Awards and citations:


1997: Le Prix du Champagne Lanson Noble Cuvée Award for investigations into Champagne for the Millennium investment scams

2001: Le Prix Champagne Lanson Ivory Award for investdrinks.org

2011: Vindic d'Or MMXI – 'Meilleur blog anti-1855'

2011: Robert M. Parker, Jnr: ‘This blogger...’:

2012: Born Digital Wine Awards: No Pay No Jay – best investigative wine story

2012: International Wine Challenge – Personality of the Year Award




Wednesday 25 January 2012

1855 (1855.com): Three more complaints



Château Lafite amongst the wines not delivered 

Recent comments about 1855

(http://hlalau.skynetblogs.be/archive/2010/12/14/www-1855-com.html)

Un nouveau commentaire vient d'être posté sur votre blog à la suite de la note www.1855.com :

"Je suis écoeuré de voir avec quel mépris 1855 traite ses clients. Il est impossible de les contacter par téléphone (commerciaux en ligne ou non disponibles) quant aux emails que je leur adresse, ils demeurent sans réponse. Je suis toujours en attente de la livraison de mes : - Primeurs 2005 (30 bouteilles - Malartic Lagraviere - Sociando Mallet - Clos du Marquis - Duhart Milon) - Primeurs 2006 (30bouteilles - Lagrange - La Tour Carnet - La Lagune) - Primeurs 2008 (24 bouteilles - Angélus - Léoville Poyferré) Après une mise en demeure en octobre 2011,un message de 1855 m'annonçait une "livraison probable" pour fin 2011 des primeurs 2005 et 2006. Malheureusement jusqu'à présent ce ne sont que des mots..."


Un nouveau message vient de vous être envoyer à partir du blog Chroniques Vineuses :
Nom : Uwe Riesel
Message :
"Bonjour M. Halau! Je vous ecri de´l ´Allemagne ou j´ai acheter beaucoup de primeur de Bordeaux chez 1855. Mais on ne me fourni pas! Que des mails d´excuse. Comme j´ai compri, 1855 n´est pas fourni par les Grands Cru en Bordeaux mais en meme temps on a vendu ces primeurs. Et l´etat ne peut pas aider?? J´ai ecri déjà souvent avec M. Brocheton de DGCCRF qui me promi de s´en occuper mais il n´a pas du succès. Peut etre vous avez des conseils pour moi?? Je vous remercie en avance!! Uwe Riesel"

Also message from another frustrated client of 1855

Dear Jim,

I read an article in Decanter Online Magazine, posted in Dec. 2010 about wine distributer "1855" having serious problems to deliver their wines. They mentioned your email address regarding any information about this
topic.

There is an new article from 2011 about the same topic:
http://www.yoopress.com/en/winenews/viniculture/winetrade/4745..com_cant_keep_up_with_Carruades_de_Lafite-orders.html
http://www.yoopress.com/en/winenews/viniculture/winetrade/7387.Online_wine-trade_dotcom_in_bad_distress.html

Well, it's 2012 now and I also have loads of trouble to get my 2008 subscription. I only ordered three bottles of Chateau Lafite with them, (The rest I ordered with my reliable wine sellers..)  but after plenty of phone calls and emails (most of them without any response) I doubt that I will ever see those three bottles. I tried to put some pressure on them, telling them that — as a photographer-journalist I will post this non-professional behaviour all  over the web, but so far they didn't react.


I received an email end of 2011, where they told me, that they are looking for to deliver all 2008 wines till the end of the year 2011. (See email below.)


Do you have any idea, suggestions what would be the best for me to do? As the price for the 2008 Lafite was rising extremely since the end of the subscription order (175 Euros), I doubt that they still have this wine, and probably can not buy it back for a reasonable price...


Email from 1855: 
Cher Monsieur,

Nous vous écrivons concernant votre commande de Primeurs 2008.


Nous avons pris beaucoup de retard dans la livraison des Primeurs 2008. La campagne censée débuter en Juin à débuté au courant du mois de Septembre, entraînant des délais dans l'arrivée d'un certain nombre de références.

