Benchmark Wine Group, Inc. (‘Benchmark’) sells wine
subject to the following terms and conditions.
By placing an order with Benchmark Wine Group, the buyer agrees to the
following:
Benchmark Wine is acting as your agent to ship wine to
you. We will recommend the most economical method conducive with
maintaining excellent wine condition, but you have the final say. We
are happy to hold your wine in our temperature controlled warehouse for up to
six months in order to consolidate orders to ship in full cases, or to
wait until there is favorable weather for Ground shipping, or for you to pick
up at our Napa warehouse.
Age
All customers assert and affirm that they are at least 21
years old. Benchmark retains the
right to use reasonable means to verify a buyer’s age and reserves the right
to refuse to sell wine to anyone. All shipments require that the carrier
verify the age of the recipient before delivery.
In most locations, it is illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to
attempt to purchase alcohol. Benchmark will comply with any legal entity in
the prosecution of anyone under the age of 21 attempting to buy alcohol.
Location of sale
All wine is sold in California, with title passing from
Benchmark to the buyer at the time of purchase. Benchmark is acting as the
buyer’s agent in arranging transport. The
buyer affirms that in requesting that Benchmark ship wine, he or she is acting
in accordance with the laws of the location of delivery. Any shipment that is
seized or destroyed due to violation of shipping laws or common carrier policy
is not refundable.
Shipping
Benchmark will endeavor to follow specific shipping
instructions. Such instructions should be indicated at time of purchase or
Emailed to shipping@benchmarkwine.com
within 1 hour of ordering. Lacking
specific shipping instructions, Benchmark will endeavor to ship in the most
economical way conducive with safe travel at a time of its choosing.
Benchmark’s shipper of choice is Federal Express but DHL and UPS can
also be used to most locations. For large shipments, commercial trucking
companies can be arranged. Customers may make arrangements with Benchmark to
use their own common carrier account or pick up their order at our Napa
address by contacting shipping@benchmarkwine.com.
Depending on the circumstances, shipping charges will be collected at the time
of order or the time of shipment. In
cases where excess funds have been collected due to combining orders, changing
shipping methods, etc., a refund for unused funds will be provided. Where
funds previously collected do not cover the costs of shipping, an additional
amount may be charged at time of shipment.
Holding Wine
Benchmark will hold customer orders for modest period of
times on request or to avoid shipping during inclement weather, especially
during the summer. This is done
at no charge as a courtesy for our customers. Wine so held remains the
property of the buyer. Benchmark
reserves the right to move wine to an alternate storage facility and/or to
charge for the storage for especially large orders or for orders held for
especially long periods of time.
Shipping Address
A street address at which an adult over 21 years of age
or older is available during daytime hours to receive wine is required. We
therefore recommend a business address wherever possible.
Wine cannot be shipped to a P.O. Box nor to an APO address. It cannot
be shipped via the United States Postal Service. If wine is not accepted on
the first delivery attempt, Benchmark reserves the right to invalidate its
quality guarantee as repeated delivery attempts may subject the wine to undue
temperature stress.
Quality Guarantee
Benchmark guarantees that wine is in excellent condition,
or the condition that is stated in its offer, at time of delivery if it is
shipped by the method recommended by Benchmark, within the laws of the state
into which it is shipped and is accepted on the first delivery attempt.
If you receive a bottle of wine for which the condition is not
excellent and which does not match the description, please notify us at warehouse@benchmarkwine.com
within 24 hours. Benchmark cannot
accept return of any bottle of wine that has been opened or altered nor any
bottle of wine that has been out of its possession for more than 6 months.
Excellent condition is based on the age of the wine.
For bottles less than 20 years old, it is: base neck fill or better
(fill within 3 cm of the bottom of the cork if the bottle has no shoulder), no
sign of seepage or cork failure, relatively clean and undamaged label and
capsule. Good wine color. Small nicks or marks on the label or capsule do not
count against excellent condition. For
wines over 20 years old, top shoulder fill or better (within 4 cm of bottom of
cork if bottle has no shoulder), relatively intact label and capsule. Good
wine color. Modest label or capsule nicks, tears, moisture stains, mildew
stains, discoloration or oxidation does not count against excellent condition
for wines of this age. Older white wines often take on a golden or orange
color. Older red wines often take
on a brick tone. Such color change does not count against excellent condition
if it is consistent with the wine and the age.
For high value bottles of older wine, we can provide
digital photos. Please contact warehouse@benchmarkwine.com.
Order Cancellation
If you make an error in ordering, please Contact Us
immediately. There is a 5% fee for any order cancelled
after the credit card batch has run (usually the evening of the
same day). Orders are non-cancelable after 30 days from the date on the
invoice, including wines being held in our warehouse.
Pre-Arrival items
Benchmark sells some of its items on a pre-arrival or
futures basis. At time of sale,
an estimated arrival time will be provided.
This is only an estimate. Due
to circumstances beyond Benchmark’s control, some items may be delayed
beyond the expected date. Please
contact shipping@benchmarkwine.com
with questions about the status of your pre-arrival items.
Taxes
Sales tax is charged for all orders shipped to addresses
in California, including to storage facilities in California or picked up at
our facility. Sales taxes may be
charged for shipments into other states where such laws apply.
Shipment to some countries outside of the United States requires the
payment of duties by the recipient. Recipients
outside the United States are required to know and comply with the laws of
their countries.
Representation of Suitability
While Benchmark inspects each bottle of wine that it
sells and endeavors to describe each bottle that it does not deem to be in
excellent condition that might affect its drinkability, certain spoilage
mechanisms are undetectable. Benchmark
makes no specific representation of drinkability of any particular bottle of
wine. Benchmark makes no
representation of the suitability of any particular bottle of wine as an
investment or for any other purpose.
Availability and pricing
Prices and availability are subject to change without
notice. Due to variations in condition and sourcing, different bottles of the
same wine may occasionally be posted with different prices. Due to the real
time nature of our website, items are not removed from our inventory until
after successful ‘check out’. Invoices,
verbal and email confirmation notwithstanding, no item is guaranteed to be
available until it has been pulled for shipping.
Errors
Benchmark Wine Group works very hard to accurately
describe all products and provide world class service in all aspects of its
operation. Please contact
us immediately if you believe an error has occurred and we will
attempt to rectify it or reach an amicable arrangement. Our maximum liability
in any circumstance is limited to the purchase price of an item.
Copyright
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this site's owner and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. All
software used on this site is the property of this site's owner or its software
suppliers and protected by United States and international copyright laws.
Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of
Liability
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"as-is" and "as available" basis. No representations or
warranties of any kind are made, express or implied, as to the operation of
this site or the information, content, materials or products included on this
site. You expressly agree that your use of this site is at your sole risk.
To the full extent permissible by applicable
law, this site's owner disclaims all warranties, express of implied,
including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and
fitness for a particular purpose. This site's owner does not warrant that this
site, its servers, or Emails sent from this site are free of viruses or other
harmful components. This site's owner will not be liable for any damages of
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direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and consequential damages.