Avalon Wine Customer Service
Shipping policies, order tracking, returns and more
Since 1989, Avalon has provided great Oregon and Washington wines and gourmet foods to the small college town of Corvallis, Oregon. We entered cyberspace in 1997.
Our store is on the ground floor of the historic Corvallis Arms building in Corvallis, Oregon. At right is a pcture of the Corvallis Arms' "coat of arms".
Our small staff has a passion for Northwest wines, and we're dedicated to providing you the best possible customer service. We invite you to stop by our store if you are in the area.
We strive to provide the best possible service to you, our valued customers. And the best selection of Northwest wine!
- Jean Yates, Avalon owner
Shipping Methods - Definitions and Policies:
We ship wine and gourmet foods from very small producers.
A delay of 7-14 days before we ship to you is not unusual.
If you have a deadline by which you need the wine delivered, please let us know and we will make every effort to meet it.
We ship to states east of the Mississippi on Mondays and Tuesdays only (unless you specify two day or overnight shipping), so that a packages sent 3 day air will arrive before the weekend. We want to avoid the package sitting in a non-temperature controlled warehouse or truck over the weekend, when temperature might damage the wine.
Definitions - Shipping Methods:
3 Day Air - Fed Ex or UPS
3 business days after date of shipping if order received by 10 AM Pacific time and item is in stock
Continental US only
No weekend delivery, no P.O. Boxes or APO/FPO
2 Day Air - Fed Ex or UPS
2 Business Days after date of shipping if order received by 10 AM Pacific time and all items are in stock (see "calculating shipping")
Continental US only
No weekend delivery, no P.O. Boxes or APO/FPO
Overnight
1 Business Day after date of shipment if order received by 10 AM Pacific time and all items are in stock (see "calculating shipping")
Continental US only
No weekend delivery, no P.O. Boxes or APO/FPO
Ground
3 to 7 Business Days after shipment if all items are in stock (see "calculating shipping").
Continental US only. Items may be shipped by a variety of carriers, no PO Box or APO addresses.
If you have us ship wine to you via ground service, you are responsible for damage or loss - we will not replace the wine or refund your money.
10% Discount on Full Case Wine Orders:
We give a 10% discount for orders of any 12 or more bottles of wine purchased on the same day. Just follow the directions in the shopping cart to apply the discount. The wines do not have to be the same.
If you forget to apply the discount, we'll do it for you.
Temperature Considerations:
Wine will freeze in the winter if shipped via ground, the corks pop out and the wine is lost. Even though wine contains alcohol, at low temperatures, the water in the wine separates from the alcohol, freezes into a sort of ice plug, and pushes the cork out, since ice takes up more room than water. They use the same process to remove the temporary corks from Champagne bottles during the making of sparkling wines - freeze the neck of the bottle, the water forms an ice plug, and voilla! The cork comes out.
In the summer, wine will cook in the heat, and the wine will ooze out of the cork and drool down the bottle. The wine will not taste as good as it did before heating, and it will not age well at all. The temperature in the back of a UPS truck can approach 150 degrees in the summer, on a super hot day.
We will cellar your purchases for up to ten weeks at no charge if the weather is not suitable for the shipping of wine.
If you order ground shipping for wine, we will NOT replace it if damaged or off-flavor.
Order Tracking:
When we ship your order a shipping confirmation email is sent to your email address. Your Fed Ex tracking number and links to track your package are included.
If tracking info does not come to you, give us a call and we'll track your package for you.
Link to FedEx tracking: http://www.fedex.com/us/
Security and Privacy:
Our site is tested and certified daily to pass the FBI/SANS Internet Security Test. The "live" HACKER SAFE mark appears only when a web site's security meets the highest security scanning standards of the U.S. government, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and JCB.
HACKER SAFE sites help protect you from Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud
All of your personal information is kept privately behind the wall of our secure server. In addition to our security system, we will pay the first $50 charged by your credit card company if our security is breached and your credit card number is stolen. Credit card companies only hold you liable for the first $50, and we will cover that. So your safety is secure.
Mailing List:
We do not release any client information to anyone. We do not sell or share our mailing list and/or client list with anyone. We only email our newsletter to people who sign up for it. A link to unsubscribe is located at the bottom of every email we send, and unsubscribing will place your email address in our "do not contact" list so we cannot add you back to our mailing llist by mistake. Our email list services are provided by Blue Hornet, a respected and certified email company that complies with all relevant protocols for handling emails, subscriptions, etc.
When Will I Get My Order?
If the product you ordered is in stock, we ship to you the same day you order unless weather considerations require that we wait until a Monday (so your order will not sit in a warehouse, subject to temperature fluctuations, over a weekend).
We specialize in products from very small producers and producers in far away locations. If you order a large number of different items, there may be one item out of stock that we are waiting for. We will contact you via phone and email if your order will be delayed, and you may choose to wait or cancel the order, or delete the backordered item from your order. Wines from small producers are often picked up at the winery for you after you order them, and we try to only ship wine early in the week so it does not risk heat or cold damage over a weekend.
