Complaint Review: Laithwaite's Wine

It is Jan., 2015. I have been a Laithwaite’s wine club member since 2010, when it was Zagat wine club. My order history extends to about 44 lines. A year or so ago I upgraded to the reserve club. Ever since Laithwaite’s took over service has declined.

A year or so ago I signed up for flat rate shipping for a fixed annual price. The deal was that any box of 12 wines would ship without an additional shipping cost. I specifically asked about limits on the deal & was told there were none. I could mix & match so long as there were 12 in the box. The annual fee would cover it all.

This is from the terms & conditions in fine print on the site: “Terms and conditions: As a Laithwaite's Wine Unlimited member, you will pay an annual membership fee (currently $89 plus applicable tax) to receive unlimited shipping on all wine orders of 12 bottles or more that are placed during your active membership period.” There are no exceptions listed.

A month ago, I received a promotion to purchase 6 bottles of barolo, to be delivered in March, if I paid a deposit. I placed the order & paid the deposit. I subsequently contacted Laithwaite’s & requested to add 6 bottles of other wine to be delivered in March with the 6 barolos so that I could make a case & receive free shipping.

After 3 phone calls & receiving a voicemail from Laithwaite’s they have made it very clear that despite the prior assurance that my free shipping applied to any box of 12 wines they will NOT honor it. No amount of cajoling or pleading could change their mind. I explained that the 6 additional bottles could go in the same case as the 6 barolos, in March or whenever they ship, to equal a single box of 12, but Laithwaite's steadfastly refused to honor their free shipping agreement.

I spoke with Pamela. I don't recall the names of the other two I spoke with, and I received a voicemail from a man with a name phonetically like Shabaya or Shabeera.  He couldn't pronounce my name correctly either.