Dear Arthur’s Cellar Wine Club Member:
The LCBO has bushwhacked us yet another time. After recently placing several orders, they hit us with a brand-new (to us) set of conditions with which we and our wineries simply could not abide. No advance notice, no discussion, no nothing. Take it or leave it.
Here are their two deal-breaking clauses:
5. Rebate Terms. If the product fails to achieve 100% sell through within 90 days of release (i.e., the date that the LCBO makes the Products available for distribution to the applicable Destination Collection Boutique store and/or eCommerce Fulfillment Centre), You will provide to the LCBO a 20% rebate of the original price paid by the LCBO for all inventories that are remaining. The retail selling price of the Product will subsequently be marked down for faster sell through.
6. Retail Price. By confirming the NTP (net total price?) through NISS (the LCBO’s order submission system), you agree that the final negotiated retail price of $19.00 (including deposit) will be adhered to, and that any adjustments in order to achieve this retail will be agreed to (what they are saying here is, should the retail price of the wine go up for any reason in the three or so months it takes to get the wine from the winery to the LCBO shelves – currency exchange, duty rates, shipping charges, LCBO markups or whatever – the winery or the agent will make up the difference!).
We and our wineries have very little if any control or influence over the factors effecting these two clauses and we’ll be darned if we are going to expose ourselves to the risk of any related financial penalties. Thus, we have cancelled our orders and will not be placing any new ones until these conditions are withdrawn.
I will be scribbling a full account of this latest episode of life with the LCBO in an upcoming edition of Gentleman’s Portion. If you aren’t a subscriber and would like a copy, just let me know. Please note my e-mail address is jaswalker@arthursellers.com.
A few of our wines remain available at LCBO.com. The 2019 ‘Les Olivets’ Châteauneuf du Pape from Domaine Roger Sabon warrants special notice. Please let me know if you would like me to order for you and to which LCBO store you would like it sent.
Cheers, despite it all!
Jim, Hélène and Kate
www.arthursellers.com
jaswalker@arthursellers.com
mhbuisson@gmail.com
PS: Follow My Vinous Adventures on Gentleman’s Portion
I contribute regularly about our experiences in the wild, wacky and mostly wonderful world of wine to a delightful lifestyle blog called Gentleman’s Portion. The latest is ‘Sittin’ on the dock … of the LCBO warehouse’. Please join me and my fellow contributors, Nigel Napier-Andrews and David Moorcroft, as we regale you with a good helping of everything great in life.
