Today we're at one of Oregon's best known wineries - Domaine Serene. This beautiful winery is located in the rolling hills of Dayton. Like most of the wineries they specialise in Pinot Noir, with a couple Syrah's and a Chardonnay. Their flagship wine is the Evenstad Reserve Pinot Noir that is consistently good every vintage - 90+ points in our books.
We also had the luxury of trying so of their Single Vineyard Pinots that were also very nice.. Unfortunately, we were not 'blown away' by their Pinot's, although the tasting environment was not ideal, it appeared that the focus of the day was the tour bus that arrived with 30 thirsty seniors. We waited far too long to be served and time between pours was VERY long. For us this is a good example of how to ruin the experience, since for us wine tasting/reviewing wine is all about the experience. Although, we especially like the 2006 Winery Hill Pinot Noir as it expressed a lovely Burgundian character and the Jerusalem Hill which was a delightfully fruity Pinot based on our winery experience were choosing not too review their wine at this time...
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ReplyDeleteI wanted to respond to this post and possibly gain some clarification. First, I am the Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Domaine Serene. I take great pride in the commitment that we have to exceptional customer service and I always welcome suggestions on how we can improve. Upon reading your post I met with my consumer sales team, and also did some research, and I simply want to make sure that we are being represented in a fair light.
ReplyDeleteThe post is dated Tuesday, July 20th. What was the actual day of your visit? I only mention this becasue we are not open on Tuesdays. As for the "tour bus that arrived with 30 thirsty seniors" ... all groups larger than 10 are seen by appointment only so that we can staff accordingly. I checked the calendar going back several weeks and we have not had a large group in quite some time. Further, none of my team remembers this particular group, and believe me, a group of 30 is big news around here.
In short, I certainly don't mind criticism and we are always looking for ways to improve our service. I just wanted to respond, gather some additional information, and, in fact, make sure that your reflections truly are about Domaine Serene.
Thanks for your post and your time.
Regards,
Allan Carter
Hello Allen,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate that you have taken the time to comment on my post. First off, I would like to address your questions. Since my blog is not actually in real-time, we did not visit your winery last week, nor do I have the exact date we visited Domaine Serene, as our stories are a conglomeration of multiple trips over the last year or so. I do not see the significance of requiring an exact date as I did not ask for any disciplinary action or point blame on an individual. However, if you want to discuss this in more detail I would be glad to discuss the specifics off line. As for the number of customers who were at your tasting room, based on my perception there were at least 30 people at that particular time. Were they all members of one party? I do not know. The importance is that the focus was directed towards them and not us.
My question to you: do you want to have resolution or an argument? Does your job include customer service? You've dissected the validity of my post and addressed each element without understanding or addressing the reason why I posted my story – I am an unhappy customer. Your response to me should have been a simple apology and an offer to resolve our dissatisfaction in any way your company sees fit. I perceive your comments as a defense, rather than an attempt to understand our discontent. I suggest you re-read my post with the mindset that I am an unhappy customer, and please take what I say as an opinion based on my perspective; stay away from sentences like "in fact, make sure that your reflections truly are about Domaine Serene", since "truth" and "fact" are subjective. What I have written is not criticism; it is a story offering perspective and perception based on our experience. I have spent many years serving customers and there are two fundamentals I follow: “the customer is always right” and “perception is everything.” Think about it.
Cultwino
I assure you there was no malice or anger in my comment, merely a request for information. I try to respond to all feedback - good and bad - and was geuninely reaching out to try and start a dialogue. I'm very sorry if you interpreted it as an attack. It was not. I'd love to discuss the matter offline so that I can better our business and our curstomer service. Again, my apologies for any miscommunication. Please do give me a call at the winery if you have time. (503) 864-4600 ext 220 - I look forward to speaking with you. - Allan
ReplyDeleteThanks allan.
ReplyDeleteI would like to continue this offline so I suggest you send me an email as I am very busy.
info@decantthis.com.
I look forward to continuing our discussion.
Cultwino