We are excited to announce the introduction of extended warranties for all Le Cache Wine Cabinets, as well as CellarPro 1800 Series wine cooling units and CellarPro VS Series (ie 3200VSi/VSx & 4200VSi/VSx) refrigeration systems.  

These extended warranties enhance the coverage and extend the terms of the standard warranties associated with our wine storage equipment.  The extended warranties differ by product, as summarized below. For complete terms and conditions, please click on the link beside each warranty.

• Le Cache Wine Cabinets:
  • $199 Retail + $49 Deductible per incident
  • Key Features: Increases the warranty from 2 to 5 years on the cabinet; covers all parts and labor; includes in-home service; covers round-trip shipping for replacement cooling units
  • Exclusions: Leveling / door alignment, cleaning the coils, replacing the light bulb, improper installations, commercial customers, non-transferable
  • For more information, visit http://www.lecachewinecabinets.com/wine-cabinet-accessories-lc/lecache-extended-warranty
• CellarPro 1800 Series Cooling Units:
  • $79 Retail + $49 Deductible per incident
  • Key Features: Supplements the standard 5-year warranty; covers all parts and labor; includes in-home service; covers round-trip shipping for replacement cooling units
  • Exclusions: Cleaning the coils, improper installations, acccesories, 220V units, 1800XTSx, commercial customers, non-transferable
  • For more information, visit http://www.cellarprocoolingsystems.com/purchase-wine-cooling-unit/modifications-accessories-cp/cellarpro-1800-extended-warranty
• CellarPro VS Series Cooling Units:
  • $249 Retail + $99 Deductible per incident
  • Key Features: Increases the warranty from 2 to 5 years on the entire system; covers all parts and labor; includes in-home service; covers round-trip shipping for replacement cooling units
  • Exclusions: Cleaning the coils, improper installations, accessories, 220V units, commercial customers, non-transferable
  • For more information, visit http://www.cellarprocoolingsystems.com/purchase-wine-cooling-unit/modifications-accessories-cp/cellarpro-vs-extended-warranty

If you have any questions or need additional information about our extended warranties, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Wifey asked me to find a certain holiday gift for my son, so naturally, I did was a google search for the item, and then clicked on one of the top ads that included the words “Free Shipping”. 

To my suprise, when I tried to purchase the item, the site tried to charge me a “handling fee” - call me crazy, but doesn’t that seem wrong?

So I sent an email to the site asking for clarification, and received the following response: 

“Sorry.  Shipping and handling are 2 different things.” 

Really? 

At Sonoma Wine Accessories, we won’t play bait and switch games with you.  Our shipping policy is clearly stated on our site, we’ll honor our advertisements, and we’ll pay YOU if if we make a mistake.

You don’t have to settle for second-rate service…`

At CellarPro, we rigorously test and benchmark our cooling units against the competition, and publish the results for all to see.  We have benchmarked our wine cooling units against the big boys -  Breezaire and Whisperkool  – in head-to-head comparisons, and have created charts and summaries that can be viewed at www.cellarprocoolingsystems.com. 

At this time, we have not tested any Wine Guardian cooling units.  Wine Guardian seems to have a good reputation in the marketplace, and their products are priced at premium levels, but if they’re so good, why is their warranty so shoddy?

• 6 months Parts & Labor
• 15 months Parts

Wow!  At CellarPro, depending on the model, all of our cooling units offer parts AND labor coverage for 2 to 5 years, and we always cover the compressor for 5 years! 

Wine Guardian’s warranty is really puzzling in light of their high prices and premium positioning.  In business school we learned about asynchronous information – the concept that, when one party has more information than the second party, there is the potential for the second party to get fleeced.  A common example is used cars, where the seller knows the history of the vehicle, whereas the buyer has no information, so the seller has an inherent advantage.

The point is that Wine Guardian has the most infomation about its products, and one can’t help but wonder what the company is signalling how it feels about its products by making the warranty so short.  Either way, CellarPro’s warranty policy is the best in the industry – and make no mistake, we ARE signalling how we feel about our products.  Very, very confident!

In addition to FedEx classes of service and USPS Priority Mail , we offer SuperSaver flat-rate shipping for selected items in our store. With SuperSaver rates, we’ll charge a flat rate of $6.95 and ship your order to you via FedEx Ground, Priority Mail or Parcel Post, depending on the package. If you’re not in a rush, our SuperSaver rate usually will be the cheapest shipping rate in our store.

If the correct rate does not appear in your shopping cart when you place your order, please contact us via email or call us toll-free at 877.888.9137. We will not only refund the difference, we also will apply a 5% discount to the items that you purchased in your order. Get more information about our shipping policy.

We gave away our first $100 gift certificate to Melanie C. yesterday for recommending that we offer Acro Tacks on our site.

Here’s what Melanie had to say:

“My husband and I had some custom storm windows made for our restored lake house and the carpenter found these great little number tacks to keep track of the old fashioned windows. As soon as he saw them, my husband thought they’d be great for numbering our bins in the wine cellar. We had our carpenter get a set and they work great! We loved them so much we got 11 more sets to give away at our Christmas party, they were a smash!

