Awards and citations:


1997: Le Prix du Champagne Lanson Noble Cuvée Award for investigations into Champagne for the Millennium investment scams

2001: Le Prix Champagne Lanson Ivory Award for investdrinks.org

2011: Vindic d'Or MMXI – 'Meilleur blog anti-1855'

2011: Robert M. Parker, Jnr: ‘This blogger...’:

2012: Born Digital Wine Awards: No Pay No Jay – best investigative wine story

2012: International Wine Challenge – Personality of the Year Award




Wednesday 13 July 2011

1855.com: the saga of 24 bottles of 2007 Grand Puy Lacoste

Château Lafite one of the many wines that 1855 has failed to deliver to its clients



I continue to receive messages from understandably aggrieved clients of 1855 as this already seven-month saga illustrates.

On 21st December 2010, JP ordered 24 bottles of 2007 Château Grand Puy Lacoste from 1855 paying all the relevant taxes: 263.16€ for the wine and 106.79€ for taxes and delivery. As of today he is still awaiting delivery of his wines despite regular promises from 1855 that his wines will be with him soon. In despair he has now contacted the senior management at 1855.com as well as the château concerned and the Union des Grands Cru de Bordeaux. It will be very interesting to see what response 1855's client receives from the Union des Grands Crus and Grand Puy Lacoste.

The chain of emails

From: *** ***
Sent: 13 July 2011 10:43
Subject: Continued delay in delivery from 1855.com - Château Grand Puy Lacoste 2007
Importance: High

Dear Sirs,
On July 1st 2011 I emailed you expressing my disappointment that 1855 - once again - had broken its promise. Two weeks have passed and you still have not replied to me. I ordered (and paid) the wines on 21 Dec 2010 and taxes and delivery charges were paid on 10 Jan 2011 for 24 bottles (two OWC of 12 x 0.75) of Château Grand Puy Lacoste 2007. More than six months later, nothing has happened... Every month you send me the same message you replace the month of delivery (please see the history of your messages below). Given your continued failure to keep your promises and the fact that my messages and questions (the usual Why? When?) keep on being ignored, you have forced me to inform both the UGCB and the Château itself. We have reached the point where I expect someone to call me (mobile below) and explain me why this has happened, give me a firm date of delivery but also give me comfort on my 2008 and 2009 purchases!
Kind Regards,
***


Your message on 3 June 2011:

Dear Customer,
Thank you for your message. We wish to inform you that your application is in the hands of the head department and it does well among the priorities to be addressed. Recent arrivals from Bordeaux Futures references will be spread through mid-June and deliveries will lead to the end of June. We present again our apologies for these delays delayed but rest assured that this issue will find a positive outcome. Shipments to claim VAT will be by wave throughout the month of June not to repeat the problems of delay that we experienced in the past. This means that once you receive this request for VAT, the wines will be sent within 10 days.
Sincerely,
XX, Chargée de Relation Client Senior


Your message on 5 May 2011:

Dear Customer,
Thank you for your message. We wish to inform you that your application is in the hands of the head department and it does well among the priorities to be addressed. Recent arrivals from Bordeaux Futures references will be spread through mid-May and deliveries will lead to the end of May. We present again our apologies for these delays delayed but rest assured that this issue will find a positive outcome. We remain at your disposal for any further information.
Sincerely,
XX, Chargée de Relation Client Senior


Your message on 28 February 2011:

Dear sir,
We do not have it in stock at the very moment. We are having supplying delays and are making up for them at the moment. We will let you know soon when the wines are available. We sincerely apologise for the delays. We remain at your disposal.
Best regards,
XX, Chargée de Relation Client


Your message on 26 February 2011:

Dear customer,
Thank you for your email. Once again, we would like to apologize for this experience which is not one we like to offer our customers. Nevertheless, we can confirm that the delivery campaign of the 2007 Futures is continuing. Please be assured that the whole of your order will be delivered in spite of these important delays. We are doing our upmost to reduce your waiting time and deliver your wines as soon as possible, however, the deliveries will most probably be spread out until the month of April. You will be sent an email to indicate we are about to proceed to the shipping as soon as your wines are available on our platform. We have just credited your 1855 account with a 50 euro voucher available on your next order to apologize for the inconvenience caused to you by this situation. We would like to thank you for your patience and understanding as we remain at your disposal.
Best regards,
XX, Chargée de Relation Client


Your message on 2 February 2011:

Dear sir,
Thank you for your message. Regarding the Grand Puy Lacoste, your order will be delivered by the end of February at the latest. We are currently supplying. We are doing our best to deliver the wines as soon as possible. You will be notified by email when your wines are shipped. We sincerely apologise for the further delays. We remain at your disposal.
Best regards,
XX, Chargée de Relation Client


Your message on 11 January 2011:

Dear customer,
Thank you for your message. We would like to apologize once again for the important delivery delay. As you may have noticed, our platform has been lately overloaded by the holidays' deliveries, and our suppliers' end of year break kept us from coming to terms with the deliveries of your Futures as we hoped we would do a few months ago. Nevertheless, we wish to let you know that we are in the process of conveying the last items of your order over to our platform although this will spread over the first few weeks of 2011. We will make sure you receive a message as soon as the remainder of your order is available. We are aware of the inconvenience generated by these important delays and successive postponings. Be assured that we deplore the situation as we are doing everything we can to close the matter as fast as possible. We remain at your disposal for further questions.
Best regards,
XX, Chargée de Relation Client


••

Three of the reasons to choose 1855 are:
2. Myths really available.

3. Transparency of information.

4. Absolute flexibility.

Further comment is probably superfluous.

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