Empire Wine & Liquor — Restaurant in Town of Colonie

Okay I totally understand it’s a pandemic right now and I’ve been extremely patient with this business, but I am fed up enough to give them this review. I placed an online order Tuesday night after hours. It is supposed to be approx a 48 hour turnaround to be able to pick up an online order because of the all the orders due to COVID. okay no problem! I assumed the 48 hours wouldn’t count until Wednesday morning upon opening. Now last time I ordered about 2 weeks before this incident it was ready within 18 hours which was awesome, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting that this time. I expected by Friday morning it would likely be ready. When it wasn’t ready by Friday around 7pm I called just to check (it took about 5-6 calls until someone answered) and make sure everything was ok since it said “preparing order” since Wednesday and it was only 4 items. The woman on the phone assured me it was fine and it was just because of the high volume of orders due to COVID and that it might be ready by closing but if not then definitely by Saturday afternoon. No big deal. So Saturday around 6:00 I still hadn’t heard anything and nothing was updated online so I call again to make sure there’s no problems with the order itself. I am willing to change my order if needed. Again it takes about 7 tries until someone finally answers and she tells me there are no problems with the items themselves and that it should have been ready by now so there must have been a glitch in the system. She said it might be ready before closing but if not it will DEFINITELY be ready by opening (noon) on Sunday. Sunday at noon still nothing it still says preparing order and there’s 1 item that still needs to be filled. I give them a few hours and call around 2:30. Again, takes MULTIPLE calls until someone answers. They say the item on the order that isn’t filled is because it’s shipment isn’t coming in until Monday and it will be ready tomorrow. At this point I am fed up with being told “tomorrow “ so I ask if I can just take the last item off my order and pick it up as is. They say yes but I’ll have to call when I get there because you can’t notify them online that you’re at the pickup unless the order is complete. We get to the store at 5:30 and call for 30 minutes straight. Yes. 24 calls between my sister and I and no one answered. Yet we were in front of the store and could see workers standing around looking at their phones, smoking cigarettes outside, socializing, etc. I would have just walked in to complain and ask about it but since we’re in the middle of a pandemic and I didn’t have a mask and wasn’t about to risk my life for an order that was supposed to be brought out to my car. FINALLY a worker came up to my car and asked if I’m waiting for something and I said yes they told me to call when I got here so I could get an item taken off my order and pick up the other items. 15 mins later he comes out to my car and puts the item that apparently wasn’t supposed to come in until Monday in my car and said someone had it out on the counter all day and that they can’t find my box. 10 mins later another worker finally comes out with my box and puts it in my car. And it’s full with my entire order!!!!! It was already full and nobody had updated it online! She actually takes the time to take out the 4th item out of the box (a 6 pack of ciders) because she saw the other one already in my car. The LEAST she could have done was just leave us the extra 6 pack given all the trouble this order has caused us, especially since we were in the parking lot for a full hour. This was my sisters birthday weekend which is why we placed the order Tuesday in anticipation of having it for the weekend. Didn’t get until Sunday night. After all this trouble they offered us literally nothing- not even a small discount!! Very disappointed with...

TERRIBLE EMPLOYEES

I had an extremely negative experience trying to buy a few bottles of prestige cuvees.

Before coming into the store, I saw a Dom P2 & Krug 375ml & Krug 27 Rose online, which I was interested. I walked in & was guided to where all the champagne is. I was told by an employee the nicer, prestige cuvées is behind the counter. Which I went.

It was a younger lady at the counter (on Monday, around 8pm). I first asked the lady at the counter im interested in any Krugs they had. Her response “how do you spell that” (like wow, why and how are you working here, but understandable, maybe champagne isn’t your thing). Then proceeded to bring me the Krug GC 375ml.

For context, the Grande Cuvées are Non Vintage but they make different editions of Non Vintage with different reserve wines (that are vintages). The 375ml usually doesn’t say the edition, this was the case. She brought me one bottle (it was edition 171), I asked for all the other bottles (to see if there are different editions - which you can see via an Krug ID). Then she proceeded to give me attitude explaining Non Vintages are all the same. I explained yes, in the case of something like Moet, but Krug GC or Laurent Perrier GS, etc… has editions, even being NVs.

She literally stared at me for 10seconds as if I did know what I was talking about… like how does this place have such ignorant and arrogant workers.

You literally asked me how to spell Krug 2 mins ago, lmao. I’ve been to over 45 countries and France alone over 10 times & you haven’t. So how can you try to educate me and give me a temper and attitude when you don’t know what you are talking about. It just really hurts to see.

I ended up buying just a bottle of the Krug GC when I was planning to also get a $500 bottle of Dom P2. Which I did shortly after from another store, with more friendly employees. Picture attached. Arrogant employees lost this store 500+ in revenue.

And then upon checkout asked for my license & took it for a minute before giving it back… if im buying any bottle of alcohol over $100 im most likely not some goofy underaged college student(?). Where’s the common sense lol. Sure, this is understandable, but the arrogance and ignorance isn’t.

The wine selection in the...

No holiday spirit to be found here. During the hustle and bustle of Christmas Eve I was fortunate enough to be announced at the entry door as the official last customer of Christmas Eve at 2:59pm, December 24th for a store I have frequented for 10 years. I thanked the associate and headed on in. I made my way down one aisle and was texting my husband to confirm I was grabbing the right item when I was approached by an associate who asked if I needed anything. Being in hospitality and the head of a local branded hotel, I said no thank you as I was sure they were busy assisting other guests and wanted to get out and go home. I received a text back from my husband and proceeded to turn around and head to the wine cooler where I was approached again by the same associate who informed me that I was going the wrong way in the store and that I had had plenty of time to decide what I wanted as I had been on my phone. I asked why was I allowed in and pointed to the long line of guests still waiting to pay. He then told me he was the manager and I had to leave immediately. He blocked me from the cooler, escorted me to the door, and then physically touched me from behind by tapping his two fingers twice and hard on my right shoulder. I was already leaving and asked him not to touch me as I certainly wasn’t going to purchase anything at this point. And, this was all by 3:02pm where I’m sure multiple store cameras can confirm the entire encounter! As a local resident and hospitality leader, there are plenty of other charming wine & liquor stores in the capital region to choose from and I’ll ensure that all the guests and locals I encounter in the future are aware. My family and I will never enter the doors of this establishment ever again. Do yourselves a favor and drive the extra 5 miles to All-Star Wine and Spirits where not only is the holiday decor better, but the service is impeccable and you won’t be accosted by angry employees who do not have the temperament or are worthy to call themselves...