The package said Acro Tacks and I seem to remember that the company was somewhere n the mid-west, (Ohio?).

Let me know what you think!”

It’s easy money!  Simply recommend a wine accessory or related item that we don’t currently offer on this site, and we decide to add the item, we’ll send you a gift certificate for $100 that you can use to purchase anything on our site!

So what are you waiting for?

Effective January 15, we will be increasing the prices of our wine cabinets an average of $350 per unit.  We have not increased our prices in 3 years; nor did we increase our prices when we switched from Breezaire to CellarPro cooling units.  The price increases reflect increases in our manufacturing costs that have accumulated over several years.  We also will be raising the prices of CellarPro 1800 QTL, QT and XT wine cooling units by $100.

At the same time that we raise our prices, we will introduce free shipping for our wine cabinets.  The free shipping promotion, which is for a limited time, includes inside delivery and setup (ie “white glove” delivery) to a ground floor.  To take advantage of our free shipping promotion, use the following code when checking out:  LCFS1Q10. 

The net effect of these changes will be a reduction in the delivered price of our wine cabinets.  We appreciate your business!

We received – unsolicited – the following email exchange that a prospective customer had with the folks at one of our competitors:

Competitor: Hello, I will forward drawings on Monday, look forward to working with you on this project. Thank you

Customer: Thanks. Question on the WhisperKool, which unit is it? and how does it handle excessive ambient humidity? I.e. drip pan .. etc

Competitor: The unit is a UL 1200 with quiet fans, there is a heating element in the compressor fan to evaporate excessive moisture. No drain line is required.

Customer: I found the following on Goggle search for WhisperKool 1200:

Hello all,

I am looking for some advice on a Wine Storage unit I’m having trouble with. I purchased a Vinotheque (Villa Series; model 330) about 4 years ago. It worked just fine for about 2 years, then the cooling system failed (it ran, but did not cool). Even though it was beyond the 1-year warranty, they sent me a replacement, and I installed it (sent them the non-working unit back). Now, 2 years later, the same thing has happened (it runs, but does not cool). I called their customer service again (not really expecting them to offer a replacement); and they have a “Customer Care Program” to exchange the 1000 BTU with another for about $750 (plus shipping). They also offered, for the same price to send a 1200 BTU unit. I just not sure I want to spend $800 each two years to “maintain” my Vinotheque.

I would expect a quality Wine Storage to work correctly for at least 10 to 15 years, even longer since it’s not located in a harsh environment. Has anyone else had experience with WhisperKool cooling units; either good or bad? Does anybody think that these can be repaired at a reasonable cost?

I’m struggling with the choices of either getting an exchange unit or just scrapping the whole thing and getting something else.

Thanks for any and all suggestions. Also are there any other forums where I might read about others’ experiences with Wine Storage Cabinets.

Michael

Competitor: This is a planted email, by my competitors. These emails are planted by Le Cache / Breezeaire cooling system. They are there to discourage customers from Vinotheque, and sway them to their less expensive models. People buy Vinotheque for the reputation and service. That’s why my competitors attack me there, it’s obvious they can’t touch the craftsmanship (when seen in person). Our warranty is 2 years are parts and labor and shipping, 5 years on the compressor. The man below doesn’t put his name or email, if he did I would look up the history . We document every sale and any warranty history. Even the last line below is a “winner”. The statement is baiting customers to write a bad or frustrating experience. Happy customers won’t take the time to respond, generally. One last note is we sale wine cellar WK units ( 1600, 3000, 4200, 6000, 8000, SS4000, SS8000 and the Extreme series) also WK units for cabinet ( 1000 BTU, 1200 BTU, 1200BTU UL approved , 2300 BTU). Why I know it’s a plant is the open-ended sentence— “Has anyone else had experience with WhisperKool cooling units; either good or bad? Does anybody think that these can be repaired at a reasonable cost?” this man is trying to bring in the Cellar WKs to confuse the reader, these units are the flat best that’s why the T.W.E still offers are product even though it has replicated it in China as “Grand Cru”. Cellars need to be built with insulated doors and vapor barriers ect, ect (on website), Customers and contractors sometimes cut corners or use the WK in the wrong application( vent to outside, cement walls ect, ect). If it fails, we are there to trouble shoot it and correct the unit or replace it. Problem is sometimes we find out the end user has disregarded how to install( manual) the unit or built a substandard cellar. We point this out to them and they blame our unit, they have the same problem over and over again with other cooling systems and eventually come to the same conclusion. Now at that point who goes back and amends their email from the year before, and says they were wrong. If you had this man’s email I would like to respond to him. If I knew his last name? I would be able to determine what he is saying is true and as I suspect a planted email. I have many customers I can refer to you as to my quality and warranty, If you like I will see if I can give you there email address? We have been in business for over 27 years, in 2001, Mr. Schneider brought the company ( formally Nordicorp). He has spent a fortune in product development, to keep us #1. I hope you choose to buy Vinotheque, my personal cell #209-###-####, my home # is 209-###-####. I know of no other Sales Mgr that believes in his product that much he would do that….. I do!

