Winemakers Guild

This guy is a worm! He stole my money and ordered nothing. Letters and emails all unanswered. I filed a complaint with attorney generals office but I don't expect anything to happen. What a scumbag! 12-3-11 more

This guy should be arrested for impersonating a business owner. I paid for my wine a year ago next month with a gift certificate for part of it and cash for the balance. After dozens of phone calls, with the answering machine intentionally full, I stopped by several times before finding the store opened. When I confronted the owner, he had no record of my order, had no idea who I was and was not at all concerned about my purchase. He promised he would call when my juice arrived, 4 months ago. I more

I would give less stars if it would let me. I made an order for a wine makers kit and paid in full on June 30. After visiting the store 6 times or more and asking the assistant to leave messages to have him call me, and calling day after day- I got nothing. I finally called the fraud unit of my bank tha contested the charges. That's a good spot for a wine shop. Someone should open one. more

We ordered two kits on April 17, 2011. Mike said it would be 2 weeks and he would call. He never did. The phone is never answered and he does not respond to email. I call nearly every day just to get the voice mail. We stopped by on July 9 and found him there. He offered a refund but we stupidly said we would like to make the wine. An appointment was made for July 12 but he called and cancelled it. That was the last contact. He must be out of business and it looks like we have been ripped off. more

Ordered 2 batches of wine in June. The one time I've been able to get Mike on the phone he said he was too busy to talk and would call back when the grapes were in. He's never called and no one has answered the business phone for over a week. His web site account looks like it has been suspended. I have very little hope I'll ever see wine or my money. more

Wow I have never seen such a poorly ran business. The shop is ok but the manager... not a very pleasant person. Thought we're here for the wine and not the person operating the business. Well, lots of money later and still no wine. This shop will be closed before long unless they find new people to run it! My group of buddies are passing the word on this one. Stay away, far far away. more

If you read these reviews and still go here you deserve what you get. Too bad I didn't read these first!!!! more

We traveled from Michigan to do this winemaking experience. Set up the appt. to make the wine. Drove down 4 hours (had something else to do in Cincinnatti so didn't go there just for the wine) and they didn't have the kit (so much for making an appt.) so missed out on that part of the experience. They said we could come back or they could put the mix together. We opted for that. We then set up an appt to bottle. That worked out. The guy working (Nick or Vince I think) was pleasant and we had fun bottling the wine. We gave them the label design file. They said they would have to ship the labels to us. I then told him I had read reviews where people did not get their labels for the bottles. He promised that we would get them and he didn't know what they were talking about. So we left.... that was in April. Guess what.. still No Labels!!! I have called 8-10 times mostly to a voice mail recording that won't take messages (wonder why?) and the 1 time I did get the owner, Mike, he is a BS artist to the hilt. Complained that he has a real job now and is running behind with the wine place and he will send them out asap...(crickets chirping). We had a special occasion that we were going to use the wine for, he said he would make sure I got the labels, that event was last week! No Labels. Hope he is better at his other job than this one because if not he maybe won't even have this one left to fall back on. It is a shame. This place has such potential. It just needs a non-moron to run it. BTW, I am disputing the charge to my credit card. He is not delivering the product we paid for. more

I went in with really high hopes, especially because a good friend was visiting and we both love wine. However, $180 and months later, I have nothing to show for the time and money but a huge headache. more

This has such great potential but when you walk into this place and are greeted by a guy who hates the world, it really turns you off. I live very close to this place and we make wine at home. We always go to either Winemaker Shop in Clintonville or Gentiles in Grandview over this one for supplies. Cheer up man - you are drinking wine on the job! more

I was very excited for this new experience, however, upon entering the establishment I felt otherwise. The manager was not very friendly and seemed irritated and angry. I tried different wines and then went back weeks later to bottle. I emailed my wine label, as instructed, 2.5 weeks before I went in to bottle. The manager approached me stating he did not have the labels ready and he would mail them to my home the following morning. I never did receive the labels. I was very annoyed with the way the establishment was run and the poor quality of customer service. Management needs to step it up if they want repeat customers coming back for more!!!! I have told everyone I know to find a different venue for wine making, this one is not worth your time! more

