Tasting Room by Lot 18

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.Please note that the person who filed this dispute is not the account holder for the wine club membership they are describing, nor is the email address that they provided to the Revdex.com the same as the email address on the wine club account. All correspondence about this wine club membership was sent to a different person with a different email address. As the person who filed the dispute is not the account holder, the information they state is inaccurate as the Tasting Room wine club provides members with detailed information about their shipment schedule, pricing and upcoming order dates. This information is fully laid out on the online enrollment form the account holder used to self-enroll into the wine club, and our company sends upcoming shipment reminders 14 and 7 days prior to processing a new order. Additionally, information about upcoming shipments is available online in each member’s account, along with the option to cancel the membership.The Tasting Room is an online (ecommerce) Wine Club that [redacted] signed up for on 07/**/2017 05:50:14 PM. When she/he signed up, she/he agreed to the “Offer Details” that every Member must agree to before their order can be submitted. A copy of the enrollment form is attached as “Brozek Enrollment Form Offer Details.pdf”Note that the attached enrollment form outlines the pricing for and timeline of wine club shipments. This information is laid out in large format text that is easy to read and is available for review prior to entering and submitting one’s billing and shipping information to start a subscription. Please also note there is information on how to cancel your Tasting Room Membership also printed on this form, including the customer service phone number a member can call to cancel the account. Thus, [redacted] agreed to receive shipments of wine, unless s/he cancels. The Offer Details also explain that shipments are processed and sent whether or not a customer submits the online ratings of their tasting kit. Additionally, the follow-up courtesy emails sent to new customers encourage them to log into their account and rate the kit, while also stating the date of their upcoming order. Thus it is clear, from enrollment on, that orders will be processed and sent whether or not a customer rates their tasting kit online, as rating is optional. Please see "[redacted]_Enrollment Form" for a full breakdown of the Offer Details that [redacted] agreed to upon self-enrolling in the wine club. The part related to rating--or not rating--the tasting kit state:"Wine deliveries are not contingent upon rating the wines in your Wine Tasting Kit, but we encourage you to rate them to ensure we send you wines that best match your preferences. If you do not rate your wines or cancel within 30 days of signing up, we’ll send you 12 bottles of customer favorites for $149 plus $19.99 shipping."The Tasting Room FAQ also outlines our cancellation policy; please see attachments showing the cancellation policies as stated in the Frequently Asked Questions of our website. This section reads:“Do I have the option to cancel at any time?Tasting Room has a hassle-free membership cancellation policy. You can cancel your membership at any time, for any reason, simply by calling member services at ###-###-####. Our call center is open Mondays - Friday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Time (certain holidays excluded). You may also access cancellation information at any time by clicking the Account tab and choosing the Club Management option within your online Tasting Room account.You can also log in and visit this link: [redacted]`Cancelling your membership will cancel any upcoming orders that have not yet been processed. Please keep in mind that orders cannot be cancelled once they are processed. Any orders processed before a membership cancellation is requested will still be shipped.”Between the date of his/her enrollment (07/**/2017 05:50:14 PM) and the date his/her second shipment was processed (08/**/2017 05:10:16 AM), courtesy email reminders were sent to [redacted]'s registered email account ([redacted]) letting him/her know another shipment would be processed 30 days from processing of their 1st order. These courtesy emails are sent to 14 and 7 days prior to processing a new order. Note that while we do not guarantee receipt of courtesy reminders, it is standard practice to send these before all upcoming wine club shipments. The courtesy reminder emails also include information on how to contact Tasting Room's service department should she/he want to cancel his/her membership or make any changes to his/her account or update their order in any way.As the customer did not cancel the membership or make any changes to their account, their second wine club order was processed on 08/**/2017 05:10:16 AM which is 30 days after enrollment, per their membership agreement. A confirmation email was sent to the customer with the order details. A follow-up email was sent on 8/*/2017, when the package shipped with [redacted]. This email contained the [redacted] tracking number for the shipment, so the customer could monitor their delivery.The customer did not cancel their membership to the Tasting Room wine club until after their second wine club order was in transit with [redacted] and they had been notified via email multiple times. To confirm, emails were sent for the following reasons:a) Notifying [redacted] of an upcoming order and encouraging the customer to rate their kit online b) Notifying [redacted] that payment processing failed for their second wine club shipmentc) Notifying [redacted] that payment was successful and a new wine club order had been processed for their accountd) Notifying [redacted] that their order had shipped with [redacted] with a link to the tracking number for the package The wine club membership for [redacted] was canceled on 8/**/2017 which two days after their package was delivered by [redacted]. If the customer wishes to receive a refund, they can send back the complete set of unopened wines. A refund is issued to the credit card on file, less the original shipping charges and any applicable tax on shipping.The returns policy is available online here: [redacted]If any further information is needed, please let us know.

