Charlie Palmer Pigs & Pinot – Customer Service EPIC FAIL
Charlie Palmer’s annual Pigs & Pinot event is a well regarded and, if this year is any indication, well attended event. Which is why it is both surprising and completely unacceptable to receive the following email:
Dear Candace,
We are very sad to bring this news to you today. Demand for Pigs & Pinot this year was incredibly high, so high in fact, that our technology server was not equipped to handle the volume of ticket purchases made on the website yesterday at 12PM. This resulted in six times the amount of tickets allocated for online purchases to actually process prior to the system showing ‘sold out’. Furthermore, the system failed to process credit card transactions because of this overload and consequently you were not charged for your tickets.
We regretfully inform you that your ticket purchase was processed after all of the Pigs & Pinot tickets were sold out. We’ve racked our brains on how to accommodate all of the extra ticket holders, but unfortunately there just isn’t enough event space to accommodate everyone this year. What this means is that we have to cancel your order for Pigs and Pinot 2010. Due to the processing error, your credit card was not charged, so no charges will appear on your credit card statement.
We understand what a disappointment this is and would like to offer you the first option to purchase two tickets for Pigs & Pinot 2011 when they become available later this year.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this may have caused (we’re just as sad and disheartened as you are, trust us) and are available to take any questions or comments by phone at 707-431-2800.
There has been such an outpouring of support for Pigs & Pinot this year which we are incredibly grateful for as we continue our efforts to raise valuable funds for Share Our Strength, while highlighting exceptional local Sonoma County wine producers.
Regretfully,
The Pigs & Pinot team
My wife purchased tickets at the stroke of noon and received confirmation no less than a minute after the tix went on sale. We find it hard to believe we were somewhere in the back of the pack given the timing.
More likely is that they had no way of discerning who attempted to purchase what when. Technical difficulties tend to come in bunches. Ticket assignment was, apparently, completely arbitrary.
Moreover, the offer to purchase tickets for next year has to be one of the worst customer service moves they could have taken given the circumstances. This makes no one happy, is completely crass (locking in lost revenue a year in advance) and the math doesn’t even add up. If you have 6 times more demand than tickets this year, how can you possibly offer an early sale to everyone who was passed over? Silly and false.
I for one won’t be taking Charlie up on the offer.
A superior solution would be to simply add a scaled down tasting event to the schedule to accommodate the folks who were arbitrarily excluded through no fault of their own.
In a down economy, to experience demand like this is a terrific honor. You should do everything in your power to nurture it.
Instead, it’s more of the same from an industry that is utterly tone deaf when faced with success. The answer is not to enhance exclusivity, it is to do everything possible to be inclusive.
You won’t be getting a second chance with the majority of these folks, and this year’s success will likely not be replicated due to this abysmal customer service.
As an industry we can do better. Much better.
9 Comments → “Charlie Palmer Pigs & Pinot – Customer Service EPIC FAIL”
Hey, I was standing in the Hotel lobby at Noon trying to by my tickets, and was told “Sorry, No Tickets…
I also received this email and when I got a response, they only offered me a $100 credit to stay at the hotels, as if that were to make everything okay. Really horrible way to run an event let alone a ticketing process.
I found your blog a few weeks ago, check it everyday hoping for a new post (love the uber wine reviews.) It’s sad that the first new post since I’ve been reading has to be about Pigs & Pinot.
My wife stressed and struggled and scored tickets for the event much like your wife did. We then also booked accommodations for the Zen Suite at The Gaige House in Glen Ellen for that weekend. The weekend of the event is our anniversary and we were going to treat ourselves. Sadly we also received the same email you did. I’m upset but also somewhat relieved that they won’t be getting our money this year or next.
Their way of making it up to people by allowing pre-purchase for next year seemed classless. The event was overpriced to begin with ($270 a couple for Friday only to taste wine and have some hors d’ oeuvres for 3hrs.) Judging by the popularity it probably would have been filled with Top Chef fanatics and not true oenophiles and food lovers (for the record I like watching Top Chef too).
We will keep our reservation at the Gaige House (highly recommended by the way) and instead spend that $270 on wine from our fav wineries in the area which we will re-visit as well as some great meals at Fig Cafe, Glen Ellen Inn and Saffron. I think we will avoid downtown Healdsburg on this trip.
Oh well, at least we will be attending ZAP tasting…thank you http://wblakegray.blogspot.com/
Love the blog, can’t wait for the next educational and entertaining uber wine review.
Wow! That is the biggest crock of shit I have heard in awhile. What they should do is get all the comp tickets given and pass them on to the people who are outside the stone wall of the exclusive. Aren’t events like this supposed to increase the awareness of the consumer. It is sad when the exclusive get and the common doesn’t even have a chance. It would be an interesting survey of attendees to find out where they got “their” tickets? Sorry for the heart breaker. certainly won’t be inviting Charlie to the next OMW!
I’m thinking a “Pinot & Pigs” Potluck at my winery a block away from the Dry Creek Kitchen, would be in order. We have a large parking lot, where we could BBQ right out front outside as necessary, and I have tenting, pool table, large kitchen, tables, chairs etc to seat 50+ …
but will you be serving bacon ice cream?
No Pinot here, but if this sort of thing is so popular we may have to consider a Goats and Grenache event…
mmmmmmm…..bacon ice cream
It very well could have sold out in under a minute. Top chef winner Stephanie izard 200 person wandering dinners sell out in 30-45 seconds, and the sell time is not predetermined like p&p but announced randomly over twitter.