Vinotheque Wine Cellars

Review: The wine fridge we purchased is not as advertised and we received poor post-sale customer service.

The wine fridge we purchased (for the amount of $3,731.80 USD) is not as advertised. The cooling system is named "Whisper Cool" however, it's very loud. When we contacted Vinotheque to talk to them about the problem, it took several phone calls before someone got back to us. They scheduled a technician to come by and check our wine fridge for issues, but the technician never showed up. We had to call again. They eventually acknowledged that the system can be loud and told us that it's because the wine fridge is on hardwood floors. When we told them we wanted to return the fridge, they wanted to charge us a 25% restocking fee + $400 for pick-up. I debated with them saying that this was unfair given the false advertisement and poor customer service and they eventually reduced the restocking fee to 15% + the pick-up fee. That amount in addition to the delivery fee that we initially paid ($400 - which they won't refund) adds up to $1,200! As a consumer, I feel robbed. I'm being forced to pay $1,200 for a product I'm truly not satisfied with.

Can you please help? Desired Settlement: I want Vinotheque to take back their wine fridge and refund us our money completely. We could agree on a 10% restocking fee, but more than that is extremely unfair to the consumer. For that price they should offer better products and top customer service.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response

To whom it may concern,

Vinotheque Wine Cellars is committed to providing excellent customer service as well as providing quality hand crafted wine cabinets. We did make a special trip to go out and inspect the customers cabinet and evaluate their complaint shortly after the purchase, but the product was found to be operating to specification and within the advertised decibel levels. The positioning of the cabinet may be playing a big role in the customers complaint as it is located right next to their couch. Although we strive to make the quietest operating wine cooling systems in the market, the system does have mechanical components such as a compressor and fans that will undoubtedly produce some noise. These noises can be amplified by certain aesthetic pieces in a home as well. Although the product is not defective, not falsely advertised. We have reached out to Mrs. [redacted] due to her dissatisfaction and offered to accept the return of her cabinet less a 10% re-stocking fee for her now used product. We have also agreed to waive the trip charge for the pick p of this product which will require two men and 4 hours of time in an effort to satisfy the situation.

Consumer's Final Response

While Vinotheque finally acknowledged our dissatisfaction with the product and agreed to a refund close to what we asked for, we still had to call on the Revdex.com to reach this point. I find it unethical for a business to charge as much as they're charging customers who wish to return the product because they're not happy with it. Their return policy demands that customers pay the delivery and pick-up fees (in the case of a return) which add up to $800 + a 25% restocking fee (their products cost thousands of dollars). I think the Revdex.com should have them reconsider those terms as they are extremely unfair to consumers, especially since their products' performance have great dependencies on their location in the house, objects surrounding the product as well as what kind of flooring the product stands on. None of these dependencies are documented on their website or user guide.