Hello, The charge in question is for [redacted] 2nd shipment in the Tasting Room Wine Club. The Tasting Room is an online (ecommerce) Wine Club that [redacted] signed up for on 11/**/2016 12:24:04 AM. When she/he signed up, she/he agreed to the “Offer Details” that every Member must agree to...

before their order can be submitted. You can view this enrollment page here: [redacted] Here are the offer details the customer agreed to, which are displayed on the same enrollment form they entered their billing address and credit card info onto:  [redacted] [redacted]

Summary: Customer self-enrolled into a subscription wine club service agreeing to the Offer Details below. The customer did not cancel the membership prior to the second order processing date and was charged, per their agreement.  OFFER DETAILSYour Wine Tasting Kit will be sent...

right away. It will include simple instructions on how to rate the wines included in the kit and receive your FREE Wine Profile.Just 24 hours after you finish rating the wines and receive your profile, we’ll send your first shipment of wine (12 full-size, 750ml bottles) for only $149 (a little over $12 per bottle), plus $19.99 shipping. That's up to 40% off the retail price! You'll receive a new case of wine, each bottle selected based on your profile, every other month thereafter. You'll always pay the same low price.You may cancel or skip any upcoming shipment at any time on our website or by calling###-###-####. There are no cancellation fees.Wine deliveries are not contingent upon rating the wines in your Wine Tasting Kit, but we encourage you to rate them to ensure we send you wines that best match your preferences. If you do not rate your wines or cancel within 30 days of signing up, we’ll send you 12 bottles of customer favorites for $149 plus $19.99 shipping. Please note the above Offer Details are displayed in large format text on the enrollment page the customer used to sign up for a wine club membership. This is displayed directly to the right of the fields where the customer entered their credit card information and is thus, highly visible. All members agree to the Offer Details when submitting their enrollment and initial payment. The customer self-enrolled in the Tasting Room wine club subscription on the date of 7/**/2016 04:32:05 PM. Per the Offer Details the customer agreed to upon enrolling, the customer had 30 days after their enrollment date to cancel before their second wine club shipment was processed. The customer did not cancel the membership in those 30 days, so a second wine club shipment, for 12 full-size bottles, was processed on the date of 8/*/2016. Email notification confirming the order was sent to the customer. Please note our system also sends advance notice of upcoming shipments, both 14 and 7 days prior, as a courtesy. Receipt of the notifications are not guaranteed and orders will be processed whether or not customer receive the emails, but sending upcoming order notification emails is our business' standard practice. The customer's package was shipped via [redacted] and the customer refused the delivery with the carrier on 08/**/2016 05:36:18 AM. The package was returned to our company's fulfillment center on 8/**/2016 and a refund, for the value of the wine plus tax was issued on 09/06/2016. Please note that our policy is to charge a $15 return shipping fee for refused and undeliverable packages. In this case, the customer service representative who helped this customer waived the $15 fee. In conclusion: The customer did not cancel the account prior to their order date and was issued a refund after the package was returned to our fulfillment center. Additionally, the usual $15 return shipping fee was waived by one of our service representatives. The customer's account is canceled and no further orders will be processed or sent unless the customer reactivates the membership at a later date. Please let us know if any further information is needed to resolve this matter.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

