Bill Nanson's Burgundy Report blog has a great post today titled "Merchants and faulty bottles...some advice...".

Vinfolio's guiding principle is "Fine wine. Finer service." One of the ways we implement "finer service" within our retailing activities is by promptly resolving customer service issues such as the faulty bottle scenario which Bill Nanson describes. I particularly agree with his point that "there's a big difference between 'fault' and 'responsibility'." Regardless of the rigor we employ to source flawless bottles, such as sourcing from reliable suppliers and inspecting all wine before sale (see our wine inspection guidelines), it's impossible to catch everything (e.g., I know of no way to detect TCA without opening the bottle). However, we recognize that the lifetime value of a customer dwarfs the cost of resolving an occasional problem (even though our retail margins are thin too).

Responsibility is also a "two-way" street. The customer may decide to save a few dollars when shipping and not adhere to our recommended shipping policy. If we conclude that this is what caused the problem (such as a leaking bottle shipped in warm weather), then the customer bears responsibility for his own poor judgment.

The net result of our philosophy is our wine guarantee and returns policy. I haven't seen a more robust published policy from any other retailer.

A few further comments:

• Most retailers don't even have a published policy except perhaps caveat emptor.
• Some time limit after sale is required although we may choose to waive it based on circumstances.
• We may ask for questionable bottles back but not usually on the first few requests from a given customer. We understand that it's inconvenient but it may be required of us to obtain a refund from a supplier. Only if a particular customer is returning bottles frequently would we wish to double check the customer claim.
• We cover round-trip shipping should any bottle be sent back and replaced.

I would love to hear any comments on how we can improve our policy.