B-21 forcing me to take shipment in January

Have them ship it overnight and ask them to absorb the cost due to the inconvenience. In addition, if you know you're not going to be home have them ship it to your work, or ask that it be mailed to a local fed ex office to ensure that the wine isn't "over-exposed" if there is such a thing in -5 weather!

That sucks. I like Bosis's idea. Nobody should ship wine in these temps...

I would tell them that lack of planning on their part does not constitute a crisis on your part. Tell them to ship wine to others that aren't experiencing as cold of temperatures. As a last resort, ask them to refund your money (they had the use of it for probably a year or so) and locate the same wines somewhere else that can hold it until better temps. The value of a frozen case surely would not exceed the extra price you might have to pay. Good luck.

Their fault, their problem to fix, not yours. As a side note I have wine shipped to me in Edmonton in the winter on a regular basis without issue or crystals. I'm talking -25C or lower on a regular basis. The wines when delivered via UPS or Fedex are not exposed to those temp long enough to do damage as long as it is not shipped "Ground".

quote:

Originally posted by chrisinroch:
I just got an email from the store manager at B-21 saying that because they have a construction project that "halved storage" they cannot do any on-site storage of pending deliveries. So my 2005 futures that just arrived need to be shipped.

Its -5 at noon here.

He suggested I arrange for a storage facility in his area.

I just got a case from them Tuesday. No excuse why they couldn't wait at least until a warming spell happens. They are holding 10 more bottles for me (and 4 were a new order) until the last two bottles arrive. Ironic as my shipment was overnight being in state and I was still worried about the heat as it was 80 degrees here Tuesday afternoon. When the first bottles arrived in early Septmeber, they asked if I wanted it shipped and I said I didn't buy them for salad dressing. I don't think you intend to buy gourmet popsicles.

Tell them they are not permitted to ship your wine now. The chances of damage are too high.

Chris,

Honestly, I think chances are good you'll be fine. FWIW, I received a bottle yesterday through UPS. I know it sat on my porch for about four hours before I could get home to fetch it. It was about 10F outside, but the bottle was well packaged, and it only felt cool to the touch (maybe 40 or so), but not anywhere near freezing. Wine won't freeze until it hits in the 20 degree range, or lower.

Curious, has anybody ever received a frozen or partially frozen bottle of wine?

Chances of damage are clearly higher. It would be foolish to take on the increased risk.

Okay, this has been resolved. They are agreeing to hold til warmer weather.

I tend to give folks the benefit of the doubt....Its possible that this was a miscommunication btw the shipping department and the store manager who was pushing to move wine out. I think that he thought I was a FL resident.

In any event; thanks to all for the moral support.

quote:

Originally posted by chrisinroch:
Okay, this has been resolved. They are agreeing to hold til warmer weather.

I tend to give folks the benefit of the doubt....Its possible that this was a miscommunication btw the shipping department and the store manager who was pushing to move wine out. I think that he thought I was a FL resident.

In any event; thanks to all for the moral support.

Good to hear as they have always been reasonable with me. It didn't make sense to me as most of their customers are in FL and they can ship those all they want right now.

Glad to hear the matter got resolved.

I am a fan of B-21. It's nice to know that they took your concerns seriously.

I can relate to your pain. I bought some wine this week and the guy sent it monday without asking or thinking to hold. Admittedly Monday was nice, but it is currently sub zero. Won't arrive til tomorrow, and I'll have UPS hold. What do we think the odds are that the bottles are ruined? Shipment was from NJ to KC MO.

Temp was -25 this AM with a nice little breeze. Very refreshing. The guy who invented remote car starters needs a nobel prize.

That's brutal...where are you? Should get to about 70 here today. A little chilly for us...