The seller claims that I canceled the order after it was "processed".  But the heart of my complaint is that Lot18 / Tasting Room created and "processed" the order - and charged my credit card - WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION.  I ordered (and paid for) a sample of their product, and as soon as that was received (and it was terrible), THEY CREATED THIS ORDER WITHOUT MY AUTHORIZATION.  There are MANY CONSUMER COMPLAINTS AND ALMOST IDENTICAL STORIES about this company's fraudulent activities, which can be found online in various credible places like Yelp, where there are 53 of their 58 reviews are 1 star, with this story repeated over and over again.  (See [redacted])  This needs NY ATTORNEY GENERAL and other consumer protection investigations, as well as Revdex.com intervention.Furthermore, Lot18 / Tasting Room created this fraudulent order and charged my card overnight on Friday (early Saturday morning).  I discovered this only via an [redacted] mobile alert on my smartphone.  On Saturday (same day) I logged onto their website to cancel the order.  However, the Lot18 / Tasting Room website does not allow you to cancel orders electronically "once processed" (even if the order was NOT AUTHORIZED, and their telephone customer service is only available Monday to Friday from 10am to 6pm.  So I reduced my "membership" to the lowest frequency possible, and continued to search later in the day (via Google searching) to discover how to cancel my account entirely.  I also sent them an email on that same day saying "CANCEL ORDER" with the order number and all information.  I would be happy to forward that email as evidence, and I'm sure it is in their systems.  My email was never acknowledged, and the order - WHICH WAS UNAUTHORIZED AND CANCELED ON SATURDAY - was shipped anyway on Monday.  I was traveling but my building doorman notified me of receipt on Wed night.  It has been several weeks now, and this massive box of unauthorized wine is sitting in my building mailroom.  I do not have space for it in my apartment, and I fear it will be lost or stolen at this point.  I DO NOT ACCEPT FURTHER LIABILITY for this unauthorized and fraudulent shipment.  I called the merchant weeks ago, and they rudely insisted that I didn't cancel the order in time (ridiculous - see above!); they refused to provide a return label or authorize [redacted] to recover, and expect me to ship it back at my own cost - which is very expensive for a box of 12+ wine bottles. 
In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Thanks for alerting us to the need for follow up. To confirm, the law requires that an adult, over age 21 years old, signs for all deliveries of alcohol. Compliance with this regulation is the carrier's responsibility. There is no stipulation that the adult who signs for a delivery must be the same person whose name is on the shipping label. Our business ships to the address that customers provide for us, which is what happened in this case. We make no promise, claim or guarantee that packages will be delivered to a specific person. Please note, if customers wish to receive a refund, they can ship their packages back to us. Full information on how to do so is provided on our website here: [redacted]

Thanks for notifying us of this dispute. As the customer states, they did not request a membership cancellation until after their latest wine club shipment was charged and processed. Per the membership terms clearly stated in large print, not fine print, on our enrollment forms, in the FAQs on our website as well as the Terms section of our site, processed orders cannot be canceled. Here are the policies stated on our website: Feedback & ReturnsHow can I provide feedback?Can I cancel my order?What if I refuse my shipment?How do I return my product?What do I do if my product is damaged?What do I do if I don't like my wine?Can I change my shipping address?Can I recommend products for Tasting Room to offer?I'm a supplier/producer and would like to see my products offered on Tasting Room.Who can I contact about this?How can I provide feedback?We welcome your feedback! Please email [redacted].Can I cancel my order?Tasting Room has a hassle-free membership cancellation policy. You can cancel your membership at any time, for any reason, simply by calling member services at ###-###-####. Our call center is open Mondays - Friday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern Time (certain holidays excluded). You may also access cancellation information at any time by clicking the Account tab and choosing the Club Management option within your online Tasting Room account. You can also log in and visit this link: [redacted]Cancelling your membership will cancel any upcoming orders that have not yet been processed. Please keep in mind that orders cannot be cancelled once they are processed. Any orders processed before a membership cancellation is requested will still be shipped.What if I refuse my shipment?If your order is undeliverable and is returned to us we will process the return and refund your card, minus any original shipping charges, and charge a $15 return shipping fee.How do I return my product?If you are unsatisfied with any wine that you received, please contact [redacted]. If you have received a shipment and would like to return it, you can send your unopened wine to [redacted] to receive a refund. Only complete, unopened shipments are accepted for returns. Please include the order number and your shipping address with the package so the return can be identified with your account. When we receive your wine, we will refund your card in full (minus any shipping charges) and notify you via email. These policies can be viewed here: [redacted] Thanks for your time and consideration in resolving this complaint.

Thank you for alerting us to this dispute.To confirm, this customer self-enrolled into the Tasting Room wine club using an online form. The online form was clear that Tasting Room is a subscription wine club and customers authorize our business to charge them for shipments of wine until they cancel...

