1855.com says delivery failure due to economic situation, UGC investigates

Wow this is very sad I had no idea this was so widespread. I had bought some 2004 En Primeur from these guys which they never ever delivered. "Fortunately" it was only a 210 EUR purchase of one half case and I have periodically tried to contact them to no avail. Seems like this is their business model. What is really shocking is the company is not put into immediate receivership given this situation. How can they possibly be still allowed to accept any client monies? Particularly for en prmieur? I tried calling today but got a message in French basically saying their opening hours were x to y (the time during which I called) and told to call back later. I guess I am going to have to write off the money but reading here seems like others have had things much worse.

no phone or email contact possible, but emails continue to arrive for more deals.

This is sophisticated automated email scam.

Avoid at all cost, this is a con job.

I have ordered 6 bottles of Pontet-Canet in 2009. Still haven't received anything, but one reply to numerous e-mail by Mr. Yan Wagner telling me they would deliver in September 2011. This did not happen. Rgds, Felix B. The Netherlands

I have 24 bottels on order and paid . no phone or e-mail reply . I am going to court next week. to many unkept promisses.

Mr. Yan Wagner (Service Client of 1855) told me they'd to delivery before the end of the 2011.
At today, 28th december 2011, no news from them. They don't answer to my mails and phone calls.
Max from Italy

Is anyone else struggling to get delivery of 2008 en primeur Bx from Lay & Wheeler / Waitrose? Whilst the wines I have ordered (Leoville Barton, Calon Segur) are for sale on Lay & Wheeler's website, they don't seem to want to deliver to me, despite numerous calls / e-mails.

If I'd known how awful 1855 was I would never had ordered from them. I ordered 2 bottles of d'Yquem ('97, '02), 1/2 bottle of Fargues ('02) and a case of Malartic Lagraviere Primeur '08. After 3 months of e-mails, the '97 D'Yquem was finally delivered. I've emailed 3 times since with no response. I'm going to pursue a refund through my credit card and see where that gets me. Totally lamentable; they deserve to go under.

Same problem here- they are pushing the delivery date forward every time I call them. I just counted that I have over 3000 euros worth of wine undelivered (albeit some of them 2009 and 2010). Any advice?

Hi, I also bought primeurs 2008 and 2009, I have no news. I write from 'Italy.

At this moment (oct 2011) they don't answer to my mail.
For mounths they went on to say "next month" and now they do not answer.
Is there any "class action" or something like that?
I'm waiting Lafite, Margaux, Latour 2008.
MAX from Italy.

Same story for me, I am still waiting for my orders of my primeur 2008. Every time they promissed to deliver it a few months later. Now I don't hear anything anymore

I counted today, 176 bottles outstanding from 2008, 2007, 2006 and even 2005.
They don't even answer the phone, probably everybody has gone on holiday to get drunk on my wine...

Is anybody believing in their statement they will be delivering 2009 etc? I am still waiting for news on my 2008 primeurs. Called them up several times and did not get any useful information out of them. Don't even want to think about what will happen to my 2009 order. I am living in Switzerland. For now I order primeurs and directly avaialable cases at millesima which is pretty much the opposite in terms of reliability and customer service.

thanks for the news, I am not aware until now. Who and where I can report my case? They have not been able to delivery for over a year. I am living in Switzerland.

As the French court already pointed out: nothing to do with the economic situation. I was probably one of the mentioned legal cases of 2010 and got what I claimed. Skip my orders and give my money back. To come this far I was for some years paying, phoning, mailing as most of you. Taking legal steps asks a lot of your patience to though, but I hope it will feel better afterwards. To have the idea you can do something instead of constantly being lied too.

I am in a similar situation. Have been pestering 1855.com literally every months over the last 2 years and managed to retrieve about 15-20 bottles. Still I have about 40 bottles missing from 2004-2007 and over 100 on order for 2008-09. Happy to share legal costs and jointly instruct a French lawyer to pursue our claim for wines.

Ladies and Gentlemen,
if you would consult the openly availabple P&L:

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/financials.asp?ticker=AL185:FP

of 1855.com, you will learn, that this company never earned any money but (even worse) has not been able to cover its material costs (i.e. sold the wine cheaper than it bought) not talking about functional expenses (i.e. marketing, sales, admin). There is something "seriously" wrong with 1855, which can not be linked to the 2005 hype, its sales growth or the economic downturn. If you are in doubt, consult your company's bookkeepers !

Best Regards, Christoph Green (Germany)

i have been trying to recover a refund of 769 euros for over 6 months and it was their idea to refund me.

I have around 10,000 euros of 08 and 09 paud for and am pretty concerned about never seeing the wine

I am in a similar position as others re 2005, 2006 and 2007 wines outstanding. I am an English barrister (crime unfortunately!) but live in France. I have a contact of a French avocat (based in Bergerac) and I am thinking of commencing an action. Anyone interested in joining so we cd reduce costs per client, please email me:
michael@rosbifs.com

I have orders outstanding for Bordeaux en-primeur 2008 and 2009 vintages.

I gave 1855.com the option of refunding me for the cost of these wines, which was declined.

If 1855 fails to deliver my 2008 order in Spring 2011 as promised, then I intend taking immediate action against it.