I'm getting married in a few weeks and my fiancee's parents got us a gift certificate to make wine for our wedding. I wasn't sure about the idea, but it turned out to be really neat!!! A few months ago, we had a fun day tasting a bunch of stuff, and started a red wine and a white wine, cause we couldn't decide which one to make. Went back to bottle it this past weekend, and the whole process was pretty cool. We put our engagement photo on the labels with the date of our wedding. I'm excited to give out favors that are so personal and something we made ourselves together! more

Treasures tucked in all over the shop. Anxious to go back and learn more about winemaking. Great place to find unique gifts. Pros: wine tasting!!!!!! Cons: too much to learn in one visit more

I just finished bottling my Christmas wine. What a fun experience. I found the staff friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful. I can't wait to go back and order another kit for my wine cellar. I would recommend this store to all my friends. It truly looks like a winery in the middle of a city. What a hoot! Pros: great wine, good prices more

Just bottled my wine for my Christmas gifts, and I can't wait to give it to all of my family and friends this week! A friend invited me for a wine tasting event a couple months ago, and after finding several wines I really liked, I ended up starting a batch. The staff was fun and friendly and took the time to explain the whole process. I got to participate in all the steps along the way, and now I feel like a real winemaker, plus I have 30 bottles of very unique, personal gifts for Christmas! Pros: Fun & unique experience more

Avoid. While the concept is brilliant and fun, the experience is ruined by the current owner and manager. In a nutshell, the Winemaker's Guild offers the chance for you to become your own winemaker. You can select the type of wine you want to make, become as involved as you want to be in the process and, in theory, create your own label. Under the previous owner, Claude, the Guild was a little quirky and odd, but you couldn't help but like the guy. He told great stories, made the process exciting and truelly cared about the business. The only negative in the Claude-era was his second hand man who often ran the store in his absence. Unfortunately, Claude sold the business to him when he was called up for reserve duty in the military. The new owner's arrogance is staggering. Often, he won't even acknowledge that you walked into the store-- sometimes for five or ten minutes while he is surfing the internet fully aware that you are standing there. He has zero follow-through skills, so don't expect anything to get done even after several trips to the store. One day, I watched him conduct a transaction where he had dropped the ball in getting a wine label done on a batch of wine needed for a wedding. The customer had been in several times over the course of months for the same problem and it was clear the wine and label would not be ready for the wedding. At one point, he turned to me and winked with an expression on his face like, ""can you believe these people?"" I knew I wouldn't be coming back, but I had no choice but to keep coming in as the store had been transferred to his ownership during the middle of my third batch of wine. While I had bad experiences with him in the past, I kept coming back because I liked Claude and he took care of me. For my final bottling, he didn't have the right bottles ready and ordered, he hadn't printed my label and he tried to charge me for the lable I provided to him and had paid for previously. I will never go back to this store. Pros: The concept is great-- competition, anyone? Cons: Everything else more

Having driven by it on several occasions, I thought I would stop in early last week. I was not at all impressed. It felt very dark. The manager literally yelled at the help in front of those of us tasting. (Very awkward) The white wines (which are to be served cold, come on now!) were warm. The establishment had a general lack of class due to these issues, perhaps exacerbated even moreso by the manager asking for more money after we had paid the 25 cents per taste which is posted at the door. (Really? Do you want my future business or not? You can?t just ask for more money because your business is slow.) I now understand why so few of my friends have ever been to the establishment. I'll stick with Camelot, which has good business practices and a much better end-product. Wake up, Winemakers Guild. Pros: OK wine selection Cons: Angry manager; warm wines that should be cold; poorly run more