Wine Gift Registries

[ewindels]

I'm in the middle of the most incredible case of fraud with 67 Wines & Spirits in New York City. My boss registered with them for her wedding some months ago. Unfortunately, being a trusting person and never having done this before, it did not occur to her get a contract or written agreement of any kind. Now six weeks after the wedding, it has taken untold hours of calling, faxing, emailing, threatening and pleading to get even one shipment of the registry out of them. Fifteen bottles at a value of almost $2,000 remain undelivered, and the store refuses to respond to inquiries, and has taken to hanging up on us when we inquire about status. While we consider legal options, I would warn anyone else any where to take the following steps if they're contemplating the same thing (which, on a generic level, I think is a terrific idea, depending on the store):

- GET A CONTRACT, SIGNED BY BOTH PARTIES

- Define whether items will be sent as soon as they're purchased, or in a group (e.g. once there's a full case)

- If an item has become unavailable, the store or vendor should notify the purchaser immediately and ask them to choose an alternative, or offer something comparable in quality and price

- Define that, as soon as something is purchased, the giftee receives immediate notification, preferably digitally, about the item and who it's from

Hopefully futue giftees will learn from our very unhappy experience. And New Yorkers, beware this store. You heard it here.