Penticton.
Where wineries dominate the landscape and with those wineries come wine clubs.
Where members are sent regular shipments of wine and newsletters.
And where one particular winery here finds itself under scrutiny by some of its members who say their credit cards have been charged for wine they didn’t receive or didn’t want.
Mike Lamont used to be a club member with Red Rooster Winery, but cancelled his membership because the winery kept delivering wine to his home — even though he said he’d pick it up to avoid the shipping charges.
“After my credit card was charged for the monthly delivery, about — it was less than three weeks — 17 days later I had a charge on my credit card for over $200 for the next wine club shipment,” Lamont said.
Lamont said he called Red Rooster to cancel the charge on his credit card and to cancel his membership.
“No one called me back for days. I went on their Facebook and noticed that people were leaving negative reviews,” he said.
Some of those negative reviews posted on Facebook sound similar to Lamont’s complaint — that their credit cards were being charged for wine they didn’t want, including one woman who tells Global News she’s been charged more than $400 and has been waiting weeks for a refund.
Red Rooster said it is aware that some former club members are not happy, but say it’s a one-off, an administrative glitch.
“In terms of charging — over charging — things of that nature, I can’t speak individually about these folks; we do our best and always make it right.”
And how are they going to make it right? Red Rooster said it will be issuing refunds — sooner rather than later.