Terms

A. Website terms of use

1. Acceptance of terms: This website is operated by Winesoftheworld.us. Your use of this website is governed by these terms and conditions. Please take a few minutes to review these terms and conditions. Your use of the whwc.com website constitutes your agreement to follow these rules and to be bound by them. If you do not agree with any of these terms and conditions, do not use the whwc.com website. Winesoftheworld.us reserves the right to update or modify these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice. Your use of the whwc.com website following any such change constitutes your agreement to follow and be bound by the terms and conditions as changed. For this reason, we encourage you to review these terms and conditions whenever you use this website.

2. Copyright notice: All of the content you see on this website, including documents, images, and HTML formatting are subject to trademark, service mark, trade dress, copyright and/or other intellectual property rights or licenses held by Winesoftheworld.us, and may not be reused or copied without permission.

3. Account registration: Online orders require customers to register an account with Winesoftheworld.us. Creating an account will allow you to save personal information to expedite future orders. Very soon you will also be able to review your order history, order status and shipment tracking numbers in the My Account section of the website. New customers will be asked to provide an email address, which will act as your Winesoftheworld.us username, and to create an account password. We also ask you to provide your name, billing address, and telephone number, as well as preferences regarding our newsletter and email alerts.

4. Privacy and security: Winesoftheworld.us is firmly committed to the privacy of your personal information and the security of your online transactions. We never share or sell to outside parties any of the personal information you provide us. If you choose to participate in our email alerts program to receive offers of interest to you or if you receive our quarterly newsletter, you are always free to change your preferences or "opt out" of these mailings. Your credit card information is safe when you order on our website. At Winesoftheworld.us, we make every effort and use the very latest technology to ensure the security of your transactions. Safeguards in place secure the information we collect online, prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, maintain data accuracy and ensure the appropriate use of information. Our powerful Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption technology protects sensitive information from unauthorized parties. SSL encrypts your credit card number, name, address and phone number before it travels over the Internet. If you are still not comfortable releasing your credit card information on our website, you may place your order by phone at (818) 640-5471.

B. General terms of sale

1. Legal age requirement: Wines and other alcoholic beverages may be sold and delivered only to persons over the age of 21. BY ORDERING FROM THIS WEBSITE, YOU AFFIRM THAT YOU ARE AT LEAST 21 YEARS OLD. Winesoftheworld.us makes every effort to ensure that alcoholic beverages are not delivered to anyone who is under the age of 21. ALL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES THAT WE SHIP ON YOUR BEHALF MUST BE RECEIVED AND SIGNED FOR BY AN ADULT OF LEGAL DRINKING AGE. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO DELIVER TO A BUSINESS ADDRESS TO REDUCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF FAILED DELIVERY. If the wine is returned to us for failure to provide positive proof of age, the customer is responsible for paying all related shipping charges.

2. Order confirmation: No order shall be considered confirmed until a customer's credit card (or other means of payment) has been processed and an email or written receipt/invoice has been provided. For online orders, we will initially send you an order acknowledgment to let you know that we have received your order. No payment is processed until quantities are confirmed, your order is picked and packed, and shipping arrangements are made. At that time, usually within 24 hours of your order, we will send you an email order confirmation (and, if applicable, shipment confirmation). All orders are subject to our acceptance, and we may refuse any order at our discretion.

3. Order cancellations/changes: Except for orders placed and cancelled on the same business day, we must impose a 10% processing fee on cancelled orders paid for by credit card in order to recoup transaction and overhead costs. With any cancellation or change, please let us know as soon as possible, preferably by phone at (818)640-5471. In order to avoid a cancellation fee, you must obtain a verbal or written acknowledgment from us noting that we have received your cancellation request by the end of the same business day on which the order was originally placed.