their membership. Please note cancellations can be easily made over the phone, during business hours, or online at any time. The online cancellation option takes just seconds to complete.  This customer self-enrolled on the date of 01/**/2017. The Offer Details are displayed in large-format text on the enrollment form, just to the right of the fields where the customer typed in his/her credit card information and billing address. It would be difficult to miss. A copy of this page is attached for the Revdex.com review. The Offer Details explicitly state the following:OFFER DETAILSYour Wine Tasting Kit will be sent right away. It will include simple instructions on how to rate the wines included in the kit and receive your FREE Wine Profile.Just 24 hours after you finish rating the wines and receive your profile, we’ll send your first shipment of wine (12 full-size, 750ml bottles) for only $149 (a little over $12 per bottle), plus $19.99 shipping. That's up to 40% off the retail price! You'll receive a new case of wine, each bottle selected based on your profile, every other month thereafter. You'll always pay the same low price.You may cancel or skip any upcoming shipment at any time on our website or by calling ###-###-####. There are no cancellation fees.Wine deliveries are not contingent upon rating the wines in your Wine Tasting Kit, but we encourage you to rate them to ensure we send you wines that best match your preferences. If you do not rate your wines or cancel within 30 days of signing up, we’ll send you 12 bottles of customer favorites for $149 plus $19.99 shipping.On the date of 01/**/2017 the customer logged into their account and rated the 6 miniature wine samples they had previously received. This generated their wine profile, as described in the Offer Details above. The customer was also informed that their next shipment would be processed the following day and a link was provided to their Upcoming Shipment page, where they could change the date of that order should they not want it to be processed the following day. Additionally, there is an option to cancel online in each member's account, should they wish to do so. This customer did not change the date of their next shipment, nor did they cancel the membership online. As a result of having submitted online ratings and remaining subscribed to the wine club, this customer's second wine club shipment was processed the following day of 1/**/2017 which is exactly what our website stated would happen (and is also what is described in the Offer Details above, which the customer had the opportunity to read and review prior to signing up for the wine club). Additionally this process is described in the Frequently Asked Questions section on our website, as well as on the How It Works page, and in the emails we send to new members. We are proactive in educating our customers about the tasting kit, the rating process, and the wine profiles because this is a unique and exciting feature of our wine club. When the order was processed, on 1/**/2017, an email confirmation was sent to the customer. On the date of 1/**/2017, the package shipped out and another email was sent to the customer with the tracking number. According to the customer's order history, they logged into their account and canceled their membership on 1/**/2017 -- at which point their package had shipped with [redacted]. On the date of 1/**/2017 the customer's spouse called, with their bank, and a representative explained how they could return the package for a refund.On the date of 1/**/2017, the customer refused delivery with UPS and the package was returned to our fulfillment center. We have issued a refund, less the original shipping fee. A $15 return shipping fee was charged and email confirmation has been sent to the customer. As the customer's account is canceled, no further orders will be processed or shipped unless the customer chooses to re-subscribe at a later date. We appreciate the Revdex.com's help in resolving this and if any further information is needed, please let us know.

Good afternoon.To confirm, members have 2 options to cancel a subscription. They can either call our customer service center during business hours or they can cancel online, right in their account, at any time. This customer received full instructions on how to cancel a membership three separate...

times, via email. These emails include a direct weblink to complete an online cancellation, and we can confirm that completing cancellation online is a fast and easy process that takes under most people under 1 minute to finish after logging into their account. As this customer did not cancel their account online or over the phone prior to their next shipment date an order was processed. That date was 11/**/2016. The customer then called the our member services team on the same day of 11/**/2016, at which point the representative helping them canceled the membership and the order. The customer was issued a full refund as of 11/**/2016. To recap, all customers have the option to cancel online or over the phone. This customer was sent instructions on how to do so three times via email, prior to being charged for their next order. When the customer called our service department, during business hours, a representative promptly canceled their account and the order, issuing a full refund. Thus, there is nothing further to refund. Thank you.

We ask the Revdex.com to render a decision. We have demonstrated that the customer explicitly authorized our business to charge their credit card for wine club orders, until they canceled their membership. We also demonstrated that the customer did not cancel their membership until after their most recent order was processed, charged and email notification was sent.Again, to confirm, the following Offer Details were displayed on the enrollment form the customer used to self-enroll online, which the customer agreed to upon enrolling into the club. Note that the Offer Details are clear that only UPCOMING orders can be canceled or skipped. "OFFER DETAILSYour Wine Tasting Kit will be sent right away. It will include simple instructions on how to rate the wines included in the kit and receive your FREE Wine Profile.Just 24 hours after you finish rating the wines and receive your profile, we’ll send your first shipment of wine (12 full-size, 750ml bottles) for only $149 (a little over $12 per bottle), plus $19.99 shipping. That's up to 40% off the retail price! You'll receive a new case of wine, each bottle selected based on your profile, every other month thereafter. You'll always pay the same low price.You may cancel or skip any upcoming shipment at any time on our website or by calling ###-###-####. There are no cancellation fees.Wine deliveries are not contingent upon rating the wines in your Wine Tasting Kit, but we encourage you to rate them to ensure we send you wines that best match your preferences. If you do not rate your wines or cancel within 30 days of signing up, we’ll send you 12 bottles of customer favorites for $149 plus $19.99 shipping." Once an order is processed, we cannot guarantee an order cancellation. Our website makes this very clear:"Cancelling your membership will cancel any upcoming orders that have not yet been processed. Please keep in mind that orders cannot be cancelled once they are processed. Any orders processed before a membership cancellation is requested will still be shipped."[redacted]Meanwhile, thr Terms of membership state the following: "You may postpone your order or cancel your membership at no cost before the order is placed."[redacted] Again, it is made clear that orders can be skipped or canceled only prior to processing. Once an order is processed, we do not guarantee cancellation of that order. To recap, this is noted on our enrollment forms, in the Terms on our website and also in our publicly viewable FAQs online. We appreciate the Revdex.com's attention to this matter. Please let us know if any further information is needed.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID# [redacted], and have determined that my complaint has NOT been resolved because:

