December 17:
"Thank you for joining American Cellars Wine Club. Your First Shipment should arrive in the next 7-10 days."
December 28:
8:00 AM: Ten days have gone by without any word from ACWC.
I reply to ACWC's welcome e-mail only to get a bounce back, saying in part, "Your message has reached an unattended mailbox. You may have your customer service questions and requests helped immediately by calling our toll free Member Services hotline at (800) 823-5527 during service hours, which are seven days a week from 5:00am to 6:00pm Pacific Time."
OK. I'm in the Eastern time zone, so 8 o'clock my time is 5 o'clock Pacific time. I pick up the phone and call the number. A recorded message informs me that their office does not open until 8:00am (not 5:00am) Pacific time. I look for a customer service e-mail address (other than the "welcome" one) and cannot find any. OK. I'll wait until 11 o'clock and then call.
10:00 AM: My company's mail lady appears at the door to my 4000 sq. ft. mahogany-paneled office* with a box on a dolly. Whoopee! Inside the well-packed, oversized box I find six bottles of wine. ACWC gets kudos on the packing job; keep in mind, you own the wine before it's shipped to you so if a soggy box shows up, I'm not sure who (if anyone) covers the breakage. By the way, I received two bottles each of three different wines, not six different bottles.
Also enclosed were a nice wine pamphlet and description cards for each wine. ^
*Description of possible office. Actual office may be 16 sq. feet, lined with particleboard and cluttered with brooms.
11:00 AM: I call ACWC and ask to cancel my membership. After a brief rigmarole, that is done, but I had to ask for a confirmation number. Shouldn't have to ask for that.
Aside from the poor customer communication and lengthy delivery (admittedly, the Christmas holiday and bad weather may have had something to do with that) my only real complaint is the fact that only three (not six) different wines were sent. I was thinking I would receive six different wines. Anyway, let me know what you get.
Meanwhile, TSMRSRNE and I shall enjoy a California white wine with dinner tonight. I'll tell her I ordered it as a surprise Christmas gift for her, but it arrived late. Heh, heh. ^
RNE, saying, "I'll let you know if/when I get the 2500 miles."