4. Returns: Winesoftheworld.us is committed to ensuring our customers' satisfaction with our products and service. If we made an error by sending you an incorrect wine, or if you received a corked or otherwise flawed wine, please call us immediately at (818)640-5471 or email us at info@winesoftheworld.us, providing your order number and explaining the reasons for your dissatisfaction. We will review the specific circumstances on an individual basis, and make a determination in a timely manner of whether the return request meets acceptable criteria. Should we accept responsibility for the error or flaw, we will either exchange the bottle(s) or issue a refund for the applicable amount. For any returns not caused by our error, we must impose a 10% processing fee on orders paid for by credit card in order to recoup transaction and overhead costs. Other than for Winesoftheworld.us errors, we do not accept returns after 30 days.

Under California law, we are not allowed to accept returns of wine or other alcoholic beverages if you change your mind on an order, do not like a wine, want to return a gift, or if you overbought and want to return excess wine from a previous purchase.

Neither we nor the shipping companies we contract on your behalf to deliver your wine insure against weather-related damage that may occur in transit, and we do not accept returns due to such possible damage that may arise after your wine has safely left our store. See our Weather Advisory for more detail.

5. Sales tax policy: Applicable Los Angeles County sales tax of 9.25% is added to all orders shipped or delivered within the state of California. All orders shipped to states outside California are not subject to California state sales tax. However, all orders picked up at our retail store are subject to California sales tax, even if it was not charged at time of order. Note that any new governmental taxes incurred subsequent to order will also be charged at date of shipment

6. Order processing time: Orders of "in stock" wines (as well as the "in stock" portion of orders that include both "in stock" and "pre-arrival" wines) are generally processed and shipped within 24 hours. Special shipping requests—including rush orders, international deliveries, requests to ship original wood cases, etc.—should be made by phone (preferred), email, or through the "Order Notes/Special Instructions" field in the Shipping Details page of the online checkout process.

7. Futures/pre-arrivals: Wines classified as futures or pre-arrivals are available for customer purchase now, but are not currently physically in stock at our store ready for shipment. Depending on the item, they may arrive into our inventory within anywhere from a few weeks to 3 years (in the case of Bordeaux futures). We can provide you with estimated arrival times for particular wines by phone (818) 640 - 5471 or email. Since estimated time of arrival for all pre-arrivals is never known with certainty, we cannot guarantee availability by a certain date and we cannot be held liable for delays in pre-arrival deliveries.

PAYMENT FOR FUTURES/PRE-ARRIVALS IS COLLECTED AT TIME OF ORDER AND THE CUSTOMER IS NOTIFIED WHEN THE WINE ARRIVES. Due to the administrative effort and low margins involved in managing pre-arrivals, they are SUBJECT TO MINIMUM PURCHASE AMOUNTS, TYPICALLY 3 BOTTLES PER WINE. Shipping for pre-arrivals is determined once the wine arrives at our store and we contact you for further instructions, and SHIPPING COSTS ARE PAID AT DATE OF SHIPMENT. As with orders of "in stock" wines, ORDER CANCELLATIONS ARE ASSESSED A 10% REPROCESSING FEE. Orders containing both "pre-arrivals" and "in stock" items will have the "in stock" items shipped immediately. Any new governmental taxes incurred subsequent to order will also be charged at date of shipment or pickup.

Even though Winesoftheworld.us has purchase commitments to obtain all wines offered for sale on pre-arrival, it is possible that a supplier may be unable to deliver in part or in full on a particular agreement which Winesoftheworld.us has subsequently sold to our customer(s). In such circumstances, if practicable, Winesoftheworld.us will attempt to fulfill its commitment to our customer(s) by repurchasing the wine from other sources, at a price of up to 115% of the customer's original purchase price. If we are unable to obtain the wine under such terms, we will refund or credit the customer an amount equal to the purchase price plus 15%, which shall complete our obligation to the customer.

8. Important Delivery & Shipping Information: We can only ship to CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, MO, ND, NE, NH, NV, NM, OH, OR, TX, WA, WI, WV and WY. You may order from any state, but shipments can only be made to these states. Shipments cannot be made to a Post Office Box.

9. Condition of older wines: In obtaining older vintage wines, it is Winesoftheworld.us's practice to deal with reputable suppliers where the wine's provenance is not in question. However, given the inherent limits to our ability to guarantee the condition of older wines, and consistent with industry norms, we must inform you that wines that are five years old or more are purchased at the buyer's risk. If there is a problem with a particular wine, we would appreciate you letting us know whether we should be concerned about a potential broader issue with a given producer or supplier.

