Privacy  Policy

Big Hammer Wines has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy.  (Big Hammer Wines, together with its parents, affiliates, trademarks and brands, including Martellotto Inc., are collectively referred to in this statement as "Big Hammer Wines", "we", "us" and the "Company").  The following statement discloses our privacy policy, referred to as our “Privacy Policy”, for information that personally identifies you, called “Personal Information”, as well as general, non-personal information that is automatically collected, called “Non-Personal Information”, through our website (“Site”): www.bighammerwines.com.  By visiting our Site, you accept the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Information and Data Gathering

We collect information from users of our Site, including Personal Information and Non-Personal Information as described below, in order to complement our users’ experience and to provide you with the finest service.  We collect Personal Information to provide service to our customers, customize the content and/or layout of the Site for each customer and, sometimes to contact customers regarding their accounts, for example, if we need more information about a customer’s shipping address or for other reasons.  When a customer chooses to place an order through the Site, we collect information required for the transaction, including, but not limited to, the customer’s billing address, shipping address, date of birth, date of order, and product ordered ("Transaction Information").

We also collect Non-Personal Information or general statistics about our aggregate number of users and/or each user that visits the Big Hammer Wines Site to help us understand the usage patterns of our Site, and to provide better customer service. Non-Personal Information is collected and recorded to understand statistics and usage of the Site, and so we may be able to adjust the Site to better serve our customers and users.  Non-Personal Information includes, but is not limited to, a user’s ISP (Internet Service Provider), IP (Internet Protocol) address, the type of web browser used, which pages a user visits, and other site usage data.

Relating to this information, we may also keep track of what time people enter our Site, how long they stay on the site, and what sections they visit on the Site. This information is kept in anonymous format. We use this information to better tailor our site for our users and their usage patterns, as well as to gauge performance and other measures relating to the usage of the Site. 

Protection of Your Information

We take many precautions to safeguard your Personal Information, Non-Personal Information, and Transaction Information against loss, theft, and misuse, as well as against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, and destruction. In addition to administrative and physical protective measures, we use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption on all web pages where Personal information is collected. For this reason, in order to complete a protected transaction, you must use a SSL-enabled browser to access the Site. Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer are all SSL-enabled. Using these types of browsers protects the confidentiality of your Personal Information while it is being transferred over the Internet.

In addition to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, described above, this Site has security measures in place which are designed to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. All registration information is stored in secure locations on password-protected servers.

Registration is required to use certain features of our Site.   When registering on our Site, you are required to establish a password. To maximize your level of protection, you should choose a password with at least 6 characters, using a combination of letters and numbers. You are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your password and account information.

While we standard security procedures and practices relative to safeguarding your information, no Internet data transaction can be guaranteed as 100% secure.  Consequently, while we strive to protect and conserve your information, we do not guarantee or attest comprehensive security of your information transmission. If you transmit information to the Company, you do so at your own risk.  Our protection procedures and other security measures, described above, are designed to provide you with our commitment to your service.

Cookiesand Web Beacons

A cookie is a small amount of information that a web server sends to your browser that stores information about your account, preferences and use of the Site. When you visit our Site, our service providers may place cookies on your computers or mobile devices.  Cookies are sometimes used to further track usage patterns of the Site by our users.  Cookies allow us to recognize you when you return and track and identify your interests in order to provide a customized experience.  Cookies left on your system by our Site are sometimes used for the purpose of allowing users the convenience of not having to re-enter usernames and passwords on our Site.  They also help us to detect certain kinds of fraud. We use cookies to store a customer's preferences, record session information, record member-specific information on what pages are accessed or visited, alert members to new areas that we think might be of interest to them when they return to our Site, or customize web page content based on browser type or other information that the customer sends.  These technologies better tailor our Site, promotions or other features to better serve our user base.

The information may include temporary “session” cookies, which, among other things, manage page views and your shopping cart. Typically, your browser will erase session cookies once you exit the browser.  We may also use persistent cookies, which among other things, allow us to retrieve certain information that you have previously provided to us (for example, your user ID if you ask to be remembered) or provide a customized experience, based on your prior visit to the Site.  The Site may use both session and persistent cookies.

We also use web beacons. Web beacons are tiny graphic images placed on website pages or in our e-mails that allow us to determine whether you have performed certain actions. When you access these pages or open e-mail messages, the web beacons generate a notice of that action to us, or our service providers. These tools allow us to measure response to our communications and improve our web pages and promotions. 

You may manage how your browser handles cookies and related technologies by adjusting your browser's security and privacy settings. Refer to instructions related to your browser to learn about privacy and security settings that are available to you. If you block or delete cookies, you may not be able to use particular features of our Site or may not be able to use our Site in its full capacity.

Information and Opt-Out Procedure

From time to time, Big Hammer Wines will contact our registered users who have opted in to be e-mailed with promotional information that we feel would be applicable to, and desired by that user. At any time a user wishes to opt-out of these e-mails, they may do so by contacting sales@bighammerwines.com. Once opted-out, the user will not receive any further communication from us, aside from any system messages that are necessary to that user in specific transactions, such as e-commerce order summaries. 