As I am a lawyer, I am conscious that the costs of a French lawyer may be disproportionately high when compared against the cost of the wines ordered.

I wonder, therefore, whether any readers in a similar situation might be interested in jointly instructing a French lawyer to pursue our respective claims for 2008 wines.

Please write to mark@markadamsllb.com.

An obvious lie from the COO in this article: 1855's problems are not due to the poor economic situation, but due to the business model itself: selling wine without having any stock. This model is not reliable for a wine business, more particularly when Bordeaux wines are involved. This company was doomed to fail from the start.

As of 20th January the total number of cases outstanding is now over 169 for an estimated value of nearly 134,000€.

On 15th December 2010 Fabien Hyon, COO of 1855, claimed that only 5% of orders were outstanding. I have no idea what proportion of of the 5% these 169 cases represents.

As with others, 20 cases of 2006 not delivered dispite many promises. Almost feel sorry for the poor girls on the phone, if you eventually get through, who are obviously instructed to fend off angry custommers with lies by their "supervisors" and bosses. Cowards.

One technical questions for anyone with knowledge of French tax system. If 1855 have conned us, me included, out of the TVA as well as the cost of the wine, have they paid that Tax to the French tax authorities? And if not, is that not Fraud and Theft from French state and shouldn't the directors be charged and in prison?

What about en premier 2008...any news i ve ordered 12 bt pichon 2008!!!!!

Gaspard, Douglas and anyone else owed wine by 1855. I'd be very grateful if you would send me details of the wines you ordered plus the order number so that I can add them to the tally of undelivered wines.

Please email me at jim@investdrinks.org

Many thanks

Jim

I ordered 3 cases of Chasse Spleen 2007 (client number 98963855717) on 1855.com. One case has been delivered after numerous complaints by mail and telephone. Every time the same story: we will deliver in a couple of month. Today 18 january 2011 Carole Rougier from client service lies on the phone by telling me that 1855.com does not experience any liquidity problems! Then the tone gets aggressive: I can't help you, you have to send a mail to my supervisor. If I am not delivered before the end of the month I will engage legal action.

1855.com let you pay for VAT and transport costs without having the stocks to ship.

I strongly advise not to buy on 1855.com.

I have 12 cases of 2005 en primeur still to be delivered. Similar to the above comments, broken online promises time and time again.

Tried to call again today but no answer!

It is a disgrace.

I do agree with Mr. Garces. The french wine establishment, specially Bordeaux merchants and chateaux, have boiler plate ready answers for their rationale when increasing prices even in less tha suitable vintages. They think they can hang on to their new chinese fodder, while ignoring more refined and discerning, European palates. Hope they can recover these diapearing markets when the latter no longer feel they have to be soaked as they gain a foothold.

Cada dia se hace mas complicado comprar a futuro con la inestabilidad economica del mundo,igualmente con los valores locos que han adquirido los vinos Franceses,la tendencia sera mirar hacia el nuevo mundo.

The problems with 1855.com are not new.

The forum page on lapassionduvin.vom entitled "1855 retard des primeurs" runs to 78 pages !

My 2004 en primeurs with 1855.com we all completed without trouble. Problems only occurred with my 2005s. Delays, phone calls, broken promises, being put on hold until the phone rings out, speaking to probably about 20 different people and getting nowhere. A complete disgrace. They failled to complete my 2005 en premier order after almost a year. In the end i opted for a 2006 wine, which they supplied at the same cost as my enpremier purchase (i.e. i lost out).

They have the gall the advertise wines on their site, when they don't even complete existing en premier orders for the same wine.

Never again.

Like hundreds of others, I had to use the small claims court in Paris to get my money back for 2005 and 2006 primeurs.
Part of the evidence I used against them was their own admission, in auditors' reports published on the 1855 website, that they did not have the funds available to buy the primeur wines I and all the others had paid for.
The auditors' reports are still available (in French, but the figures speak for themselves).
Officially, 1855 have declared that they will now buy primeur wines as soon as clients order them.
Whether one believes that or not is another matter, rather like believing there really is a man on the moon.

bought 3 cases of 05s en primeur in 06, all paid up, VAT and tax included. After intervention of Trib. d'Instance in Paris have now received 2 cases and await the 3rd. This company is a disgrace, don't go near it - and they continue to bombard me with publicity for new vintages/wines, with the assurance they will be delivered. They must think there's one born every minute...

I wasn't aware of these issues 1855 were having and thanks to your article now I understand better my recent experience with 1855.

I relocated in Paris a few months ago and decided to try out 1855 in September. I liked their website and they seem to be a successful business.

But in December I decided to put an end to me using 1855 services.

Basically, I ordered cases and was told they would be delivered in 15 days. After 15 days - no cases delivered. I called, they apologised and told me cases would be delivered in 15 days. Still nothing after 15 days. I called and was told 15 more days. And so on. I was eventually offered vouchers and the wine was delivered very very late. There was also this 6 case of south France wine which I orded in September and was supposed to be delivered in 15 days. At the end of December, I was still waiting for it and was told they had issues with delivery of their wine... and would certainly receive the wine in January.
From this point I cancelled my order and got a refund. And I also cancelled my account with 1855. I was done with buying from 1855.I will use my regular caviste in Paris...

no way