Public Mediation

vinotemp-Dispute-#3173527

D. D. vs. Vinotemp
16782 Von Karman Ave Suite 15, Irvine, California, 92606, United States
Amount Involved: $1,814.00
    • Status: In Negotiation
      This claim has posted for public comment and negotiation. It will remain posted until resolved to the claimant's satisfaction. Suggest a resolution to help these parties reach a settlement.
    • View response from: Vinotemp
    • Claimant Seeks: View.
    • Claim #: 3173527
    • Amount Involved: 1,814.00
    • Filed On: Dec 21, 2012
    • Posted On: Jan 01, 2013
    • Complaint(s):
      • Problem with a service
      • Problem with a product
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Statement of Claim
Complaints Involved (2) - View
Claimant says:
"My Vinotemp experience:

On July 10th 2012 I ordered a Vinotemp beverage cooler and it arrived in not working order. I sent the cooler back to Amazon.com and they mailed me another one on July 16th 2012. I did not hook the cooler up until the later part of September since this was for a new kitchen build. I used the cooler to store water and beverages in my kitchen Island. From the first week I noticed the unit was not cooling well and had trouble maintaining a suitable temperature for my beverages. It cooled between 45 to 50 degree’s which is a warm soda. The unit later started to build condensation on the back and the cooling continued to worsen. I then noticed that ice was building up inside the unit. I put a towel down on the floor and inside the unit as soon as I noticed the ice building up in the back of the unit, in case it leaked out. I then inspected my floor and noticed damage to laminate. I called vinotemp and this is the start of the issues (amazon.com said manufacturer has to deal with it over 30 days).

Called Paul at Vinotemp reported issues:

Repairman came out 10/24, noticed unit broken, needed to take unit out of counter he stated the unit would not easily come out and needed me to take it out. Funny since it is a counter unit.

Took unit out, called vinotemp to reschedule.

10/26 repairman scheduled to come out. NO Show, no call. Paid an employee to wait on him.

Called, Vinotemp apologized

10/30 repairman came out. Diagnosed unit broken. Door failed to shut properly allowing unit to leak on floor. Unit un repairable. (See attached notice from Vinotemp repairman stating unit broken)

Called Vinotemp and emailed vinotemp.

Wanted refund, did not want a new unit, needed this handle asap since I had 20+ people coming over for thanksgiving to see my new house.

Vinotemp mailed a new unit even tho I did not want one. Paul at Vinotemp asked me to send photos of floor damage and to try new unit.

Installed new unit before Thanksgiving, had contractor replace floor for $945.00 dollars.

About the unit
The unit fails to keep drinks cold but it does keep them cool. The temp is around 42-44 degrees on average. Unit claims to cool to 40 but it will not hold the temp. Fridges cool to 35 to 37 for example and produce cold beverages. Unit works at best marginally and at worst will ruin your kitchen, as was my case.


Later Vinotemp responds saying they will not pay for the floor and that they will also not take back the unit.

The unit cost me $869 dollars, the damage it can cause to my floor is at least $945.00 as proven from the last episode. Vinotemp fails to accept responsibility for the damage to my floors which the repairman told me was the case.

The message in short is do not buy a Vinotemp if the floor or counters it is near is not water proof and if you buy this unit understand that it will not cool to 40 degrees and your beverages will likely be warm. If you have an issue with the product they do warranty it but I called over a dozen times and still did not get a good resolution."
...
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Exhibits View
Additional Communication Between Claimant and Vinotemp Hide
  • Dec 31, 2012, Claiming party added:

  • It appears you failed to address anything about my floors and how your gross negligence in your design and manufacturing process caused my floors to get ruined do to a faulty door that did not seal. Your unit may operate within specs but it does not meet the marketed use as a beverage cooler. I have the unit inside my house which is kept at 75 degrees so it should be able to cool to 40 or at least hold a constant temperature close to that. Anyways the real issue is why this thing ruined my floor? I hope you understand thats why I'm mad I would never had gone through all that I'm going through now and about to do because of a crappy product. This product should not be allowed to be sold at all. I'm contacting some other companies as well should we not be able to make an agreement. I want to make sure that everyone knows how you screwed me and could care less about your clients. I hope to make all your potential clients know the risk of leakage due to your lack of quality controls.

