Help - Wrong product delivered from Belgium

Belgian webshop? which one? is it linked to an existing shop or is it only accessible online?

Thanks, @Pandemonium . I appreciated it-- I'd actually gone to their website since you had mentioned it a couple times before (for instance here: connosr.com/wall/discussion/…), along with a few others on Connosr (@WhiskyNotes, @AndyH, and @gn1).

@vanPeltI 'm very sorry to hear that. Was it a sample or a whole bottle? This webshop is linked to a real shop in the Belgian city of Zottegem, I'm not sure where you live, but you could always try and address the manager personally. If not, I'm afraid there's not much you can do about it. One of the problems with his site, in my opinion is the inconsistency of info you get. Some bottles will be well advertised with all the necessary information, for others you'll only get bits and pieces. I've never heard any bad press about this shop and I've always been satisfied with the samples that I've received.

I must however add that I never buy my bottles online from this shop. I use drankdozijn.nl (they're currently offering a A'bunadh abv 60.2% for €51.9) for my regular bottles and Drankenshop Broekmans ( probably the largest whiskyshop in the Benelus,located in Zonhoven, drankenshop.be is their website) for my special and independent bottlers. I use whiskyhuis.be solely for samples and miniatures. I hope I did not mislead you in any way.

@Pandemonium No I do not feel you misled me personally! Though I can't help but feel generally misled :-). The experience has been unusual: first they canceled one of my items after a few days because it wasn't actually in stock; then there was confusion over the shipping because they don't give weights. And each correspondence took a few days to get an e-mail response, which was especially disconcerting after making the bank transfer. And of course they removed the "60.2%" claim from their site after I wrote them about my wrong product, which seems dodgy.

And to answer you, yes this was a bottle bought along with other samples. And now, yes, I have been in contact with him, but he does not seem to recognize that he sent an item not meeting the specifications he gave and I agreed on. Various excuses including his "supplier". And in a strange one, he claims the batch 46 "could also be batch 42 or 45".

You say there's not much to do about it, but in fact the failure to deliver products at specification is protected under EU regulation. Not to mention agreement via written correspondence. The question is then how to best react???

@ vanPelt - in the EU you have the right to return/cancel you online purchase within 7 days after RECEIVING said item (europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/…)

Keep all your correspondance with this e-shop and mention to them that they are in breach of consumer law if they refuse a return or cancellation of your purchase, whilst also saying that you hope the matter an be resolved amicably...

Good luck.

I've seen that before with the A'bunadh, where companies don't specify the particular batch in question and ship whatever is in stock.

46 is rubbish. I actually dumped the last half of my bottle down the sink - I didn't even consider it for cooking purposes. 45 was a stunner. Even if you had got 47 or 48 you would be in a better position.

Just engage them for a refund, it's you right if you are not satisfied with your purchase.

@Misty

I know you didn't like the 46, but there are others who have given it a fair review. While I'm not expecting it to be as good as the 45, I'm planning to give it a try next year.

But I agree that anyone with a 48 is in a better position, because I'm not aware that the 48 has even been released yet.

But seriously, I was looking for a batch 42 a bit over a year ago, and had found some online on a uk site. My order wasn't shipping so I enquirer, and they said they were waiting to get it in. I replied by asking them if they were sure they were going to get more, as at that point the 44 or 45 has already been released. They checked and acknowledged that they were not going to get anyone of that batch and offered me another, which it turned down.

My advice if you're looking for a specific batch of something, is to contact the online retailer before placing the order, and ensure the details of your specific request are included with your order. That way if they send the wrong one you can compel them to give you a refund because there is an electronic record.

@Nozinan

Just my opinion. I could add that I have heard of one large online retailer who withdrew entire stock of batch 46, over quality concerns, and returned to supplier.

Yep batch 48 has been out for a bit. Both 47 and 48 are an improvement over 46. Seems to be generally getting 'youngerish' mind you.

I can take 45 all the way down to 40% ABV and it's lovely.

I find you can only bing 47 & 48 down to 50% ABV and then after that it's not so great.

Thanks @Jules , also for including the link. Yes, in the EU you're entitled to return the item-- even just for buyer's remorse. The seller will of course refund the item's price if I ship it back; but the issue is about covering the shipping costs, when the seller has made a mistake. I've already paid for shipping once, I am being asked to pay for the return shipping, and of course I would have to pay for replacement shipping as well. My burden should not be 3x shipping because of the trader's mistake. (The item I received has a distinct product number on their website, as well as a different price.)

