vinesse wine club adler fels winery direct this so-called "wine club" uses bait-and-switch tactics to get people to join, promising higher end wines than what they actually send you Windsor, California

I received an email in early March 2010 stating that I had been selected to join the "Columbia House Wine Club".  Being a member of Columbia House dvd club, I opened the email and found that the wine club in question was through a company called Vinesse in California.  I called someone about two weeks later to inquire about joining andmentioned that I thought the six wines on the list they were going to send me were reasonably priced, fairly good quality wines from Napa, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, Mendicino, etc.  Having worked in the wine industry in Napa, CA from 2000-2007 before moving to Georgia, and knowing quite a bit about California wines, I agreed to sign up, being told by a woman named Angela that my six wines would be arriving in about a week and I would be charged $41.94 with NO shipping and handling. Plus, I would be receiving a welcoming gift of a two-bottle wine carrier.

My wines arrived April 12, 2010, and upon opening the box I was greeted by six LOW QUALITY wines, NONE of which were on the list of the wines I was promised.  I called the 800 number (talked with Lindsay) and was told that all six of the promised wines were no longer available. I told her I did not want inferior wines, and wanted to return the six bottles.  Lindsey told me that I would have to pay shipping and handling to UPS to return them.

I called back a few minutes later, asked to speak with a supervisor, was told that would not be possible because of the lateness of the hour (it was 5:25 P.M. on the east coast) and I mentioned that it was only 2:25 PM in CA.  The representative informed me that she was on the east coast, and she would take my name and number and a supervisor would call me back.  That never happened.

Having seen other ripoff reports stating that the wine club (Vinesse) was sponsored by airline companies, banks, etc, I believe that this FAKE wine club scam gets email addresses from member lists from such companies as Columbia House, Delta Air Lines, etc, and promotes their scam, hoping respondents think they are actually being part of a wine club sponsored by the group to which a member belongs (i.e. Columbia House).

I sincerely believe this "wine club scam" is doing a total disservice to legitimate wines clubs from specific wineries throughout the United States, and I implore anyone thinking of joining Vinesse Wine Club to be very, very careful, becuase what you think you will be getting for your money is NOT what you will actually receive!