[Your Answer Here]
 This company has only made assertions. They have not demonstrated anything. They have no signature. They have no order request. They copy pasted some text from a website somewhere that I've never seen before in my life and failed to show that I was ever exposed to it beyond their opinion. They need to be sanctioned for their behavior.
 
 
 
In order for the Revdex.com to appropriately process your response, you MUST answer the question above.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Thanks for alerting us to the response from the consumer.At this point, we ask the Revdex.com to render a decision. We have demonstrated that the customer self-enrolled into the wine club and did not cancel the membership until after the disputed order was processed. We also sent the Revdex.com the enrollment forms the customer used to sign up online, which clearly explain that Tasting Room is a subscription wine club service. The enrollment forms also detail the pricing and shipment schedule.Additionally, customer has information needed to return the shipment for a refund.We appreciate the Revdex.com's help in resolving this issue.

Thank you for alerting us to this dispute. Summary: Customer self-enrolled into a subscription wine club service, agreeing to be charged for shipments of wine until cancelling. Customer also agreed to the wine club policy that processed orders cannot be canceled. Customer’s account was canceled...

promptly upon request. The customer self-enrolled in the Tasting Room wine club subscription on the date of 08/**/2016. At that time, a shipment of tasting wines was sent out to the customer. Per the Offer Details the customer agreed to upon enrolling (see below), the customer had 30 days after their enrollment date to cancel before their second wine club shipment was processed. The customer did not cancel the membership in those 30 days, so a second wine club shipment, for 12 full-size bottles, was processed on the date of 09/**/2016. Email notification confirming the order was sent to the customer. Please note our system also sends advance notice of upcoming shipments, both 14 and 7 days prior, as a courtesy. Receipt of the notifications are not guaranteed and orders will be processed whether or not customer receive the emails, but sending upcoming order notification emails is our business' standard practice.  Below are the Offer Details the customer agreed to upon enrolling in the wine club. Please note these Offer Details are displayed in large format text on the enrollment page the customer used to sign up for a wine club membership. This is displayed directly to the right of the fields where the customer entered their credit card information and is thus, highly visible. All members agree to the Offer Details when submitting their enrollment and initial payment.  “OFFER DETAILS Your Wine Tasting Kit will be sent right away. It will include simple instructions on how to rate the wines included in the kit and receive your FREE Wine Profile. Just 24 hours after you finish rating the wines and receive your profile, we’ll send your first shipment of wine (12 full-size, 750ml bottles) for only $149 (a little over $12 per bottle), plus $19.99 shipping. That's up to 40% off the retail price! You'll receive a new case of wine, each bottle selected based on your profile, every other month thereafter. You'll always pay the same low price. You may cancel or skip any upcoming shipment at any time on our website or by calling###-###-####. There are no cancellation fees. Wine deliveries are not contingent upon rating the wines in your Wine Tasting Kit, but we encourage you to rate them to ensure we send you wines that best match your preferences. If you do not rate your wines or cancel within 30 days of signing up, we’ll send you 12 bottles of customer favorites for $149 plus $19.99 shipping.” The customer's package was shipped via [redacted] on Monday, 9/**/2016—which is the day after the order was processed and the customer was notified via email--and the customer refused the delivery with the carrier on 9/**/2016. The package has not yet been delivered back to the Tasting Room fulfillment center. In keeping with our returns policy, after the package is received, our company can issue a refund for the value of the wine. A $15 return shipping fee is charged and the original shipping fee of $19.99 (plus tax) is not refunded. An email confirmation is sent to customers upon receiving a refund. This policy is outlined on our website in the FAQs and Terms. "What if I refuse my shipment? If your order is undeliverable and is returned to us we will process the return and refund your card, minus any original shipping charges, and charge a $15 return shipping fee."  The customer canceled their membership on the date of 09/**/2016 (note: this is after the order in question was processed and the customer had been notified by email).  As the customer’s subscription is canceled, no further orders will be shipped or processed unless they choose to re-activate their subscription at a later date.  We appreciate the Revdex.com's help in resolving this matter. Please let us know if any further information is required.