Use and Disclosure ofInformation

Big Hammer Wines may disclose Personal Information if it is required to do so by law or if disclosing Personal Information is vital to identify, contact, or bring legal action in order to protect Big Hammer Wines, its customers, or third parties. In addition, Personal Information that you provide to us (such as your name, address and email Personal Information that you provide to us (such as your name, address and email address) may be combined with other personally identifiable information (such as demographic information and past Transaction Information) available from our records and other sources. Big Hammer Wines will occasionally utilize partners and vendors to assist it in analysis of the data and information collected by our Site.  This information will be used to make our future marketing efforts more efficient. This information may also be shared with our third party service providers that assist us with our marketing efforts and with other marketers whose products or services we feel may be of interest to you.  This information is used for the purpose of better tailoring our website, promotions or other company endeavors to better suit our user base.  If you prefer that we do not share your personally identifiable information with other marketers, please email us at sales@bighammerwines.com in the opt-out section described above. In the event that you choose to opt out as set forth above, please note that the following three paragraphs will still apply:

Transaction Information will be shared with the merchant from whom the purchase is made, and may be provided to other trusted third parties as necessary to process and fulfill the order, and to help enable Big Hammer Wines to provide better customer services and offerings. All such merchants and third parties are contractually obligated under reasonably commercial terms to keep all Transaction Information confidential, maintain the privacy of all Big Hammer Wines customers, and to use such Transaction Information for the purposes of providing services to Big Hammer Wines for the benefit of Big Hammer Wines and its customers.    Transaction Information may also be used to develop a personalized profile and shopping history for each customer in order to customize promotions, updates or special offers.

From time to time, we may employ other companies and individuals to perform services, to maintain and operate the Site, and to maintain certain features on the Site. To such parties, we may disclose Non-Personal Information such as traffic patterns and Site usage data, but such information will not include Personal Information. We also may employ reputable third parties to analyze our sales data for internal analysis, during which we may disclose Personal Information such as the wines purchased, the location of shipment, and the frequency of purchases.

We additionally may enlist a third party to assist with marketing and sending member e-mails; in this case, we will provide these third party vendors only with member e-mail addresses. These third parties will not receive or be given access to other Personal Information (such as Big Hammer Wines member home addresses, phone numbers, or date of birth) unless Big Hammer Wines is required to do so by law or unless disclosing such Personal Information is vital to identify, contact, or bring legal action in order to protect Big Hammer Wines, its customers, or third parties.

Collection of Information from Minors

We do not sell or market to persons who are under 21 years of age.  Please refer to our Terms & Conditions elsewhere on our Site for further information.  As a result, we do not knowingly collect Personal Information from minors under 21, nor do we direct any of our content to minors under 21.  If we learn that we inadvertently collected the Personal Information of a minor, we will take steps to delete the information as soon as possible.

Privacy Practices of Third Parties

Our Site may contain links to third party websites, products, and services. These websites may include but are not limited to wineries, gourmet food websites, travel websites, or social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter.   Information collected by these third party websites is governed by their privacy practices and is not subject to this Privacy Policy.  Big Hammer Wines is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites or how those third party websites collect, use, disclose, distribute, or maintain Personal and Non-Personal Information.  If you visit a third party website listed on the Site, you do so at your own risk. We encourage you to learn about the privacy practices of those third parties prior to providing them with your information, or taking advantage of an offer, sweepstakes or promotion. 

On occasion, Big Hammer Wines will sponsor sweepstakes and other promotions that are managed by third-party organizations. Information and data gathered in those instances will be held by the third-party and will normally be shared with Big Hammer Wines.  Once provided to Big Hammer Wines that data and information is subject to Big Hammer Wines’ Privacy Policy.  Information and data retained by the third-party will be subject to the privacy policy stated by that third-party.  

Public Forums, Social Media and Blog Content

Social media, blogs, chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups (collectively, “Social Media”) may be associated with this Site and available to its users. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution if you decide to disclose any of your Personal Information on Social Media. We also encourage visitors to be courteous in communicating with others. However, we are not responsible for protecting any Personal Information that you post on our blog or on Social Media web pages associated with Big Hammer Wines.  Although we reserve the right to monitor any postings, all Personal Information that is posted on these websites or media is unprotected and can be seen by anyone with access to the specific website.

Accessing and Correcting Personal Information

You can access, update and delete your Personal Information by logging into your account and accessing the "My Account" section of the Big Hammer Wines’ Site. If you want to close your account or have questions, please contact us at sales@bighammerwines.com. While we are ready to assist you in managing your subscriptions, closing your account, and removing your active member profile, we cannot always delete all records. For example, we are required to retain records relating to previous transactions on the Site for financial reporting and compliance reasons.

We will retain your information for as long as your account is active or as necessary to provide you services and to maintain a record of your transactions for financial reporting and compliance purposes. If you wish to cancel your account, please contact us at sales@bighammerwines.com. We will retain and use your Personal Information, Non-Personal Information, and Transaction Information only as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.

California Privacy Rights

Pursuant to Section 1798.83 of the California Civil Code, residents of California can obtain certain information about the types of Personal Information that companies with whom they have an established business relationship have shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes during the preceding calendar year. In particular, the law provides that companies must inform consumers about the categories of Personal Information that have been shared with third parties, the names and addresses of those third parties, and examples of the types of services or products marketed by those third parties. To request a copy of the information disclosure provided by Big Hammer Wines pursuant to the above references provision, please contact us via email at sales@bighammerwines.com.

Contact Information

If you, at any point in time, have any questions or concerns with respect to the Privacy Policy, you can e-mail us at sales@bighammerwines.com.  We appreciate your business and look forward to providing you with the finest service.