What Claimant Wants Hide
1. Damages: Damages to my laminate floors and cost for unit Jan 05, 2013 $1,814.00
2. Other – Copy claim to regulators Jan 05, 2013 $14.99
3. Other – Pay for claim posting cost Jan 05, 2013 $7.99
4. Other – Physical delivery charges Jan 05, 2013 $2.99
Cash total : $1,839.97
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Respondent's Counteroffer Hide
The claimant's settlement terms were rejected with the following explanation:
  • I disagree with the explanation / grounds provided

    "Thank you for contacting Vinotemp International.
    We are very sorry to hear about your experience with your VT-BC58SB beverage cooler.
    For this metal wine cooler: the warranty is for parts and labor for a period of twelve months from the date of purchase. Vinotemp beverage cooler temperature ranges from 40°-65°F depending on ambient temperature of the room. Also depending on location and usage, the cooler compressor may run more continuously on hot days, and run relatively less on cold days. If instructions are followed according to manufacturer's specification the compressor unit will offer worry-free operation. The led indicator shows the temperature in the middle section, the temperature of upper section is slightly higher and the temperature of bottom section is slightly lower.
    It is normal for a wine cooler and beverage cooler for the temperature range to fluctuate 4-6 degrees.

    If the beverage cooler was not functioning properly a service under warranty would have been set up as per the warranty repair or replace. A&E technician was unable to service due to unit not being accessible to him. If unit was deemed un repairable or unserviceable we immediately processed a switch out to make sure the customer was taken care of in a timely manner. At that time a new order would have been processed and a new unit shipped and the original unit picked up at the same time.
    Customer now has a new functioning beverage cooler installed in his home .
    There is no compensation or refunds due. The warranty for this beverage cooler is same as original purchase parts and labor for the term of one year.

    "

This claim will remain posted until resolved.

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  • Comment: by Alan — Online mediator
    • On: 01-09-2013
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  • I think you have a good claim even if Vinotemp is cool to your offer (we'' kill them with PUN's if they don't reply :) Do you have any documentations that supports the fact that their unit caused the damage to your floor? Photo's and an estimate or damage report from whoever repaired it would be good to post here as support. At a minimum, I think they should offer to pay half the repair costs and refund your purchase price if they can't get you a unit that cools to a reasonable level. My 2 cents
  • Comment: by Claimant On: 01-07-2013
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  • I have been posting stuff about the company on review sites every day. I hope to prevent other potential Vinotemp customers from having the same experience. It may be a class action type of lawsuit that finally shuts this company down.
  • Comment: by Jennifer Sheehy — Online mediator
    • On: 01-05-2013
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  • I apologize for my assumption - the company named sounded like it may have been a wine cooler, not a general beverage cooler, and in that instance, I made the suggestion you may have been using it improperly. Have you had your floors replaced or repaired yet from the damage that was caused by the leak in the unit? Have you had any potential contractors come out and give you an estimate as to the cost of repair and/or replacement? Because it sounds like from the response above the company is not willing to admit it was an issue with the unit itself, perhaps a consultation with an attorney may be helpful to you to find a remedy for the situation.
  • Comment: by shadowed12003 — Online mediator
    • On: 01-03-2013
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  • How can you blame the end user for setting it at a temperature that it is within the range of the unit? It is obvious that the unit must have been constantly running trying to keep up since the cool air was leaking out the door. This was also probably what caused water to form and then leak out the door and then the floor.
  • Comment: by Claimant On: 01-03-2013
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  • I hate to Say this Jennifer Sheehy but you sound like a vinotemp employee. Okay but I will pretend you are not and re explain my situation. The unit is marketed as a beverage cooler for soda, beer, bottle water etc. It has an adjustment setting to 40 degrees provided by the manufacturer. I ran the unit at its coldest setting as is allowed by the manufacturer because of the adjustable thermostat they provide that goes to 40 degrees. The unit is supposed to shut off if it forms frost and then turn back on when it has thawed. My unit had a defective door that allowed the unit to get extra moisture inside causing the unit to really freeze up since the door was not air tight due a manufacturing error. When the unit later defrosted the water should have stayed inside the unit and been in smaller quantity if the door sealed properly. The door being defective allowed the water to leak out and ruin my floors. The manufacturer knows this is the issue since they sent their licensed repairman out as part of my warranty for free that told me this. Paul the customer service rep asked me to send photos of the damage to my floor as he felt compensation may have been in order seeing the reason for the damage was not due to something that could have been forseen as me as a risk. I paid almost 1000 dollars for a mini fridge, it should be checked to make sure its safe for use before it is shipped right? They sent me a unit that was so poorly put together it ruined my property that dosen't sound like something other consumers want to deal with.
  • Comment: by Jennifer Sheehy — Online mediator
    • On: 01-02-2013
    View more
  • While this situation can definitely be frustrating, it sounds like you may have been using the unit improperly. Similar to an air conditioning unit, if you attempt to use it at too cold a temperature, the condenser unit would freeze and create moisture. Since you state that you were using the unit to try to cool beverages (you mentioned soda in your claim), you may have been trying to keep the unit too cold, which could void the warranty. If you feel that you were using the unit correctly, perhaps a second opinion from a repair person would be helpful.
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