Calculating Shipping Time:
To calculate when you will receive an item, you need to consider the availability of the items you are ordering as well as the shipping option you select. Here's the equation we use:
Longest Item Availability + Shipping Time = Total Delivery Time
For example, many items on our site are available within 24 hours for shipping. However, an order with several items will be shipped when all items are available, and some wines take 7-10 days to be available.
We will email you if any of the items you ordered are not available within a week of ordering. You may choose to amend your order at that time.
If you select Standard Shipping for U.S. shipments, your shipping time will be 3 to 7 business days, depending on where you live.
What if my order includes several items with different availabilities?
You should use the longest availability time in calculating when you will receive your order. That's because multiple-item orders are held for shipment until all items are available. (For instance, if you order three items, and two have an availability of 24 hours while one has an availability of 7 to 10 days, your order will ship in 7 to 10 days.)
Does choosing Next Day Air mean my order will arrive tomorrow?
Not usually. Remember to add in the availability time of your items. If you select Next Day Air shipping, pulling together your order may take 7-10 days. If you are concerned about preserving a delicate wine, overnight is a great option, albeit expensive. The wine will arrive on the business day following our shipping it - two business days total. This short exposure to temperature fluctuations lessens the possibility that the wine might be damaged.
Please also keep in mind that there is no weekend delivery any shipping option.
Why Won't You Ship to Me the Cheapest Way (Ground)?
Certain items cannot be shipped via UPS ground as they will not be in good shape when you receive them:
- Chocolate must be shipped overnight during the summer and 2 day air during the winter. If weather conditions are temperate across the country, we may occasionally ship chocolate via ground, at your own risk.
- Euphoria Chocolate Truffles are only shipped overnight, as they are a refrigerated product and must be kept cold - they also have a 2 week shelf life so you want to receive them with plenty of time to savor them.
Free Cellaring in Bad Weather:
Avalon will cellar your wine purchases for up to 10 weeks from date of purchase if the weather is too hot or too cold.
Just let us know in the notes field of the shopping cart, or call us at 541-752-7418, or email us at store @ avalonwine . com.
We will contact you if Fed Ex is suggesting that we wait to ship to your location due to heat or cold. We will offer the options of cellaring the wine at our store or upgrading to priority overnight service.
Wine will freeze in the winter if shipped via ground, the corks pop out and the wine is lost. Even though wine contains alcohol, at low temperatures, the water in the wine separates from the alcohol, freezes into a sort of ice plug, and pushes the cork out, since ice takes up more room than water. They use the same process to remove the temporary corks from Champagne bottles during the making of sparkling wines Ñ freeze the neck of the bottle, the water forms an ice plug, and voilla! The cork comes out.
In the summer, wine shipped via ground may heat up and ooze out of the bottle, which usually does not greatly effect an inexpensive or sweet wine, but will greatly limit the aging potential of fine wines.
Using the Shopping Cart Software:
Throughout the site, you will find "[order]" and "[checkout]" buttons.
Click on the [order] button to activate your shopping cart and add the item it refers to. Click on [checkout] to complete ordering. A series of screens will appear asking for mailing and credit card information. All this is contained within our security "secure server" system. If you have any questions about the shopping cart system, please feel free to call or email us.
Returns Policy:
Within 30 days of receipt of your shipment, you may return any item in its original unopened condition. Please note that we can process returns and refunds only for items purchased from us. Items that are returned more than 30 days after delivery, are in unsellable condition, or are missing parts will be charged a restocking fee or may not be accepted.
Ship your return to:
Avalon of Oregon
201 SW 2nd Street
Corvallis OR 97333
attn Returns Dept
WINE MUST BE RETURNED VIA 3 DAY AIR OR FASTER. Wine returned via ground may not be accepted for return and refund. If wine is damaged in return because of heat, we will not refund.
We will notify you via email of your refund once we have received and processed the returned item. You can expect a refund in the same form of payment originally used for purchase within 14 business days of our receiving your return. Please note that we can refund shipping costs only if the return is a result of our error.
If you are returning a gift you will receive a gift certificate for the value of the return. The gift certificate will be mailed to the gift recipient at the same address to which the order was shipped.
Wine Shipping Restrictions:
You must be 21 or older to order wine.
We ship wine to California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and recently, Nevada. If you don't see you state listed, email us to inquire. We keep finding changes in the laws. The legal situation keeps shifting.
If you are interested in changing your state's restrictive wine shipping laws, check out freethegrapes.org for help and information.
All alcoholic beverages are sold in Oregon and title passes to the buyer in Oregon. Avalon of Oregon makes no representation to the legal rights of anyone to ship or import wine into any state outside of Oregon. The buyer is solely responsible for shipment of alcoholic beverage products. By placing an order, the buyer authorizes Avalon of Oregon to act on the buyer's behalf to engage a common carrier to deliver the order.
Alcoholic beverages may be sold and delivered only to persons who are at least 21 years old. And in placing an order, the buyer represents to Avalon of Oregon that the buyer is at least 21 years old and the person to whom delivery will be made is at least 21 years old. When the alcoholic beverages are delivered, the person receiving the delivery will be required to show identification proving that he or she is at least 21 years old. As proof of age will be required at time of delivery, no wines will be left on porches and/or doorsteps. It is therefore required that a daytime/business address is provided for shipping of wines. This also insures the wine is not left in a non-temperature-controlled environment until you return home.