10. Retailer sales: Winesoftheworld.us does not permit sales to other retailers.

11. Credit card billing: Winesoftheworld.us requires that the customer's billing address match the billing address associated with the credit card used for payment of an order. If necessary, please update your billing address during checkout to match the address on file with your credit card issuer.

12. Charge-backs: Our carriers levy a small surcharge for delivery to residential addresses. The customer is responsible for correctly identifying address type (residence or business); charge-backs that we receive from our carriers due to incorrect identification by the customer will be billed back to the customer. If a customer provides incorrect shipping address information which causes a failed delivery attempt, our primary carrier FedEx charges a $10 PENALTY PER PACKAGE for address corrections, which will also be billed back to the customer.

13. Pricing changes/errors: Although we try to avoid mistakes, they do occasionally happen. We reserve the right to correct pricing errors and to change prices without notice.

C. Shipping

1. Interstate shipping: All wines are sold in California and title passes to buyer in California. We make no representation as to the legal right of anyone to ship or import wines into any state or country outside of California. By placing an order with us, you authorize Winesoftheworld.us to act on your behalf to engage a common carrier to deliver your order to you. If you wish to ship to another state, you assume all responsibility for determining whether you may lawfully import alcoholic beverages into that state. As interstate shipping laws are constantly changing, you may want to check with the appropriate agency in your state or county. See here for more. Our acknowledgment of an order is not a guarantee that we will ultimately be able to ship wine to you. If we are unable to ship wine to the state you request, we will notify you before processing your order to determine whether you wish to proceed.

2. Extreme weather advisory: Prolonged exposure to heat and freezing temperatures can damage wine. CARRIERS DO NOT INSURE AGAINST HEAT OR COLD DAMAGE, AND WE ARE UNABLE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH DAMAGES AFTER YOUR WINE HAS SAFELY LEFT OUR STORE. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMINING WHEN AND BY WHAT METHOD YOU WISH US TO DELIVER YOUR ORDER—SO BE AWARE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS BEFORE SHIPPING AN ORDER. That being said, we do reserve the right to withhold an order if we have clear reason to believe weather conditions are severe enough to significantly endanger the safety of your wine. In such a case, we will notify you promptly and discuss alternatives. Except for deliveries on the West Coast, WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO SELECT FEDEX OVERNIGHT OR FEDEX 2DAY AS YOUR SHIPPING METHOD DURING THE WINTER OR SUMMER MONTHS, in order to reduce the likelihood of weather-related damage to your wine. In winter and summer we generally do not ship on Fridays, since carriers hold shipments over the weekends in their warehouses, where storage conditions may be far from ideal for temperature-sensitive products such as wine.

3. Will call holds: As a courtesy to local customers (greater Los Angeles area, including Ventura County), Winesoftheworld.us will hold your order in will call at our store, where it should be available for pickup within 24 to 48 hours. By selecting this option, you will be charged for the items in your shopping cart upon order confirmation. WILL CALL ORDERS MUST BE PICKED UP WITHIN 6 WEEKS OF THE ORDER DATE (ARRIVAL NOTIFICATION DATE IN THE CASE OF PRE-ARRIVAL WINES), AFTER WHICH TIME WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ASSESS STORAGE FEES OR CANCEL THE ORDER (FOR STORE CREDIT) AT OUR DISCRETION. Our liability in such cases is limited to the original transaction price, and not the then-current replacement value of the wine(s) in question. CUSTOMERS' WINE IS NOT INSURED BY US WHILE BEING STORED BY Winesoftheworld.us, SO WE CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE IF WINES BEING HELD BY US ARE DAMAGED DUE TO AN ACT OF GOD OR ANY CAUSE BEYOND THE REASONABLE CONTROL OF Winesoftheworld.us. Winesoftheworld.us is a retail business, not a storage facility, and our space constraints limit our ability to hold wines for customers without adversely affecting our retail operations. Therefore, we appreciate your adherence to our strict storage policies. We can provide you with referrals to several reputable, local wine storage facilities if you require their services.

