Shermer Specialties Internet Wine Sellers - www.shermer.com - cancelled by phone - haven't yet received refund

May 2, 2006 - Business Reply - From: Email User

Response To Complaint

The below customer had canceled with Shermer Specialties in November of 2003, due to a clerical error the account was not canceled. When the client contacted us on December 17th regarding the charge we explained the details of the account to him, offered our sincere apologies and immediately issued a call tag to pick up the merchandise. Immediately after receiving confirmation that the call tag was completed a full refund was issued on December 22, 2003. Nothing further was billed or processed onto the clients account.

December 18, 2003 - Consumer Message - From: Andy Email User Shermer Specialties Internet Wine Sellers - www.shermer.com - cancelled by phone - haven't yet received refund

Hello:

My wife ordered 5 months ago a case of wine. It looked like a nice idea at the time. We tried the wines offered and they were awful. I asked my wife to call and cancel any further deliveries (since we found out AFTER we rec'd the case that we'd be getting one every quarter...this was not mentioned on the WEB page anywhere). So we figure no problem, right? The customer service person told my wife that the order would be cancelled and we wouldn't be charged anymore.

Lo and behold, I check my credit card statement online 3 weeks ago, and there's a mysterious charge, with no phone number or anything to identify it for a total that is TWICE the amount we paid for the first case, which he hated anyway. So I call my cc company, and she was nice enough to check the internet and find out who these jokers are (they operate under a number of different web names). I call the company, and this guy (who was the manager he claimed) answered the phone. After spending 10 minutes of my time trying to convince me to keep purchasing the wine, he finally said that 'no problem', he would issue a credit to my card.

Well, wouldn't you know it, today, I receive another case of wine. I call their customer service YET AGAIN, and get someone named Allison, who was the unfortunate person to have to deal with someone who has been lied to twice already (who knows? maybe a 3rd time?). It's obvious that this company cannot be trusted. I plan on contacting the BBB in their area in Illinois and letting them know of our experience, as well as logging on to some message boards, and letting other people know of our experience with this pathetic company.

I have YET to receive a refund. I am now told to leave the case outside the house tomorrow and UPS will 'pick it up'. I had to do the 3rd degree to find out how I would get some kind of receipt to even know that the case isn't stolen, or that Shermer Specialties just denies ever receiving the case back. Then she has the nerve to say that this isn't as big a problem as you're making it out to be. Yeah right. 5 months, 3 phone calls, a total of about an hour of my time, no explanation of how I could prove I sent this crap back, and it's not a problem.

I will find out EVERY website name this company operates under and write you folks again, so consumers can be warned of this company. Don't say you weren't warned. This is only the SECOND time I've ever had to get to this point where I was upset enough to contact complaints.com, epinions.com, and a BBB. I'm so upset, I'll also spend some time after the holidays to find some more rating sights to warn people away from this company. Just a pathetic company.

Regards,

Andrew H