Wow, at least she's willing to bend over backwards for customers. :-) Unreal.
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Not for anything but if I was in your position I would have asked to speak to her supervisor followed by telling her to shove her screws straight up into her descending colon and gone straight to Home Depot to grab some screws. Douche bags like that should not be in Customer Service.

Either way you should still get a hold of her supervisor and relay the whole story to him/her.

Hope you get this sorted out without having to pay $12 for 2 flipping screws!
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talk about getting screwed for screws!!!
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Response to my email below:

Sean

Thank you for your email. We will contact Cigarasylum.com regarding this post. (oopsie)

We request serial numbers as a means of quality assurance and this verifies true Vinotemp product. We have been in the business of manufacturing wine cellars for 25 years.

His unit was not a Vinotemp. He purchased a counterfeit Vinotemp and did not purchase from an authorized dealer and wants us to make good on a counterfeit item.

Vinotemp always stands behind there product and has always put the customers experience 1st and foremost.

We recommend you purchase the product through an authorized dealer. If you let me know the area you are located I can recommend a dealer for you.

Thank You,

Alvin Patrick

It sounds like the middleman in Canada is bypassing Vinotemp and buying the units directly from the factory (in China no doubt), sticking a Vinotemp sticker on them and passing them off as real. I could see Vinotemp being pissed at this and not wanting to support this product (since it isn't theirs). Try to get phone support for an illegal version of MS Office to see what I mean. Course, if this is what happened, it would be nice if they would be more clear on what is happening.
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see this here explains the situation and i agree with them (vinotemp).

i still believe that could have been explained just like that to the OP in the first place, as well as the offer to sell the screws.
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Edited the thread title to a neutral position. Put a note summarizing why in the first post. Bad situation for both sides.
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Agreed, bad situation all around.

I can think of ways that the company could have handled it better, and for crying shame the screws wouldn't cost them more than a dollar. But they have a valid point on the counterfeit issue. Seems to me, I'd be asking about where he purchased the "Vino" and be going after the counterfeiter with great gusto.



All in all though, you can buy the screws at any hardware store for under 2 dollars :-). That alone makes the whole situation.....I won't say laughable, but it makes it amusing in a wry way.
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I can understand Vinotemp being pissed off about the counterfits selling in the marketplace and nor should the company feel obligated to fix the counterfit for free, but I can't understand why they would take it out on an unaware consumer. The company's statement that "he purchased a counterfeit Vinotemp and did not purchase from an authorized dealer and wants us to make good on a counterfeit item", doesn't seem quite complete. I don't think that he would mind purchasing the missing screws or paying for the actual shipping once he was informed that his vinotemp was a counterfit. The company should charge him for the replacement parts at a reasonable markup which would apply to actual Vinotemp purchasers as well. The fact that the company is now punishing the unaware consumer by price gouging him is b.s. I wonder if the "authorized dealer" which the company's President offers to refer him to carries the screws? Probably not!

I've been contemplating purchasing a Vinotemp as my "hobby" has grown, but I think I'm going to have to pass.
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I thought I saw pictures somewhere he posted, maybe somewhere else, maybe to me, (been talking about trays), but cant find them. I would be curious to see what the "gray market" vino looks like. I'm also curios if its possible there is a mistake at the company and it truly is genuine and they have a "accounting" error with the serial number.

No that cant be it :-).

Chas
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I know that you've gone through a lot and I feel your pain. My advice is this:

Get someone to take the screws out of their vinotemp and head to a local fastener supplier. Have them buy you some screws and send them to you.

In the end, you get some BOTL bonding that the screws you need. Seems like a winning strategy to me.
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Image

Image

How was I supposed to know this identical unit was not a "genuine" VT? No mention was ever made of "grey market" VT's in any of my research. After first accusing me of buying an "illegal counterfeit" the woman at VT then relented and told me the unit was probably purchased from the same factory and someone placed an Vinotemp emblem on it. While the photo is not good the emblem is a "raised" or "domed" acrylic piece that looks very authentic. I'm guessing this unit came off the very same assembly line right down to the emblem.

Anyhow, they got my $12US for 2 simple screws so I guess I'm a bona fide VT customer now!

I've beat this dead horse long enough and you've heard the last of it from me.
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What I would do to get screwed.... :-)
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i doubt the screws you ordered are going to work.. that is completely diffrent then the way the vinotemp doors are attached.
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COunterfiet Cohibas (THE INFAMOUS COHIBO!!!), counterfeit Montes and now counterfeit Vinos!?! What is this world coming to???

I can say that is a knock off. The Vino doors are more squared off, not rounded. They are also a shiny aluminum, not brushed and the handle is very different.

Unless it is I that have the fake Vino...I have to go question my source. HE said he got it from a friend that has an uncle that works at Vino...:-)

I'm not trying to make light of your situation. It sucks dealing with poor customer service. Hope you get it resolved even if Home Depot is the solution.
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Your (knockoff?) vinotemp looks pretty good without the handle...just sayin'...
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As long as it keeps humidity and temp I'd be thrilled with the purchase!
That's what is important right?
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The earlier VT's looked 100% identical... The newer ones with the digital read-out are different. Even Houlio in ther service dept sadi "Oh yeah, the one with the curved handle mounts... They made this one a few years ago.
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now heres the $200 question.. does it work?
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So Vinotemp is not a manufacturer of wine cellars, just a marketer?
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OK this is my last post... really.

Vinotemp had the VT28 manufactured offshore and the same unit may have been sold under an different name. This happens all the time in the appliance business. Maytag washers are also sold under the name Kenmore, Whirlpool are sold under the name Viking etc etc.

From what I gather, the fellow I bought it from bought the remaining stock from a local retailer. That person (according to VT) somehow purchased them factory-direct. They claim that the VT logo was illegally or fraudulently put on the unit. I don't beleive that for a second. My guess is that it shipped just like I got it with logo affixed. But that remains speculation on my part'

It looks identical in every way to the earlier VT28 (perhaps the fact the factory was selling them elsewhere was the reason they went to a new design)

I also hear that the older unit was more reliable. I've heard the newer digital unit was more prone to failure but that could simply be rhetoric.

Anyone else have an older unit like this? Mine is 3-4 years old (I gather)

And yes it works like a champ.
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