Epiqure shipping policy during hot periods

[Daver6]

Rather than crash the main epiqure thread I thought I'd start this. Mods, feel free to merge if not appropriate.

In short, I refused to sign for wine that turned up late in the day after being in an Australia Post van in the Perth heat for hours. The wine was really hot.

Epiqure are happy to re-ship other wine. However, they have said they wont accept another return for the same reason. I raised a complaint at a manager there looked into it. Her words are that their cellar master doesn't believe wine gets damaged in heat. They have no control over what Australia Post do and have no interest in improving how they ship and deliver wine. Apparently I am the first person to raise this issue.

So for me, I'm done ordering from epiqure in the summer months.

 

[samh004]

An interesting discussion will ensue I'm sure. The question is, how long does wine need to be at the 'wrong' temperature for storage before it impacts how long it will keep?

What are other sellers doing to stop wine overheating? I received an order direct from Kay's cellar door today, 6 bottles and a cask and there was nothing different to any other seller, just cardboard.

 

[williamsf1]

who really knows what happens to the wine between the cellar door and when you open it at home? ie .. it would be on the back of a truck somewhere.... could be travelling on a 40c + day .... then in to a storage area at room temp... then on another truck ... possibly another 40c + day .... then into another delivery truck ..... then into a mail centre.... then another van .... then your door

 

[Daver6]

Some simply won't ship when its hot. They look at the forecast at both ends and wait till a suitable time to ship.

Others will ensure they use couriers with air-conditioned vans.

Another solution I've seen employed is packing the wine in polystyrene. Won't help with prolonged exposure but certainly will help for a couple of hours in a hot van.

When the lady suggested their cellar master saw no issue with that, I suggested he speak to the wine makers and see how they feel about their product being treated like that.

 

[Daver6]

who really knows what happens to the wine between the cellar door and when you open it at home? ie .. it would be on the back of a truck somewhere.... could be travelling on a 40c + day .... then in to a storage area at room temp... then on another truck ... possibly another 40c + day .... then into another delivery truck ..... then into a mail centre.... then another van .... then your door

No it wouldn't. Will be in a refrigerated reefer.

 

[Mr_Orange]

Some simply won't ship when its hot. They look at the forecast at both ends and wait till a suitable time to ship.

Others will ensure they use couriers with air-conditioned vans.

Another solution I've seen employed is packing the wine in polystyrene. Won't help with prolonged exposure but certainly will help for a couple of hours in a hot van.

When the lady suggested their cellar master saw no issue with that, I suggested he speak to the wine makers and see how they feel about their product being treated like that.

If I were you, I would contact the wine makers directly (the ones you have ordered anyway) and let them know Epiqure's attitude towards delivery in hot weather and see what they say.

If certain wine makers threatened to pull their inventory from Epiqure, they may wake up and take more notice.

Just my tuppence worth.

 

[RooFlyer]

While I'm really sympathetic to your aspirations here Daver6, and believe you should be able to refuse ANY consignment that arrives in an unsuitable condition (as you have done and should be able to continue to do), I would agree with williamsf1 that between despatch and arrival, almost any condition could occur (depending on the route of course) and then you are stuck with the consignment as received, as the forward weather is out of the sender's control.

If anyone couriers to where I live, only an hour out of Hobart and 45 mins from HBA, no matter which courier they consign it to initially (except Australia Post), the final leg of the shipment will be on the same, local 'bush' courier. No refrigerated vans, and not much care, mostly; possibly sitting in a container on MEL docks for an afternoon before it arrives in Tasmania. I'm sure it is the same in many rural parts of Australia. Even on a moderate day, in Tasmania, the wine could get hot if left in a closed van for a while.

If you can't predict the weather along the route to avoid heat, then its possibly unreasonable for the sender to do same. If I'm going away, I will order, but specify "despatch only AFTER [date]"; the same could be done if the forecast is for hot conditions anywhere along the route at the time of order.

 

[Daver6]

To clarify what I meant by weather predictions.

Assume the wine is coming from the main warehouse in Melbourne to me in Perth. Just need to look at a 3 to 4 day forecast for each city. Wine is sent by air. Its not that hard. If smaller wine sellers can do this, so can epiqure. They just choose not to.

 

[opusman]

Maybe stick to Barossa shiraz in summer and wait until winter to order the pinots?

 

[burmans]

No it wouldn't. Will be in a refrigerated reefer.

Nevertheless the fact that some wine stores will hold and not ship until temperatures lower suggest they have concerns about the method of transport. Ive certainly heard stories of wine being cooked, even with supposedly reputable retailers.