nor wine.com can be blamed for the fact that an adult >21 is not home to sign the receipt. Certainly wine.com cannot be blamed for a FedEx delivery man who just drops the case on the porch without a signature. Since that first occasion, I had FedEx deliver to Walgreens, and I just pick it up at my convenience. Yes, it would have been nicer to have it delivered to my home, but sometimes we're just not home when FedEx comes by. Now, since I am a member at a wine storage facility, the deliveries are managed by them and the wine goes into my storage locker. I've checked all the boxes -- never damaged and always complete.

COVID Issues: Come on, folks. During a global pandemic when people are sick or dying and when all these government regulations are being enforced and shipments of all kinds are being delayed, you're going to give wine.com a 1/5 star rating because it took a few extra days to deliver your wine? You're going to complain that it took a couple of weeks to process the order and ship it? Ok, I get that it's an annoyance, but we're not talking about the delivery of flour, toilet paper and water -- those, you know, essential things in life. If you need your bottle of wine now for a special occasion and it is time sensitive, go to a store and pick it up or something equivalent. If wine.com is the only place that has that very special one bottle, plan ahead.

I order from a few other on-line retailers, and I've never really had any issues with any of them. The longest one took was about 6 weeks, but I was ordering from a mom & pop wine shop in Connecticut. I think I would be scared to order from wine.com if I had read all these reviews first, but that's not the way it happened. They have issues, but their selection is excellent. Their pricing is OK. Their customer service is so-so. But, they make ordering wine exceptionally easy -- especially in a state that is a national disgrace, regulation heavy and a nightmare to live in (Illinois).

I ordered a bottle of Zenato Amarone 2013 from wine.com on 11/30. I specifically ordered that bottle for a very important client as a Christmas gift. I needed that bottle and that year, which is the only reason I ordered online from this company. I received tracking that said my order would arrive on 12/6. Since the wine needs a signature, I actually waited around for my shipment that day. No wine came. I called the company last Thursday, 12/14 to get a status update. After being on hold for 29 minutes, I was told the wine would arrive that day. Again, it did not. The box arrived the following day. When I opened the box yesterday, I saw that a different wine... a cheap $14 Valpolicella was substituted for the product I had purchased. I called the company to report the mistake. I was told that the wine I ordered was out of stock. My customer assistance representative was DOUG. His response to the wrong wine sent was, Well thats unfortunate. He did not even apologize on behalf of the company. I asked to speak to a manager, PIERRE. I was told he would call me back. I did not get a call. After speaking with customer support today, I requested my money back + a new bottle sent to me with a waived fee as compensation for the product being out of stock, the wasted time waiting for the bottle to arrive, and the wasted time with customer support. This was agreed upon by the first agent (J. P.), and I was transferred to a sommelier (CHARLES) to pick out a replacement. I was then transferred back to customer assistance (CRYSTAL). This back-and-forth lasted 2 HOURS. CRYSTAL, who would not bother to read my conversation with the other reps, abruptly ended the conversation without a solution (in case that wasnt clear, she hung up on me).

In summary, I strongly recommend against using wine.com, on the following grounds:

1. The company failed to send the product on time (order date 11/30, expected delivery date 12/6)
2. The company failed to give the customer new tracking information after the original shipping date was missed (customer had to call customer service to receive shipping information, 29 minute hold)
3. The company failed to send the correct product to the customer, after 2 shipping dates were missed (Zenato Valpolicella Superior 2014 ($14) was substituted for Zenato Amarone 2013 ($60)
4. The company failed to correct the mistake by sending the customer the right product (Zenato Amarone 2013 was out of stock on 12/20)
5. The manager of customer service failed to call the customer back to handle a customer complaint (customer requested to speak to manager Pierre on 2 occasions. The manager did not call)
6. The company failed to handle the situation with one single customer service agent who knew the specific situation (customer was shuffled between JP, Charles, and Crystal) over 2 hours
7. The customer service representative Crystal did not agree to a reasonable solution (refund + new bottle and shipping waived), even though another agent (J. P.) agreed to honor the request.
8. The customer service representative failed to handle the complaint in an appropriate manner when she abruptly ending the conversation (hanging up the online chat), with no agreed upon resolution

Again, the agents who I spoke to were DOUG, J. P., and CRYSTAL. The manager who did not call me back was PIERRE.

I will start by mentioning that I have a graduate degree in the Philosophy of Ethics from the University of Illinois. This review is posted by a person who is literally an ethicist.

I am appalled by wine.com's customer service. After spending quite a while on the site, first chatting with an adept representative while choosing wines, and then (frustratingly) trying to figure out why their promos weren't working, I was connected with a supervisor. From here, please note that I assume pseudonyms are used for chat... if not, I recommend that wine.com employees adopt that practice.

While trying to solve the promo-rejection issue, "Sebastien" suggested that I add a few more bottles to my order just to see if there was a glitch on the site. When I did so I lost the chat and was unable to retrieve it, so I called their number, but they were closed for the night.

Luckily, I was able to get back to Sebastien in regular email, and he offered the $20 promo discount that had been rejected by the website. This was an admirable attempt at resolution, but I told him I had changed my order to reflect his suggestion of adding bottles -- they were a bit more expensive. I asked him if it would be acceptable to change my discount to $28 instead of $20, and told him if he would do so, I would continue to purchase from wine.com and recommend the site to others. I noted that if he refused, I would not buy from wine.com ever again, and recommend that others avoid the site. Admittedly, by that time I had spent about 2 hours with this company, and my mild bargaining request was due to patience that had worn thin, but my tone nevertheless remained respectful.

Sebastien would not make that $8 concession. That kind of miserly business attitude must result, sooner than later, in the collapse of the business. Consumers have the power to close sub-par companies; all it takes is posting our discontented reviews until they recognize the importance of setting a praiseworthy precedent of providing exemplary customer service. Seriously. This customer was willing to accept a $4/hr discount for her hours spent working with the vendor, and was refused. Foul!

As a wine lover, it breaks my heart to build delicious expectations after carefully choosing 12 bottles, and then lose the product due to awful customer service. Sebastien, if your hands are tied by your employer, I'm sorry that you choose to continue working for wine.com. "Nikki"--the associate who chatted with me during the first part of my visit--you're too capable to stay with a company that may cause your name to arise in a review titled: "I should have checked these ratings before shopping."

Now I will continue to post on vendor-rating sites until wine.com corrects their poor business practices. If as an accomplished academician (and some years ago, a business owner) I can stomach the idea of offering $4/hr to wine.com as compensation for my efforts to purchase a product from them--and receive null results--I can freely endeavor to make sure the time of fellow wine lovers, from oenophiles to connoisseurs, is not wasted on astoundingly poor customer service.

Let's work together to inspire better business. On to the next rating site, yes?