Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

If you have a question you do not see answered on this page, feel free to contact us by e-mail at support2006 (at) wineq.com or by telephone at 1-800-704-9774. Our normal business hours are 9am to 6pm Pacific Time, Monday through Saturday.

Queue

How does my queue work?

Your queue is where you create and customize a wish-list of wines that you want delivered, in essence creating your very own personal wine club. When you see a wine you would like to try, click "add to queue" and you will see a pop-up window that asks you whether to add this wine to the top of your queue (i.e., to be sent first) or to the bottom of your queue.

Once you have added a few wines to your queue, visit the Queue page, where you can drag & drop your wines to place them in the specific order you wish to receive them. To specify the quantity (number of bottles per shipment) and interval (amount of time between shipments) of shipments from your queue, click on the "Change Settings" button on the right Queue Settings sidebar on the Queue page.

What role do my default settings play for queued shipments?

Each time we send an order from your queue, we use your default settings to determine the date and quantity of your next queued order.

If you wish to change the settings (quantity, date) for your next order without changing your default settings, you may do so by adjusting the quantity and date shown for your next order at the top of your queue.

How do I change the quantity or shipping date for the next order in my queue?

Once you have added several wines to your queue, you can change the date and quantity of your next order by changing the values in the drop-down boxes at the top of your queue.

Does changing the quantity or shipping date for the next order in my queue affect future shipments as well?

No, it only affects the quantity and shipping date for your next order — the order at the top of your queue. To change the default settings for all your future shipments, click the "Change Settings" button at the bottom of the "Your Queue Settings" sidebar on the right side of the Queue page.

When does an order in my queue become unavailable for further changes?

A queued order becomes unavailable for further changes at midnight one full business day before it is to be shipped, and will ship as scheduled. For example, if your queued order is scheduled to ship on Thursday, then your order will become unavailable for further changes one minute after 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday.

How does the "minimum shipment" setting work?

The "minimum shipment" setting prevents you from being sent queued orders under $35, which would result in your order incurring a $5 shipping supplement.

If you check the "minimum shipping" option on your Queue Settings page, then we will combine your queued orders into shipments of no less than $35 per order, ensuring that you are not billed a shipping supplement for any queued orders.

Essentially, if your order is less than $35, then we will add to your order the next bottle from your queue, until your total order for that shipment is at least $35.

If your queued order is less than $35 and there are no additional bottles in your queue to add to the shipment, then we will e-mail you and wait for you to add more wines to your queue before we send you any more queued shipments.

If you uncheck the "minimum shipping" option on your queue settings page, then we will send you the number of bottles you have specified in each queued shipment, irrespective of price. This may cause you to pay a $5 shipping supplement for any orders under $35. In addition, if fewer bottles remain in your queue than you have asked us to send in each shipment, we will proceed with sending you the remaining bottles in your queue.

What happens if a wine in my queue becomes unavailable?

If a wine in your queue is unavailable when we are sending your shipment, then we will send you the next item from your queue instead of the item that is out of stock. We will also notify you by e-mail when this happens.

Membership

Do I have to pay to become a member?

Membership is absolutely free for the first 3 months, after which membership is only $4.95 per month. This membership fee entitles you to unlimited free shipping on orders of $35 or more, as well as access to WineQ Clubs.

What are the benefits of paid membership?

Paid membership entitles you to receive unlimited FREE ground shipping on orders of $35 or more.

In addition, we offer our members two-to-three-day shipping at the reduced rate of $5 per order, and overnight shipping at the reduced rate of $10 per order. How cool is that!? Please note that we reserve the right to adjust our prices for expedited shipping in the future, if necessary.

Orders under $35 incur an additional $5 shipping supplement, to help us cover our shipping costs.

Is my membership fee a recurring fee? How do I turn it off?

Yes, your membership fee is a recurring fee, billed each month, to keep your membership active and make it easier to use your queue on a regular basis.

You can turn off this recurring fee at any time through the Your Account page. When you do so, your member benefits will remain until the end of your current membership period, at which time your membership will expire and you will no longer be able to order wines.

Feel free to contact us with any questions or for assistance.

Shipping

How much do you charge for shipping?

For orders of $35 or more, our shipping rates are as follows:

Ground FREE
2 to 3 day $5.00
Overnight $10.00

For orders under $35, we add a $5 shipping supplement to the above prices, to help us cover our own shipping costs.

Note: Our expedited (2-to-3 day and overnight) shipping charges are being offered on an experimental basis; we reserve the right to change these prices as necessary.

Who ships my wines to me when I place an order?

Your wines are shipped to you directly by our partner wineries.

Our partner wineries use a Napa Valley fulfillment house to cellar their wines and ship orders for our members, allowing you to combine bottles from different wineries into the same shipment.

Your order will be packaged and shipped by our partner fulfillment house — and will arrive with a green WineQ label on the box, so you can easily recognize your WineQ order when it arrives.

What states can you ship to?

This varies somewhat depending on the winery, since our wineries send their wine to you directly. The states that most of our partner wineries ship to include: AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, HI, MN, MO, NC, NE, NH, NM, NY, OH, OR, SC, TX, VA, WA, WI, WY.

Why can't you ship to my state?

Often if a winery cannot ship to your state, it is because of legal restrictions in your state. You can learn much more about this topic at Free the Grapes!, an organization dedicated to fighting excessive legal prohibitions against the direct shipment of fine wines.

What shipping carriers do you use?

All orders placed on our web site are shipped using either FedEx or UPS.

What happens if I'm unavailable to sign for a package when it arrives?

All wine shipments require an adult (21+) signature upon delivery of your package. Your shipping carrier will normally attempt to deliver a package 3 times before determining that your package is undeliverable.

If your package is returned to the winery as undeliverable, then we will be charged a return shipping fee — and we will pass along that fee to you by charging your credit card for the relevant amount.

You can reduce the chances of this happening by providing a shipping address where an adult signature is available during weekday deliveries. For example, it is typically better to provide a business (rather than residential) address as your shipping address. If your company does not allow you to accept personal deliveries, you may need to ship your wines to a friend or relative who can easily receive, and sign for, weekday deliveries on your behalf.

Why does my order include a $5.00 "shipping supplement" if the order is less than $35?

We add this supplement to help us cover our own shipping costs on small orders. Unlike some retailers, we do not inflate the costs of our wines in order to provide free shipping. The wines on our web site are listed for sale at the same price that our partner wineries list them on their own web sites.

Product Selection

How often do you add new wineries?

We add new wineries to our database on an ongoing basis. Generally, we strive to add at least two new wineries each month.

How do you choose new wineries for inclusion?

We look for small family wineries with a reputation for producing high-quality wines, and the desire to gain greater exposure to wine drinkers around the country. Currently we are working only with wineries in northern California. Feel free to contact us if you know a winery you would like to see featured on our service.

Do you feature wineries from outside California?

Not yet. Presently all of our partner wineries are located in northern California, where they can share a common storage facility and fulfillment house. We do this so you can combine wines from different wineries into the same shipment.

Produce Reviews and Ratings

How do I provide a rating or review for a wine I have tried?

On the page for that wine, click the orange "Review This Wine!" button. You will then be given the opportunity to rate the wine on a five-point scale (with half-point increments). At the same time, you can (optionally) write a review of this wine and provide a title for your review.

What are your five-star ratings based upon?

The overall ratings shown for our wines are based upon the ratings we receive from our members, using a common statistical method very similar to the one used at the Internet Movie Database.