Sep
27

Fusion Classic Wine Glass Leads to “Con” Fusion

By Posted on Sep 27 2011 | By

Elegant European Stemware Comes With Impressive Guarantee…But

Around this wine writer’s house, wine glasses have a limited life span.  High quality glasses enhance the beauty and flavor of wine but they’re more delicate than a bride’s emotions on her wedding day.  Both must be treated tenderly or they’ll get hurt.

But a quality vessel is so important to enhancing the wine drinking experience one should be willing to buy and set aside a few special glasses.  Think it doesn’t make a difference?  Try sipping your next fine wine out of two different vessels; a crystal glass and a fruit juice glass.  Then draw your own conclusion.  Like all products, quality makes a difference.

And so it was that for several months I eyed an ad in the Wine Enthusiast catalog for a glass called the Fusion Classic.  It came in six different models depending on the type of wine you intended to use it for.  I elected to purchase the Chardonnay glass because I think it’s useful as an all-purpose vessel…whites and reds look and taste great in it.  I paid $49.95 for four, including free shipping.

Equally important, the glass was touted as break-resistant.  Specifically, the ad read:  “European crystal is fused with super-strong magnesium to form a durable, lightweight, graceful wine glass.  Science meets sophistication, and the result is shatterproof.”   Hmmmm.

But I couldn’t lose with the purchase since the stemware came with a 10-year replacement policy. Ten years.  Break a Fusion glass and get a replacement at no cost.  So I placed my order and waited eagerly for the UPS truck to come lumbering up my driveway.

Fast forward two months after my original purchase.  I have now broken four of the glasses.  I cannot say they are the original four since I was being sent replacements almost as fast as I was breaking them.  And how did they meet their demise?

  • Glass #1 was pulled from my overhead glass rack with a piece missing.  I have no idea how it broke.
  • Number #2 was tipped over as I reached for a piece of cheese on our deck dining table.  It was no violent lunge. My hand simply grazed the glass, it tipped over and I was back on the phone talking with my growing number of friends at Wine Enthusiast.
  • Glass #3 was being withdrawn from the dishwasher when an adjoining plate bumped it.  Krack!
  • The fourth casualty occurred as I gently hand washed the inside of the victim with a sponge.  Pop!  “Hello, customer service?”

The most amazing thing about this experience is the folks at Wine Enthusiast could not have been more helpful and responsive in sending me a replacement glass.  No questions.  No challenges. No arguments.  Simply, “Is the mailing address the same as the original order?”

At the moment, I am waiting for the arrival of my fourth replacement.  I hope it comes quickly.  I’d love to have all four of the glasses in my house at one time.

Before I posted this blog, I contacted Wine Enthusiast and advised them I was going to write on my experience.  Here’s the response I received back the same day:

Dear Mr. Hagarty, 

We apologize that you are not happy with your Fusion glasses.  We rarely hear of so much breakage from one customer, and more often than not we hear how happy customers are with these glasses.  Although the glasses are break resistant, they ARE still glass, so they still must be handled with care indicative of glass, not polycarbonate glasses.  These glasses are covered under warranty, so if you would like replacements to be sent to you please feel free to call 800 648 6058 and someone will be happy to assist you. 

Thank you,

/s/ a customer service manager

Impressive, eh?  I certainly will continue to do business with the firm in the future.

But, if we happen to meet in the year 2021, ask me how many Fusion glasses I have gone through.  By my rough calculation I could be on my 160th replacement by then.  Yet again, my treatment of the stemware is getting gentler each day. 

How It All Began

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