Cave Bianchi purchase warning

[MJECruising]

We went to Cave Bianchi with a NCL tour in Nice.  The tasting was good, enjoyed being in the cellar. We decided to buy 6 bottles of red wine to be shipped to the US. It appears they substitute cheaper wines when they ship. We took pictures of the wine bottles we purchased to compare to what was delivered. We got 3 cheaper red wines. 
I have reached out to them but no response. I assume they figured since we are remote, it doesn't matter to their business making money.

My advice do the wine tasting tour but don't buy from them if you are relying on them doing the shipping.

[D&N]

2 hours ago, MJECruising said:

We went to Cave Bianchi with a NCL tour in Nice.  The tasting was good, enjoyed being in the cellar. We decided to buy 6 bottles of red wine to be shipped to the US. It appears they substitute cheaper wines when they ship. We took pictures of the wine bottles we purchased to compare to what was delivered. We got 3 cheaper red wines. 
I have reached out to them but no response. I assume they figured since we are remote, it doesn't matter to their business making money.

My advice do the wine tasting tour but don't buy from them if you are relying on them doing the shipping.

You could leave reviews on Google and their Facebook page and comment on some of their Instagram posts.

[MJECruising]

I provided the review on Google, TripAdvisor, LinkedIn and their Facebook page. I will post it to more cruise critic forums. 

 

I just want to prevent other people from making the same mistake.

[edinburgher]

15 hours ago, MJECruising said:

We went to Cave Bianchi with a NCL tour in Nice

As this was an official NCL shorex, I would also consider contacting NCL, although I am unsure whether it would be the onshore  team who arrange shorex or someone at a higher level , as this is not the experience they would want for their passengers and any negative vendor feedback could impact their sales of this particular shorex..

 

 

[Hlitner]

We really enjoy Nice (and that entire region of France) and it is a shame that folks who feel it necessary to take excursions end-up at a tourist trap shop with a sour taste in their mouths.  Nice is so much better than that!  

 

I will preach about excursions, although I doubt if it will change folks that depend on the overpriced cruise ship excursions to visit various places.  Cruise ship shore excursions generate a nice profit for the cruise line, the shore excursion company (many lines use a third party contractor to operate their excursion desk) and the local tour operators who actually operate the excursion.  Unfortunately, when it comes to many of the shops and eating venues, visited on excursions, the tour company chooses places that give them a nice kick-back.  In some parts of the world, the shore excursion company might even own (or partially own) some of these places.  It is not about taking their charges to the best places, but rather to the places that pay, pay pay!

 

We live, part of the year, in a cruise port city (Puerto Vallarta) and watch the cruise line excursion walking tours (many days of the week) taking their charges into the very shops that we know to avoid!  Many of these places pay a fee to get the tour groups, and the sad thing is that there are other much better shops/boutiques within a few yards that do not get the tour groups because they will not pay to play!  "Let the buyer beware" is good advice, and even more-so with excursions.

 

Hank

[marazul]

I sort of remember seeing Caves Bianchi from when we lived in that area. It is near the Opera House in Old Nice. I never went in; we had a few other favorite wine shops. If I recall, Bianchi used to be just a wine shop. Now it seems to be in the tourist "wine tasting" business.  This is what it says on its website:

 

We offer visits to the oldest and most picturesque wine cellars in the region as well as wine tasting with commentary in several languages: French, English, Spanish, Scandinavian, Russian and Mandarin Chinese.

 

Edited October 11 by marazul

[MJECruising]

I wished someone had warned us about Cave Bianchi. This was our 1st European cruise, so we did NCL tours only. Next time we will arrange our own tours, I really wanted to go to some wineries. 

 

The cruise tours are definitely more expensive than booking local tours on your own. Tour guides always recommended places for lunch or shopping. I am sure someone was getting pay back. 

[D&N]

We're not really "cruisers". Alaska in 1998 with Princess we booked helicopter, float plane and bicycles onboard. But we didn't have the tech then to research beforehand. Panama transit January 2006, we wanted to swim in The Pacific and The Caribbean. I used The Rough Guide and other books to identify beaches and simply got off the ship at one port in each ocean/sea and found local taxis to take us to our chosen beach, wait and return.

Thankfully QM2 only has one port call at Brooklyn, where we are forced to get off and amuse ourselves for a few hours until we can re-board.

 

However the only reason I can see for booking a cruise company tour would be where there is any risk of missing departure. There is so much information available online these days that it's easier to do it yourself and know exactly what you're getting.

I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather visit places by proxy in YouTube videos than actually waste my time in travelling to them. The only thing against that is I can't taste the food and wine onscreen. 😃

 

Knowing a bit about the wines we drink, I'd buy from hypermarkets. It's much cheaper than specialist vintners. But if I simply want to wander around an interesting wine shop, to me by far the best in the region is Caves Caprioglio, 16 rue Préfecture, Nice.

[marazul]

3 hours ago, D&N said:

Caves Caprioglio, 16 rue Préfecture, Nice

That was our go to Cave! I loved how you could refill your own wine bottles from taps in the back of the store. Really good everyday wines for practically nothing. That was our Sunday morning routine followed by socca at the market. 

[Vineyard View]

I will write that Wine shop name down for our visit next April. 
 

I’m thinking about what occurred with  OP, if I didn’t get satisfaction with various efforts to resolve this, at the very least I would calculate the difference between what the cheaper wines would have cost and what I ordered, and I would dispute the  difference with my credit card company. They will contact the business on your behalf. You have nothing to loose with that approach. 
 

I am sorry that happened to you. We are also DIY travelers whenever possible…..for a lot of reasons. In the future, you can often find private tours here on Cruise Critic, as well as in forums on TripAdvisor, to name a couple. 

[onyx007]

Did you use your credit card ? Because you might dispute the sale with them as well and get your money back !

[MJECruising]

The purchase was made in June and the delivery was made in September, so too late to dispute the charge. 

I will reach out to NCL customer service to see if they can help.

 

At this point, I just want to warn people. 

 

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. 

[MJECruising]

Follow-up news:

 

We heard back from the winery on October 17th, they realized that there was a mistake made in the shipment. We just got the right 3 bottles on 11/25.

Not sure if it was the emails I sent or all the bad reviews on different sites but I'm just glad to get the wines we ordered.

[edinburgher]

21 hours ago, MJECruising said:

Not sure if it was the emails I sent or all the bad reviews on different sites but I'm just glad to get the wines we ordered

Hmmm You most likely will never know the true reason, but well done as your efforts have been rewarded.Happy Days.

 

By the way, what were you asked to do with the initial inferior bottles you received?

[MJECruising]

3 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Hmmm You most likely will never know the true reason, but well done as your efforts have been rewarded.Happy Days.

 

By the way, what were you asked to do with the initial inferior bottles you received?

I email them after the wine was delivered and asked about the other 3 bottles. I'm waiting for a response. I have no problem returning the 3 bottles as long as they pay for shipping.