Doug and the Montana Department of Revenue

So, after promising to be open in early June, then June 15 and finally June 30, the Glacier Sun Winery is still not open.  Doug Wagner's work in overseeing the licensing of this new winery with the Montana Department of Revenue must not be going well.  But, this is what the Cordell's can expect from Doug.  It is the tip of the iceberg for the rocky road that lies ahead....  Too bad they are missing out on all the early summer tourist trade.  The Cordell's should have hired a professional and not an amateur who thinks he is a winery expert.  Oh well, they were warned about Doug.  Looks like Lake Missoula Cellars all over again.

1000 Pageviews and Counting

We've reach a milestone.  1000 pageviews.  We are reaching our intended audience and getting the word out on Doug Wagner.  It is too bad the owners of the Glacier Sun winery are blind to Doug's tactics and fake charm.  In due time they will see the light and Doug will be down the road.  Hopefully, they will not be poorer because of it. Thanks again to everyone who emailed their story about Doug.  C'est la vie.

The Demise of Doug's Prodigy Winery

Many of you emailed asking what happened to Doug Wagner's new Prodigy Winery.  Well, we all knew it was going to happen, and it was easy to forecast, there will not be a Prodigy anytime soon, if ever.  Doug’s main investor pulled out and, with the investment money being abruptly cut off, Doug had to resort to working for someone else.  Just like all his previous business ventures, Prodigy Winery is yet another failure for Doug.  The list now includes, Clearweather Wines, Lake Missoula Cellars, Rock Creek Winery, The Cellars and now Prodigy Winery.

Doug Wagner is the type of person that if you give him the goose that lays golden eggs, he would eat goose, if you give him the keys to the city, he would lose them before using them and if he was give the proverbial gift horse, he would not only look it in the mouth, he would neglect it and the horse would die from the lack of proper care.

However, Doug may have found his next meal ticket with the Glacier Sun Winery (formally, the Going to the Sun Winery).  While this blog about the Prodigy Winery is no longer applicable, monitoring Doug's progress (or lack thereof) at the Glacier Sun Winery still is applicable.

The forecast says, Doug and the Cordells will bump heads within the next year and Doug will be gone either by choice or not by choice.  However, as long as someone is paying Doug's bills, he will live to fight another day.

Thanks again everyone for the contributions to this blog.  Please stay in touch and keep the updates coming in.  Also, stay tuned for further development of Doug's progress at the Glacier Sun Winery.

Doug and the Health Inspector

Doug and the So how clean are the wineries run by Doug Wagner?  Here is the last report from the Missoula City-County Health Department.

Hand washing facilities not adequately supplied    

RECOMMENDED RESOLUTION: Hand washing facilities must be supplied with: warm running water; continuous flow of water for a minimum of 15 seconds; soap; a continuous towel system that provides each user with a clean towel OR a hand-drying device that provides heated air OR disposable towels in a wall-hung or protected container

Yuck!  you would think there would be a place to wash hands in a winery.  However, we are talking about Doug Wagner.....   Will the Glacier Sun Winery (formally Going to the Sun Winery) pass their inspection?

Predicting Doug’s “Management” of the Glacier Sun Winery (formally Going to the Sun Winery)

So what can customers expect from Doug Wagner’s so called “management” of the new Glacier Sun Winery (formally Going to the Sun Winery) in the Kalispell, MT?  While one cannot predict the future, looking at the past may be the best indicator.  As discussed in previous posts to this blog, Doug has owned and has provided his guidance to several businesses including Lake Missoula Cellars, ClearWeather Wines, The Cellars, and Rock Creek Winery, all which are no longer in business.  This doesn’t count Doug’s so far failed attempt to start a new winery called Prodigy Wines.  Doug’s personality and lack of business skills were the primary cause of the failures.  So, here is the forecast for the next year at the Glacier Sun Winery:

1)  Doug is not willing to take responsibility.  If anything goes wrong, or if Doug makes a bad decision, he will blame everyone other than himself.  For example, he was quick to blame the demise of his businesses on the economy when in fact, Doug and his wife Ramona drove their customers away.   Constantly raising prices, a dirty facility, saying inappropriate things, irritating customers and poor quality of wine caused the customers to not return.   Other wineries in the area, including Lolo Peak Winery, Hidden Legend Winery, Ten Spoon Winery, Mission Mountain Winery and Flathead Lake Winery all remained open and several others have started up during the same timeframe.

2)  Doug will continue to be lazy.  As with his last business, Doug would spend hours surfing the internet and avoiding key management duties like keeping the financial records up to date or janitorial duties like keeping the winery, tasting room and equipment clean.  For example, he has yet to file his 2010 tax returns on his previous business.  His financial records on those businesses are probably a mess.  Doug’s wine labels are full of misspellings and other errors.  Even if you buy him a dictionary, he would be too lazy to use it assuming he doesn’t lose it first.

