I think this is what blogs were made for – reporting experiences and word of mouth things. So I’m going to relay a story and I hope every wine retailer makes a note of it (hell, every retailer should make a note of it).

I shop online for wine all the time and have done so for years. One of the many advantages to living in CA. K&L Wines, a retailer based in California, has a great selection and often when I use Wine-Searcher.com or WineFetch.com I get results from K&L because they’re pricing is spot on as well – usually among the most competitive.

Recently I was restocking some of my classic party wines – Sokol Blosser “Evolution 9” and (dark chocolate fans listen up and take note) Justin “Obtuse” Port. We’re going to have visitor during the holidays and these are both reasonably priced crowd pleasers. I ordered a dozen bottles and used a shipping option that they offered that wasn’t FedEx or UPS. It was “Golden State Overnight”. It was cheaper than FedEx ground or UPS and, as the name implies, “overnight” deliver no less. This is great news b/c if there is a downside to online wine retailing its the shipping (whom ever figures out the scheme to make shipping free or very cheap will make a boat load of money on volumes…just from ME!!!).

So I placed my order, got my e-mail reciept and waited….Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday…no wine. “F’in no-frills shipper, I knew I
should’ve just coughed up the extra 10 bucks…” I thought. So now its
Thursday, still no wine. I e-mailed customer service and here is the
thread:

—–Original Message—–
From: Joel Vincent

Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 12:31 PM
To: Customer Service (KLWines.com)
Subject: order (#30916533)/

 

I just checked the tracking on this and you shipped it Monday. Its now Thursday and I may recieve it by 5pm.That is hardly “Overnight” which is what is implied when I ordered. Is this typical?

(See tracking below)

JOEL

——Response——

From: Customer Service (KLWines.com) <customerservice@klwines.com>
To: Joel Vincent
Date: Nov 30, 2006 1:29 PM
Subject: RE: order (#30916533)

Hello Mr Vincent-
This
is definitely not typical or acceptable. I apologize for the terrible
service provided by GSO and will be refunding your entire shipping
charge.
I have contacted the shipper and the order will be delivered within 1/2 hour.We
will be addressing this issue with the shipping company, as it is not
at all within the level of service we intend to provide you as a
K&L customer.

Thank you
Shaun

Let me tell you
something. This response came back to me in less than 1 hour along
with a reciept for my refunded shipping charge. I couldn’t be happier
with this experience. Every online retailer should take note: One
small gesture that cost K&L Wines a mere $20 has earned them a
loyal, multiple hundred dollar per transaction customer for a long long
time! They don’t know I blog. They don’t have a fancy Customer
Relations Management (CRM) database that classifies me as a “good”
customer. It cost them a mere $20 to have me always check with them
FIRST before I go elsewhere for my selections.

Nothing like customer service to help one Enjoy the Wine Life!

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