Customer: To the contrary of what you have said, I was routed by Le Cache to Vinotheque because they could not match my stain. Here is an E-mail from Le Cache Customer service:

We would need a wood sample to try to match a cabinet. From the picture, it looks like the lot of cabinets with our lightest Provincial stain would be a good match. We have these cabinets in the mission style (credenza, 1400 and 2400) and the Contemporary credenza. It is likely that the other cabinets would be too dark to match your stain.

If matching your stain is a priority, you may want to consider purchasing a wine cabinet from Vinotheque. They are a competitor, but their products are well regarded and they will be able to match stain colors for you.

Let us know if you have any further questions.

Best regards,

Customer Service
Le Cache Premium Wine Cabinets
531 Mercantile Drive Cotati, CA 94931
(P) 877.532.2243 • (F) 707.794.8005
www.lecache.com

Competitor:That is unusual, never happened in the last four years?

Customer: Can you then build a unit using a CellarPro wine cooling unit?

Competitor: Unfortunately we do not do that, but I do recommend them.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We have never “planted an email” about a competitor, and it’s pathetic that the competitor dismisses the online customer’s problems by blaming Le Cache. We are too busy managing our own businesses to waste time creating and planting phony emails.

On our site, we compare wine cabinets from Le Cache vs. Vinotheque, EuroCave, SubZero, Vinotemp and WCI. These comparisons are meant to highlight the differences between the wine cabinets, such as features, bottle capacity, size and price. We also have a wine cabinet shopping guide to help customers understand how to evaluate different wine cabinet features.

When you call Le Cache and CellarPro, we will give you our honest advice and opinions, even if it means that you purchase a competitor’s product. Guaranteed.

In recognition of today’s difficult economic environment, we have decided to postpone the price increase that had been scheduled for January 1.

Effective January 1, 2009, the prices of Le Cache’s Contemporary Series wine storage cabinets, European Country Series wine storage cabinets, Wine Vault Series wine storage cabinets and Loft Series wine storage cabinets will increase by an average of 4.1 percent.

This price increase reflects the higher cost of the CellarPro wine cooling units that now come standard in all of our wine cabinets. CellarPro wine cooling units are the finest in the market and represent a significant upgrade over the cooling units that we used previously, providing additional cooling power and better performance in warm environments; many extra features, alarms and settings; and, for the first time, adjustable humidity control.

We will apply new prices to all orders received after December 31, 2008.

Thank you for your interest in Le Cache!

We recently installed 150 solar panels on our roof, which will cover 95% of our annual electricity usage. The environmental benefits were too compelling to ignore, and the economics were pretty good too! See a picture of our solar panels.

When purchasing a wine cabinet, find out who is the manufacturer before committing your hard-earned money.

Not too long ago, a guy purchased a wine cabinet from another Bay area manufacturer that was too big to get down the stairs into his basement. Unfortunately, that manufacturer has a “no return” policy and, even though the cabinet was still in its original box and the customer was willing to pay the round-trip freight ($700 each way!!) PLUS a 20% restocking fee, neither the retailer nor the manufacturer would take back the wine cabinet!!

Intangibles are important to consider when purchasing wine cabinet, especially given the amount of money at stake. In a relatively small industry, there are big differences among manufacturers.

Before purchasing a wine cabinet, ask the following questions:

- What is the return policy? (Make sure to get it in writing…)
- If returns are allowed, what is the restocking fee for returns?
- What is the warranty period? What is covered by the warranty? What is not covered?
- If there’s a problem, who should you call?
- Is it possible to speak with the manufacturer? (Insist on getting the manufacturer’s contact information.)

In our industry, it pays to ask questions before – rather than after – purchasing an expensive wine cabinet. In hard times, some manufacturers will tighten their policies, so do your homework so that you avoid costly mistakes…

Give us a call – we’ll give you honest feedback, even if it means that you purchase a product from another manufacturer. We’d rather have a happy uncustomer than an unhappy customer!

We thought it would be fun to post pictures of our customers and their Le Cache wine cabinets on our website at www.lecachewinecabinets.com

If you would like to participate and you purchased your wine cabinet after November 2004, please email a picture of you and your cabinet (or, if you’re shy, just your cabinet!) and accompanying text (optional) to us at info@lecache.com. We expect to size the pictures to 4”x6”, but if your picture is a different size, don’t worry about it – we’ll crop the picture to make it fit. For each picture, please include your first and last name, and city and state in which you live.

Cheers!

Effective May 1, 2007, the prices of Le Cache’s Contemporary Series wine storage cabinets and Wine Vault Series wine storage cabinets will increase. The prices of Le Cache’s European Country Series wine storage cabinets will remain unchanged.

The prices of our wine cabinets have remained unchanged for 2 ½ years, even as our manufacturing costs have increased. At the current time, we are raising prices to reflect our increased manufacturing costs.

We will apply new prices to all orders received after April 30, 2007.

Thank you for your interest in Le Cache!