riedel wine glass

[aliénor]

i am fed up with riedel. to sum up my problem.... my children, who live in souuuthern france, bought my husband a riedel vinum tasting glass. he used it a few times and last holiday season he took it from its place on the shelf and found that he had the bowl and stem in his hand. but the base was still on the shelf. the break is so clean-no splinters or shards-looks like a defective join.

i have written to the local n.h. manager of sales, and the northeast sales manager. the northeast manager said that it had to be returned to the store from where it was bought. what BS. they won't admit it was defective and want us to transport the broken glass back to france. i question their customer relations.... why can't they stand by their product and not pass the buck on to the individual seller. does anyone have any good suggestions how to deal with these bozos?

aliénor

[Craig Camp]

Frankly I think they're great and extremely durable. I have Riedel glasses going on 20 years old. I have many and almost never break one and when I do it's my fault.

[Brad Ballinger]

Well, when I return any item I've purchased at retail, I have to return it to the store (unless I'm dealing with a factory warranty). In your case, the store should replace the stemware. They will then move it up the distribution channel. Why should Riedel products be treated differently from other retail goods?

[pedro]

It's going to be a difficult case to present, but I'd suggest you to give a try to their Customer Relationship department. It usually gives better results than going through a Sales department. But as I said, it's not going to be easy.

Let me add that I wouldn't disqualify Riedel as a whole because of a single bad experience. My experience with Riedel glasses is that they're excellent. A number of things (i.e. unnoticed sudden changes of temperature) could have happened to that glass of which Riedel is not accountable for.

[Really Nice!]

i am fed up with riedel.  to sum up my problem.... my children, who live in souuuthern france, bought my husband a riedel vinum tasting glass. he used it a few times and last holiday season he took it from its place on the shelf and found that he had the bowl and stem in his hand. but the base was still on the shelf.  the break is so clean-no splinters or shards-looks like a defective join.

i have written to the local n.h. manager of sales, and the northeast sales manager. the northeast manager said that it had to be returned to the store from where it was bought.  what BS.   they won't admit it was defective and want us to transport the broken glass back to france.  i question their customer relations.... why can't they stand by their product and not pass the buck on to the individual seller.  does anyone have any good suggestions how to deal with these bozos?

aliénor

Is it possible that something was either on the bottom of the glass or on the shelf that made the base stick?

I don't think sales is the right department, after all, their main concern is sales; not refunds. Pedro is right, try the customer relations department.

I don't know about the 'honesty level' on this but...

You could buy another one. Replace the good one with the broken one and bring the box back to the store and...

Edited August 12, 2004 by Really Nice! (log)

[oneidaone]

The name of Reidel's North American Executive Vice President of Sales is Don Restivo.

Maybe you should write to him regarding this. I met him last month and he was a really

nice guy and very passionate (as you would expect) about his product and might be able

to resolve your problem. This was at a tasting where they gave away a whole set of glasses

to participants at that seminar during the Kapalua Wine and Food festival. Worth a try anyway. Good

luck and a hui ho........

[CtznCane]

I too believe that if you contact someone in customer relations or corporate that you will be able to resolve the issue. Regardless of whose fault it was, the last thing an upscale (or any good) company wants is an unhappy customer. They have far more to gain by being helpful to you and correcting the problem than by alienating you. It is also true that you never know how good a company is until you see how they resolve a problem. In the long run, iff they handle the problem well. they'll probably make you happier and more of a loyal customer than had there been no problem at all.