Overview
If you fancy yourself a wine connoisseur, or if you just want to try to become one, it’s vital that you learn a bit about why wines taste the way they do, and which flavors and styles suit your palate best. You can try to do this on your own, but unless you know what you’re tasting for you may find that you’re left with more questions than answers and still don’t know why you like certain wines over others.
The Claim
TastingRoom.com claims that once you know which kinds of wines you like they’ll be able to beter match you up with a selection of wine that will keep you satisfied. They make the distinction that other wine clubs just send you what they have available, with no regard to your preferences. They also say that their tasting kit makes it so that you can finally figure out which wines you like, and which ones you don’t really like.
The Premise
People really love their wine, and they love a good wine even more. But many people don’t really know why they like the wine they like and only have a vague idea about how to taste wine, what to look for, and what qualities they like for the wines they enjoy.
The Cost
If you stay with it long enough you’ll eventually be charged $150 every three months for a case of 12 bottles of wine. They ease you into it by giving you a discount on your first case, so you just pay $85 if you don’t cancel within the first month. The way they start you off is to send you a sampler pack so you can tell them which wines you prefer. This costs $10 and is designed to help them determine which wines to send you so that you’re only drinking wine you actually enjoy.
There are a few things that might trip you up on this offer. First, you might order the sampler and forget that
more wine is coming 30 days later. Also, you might be happy to receive your first batch for $85, but surprised to see a charge on your account for twice that about 3 months later, after you’ve plumb forgot that the next shipment is coming.The Commitment
You’re never stuck in any sort of annual or long-term contract when you sign on, and you can cancel your membership at any time. In order to make this make sense for the long term you’d have to drink a bottle of their wine each week, since you receive 12 bottles every 12 weeks. For many wine enthusiasts this is not a problem, and it may even be the case that you have a party and go through your case quite easily, and have to wait around for the next batch.
Evaluation
TastingRoom.com is run by Lot 18, a wine club whose business model is certered around artisinal wineries, and discounted wines. It’s nice to know that the service is backed up by a wine club that has their ducks in a row, so you’re assured that your shipments will arrive on time, and if there are any problems you’ll have reps available to help you so that you can get a replacement bottle or have your account credited.
We’re giving TastingRoom.com our Thumbs Up rating for wine lovers, and even those that have always wanted to be wine lovers. Their unique method of sending you out a tasting package to determine what kind of wine you like is pretty smart, and helps to make sure that you won’t feel like returning the wine you receive. Also, the way they’re willing to replace bottles, or give you a credit for wine that you don’t like puts them ahead of other wine clubs out there.
And lastly, the prices aren’t bad, and it’s not like you’re getting cheap wine at a cheap price, you’re getting quality wine that would cost you more if you were to buy it in the stores. They’re able to purchase the wine in bulk to drive the prices down so that they can package them up in these club shipments, and still retain enough profit for it to make sense on their end.
Our Recommendation
If you’re into wine and have already joined wine clubs in the past, only to cancel your membership due to the price, or because you were receiving bottles you didn’t enjoy, this may be a club that you’ll want to stick with. Since you’re not obligated to stay on with it, it only makes sense to give it a try, at least for the first shipment where you’re getting wine for about $7 a bottle. It’s hard to find good wine for that price locally, and here you’ll have it pre-screened so it should be wine you enjoy.
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View Comments
I, too, decided to try the program but was not pleased with the samples I received. I went online to cancel the service but they don't make that easy so I sent an email to cancel. I never got a reply and then received a shipment that I did not want. When I called to cancel they repeatedly stated that I did authorize the shipment when I signed up and denied receiving my email to cancel. They said I can return the shipment if I pay for the shipping! Then I was disconnected from the call! I haven't received confirmation of cancellation yet either. Guess I will have to call again and go through the abuse to avoid additional future unwanted shipments and charges. Deceptive practices with poor service!
No, It does not work that way!
I signed in because they stated they would send me "Free" samples.
