Phoney offer

[Comte Flaneur]

I got an email from Sherry Lehman offering Cloudy Bay Te Koko 2006 (de luxe sauvignon blanc) for $39.95 down from $59.95 and Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc for $22.99 down from $29.99 - for 24 hours only - the implication being hurry while stocks last.

I like these wines but it only takes a few seconds to look on Wine Searcher and see that the straight sb is widely available for $19.99, with the highest quoted price at $27.99, while S-L is listed as selling the Te Koku for $49.99, not $59.99 as advertised.

The 'original' S-L prices are not normal prices - they are artificially inflated and therefore fake prices. I am not quite sure that you could describe this as fraudulent but it is certainly misleading and in my opinion unethical. Caveat emptor and all that but I will be reluctant to buy from Sherry-Lehman in the future.

[JimHow]

I was wondering about that too, I remember you saying you liked this wine during your fast.

[oldwinenut]

IMHO, they are the retailer of last resort as their prices are almost always highest. I have had two bad shipping experiences with wine from them where they tried to either blame me for their incompetence or sluff it off that shipping wine during the middle of summer was not important. Their representative actually suggested that I try one when it arrived and if it wasn't any good sell them at auction. It took me months but I finally got them to replace the vino. Never again with them.

[Jay Winton]

They had a good price on the 88GL a few years ago-nice wine.

[Houndsong]

Let's just say they made a mistake. You can't mark an item up, then mark it down to the original price and call it a sale. You also have to have documented sales at a "regular price" before you can call a lower price a sales price. The FTC rules are the same for regular and online advertising and retailing. The touchstone is you can't make any misleading or deceptive statements or claims, and you must also provide any disclaimer or explanation necessary to make facially accurate claims not misleading.

Now I'm not sure FTC has jurisidiction over alcohol sales however the BATF would apply this standard as would any state regulator.

[Blanquito]

I stopped buying from Sherry Lehmann (not hard due to their prices) when some current-release 2002s delivered same-day within Manhattan showed up with lots of fresh leakage. Who knows what happened, but it suggested poor management.

[JimHow]

Interesting. I've always had A+ service from SL.

[mike reff]

SL is gorouped with the rest of them such as Zachys, and Merrill. The only decent retailer with somewhat competitive pricing are Chambers St. Wines, PJ's, Wine Connection and Grapes, in the tri state area.

[DavidG]

This is a good reminder of why it always pays to shop around. Not every deal is as good as it sounds. Wine Searcher is your friend.

But fraud? From the evidence posted above, it is quite possible that $59.99 is the regular price, $49.99 is a discounted price that was showing up on Wine Searcher, and $39.99 is a super-duper one-day-only price that wont show on Wine Searcher. Not that that makes it anywhere near a good deal.

Even if they did raise the price from $49.99 to $59.99 for a while just so they could promote the "sale" price, if they sold a few bottles at that price (plenty of suckers in Manhattan, it's a big city) that would probably cover them against any charge of fraud. Never mind that ATF or FTC or whoever probably have bigger fish to fry.

[JonB]

I've seen a couple of retailers have differing internet prices and store prices....so this is perhaps another reason why they could claim their normal price as something different than what you found.

Several big market retailers seem to play this high/low price game. In addition to Mike's short list, in NYC Garnett's and Morrell's play this extremely high regular price, not quite as high sale price, but occasionally have a wine at a competitive price.

While I agree with shopping around, it has to be supplemented with BWE or other input about retailers, because wine-searcher and other search engines don't have consumer reviews of the wine retailers.

[Houndsong]

While I agree with shopping around, it has to be supplemented with BWE or other input about retailers, because wine-searcher and other search engines don't have consumer reviews of the wine retailers.

Funny I was thinking yesterday that BWE is really the Consumer Reports of wine. Between that thought and your comment lies the germ of a great idea.

I'm always having great ideas. This is confirmed on a regular basis when I see someone else develop the same idea a year or five later. Is there a psychiatrist/pyschologist among us? Somebody must explain to me why I've neglected to act on any of them over the years. Fear of success, or fear of failure?

[DavidG]

Jon - excellent advice as well. I absolutely agree that BWE and other online BBs offer invaluable feedback direct from the consumer! Knowing which retailers to avoid because of service/delivery/fulfillment issues is more important than getting the lowest price.

[Jay Winton]

more and more I go to Cellartracker as it integrates my IWC subscription (if there is a review available).

[DavidG]

Cellar Tracker is great for TNs. I'm a little leery of median scores alone without reading some of the notes as I don't know how people are using the rating system. I haven't noticed much commentary on quality of the retail experience there, Jay. Is it in the forum?

[Jay Winton]

Cellar Tracker is great for TNs. I'm a little leery of median scores alone without reading some of the notes as I don't know how people are using the rating system. I haven't noticed much commentary on quality of the retail experience there, Jay. Is it in the forum?

it may be, I don't follow the forum. As far as retailers, between those in DC and my regular online folks, I have plenty (too many) choices. Of course, if the distributors have their way, shipping may be a thing of the past. The rise in oil prices has also caused me to get all my outstanding orders shipped as delivery costs will be going up.

[Blanquito]

In pursuit of our Consumer Reports mission, I should add that S-L took the bottles back and fully refunded me. So, they pass in that regard. However, for a retailer know for its impeccable provenance, seriously cooking wines during a local delivery inthe Springtime was a big problem for me.

[DavidG]

As far as retailers, between those in DC and my regular online folks, I have plenty (too many) choices. Of course, if the distributors have their way, shipping may be a thing of the past.

I hear ya, Jay!