Vos vins sont actuellement chez nos fournisseurs. Nous nous engageons à une livraison complète avant la fin de l'année 2011, conformément à ce qui est indiqué dans nos conditions générales de vente. Nous reviendrons vers vous lorsque vos vins seront prêts à partir.

Nous restons à votre disposition.
Cordialement,


_________________________________

Yan Wagner
Service Client

1855
Le plus grand choix de vins non livrées sur Internet
http://www.1855.com




'Management' and leading shareholder of 1855 
Emeric Sauty de Chalon and Fabien Hyon are the senior 'management' team of 1855 (1855.com, 1855.con). Thierry Maincent was an administrateur and one of the directeur général délégués until he resigned his posts for personal reasons on 30th September 2010. Businessman Jean-Pierre Meyers, who is on the boards of L'Oréal and Nestlé, is a long-term shareholder of 1855.  Françoise Bettencourt-Meyers, the daughter of L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, is also an investor in 1855.  


1855 is a probationary member of La Fevad:
From 1855's press release of 31st January 2011 announcing that they had become a member of La Fevad


'La Fevad accorde depuis toujours la plus grande importance à la promotion de règles fondées sur des valeurs de transparence et de respect du consommateur. Ces règles garantissent l`éthique de la profession et permettent de renforcer la confiance des consommateurs, dans l`intérêt de l`ensemble de la profession.'

'Toute entreprise membre de la Fevad s`engage à respecter les principes généraux et les règles prévus par les codes et chartes de la Fevad, tant dans l`esprit que dans la lettre.

"Le fait pour 1855 d`être devenu membre à part entière de la Fevad et signataire de ses codes et chartes est une nouvelle illustration de notre engagement à bâtir une qualité de service de référence » selon Fabien Hyon, Directeur général de 1855."



5 comments:

Greg said...

I made the mistake of ordering from 1855 in early December of last year. As of today January 25, 2012 I have still not received my wines. I didn't order anything special just everyday drinking wines that were supposedly in stock. This company's incompetence and disregard for its clients is shocking. For example despite including all of my delivery details like door codes and explaining that someone is nearly always here to take delivery, they insist and contacting me by phone to schedule a delivery time. Since they don't answer their phones it has taken this long to set up the delivery. I've learned my lesson and will rely on smaller online merchants and the arrival of Lot 18 for future online purchases.

Arvid said...

Hi Jim,
Great reporting on this very sad topic.
1855 owe me some 2008's and I have received the same e-mail from Mathieu that a lot of people seem to have receied (that the 2008's are being supplied and that the will all be supplied before the end of 2011). But have anyone heard about any 2008's actually being supplied?

Jim's Loire said...

Arvid Thanks. Some of the 2008s have been delivered but I don't know how much is still to be sent out to customers.From the number of complaints it would appear that a significant quantity of 2008 en primeurs has yet to be delivered by 1855.

The answer as Greg says is not to order through 1855.

Paul said...

Jim,

This sounds all too accurate. I bought 2 cases of first growths 2008 in bond in January 2010. 1855.com, in all probability, weren't holding the wines when I bought them and subsequently, with the Chinese fuelled explosion of top Bordeaux prices, they couldn't or wouldn't take a big hit in buying these in when the time for delivery arose. I've paid shipping costs and provided VAT numbers and excise numbers to enable delivery into a UK bonded warehouse if ever I see these wines. Latest promise is delivery in March 2012. It's a real shame because the investment growth would have been excellent. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has received deliveries of 2008 in bond wines from 1855.com.

Keep up the good work Jim.

Kind regards

Paul

Anonymous said...

Same here, 2007 order for 2006 primeur expected to be delivered in Spring 2009. I am still waiting, and have not been able to reach them by phone or mail recently. They last promised me in Autumn 2011 that I should expect the delivery shortly.

Thanks for broadcasting the message that 1855 appears to be just a scam, or at least a very badly managed company.

Alex