The "Free" samples cost $10.77. (they are only 50ml each, not enough to make a decision)
However, they wanted me to sign in to PayPal. 4 weeks later they sent a case of wine that I did NOT WANT! If you try to return the shipment they will charge you for "Restocking and their shipping"
So you'll be out over half of the cost. Total cost was $184.00. over $15 a bottle.
Some of their wine is just ok, but I do not like white wine!
Most of it is CHEAP WINE!!! With plastic corks.
They must get great deals on wine that won't sell.
White wine should be consumed within 2 yrs of vintage.
If you buy a bottle of Chardonnay 1956 you are a FOOL!
Do not do business with these people!
Don't use this service. I received the initial kit and then called to cancel my account. The Tasting Room had already shipped me a case of wine that I did not want and did not order. The person on the phone was extremely rude and claimed there was no documentation of my cancellation, even though you have to phone to cancel, rather than cancel on the web site.
I read an article that lead me to an offer for a $7 wine-tasting experience that would be shipped to my door. Thinking this would be a fun and innocent experience, I signed right up with Tasting Room. Thinking it would be just like all other hundreds of online stores and services I've used over the years, I thought nothing of it, quickly running through the purchase process.
I got my little box of wine samplers in the mail a few days later. It came with instructions to visit their website to rate the wines they sent as you tasted them, so they could customize your 'taste profile' and recommend wines to you based on this profile. So, I followed the instructions, and my husband and I tasted and rated the wines. I really didn't care for any of them, but it was a fun experience at the time. When I finished my taste profile setup, I was directed to a page that showed me my wine preferences and on the top it showed their services. These services involved sending full bottles of wine based on your preferences; the options were how many bottles you would receive in the mail, and their corresponding prices. Unfortunately, the prices were too high for me, so I exited the page, thinking that was the end of it.
The next day, I received notification of a charge for $180 from Tasting Room. It seems they had automatically signed me up for their most expensive wine shipment service. I immediately e-mailed them to cancel this order. I did not receive a response all day, and later, I received notification that the order had shipped. I e-mailed them again, and this time a representative immediately responded that they could not cancel the order because it had already shipped. They told me I could reject the package and I would be refunded, except for the shipping and a return fee of $15 would be charged.
Considering I had no idea I was signing up for a recurring payment, and I did not request or select this order, I did not feel that I should have to pay a cent. I respectfully asked they refund the shipping charge and waive the $15 return fee. They refused, saying that I had agreed to this order by accepting their terms of service. I informed them that if they had responded to my first e-mail that morning as timely as they had responded to my second e-mail, they could have cancelled the order before it shipped, thus this mistake was on them and they should cover the fees. They refused, continuing to throw their supposed policies at my face. I believe they intentionally ignored my first e-mail until the order had shipped, so they had an excuse to say they could not cancel my order and take my money in fees.
Naturally I went online, and discovered countless people had experienced this exact same thing. They received orders they did not ask for, the cancellation of membership process was difficult, and customer service was stubborn and impossible to deal with. As I tried to negotiate with customer service, they repeatedly told me that their policies were clearly stated and evident, and that I had agreed to them. While I'm sure these policies were stated in fine print, the fact that so many people failed to recognize what they had signed up for makes it evident that their policies were not clearly stated. That many people don’t miss something that is supposedly obvious.
I have come to believe that this company thrives on people being ignorant of what they are signing up for. This is not a respectable business practice and I truly believe people need to be warned about this sketchy, fraudulent company. I wish I had done my research before purchasing that sampler, so I wouldn’t be $35 short for nothing.
hi! whether it be msnbc or cnn I would assume I may see less than 20% of your commercial in i'ts entirety. there is a spokesperson seen on screen, whomentions wineshop and there is a visible scene of shelving filled with wine products . that scene graces the screen for maybe 2 seconds and different commercials are then shown. if this is your marketing strategy, good luck. if you are paying these cable stations top dollar for 2 seconds of advertising, again, good luck,
bill dailey