Magnum bottle of 'bubbly' was cider

Sober_at_nye

So it's New Years Eve and myself and my girlfriend are on holidays for it and went to a local carry out off-licence - mod, if it's okay to mention it is the carry out off licence in Scariff, Co. Clare.

We went in looking for something like prosecco, cava or a good bargain bottle of champagne as there was this magnum bottle called 'Charlemagne' which had the appearance of a champagne bottle and was just 10 euro. At that price we weren't sure so we asked the girl working there if it tasted like a white wine, as some we have tasted previously had, and I asked because we don't like the taste of sour white wine in cheap bottles of sparkly. She said 'No' and that it tasted more like 'champagne'. She also added that it had bubbles.

Based on that we took it home and after taking a taste it was obvious it was a cider based drink and sure enough we checked the back and right at the bottom in the small print it said 'Sparkling Perry'. So I guess there are pears in it too but it tastes more like a mix of apple and pear cider.

So, not wanting to drink sparkling cider for new years eve we straight away went back to the off licence and this time the owner was there. He refused to refund me for it, saying that it was already open. I explained to him that I was told by a staff member that it was like champagne and was bubbly, and that I wanted a refund to buy something else and he said that it was sparkling perry. I explained again that if I wanted cider I'd buy a 2 litre bottle in tesco or something. He got aggressive and shouty.

We are both so bitterly disappointed by this and of course will be contacting the off licence franchise chain, but is this legal? Like this was a magnum bottle which people associate with champagne, was called 'charlemagne', and the staff member assured us it tasted like champagne. We were totally duped here and received only rudeness from the owner.

What can we do to get fairness here?

chris1970

Sober_at_nye wrote: »

So it's New Years Eve and myself and my girlfriend are on holidays for it and went to a local carry out off-licence - mod, if it's okay to mention it is the carry out off licence in Scariff, Co. Clare.

We went in looking for something like prosecco, cava or a good bargain bottle of champagne as there was this magnum bottle called 'Charlemagne' which had the appearance of a champagne bottle and was just 10 euro. At that price we weren't sure so we asked the girl working there if it tasted like a white wine, as some we have tasted previously had, and I asked because we don't like the taste of sour white wine in cheap bottles of sparkly. She said 'No' and that it tasted more like 'champagne'. She also added that it had bubbles.

Based on that we took it home and after taking a taste it was obvious it was a cider based drink and sure enough we checked the back and right at the bottom in the small print it said 'Sparkling Perry'. So I guess there are pears in it too but it tastes more like a mix of apple and pear cider.

So, not wanting to drink sparkling cider for new years eve we straight away went back to the off licence and this time the owner was there. He refused to refund me for it, saying that it was already open. I explained to him that I was told by a staff member that it was like champagne and was bubbly, and that I wanted a refund to buy something else and he said that it was sparkling perry. I explained again that if I wanted cider I'd buy a 2 litre bottle in tesco or something. He got aggressive and shouty.

We are both so bitterly disappointed by this and of course will be contacting the off licence franchise chain, but is this legal? Like this was a magnum bottle which people associate with champagne, was called 'charlemagne', and the staff member assured us it tasted like champagne. We were totally duped here and received only rudeness from the owner.

What can we do to get fairness here?

It was a tenner lol. Buy panadol for the head you will have it the morning. Happy new year

Murt10

Troll!

syklops

Ring Joe Duffy in the morning.

Lovely Bloke

syklops wrote: »

Ring Joe Duffy in the morning.

Ring him now, they'll probably stick you on after Madness

eurokev

Sober_at_nye wrote: »

So it's New Years Eve and myself and my girlfriend are on holidays for it and went to a local carry out off-licence - mod, if it's okay to mention it is the carry out off licence in Scariff, Co. Clare.

We went in looking for something like prosecco, cava or a good bargain bottle of champagne as there was this magnum bottle called 'Charlemagne' which had the appearance of a champagne bottle and was just 10 euro. At that price we weren't sure so we asked the girl working there if it tasted like a white wine, as some we have tasted previously had, and I asked because we don't like the taste of sour white wine in cheap bottles of sparkly. She said 'No' and that it tasted more like 'champagne'. She also added that it had bubbles.

Based on that we took it home and after taking a taste it was obvious it was a cider based drink and sure enough we checked the back and right at the bottom in the small print it said 'Sparkling Perry'. So I guess there are pears in it too but it tastes more like a mix of apple and pear cider.

So, not wanting to drink sparkling cider for new years eve we straight away went back to the off licence and this time the owner was there. He refused to refund me for it, saying that it was already open. I explained to him that I was told by a staff member that it was like champagne and was bubbly, and that I wanted a refund to buy something else and he said that it was sparkling perry. I explained again that if I wanted cider I'd buy a 2 litre bottle in tesco or something. He got aggressive and shouty.

We are both so bitterly disappointed by this and of course will be contacting the off licence franchise chain, but is this legal? Like this was a magnum bottle which people associate with champagne, was called 'charlemagne', and the staff member assured us it tasted like champagne. We were totally duped here and received only rudeness from the owner.

What can we do to get fairness here?

Why didnt you just read the back of the bottle, it would be the first thing someone should do if dubious.
Taste is subjective so you cannot rely on someones opinion.
Ciders and champagnes are made in a very similar method, and pears and grapes are not a million miles away from one another in terms of taste IMO.

You would have been in good company with it too...

Sober_at_nye

lol Gilligan

BaZmO*

This thread is going nowhere. Caveat emptor.