corked wine from an offlicense

mag

my wife bought a bottle of wine today from a local independent offlicense. when she tasted it this evening it was way off (presumably corked). its a wine she usually gets so theres no doubt that it wasnt right.

she brought it back & they refused to change it for another bottle, saying their policy is not to change bottles once theyre open!!

surely this is wrong.. at the very least its extremly bad business.

anyone know what the "normal" policy would be for corked wine from an offlicense? ive never encountered this before..

Mr Magnolia

Very wrong and very bad business.

They should have changed it. Corked wine can be easily identified after it's been opened. The supplier would have had no problem changing it.

The person in the off-license was to fault. I'd contact the manager about it, let me know how you get on if you do pursue it.

Mr. Presentable

mag wrote: »

anyone know what the "normal" policy would be for corked wine from an offlicense? ive never encountered this before..

Exchange or refund. See a manager and if necessary scream bloody murder.

Wishbone Ash

I would expect the occasional bottle to be corked. I usually buy six at a time and will expect to lose one. I don't return them as it's normal for some to be corked. Maybe I'm too soft! :eek:

In a restaurant it's different as they open the bottle.

mag

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Very wrong and very bad business.

They should have changed it. Corked wine can be easily identified after it's been opened. The supplier would have had no problem changing it.

The person in the off-license was to fault. I'd contact the manager about it, let me know how you get on if you do pursue it.

ill be going in on monday to have a word. we live in a small town with 2 off licenses so in one way its a pain for me as i wont darken the door unless the manager does the right thing. ill let you know the score.

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I would expect the occasional bottle to be corked. I usually buy six at a time and will expect to lose one. I don't return them as it's normal for some to be corked. Maybe I'm too soft! :eek:

In a restaurant it's different as they open the bottle.

one out of six! i know that theres a reasonably high % of corked bottles but that's serious... i mean, as mr magnolia says...presumably the wine supplier takes the hit here not the offlicense?

Mr. Presentable

It's not like the Off License can't afford to take the hit. Even if it's a good wine they probably only paid €10.00 for it.

armada104

nipplenuts wrote: »

It's not like the Off License can't afford to take the hit. Even if it's a good wine they probably only paid €10.00 for it.

That's not even important; as Mr Magnolia says, the supplier will usually offer credit to the store.

rediguana

In O'Briens, where I work, if someone brings back something "corked", we exchange it or give a refund, no argument. Often the wine isn't corked at all and I lace into it with gusto that night.

They should've exchanged it, or whatever. It's a stupid policy.

BaZmO*

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I would expect the occasional bottle to be corked. I usually buy six at a time and will expect to lose one. I don't return them as it's normal for some to be corked. Maybe I'm too soft! :eek:

One in six??? You need to start going somewhere else for your wine. One in six is way too much. I've drank wine for years and only had about 5 corked bottles in total, but just like you I've never brought them back. If it was happening that much though I'd certainly be going back for a refund or getting my wine from somewhere else.

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

In a restaurant it's different as they open the bottle.

Yeah most people don't realise that reason why you taste the wine at your table before pouring is not to see if you like the wine but instead it's to see if the wine is corked.


OP, I have a friend that supplies wine to restaurants/bars, etc. and he says that it's company policy within the trade to give refunds for corked bottles. The refund just goes along the chain back to the producer. It's one of the reasons why a lot of producers are switching to screw caps.
So the off licence was wrong not to give you a refund as they wouldn't be out of pocket either.

KamiKazi

Why would a bottle of wine be opened before reaching the final customer anyway?

parsi

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I would expect the occasional bottle to be corked. I usually buy six at a time and will expect to lose one.

Good Lord ! So far I haven't had a corked bottle (and I've gone through plenty). You should change your offie.

BaZmO*

KamiKazi wrote: »

Why would a bottle of wine be opened before reaching the final customer anyway?

It wouldn't

KamiKazi

BaZmO* wrote: »

It wouldn't

Oh, so what is a corked bottle then?

mag

went in today & talked to the manager/owner. he gave me a replacement, no questions asked.

i mentioned to him that he may want to have a word with the guy who was working there on sat as his view was that it was a 'tough ****' situation. he didnt explicitly say but inferred that he didnt want to give his staff the authority to replace corked bottles as this leaves him open to fraud. i just said that it mightnt do any harm to simply get them to say that they didnt have the authority to replace but to advise when the manager would be next here & advise the customer to call back then instead of basically sending them packing.

IanCurtis

Is a corked bottle of wine not unsuitable for drinking? I would have thought so and if that's the case you're legally entitled to a refund or a replacement - shop policy or not!

The cheek of them! :eek:

BaZmO*

KamiKazi wrote: »

Oh, so what is a corked bottle then?

It's basically TCA contamination that gives off a slightly mouldy stale smell to wine and not, as a lot of people think, little bits of cork floating in your glass. More info here

IanCurtis wrote:

Is a corked bottle of wine not unsuitable for drinking?

While unpleasant it's harmless. In fact, a lot of people don't realise that the wine is actually corked and just drink it anyway. However, it's hard not to notice badly corked wine.

Mr Magnolia

mag wrote: »

went in today & talked to the manager/owner. he gave me a replacement, no questions asked.

i mentioned to him that he may want to have a word with the guy who was working there on sat as his view was that it was a 'tough ****' situation. he didnt explicitly say but inferred that he didnt want to give his staff the authority to replace corked bottles as this leaves him open to fraud. i just said that it mightnt do any harm to simply get them to say that they didnt have the authority to replace but to advise when the manager would be next here & advise the customer to call back then instead of basically sending them packing.

Good to see it was all resolved amicably, you put your point across well.

KamiKazi

BaZmO* wrote: »

It's basically TCA contamination that gives off a slightly mouldy stale smell to wine and not, as a lot of people think, little bits of cork floating in your glass. More info here

Ah I see, thank you

noby

BaZmO* wrote: »

However, it's hard not to notice badly corked wine.

Absolutely. The cork itself can be a tell-tale sign.


I was most impressed on one occasion when in a restaurant a waitress opened a bottle of wine, immediately got the whiff, and insisted on changing it without even offering us a taste. I wonder if all waiting staff would be so sharp.

shanel23

Fortunate to be lucky and have only come across 3 or 4 "corked" wines bought from supermarkets or off licences .. Never had had a problem bringing them back and gettting a replacement or a refund . In fact got a bottle from Lidl a few months ago and even as I was opening the bottle It felt strange - just opened too easily and man what a whiff - did'nt even taste it ...
Brought it back the next day - no receipt - but obvious that it was from the lidl range - it was one of their specials and replaced straight away - no hassle
- Replacement was nice too