Buyer Beware: wine.com’s 1¢ shipping sales are bogus

Over the last couple of months I’ve enjoyed a couple of bottles of 2006 Wild Horse Pinot Noir. Full bodied, plummy with a dash of peppery flavor, this mid priced California pinot has become a favorite. Last Sunday evening (November 2nd,) having enjoyed a glass the night before at a local restaurant, I went to wine.com to see what their price was on the wine….

The wine was priced at $19.99 (I will refer here only to the “special” price observed at the wine.com site – they frequently reference a “regular” price but it is meaningless.)  I thought about buying 6 bottles or perhaps a case, but a week earlier had paid $30 for a bottle in a restaurant, shipping would be $24.95 for a case, so the price seemed a bit high. Remember: November 2nd: $19.99

The next morning – November 3rd – what do I find in my In Box but an email from wine.com promoting “1¢ shipping” through November 7th! “Great,” I thought, “I’ll buy a case of that pinot!”  So I went to the site right away, but oddly enough, the price per bottle had been magically transformed overnight to $28.99 November 3rd: $28.99

The night before, a case with shipping would have cost $264.38  But on Monday, were I to take advantage of their fantastic 1¢ shipping deal, a case would only cost me $347.89, for a savings of, uh, er….  a mere $83.06 MORE!  That is one hell of a deal!!!!  Gee, thanks wine.com!!!

As I write this on Saturday – November 8th – the price on this bottle has been revised to $21.99  A case today would cost $288.83 with shipping.  November 8th: $21.99

Am I completely surprised that they adjusted their prices? No. But I’m disappointed that they’d implicitly position something as a deal and then adjust pricing to rip off their customers.

On the 3rd, having recognized what was going on, I checked a few other bottle prices so I could see what happened on the 8th when prices would undoubtedly go back down. In these instances the 1¢ shipping would actually have saved you a little money:

Fess Parker 2006 Ashley’s Vineyard Pinot:  11/3 – $49.99; 11/8: $47.99 (sold out) (The sale would have saved you 84¢ on a case – woo hoo!)

Duckhorn Napa Merlot 2005:  11/3: $49.99; 11/8:  No change  (In this case the sale would have saved you $24.94)

Kim Crawford 2007 Sauvignon Blanc:  11/3: $16.99; 11/8: $15.79  (The sale would have saved you $10.54 on a case)

A few other notes:  Wine Library has the Duckhorn 2003 Merlot for $39.99 at present. Napa Cabs has the Kim Crawford, same vintage, for $13.99   If you’re going to buy wine online, check around.

I wish I’d checked more “During” (the promotion) and “After” prices at wine.com. Why they increased the price on the Wild Horse pinot as dramatically as they did, I have no idea.  (I emailed them but have yet to receive a satisfactory response.  In fairness, they did offer to extend the $19.99 price for me, at regular shipping.)  But I do know this:  I’m done with wine.com You’ll see no more mentions of the site or their “sales” on Practical Hacks

P.S. Check out user reviews of wine.com @ epinions by clicking here; scroll down for the full effect!

If you’ve had online wine buying experiences, please share by commenting.