It is a shame that Jurgen at whiskyhuis is not trustworthy enough to admit the mistake; we whisky consumers should not have to worry about being burdened with this kind of error. You cannot risk shopping there if the seller claims no responsibility for the displayed information. What if you are sent the wrong ABV? or vintage? or volume? or bottler? Nobody should have to deal with this.

@Nozinan, I have several electronic records. One is a screenshot of the webpage displaying "60.2%" with the item number. Another is a webpage cache of the product. The electronic invoice's item number also matches these. Another is my e-mail correspondence before my invoice and order, where I wrote this 60.2% should imply batch 45. (Although I would have been happy to receive any of the previous 60.2% batches!) Of course I also have pictures of the received bottle and e-mails from the seller admitting that the sent bottle matches another product number. The seller simply has not acknowledged the ABV listing at all, yet, but just states that "free shipping will never be possible." (I even offered to order more items in good faith, just to compensate with more earnings for them. Nope.)

I'll keep you updated here; and would also appreciate any further advice!!!

This puts me right off ordering anything there. Getting the batch# right is hardly a futile detail, it's such a VITAL piece of product info when it comes to single malt that it begs the question: if Jurgen's Whiskyhouse can't be trusted to realize he's sent/advertised the wrong batch of a single cask Scotch then should he be doing business online AT ALL ...?

@Jules

It's probably a more common problem than thought. I had a similar issue with the drinshop.com on a order in excess of £1000.

To be fair they were very professional and collected the shipment again in a couple of days and fully refunded me (I didn't even pay for the shipping).

@Misty - what I meant is that you should be able to trust an online seller to own up & correct the mistake once you point it out, as the batch# is such a key thing.

@Jules

You are absolutely right. Mind you, I remember being asked at the time ‘is there really such a difference between batches’. Damn right there is!

@Misty ...anyone who has to ask that shouldn't be selling Scotch, surely?! :-D

Exactly, @Jules . My initial thought was "haha, okay, a silly mistake, could happen to any seller, but I'm sure they'll want to put this right." And then I thought I was very kind and creative by saying "you know, I know you guys are probably annoyed at having to ship again, so how about I add more items to offset your losses?" I did NOT expect to hear "Oh I didn't see your e-mail, and it doesn't matter anyway, not our fault." I was prepared to order more there, but this is something fundamental, and they've shown they can't be trusted.

I've written them one last time, stating that they are acting illegally by breaching my consumer rights under EU regulation, and also pointing out to them the various evidence I have against them. If I don't hear by next week, I will have to file a formal complaint. Obviously, this is much less about the money than the principle at this point; in other words, I hope all the rest of you shoppers would do the same, in order to keep the system legitimate.

And importantly, for anyone looking for the right resource, in this kind of situation:

ec.europa.eu/consumers/ecc/contact_en.htm

You could always try to shame them into doing the right thing, up the pressure a bit, post a few links on his FB wall and twitter

@vanPelt - if you want I can send them an email in Dutch on your behalf, there is a chance it might help if they realize that Belgian locals are aware of the issue (even though I'm not strictly one, I do know plenty of Whisky enthousiasts in Flemish Belgium that would not be at all impressed with the hassle you are having with Jurgen...)

Thank you for the support @Pandemonium and @Jules . I'm not quite sure what links I would post..., but I do see a "rating" section, on FB. I'd certainly appreciate a local letter being written if it comes to that: I take a behavioralist approach, at this point-- So the reason for choosing to do the right thing doesn't matter so much. But I gave until him until Monday to respond, so I will wait until then before taking other actions.

Meanwhile, I've found another A'bunadh 45 for even cheaper elsewhere, so at least I will have THAT to look forward to!

@vanPelt FYI, I find the A'Bunadh best after it has 'let off some steam', ie. I leave it to breathe for about an hour in the glass before sipping...

Try shop.whiskybase.com.

They are really good with product specifics like batches, cask numbers, etc.

Thanks @sengjc ! That is a useful looking tool. (Unfortunately not stocked with the desired product, but great to know about this anyway.) Actually, I'd found my alternative supplier on whiskybase.com-- and by chance I just received my A'bunadh 45 today!

How great it is to deal with a seller who ships the specified item!

@vanPelt - no worries. Glad to be of help.