Laithwaites

I was a LaithWaites Wine Member for two years and finally left, because their billing management is terrible. There website does not allow you to clearly see when your next case delivers or how frequently they will deliver. They send you the case and then provide the bill after, so if you didn't want that shipment you are stuck with it. After sending me two cases in the same month, I tried to clearly understand what my bill was, but you can't see it on your online account, and certainly can't pay it online. They operate like a business in the 1990's by mailing you an invoice asking to mail a return envelope with a check or credit card info or paying by phone. I mailed a check to the address they had provided and received a return to sender twice. Laithwaite's Wine began sending me nasty grams that they were going to forward my delinquent bill to collections if I didn't pay, despite their mailing address returning my check. When I called customer service they informed me that their mailing address had changed, though they had not updated it. I had a week old letter in my hand that was still using the old address! I paid over the phone and requested a receipt by email, the customer service rep said she couldn't provide one and that I would need to email customer service asking for one (seriously!?!? Isn't that you?). When I emailed customer service, they informed me since the payment was still being processed that they couldn't provide a receipt yet and that I should call customer service asking for one. This company operates like a shell game, they send you on run arounds and don't clearly present information, so you're never quite sure whats going on, so they can get more money out of you. I was certain I had already paid my bill, but was told it was for a separate shipment. They never provide receipts, so its hard to know for certain. They don't allow their members to have a holistic view of their subscription, which allows them to keep sending you cases without you being able to plan for what you need and don't need. Customer service is terrible and not helpful. Use any other wine club!

I signed up for the National Geographic Wine Club, which is actually Laithwaites.com. The first club case was encouraging and I ordered a couple more cases afterward. The second wine club case came a couple of months later and it was not of the same quality, but OK. But when I tried to order more wine after that case, each order was canceled. When I called to ask why, they said I hadn't paid for the second wine club case. I go no notice and they could have used my credit card. So I paid it immediately over the phone. They said all good and I could re-order in a couple of days. I did, but every order canceled. This was in June. It is now the last week of October. I have called numerous times, hours on hold, and been promised callbacks. I just got off the phone again, with them saying there is another billing issue, of which I had no knowledge. Now they say I owe for a case of wine that I had paid for, but they canceled it, and then refunded my money (I cannot find a record of this refund.). But, they said they reactivated the order and shipped it. But, I never received a bill for the case (that I had already paid for once). Plus, they have my credit card on file which they did not use. So their story changed again. But what is really mystifying, almost none of these explanations match the order history on my account. I have called customer service too many times to count. On at least three occasions, I was promised a call back. Never got one. I was told at least twice that the situation was resolved, and I could order. Orders still canceled. And when I get through to someone with customer service, I never get the same story. So today, when I learned about the "unpaid for case of wine", I said "OK, let's pay for it now." Her response: I can't access... (billing) today. And I don't want to tell you that someone will call you because they probably won't. So could you please call us back on, say, Friday?" Ridiculous.

I'm so pleased I read the reviews on here after I ordered my wine, I ordered a box of wine because I was fed up with buying wine at supermarkets which I felt even at £5 a bottle was dreadful, I followed the advice from a friend whilst attending a dinner party at which I tasted 3 of the Laithwaites Wine, they were superb, I asked my friend where he had got the wine from and he told me it was Laithwaites, he was on what they call a Wine Plan, the first case was around £45 and I was informed at the time that the next case would go back to the normal price, I then asked, "what if I don't like it or didn't want to be on a Wine Plan " they informed me that if I didn't like the wine that they would replace it or give me my money back, also I was assured that I could cancel my Wine Plan at any time. The wines were out of this world, I did have a bottle of wine that wasn't to my taste and Laithewaites sent me out not just two bottles to replace the wine I didn't like but also sent me a credit note which I used against my next wine Plan case that came out, the customer service was second to none, I don't normally write reviews but after seeing all the negative reviews on here I just had to, it's only fair, I forgot to mention, I ordered at 9.45 one day, was promised my wine within 3 working days and it came the following afternoon, was so pleased with this. Nothing bad to say at all, Susan

I NEVER THINK IS POSSIBLE TO EXIST SUCH OF STUPID COMPANY! THEY DO NOT KNOW NOTHING BUT THEY ARE IN BUSINESS! A JOKE COMPANY!

My dad became a member of Laithwaites & was extremely excited, particularly about the Spanish and Portuguese wines they provide. Unfortunately, the positives stop there. Yes, the wine is great, but the service could not be worse. Out of the 7 cases he has ordered, 5 have involved significant problems from delivering to the wrong place, damage, delays, etc. They have involved endless interactions with customer service and most of the time, they were not able to resolve the issue at all. Several times, there was a commitment made by a customer service rep for a manager to call and follow up. This NEVER happened.

A couple of example:
- He sent me a house warming gift that arrived a month late! By the time he sent it to me where I live, I was home visiting him for Christmas. He called the support line countless times and none were able to solve the issues. One rep promised a refund. The next had no idea what the previous rep was talking about and said she could not issue a refund. This happened multiple times. The issue was escalated and he never received a response.
- His next order was sent to my address instead of his. He called immediately to cancel the order & to have it sent it to himself instead. The first support rep insisted that the issue was resolved and that the order would NOT be sent to me. The NEXT support rep he talked to said the address could NOT be change. A few weeks later, he found this not to be true! The order was STILL sent to me. The support reps are not on the same page at all.
- The FOLLOWING order was ALSO sent to me. This was after he had removed my address from the system completely. Apparently, one side of the business doesn't look at that part of the website for updated shipping addresses (what?!?!?!?!)? Instead, they used an old address that was on file somewhere else!?!? Instead of profusely apologizing and sending new wine, they said I would need to print a Fedex slip, drive the shipment back to Fedex (once it arrives), and send it back. They sent my dad a return shipping label, but I don't have a printer! So I have to get to Fedex when there are 2-4 feet of snow coming down in Colorado this weekend. If I don't do this, my dad would be charged the FULL $200 plus dollars for THEIR mistake. What kind of customer service is this?!

I am INSANELY appalled that this place is still in business. Yes, they have great wines, but everything else about them could not be worse. A different issue seems to arise every time he places an order. The worse part is, instead of owning up to it, they make excuse after excuse. They don't value your customers and so you shouldn't value them.

I ordered 12 bottle of wines and you can see the pictures of second bottle i opened! Disgusting...

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 Laithwaites took over from Zagat 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 & the fine print on their website 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 am not leaving out any details. They simply said that I could not add 6 bottles to the 6 barolos to equal a case, & would have to pay shipping on each half case of 6 bottles.

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 confirming what I had been told. He couldn't pronounce my name correctly either.

Brian McNamara