I hope you don't mind, I emailed
president@vinotemp.com and sent this link as well as Lexxxus's posts. The email hasn't bounced back ... so fingers crossed.
This sort of customer service problem SHOULD be a major concern to them and it is quite possible that the higher ups don't realize that they have somebody working for them in customer service who would be better placed in a position not requiring contact with human beings ... or animals for that matter, with the possible exception of rabid badgers.
Hearing a story like this STRONGLY impacts my willingness to buy Vinotemp products, and I am planning to buy 2 coolers in the next few months, a large one for wine and smaller one for cigars.
I can understand companies not wanting to support gray market merchandise, and we have seen this problem many times in the photographic equipment arena, where gray market imports are not supported by the manufacturer (USA warranty v.s. International warranty), but this is spelled out by the companies selling gray merchandise and there are no surprises, you are given a warranty from a third party. Were you told that the Vinotemp you bought has no manufacturers warranty? Why would you think it would not .. you bought the unit from a retailer who got it from the distributor.
But for crying out loud .... 2 screws .. come on. Losing {multiple} customers like this for the sake of a few dollars (screws plus shipping) makes zero sense in this economic climate.