3)  Doug will always have poor business skills.  He will still keep poor records, will rarely write things down, will continue to lose things, and will intentionally or unintentionally forget things.  For example, in his last business, people would book the event center and Doug would be too lazy to write it down.  Then, just before the event, the potential customer would confirm with him only to find Doug had booked another event on the same day.  Doug once missed a court date where someone was suing him.  He forgot to write it down and lost the case by default.  Doug will still do a poor job in maintaining his finances.  For example, in his last business, he had at least 3 bank accounts, would constantly transfer monies between the accounts to avoid overdraft fees.  Fine, it is a strategy for a poorly run business but, he still managed to rack up over $5000 in bank fees in less than a year.

4)  Doug’s management skills will still be sub-par.  When he was overseeing the construction of the building for his last business (Lake Missoula Cellars) he, after the fact, claimed over $30,000 in expenses which could not be accounted for.  However, since he kept no records and had no proof, all he could do is complain and blame others for the mistake.

5)  The winery and tasting room will not be very clean.  Let’s face it, Doug and cleanliness are on two different planets.  In his last business, Doug would let his dogs roam freely through the winery and the tasting room/event center which included the food preparation area.  One of the volunteers complained about all the dog hair on the floor in the food prep area and a customer complained about the dogs stealing food off of the table while they were eating in the event center.  Doug would keep chemicals, in one case an open container of Draino, near the containers of the wine additives.  Doug’s office/wine testing area was filthy.  It had plates of old, half eaten food, dried spots of liquid that had spilled, open chemicals and piles of garbage and dirty glassware.  Flys, bees, and other insects could be seen floating in the bins of the fermenting grapes and, for the last year he was in business, the winery, tasting room and event center were overrun by fruit flies.  All are the result of a very unclean environment.

6)  Doug always has a “hidden agenda” and will probably continue to look for his next “meal ticket”.  Doug needs cash, preferably other people’s money, to start yet another business of his own.  He will have a hard time working for someone else unless he able to call the shots and no one questions his decisions.  He may not be able to do this working for the owners of the Going to the Sun Winery.  Therefore, Doug will probably be using his time there to reestablish contacts and rebuild his creditability in the Good ol’ Boy network for grapes.  He screwed over one Washington vineyard by not paying for grapes and the word probably spread quickly to the others.   Doug probably has poor credit due to his latest business failures.  He may use his new position to meet people and potential investors and eventually get his Prodigy Wines business going again.

In conclusion, Doug will more likely screw up, get mad and blame others for his mistakes.  Any financial or inventory records will not be up to date and a mess.  Give it a year and he will probably be gone either by choice or not by choice.  He fled Missoula for a reason but, some creditors will not give up until they are paid.  Then there is the IRS.  He will have to file tax returns sometime or face the consequences of the IRS including fees.  He will probably file the on the last day of his extension which is his way of screwing over his investors one last time.  Meanwhile, this blog will continue to monitor and report on his progress or lack thereof.

Thanks to all those who emailed and provided their stories.  Keep them coming.

Doug’s new job at the Glacier Sun Winery (formally Going to the Sun Winery)

In March of this year (2011), Doug was hired to be the Manager and Wine Maker for the new Glacier Sun Winery (formally Going to the Sun Winery).  The new winery is owned by Dave and Dana Cordell who also own the Apple Barrel Fruit Stand in Kalispell.  So, does this mean Doug’s new Prodigy Winery is already a failure before it even opened the doors?  Do we add it to the list of other failures managed by Doug including Lake Missoula Cellars, The Cellars, ClearWeather Wines and the Rock Creek Winery?  Probably.  So, what can we expect from Doug in running this new winery in Kalispell?  As mentioned in previous posts, Doug is lazy, period.  He is also closed minded, doesn't like to be told what to do and has very poor business and management skills.  He will probably spend his days sitting in front of a computer surfing the web as opposed to doing real work in running a winery.  His habits will not change from his previous businesses.  For heaven’s sake, do not let him be in charge of the financials or any money for the Glacier Sun Winery.  He still has to file taxes for 2010 on his last business and pay those he owes on his account receivables.  Give it a year and he will be bumping heads with Dave and Dana Cordell.  A piece of advice for Dave and Dana is use zero tolerance.  Do not put up with Doug’s antics.  If you want the business to succeed, get a real wine maker with some business sense or even common sense and be sure to read the rest of the posts in this blog.  Remember, you were warned about Doug.

Doug and his Tax Returns

Doug lost the business license he used for operating Lake Missoula Cellars on June 30, 2010.  The licensed business, ClearWeather Wines has several investors whose investments are tied up each year until Doug files tax returns for the business.  We have proof that Doug has not filed on time for the past 5 years.  Yes, he has been late for at least 5 straight years.   Last year, he apparently waited until the last day of his extension to file.  His investors cannot file their personal taxes until they receive the K-1s from Doug's accountant.  So, what has Doug done for this year?  We understand he has yet to file again even though the his business has been shut down since June 30, 2010.  What is his problem?  Answer, Doug is lazy.  If you plan on investing money with Doug, beware, he will always be late filing his business taxes and your personal tax returns will also require an extension.