4. Weather-related holds: As a courtesy to non-local customers (outside of greater Los Angeles area, including Ventura County), if weather conditions are unfavorable for the safe transport of your wine at the time of order, you may elect to have us hold your order by contacting us by phone (818)640-5471 or by e-mail (info@winesoftheworld.us). You will be charged for the items in your shopping cart upon order confirmation. WE WILL NOT HOLD WINES FOR THE SAKE OF CONVENIENCE, BUT ONLY FOR EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS. "HOLD" WINES MUST BE SHIPPED WITHIN 4 MONTHS OF THE ORDER DATE (ARRIVAL NOTIFICATION DATE IN THE CASE OF PRE-ARRIVAL WINES), AFTER WHICH TIME WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ASSESS STORAGE FEES OR CANCEL THE ORDER (FOR STORE CREDIT) AT OUR DISCRETION. Our liability in such cases is limited to the original transaction price, and not the then-current replacement value of the wine(s) in question. CUSTOMERS' WINE IS NOT INSURED BY US WHILE BEING STORED BY Winesoftheworld.us, SO WE CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE IF WINES BEING HELD BY US ARE DAMAGED DUE TO AN ACT OF GOD OR ANY CAUSE BEYOND THE REASONABLE CONTROL OF Winesoftheworld.us. Winesoftheworld.us is a retail business, not a storage facility, and our space constraints limit our ability to hold wines for customers without adversely affecting our retail operations. Therefore, we appreciate your adherence to our strict storage policies. We can provide you with referrals to several reputable, local wine storage facilities if you require their services.

5. Shipping spirits: DISTILLED SPIRITS MAY ONLY BE SHIPPED TO ADDRESSES WITHIN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. Be advised that accurate shipping rates for orders including spirits can only be provided at time of shipping. Certain odd-shaped spirits bottles cannot be safely packed, in which case we will contact you for further instructions.

6. Shipping rates: Our shipping rates include the cost of insulated foam shipping containers. ESTIMATED SHIPPING RATES ARE PROVIDED AT CHECKOUT BASED ON SHIPPING ADDRESS, SHIPPING METHOD, AND NUMBER OF BOTTLES (IN STOCK) IN YOUR ORDER. Alternatively, you may preview estimated shipping rates by viewing our Shipping Estimator. Actual shipping charges are determined at the time of shipment, and may differ from estimated shipping rates due to factors not taken into account by our automated shipping estimator. For example, due to their heavier weight, sparkling wines (and, increasingly, some non-sparkling wines which come in heavier bottles) are charged an additional $1.00 per bottle above the estimates provided. Our shipping estimator is not set up to recognize the difference between 375ml and 750ml bottles, but typically the actual rates incurred for 375ml bottles are less than those for 750ml bottles, and we will pass along these savings to you. Also, shipping charges for unusual bottle sizes cannot be accurately estimated in advance. ACTUAL SHIPPING CHARGES ARE INCLUDED IN THE ORDER CONFIRMATION EMAIL WE SEND TO YOU UPON SHIPMENT.

7. Insurance: Insurance coverage (optional) is available for 0.75% of the total purchase price of your order, and covers any loss due to breakage or theft that may occur while your order is in the possession of a common carrier. It does not cover damage resulting from extreme hot or cold temperatures during transit. While shipping insurance is optional, declining coverage releases Winesoftheworld.us of all liability associated with breakage or loss that may occur to your order during shipment. If you have opted for insurance coverage and you receive damaged merchandise, you must notify Winesoftheworld.us of any broken or damaged bottles within two days of delivery so that we may process your claim with the carrier.

8. Special shipping requests: Any special shipping requests—including rush orders, international deliveries, requests to ship original wood cases, etc.—should be made by phone (preferred), email, or through the "Order Notes/Special Instructions" field in the Shipping Details page (step 1) of the online checkout process.

9. Original wood cases: We will ship the original wood case (if applicable) upon your special request. Please note this in the "Order Notes/Special Instructions" field in the Shipping Details page (step 1) of the online checkout process.