OOPS Or Not?

[Craig_G]

@C. Bowman

I’m curioius, does it take you and others almost an entire bottle to determine if a bottle is corked? Anyone we know ITB can detect it by smelling the cork or at least after a couple sips, but we don’t see people returning a bottle that is almost empty. I have no problem replacing any bottle for any reason and do but found it odd that someone ITB from a winery wasn’t able to detect it sooner.

I have often had a bunch of wine poured before confirming TCA. I think it’s rare that a lot of it is actually consumed.

[PeterJ]

For some people anything other than “of course we’d be happy to replace the bottle” might be unacceptable. Your post admits that you knew your comment wasn’t you at your normal best so you tried to recover. The fact that he wasn’t buying it could have been anything from embarrassment to real anger. No way to know. Sounds like the guy is a bit of a sham (from Randy’s story), so he could just be a jerk too.

Relax! If you really feel guilty, though, reach out to the guy to make amends. If he’s ‘real people’ he’ll be pleased. If not… So be it.

Of course, if you were in NYC I’d say just shrug it off.

[Ken_V]

Have I missed where you said whether the bottle actually was corked? I assume you smelled or taste what was left?

[C_Bowman]

Ken,
We tasted it last night and I detected a very small hint, the wine was big enough in the glass that some people might have missed it. Randy said he would probably have drank it but IMO that still doesn’t excuse the fact it was there. I will still attempt to replace the bottle for the guy.

[Nolan_E]

That’s it, I’m never coming to your shop again.










Until the end of October.

[Bruce_Leiser_owitz]

Carrie–I had a bottle of wine last week that I didn’t realize was corked until I finished the last drop in my glass. I threw the bottle out, and it wasn’t from your store anyway. But you’ll replace it for me, right?

Bruce

[Dave_Egan]

@C. Bowman

It doesn’t really matter other than we’ll eat the cost, the brand has changed distributors and the new one won’t cover/replace previous inventory of others.

I’ve had this line attempted on me too, both from the old distributor of a brand and from the new distributor. To me, it’s the distributor who sold me the defective bottle who is on the hook to replace/refund it. Whether they still carry the brand is irrelevant. They’ll replace or refund the bottle if they want to retain my business with the brands they still have left. I have thrown a distributor out of the shop for refusing to replace bottles, and that gives me a lot of leverage with the rest.

[C_Bowman]

@Bruce Leiserowitz

Carrie–I had a bottle of wine last week that I didn’t realize was corked until I finished the last drop in my glass. I threw the bottle out, and it wasn’t from your store anyway. But you’ll replace it for me, right?

Bruce

Yeah sure, just for you
I actually had that happen. Someone from one of the BBs had an issue with a bottle and the store he bought it from wouldn’t take care of it, I contacted the distributor and they said they would bring me a new bottle so I could ship it to the guy.

@Dave Egan

@C. Bowman

It doesn’t really matter other than we’ll eat the cost, the brand has changed distributors and the new one won’t cover/replace previous inventory of others.

I’ve had this line attempted on me too, both from the old distributor of a brand and from the new distributor. To me, it’s the distributor who sold me the defective bottle who is on the hook to replace/refund it. Whether they still carry the brand is irrelevant. They’ll replace or refund the bottle if they want to retain my business with the brands they still have left. I have thrown a distributor out of the shop for refusing to replace bottles, and that gives me a lot of leverage with the rest.

Dave,
It’s happened with several distributors, I get the line “sorry that’s not our product anymore” or “you’ll have to take it up with the new distributor or winery.”
If I threatened all the distributors that have said that to me there wouldn’t be anyone left for me to order from.

[Jay_Miller]

See, it’s exactly this sort of attitude that caused Victor to refill his bottle from the dump bucket after everyone took a pour and the dumped it .

I’ve been with some very experienced people who have disagreed as to whether a wine was corked and it only became obvious a few hours later.

[Bruce_Leiser_owitz]

@C. Bowman

I actually had that happen. Someone from one of the BBs had an issue with a bottle and the store he bought it from wouldn’t take care of it, I contacted the distributor and they said they would bring me a new bottle so I could ship it to the guy. .

And that, my friends, is customer service.

As for threatening to dump a distributor over not taking back one bottle, I would imagine it’s an issue of bargaining power. If that distributor has a portfolio that the store really can’t afford to
miss, the store isn’t going to throw out the baby with the proverbial corked bathwater.

Bruce

[Michae1_P0wers]

Probably if he went to the trouble he really believed it to be flawed. I’d probably suggest just being nice and replacing it and taking the issue up the supply chain. Do you want a happy customer or someone potentially bad mouthing your customer service. It sounded like he wasn’t that knowledgable despite being ITB, so he probably took a while to know there was something wrong. We’ve all seen people drink flawed wines as if they were fine.

[Mark_Y]

Funny response by Carrie.

but yah, if a customer bothers to come all the way back to the store, and the bottle is confirmed corked… it’s irrelevant how much is left…just replace the bottle…
how much ‘cost’ is the store really eating if the retail cost is $20…

[C_Bowman]

@markye

Funny response by Carrie.

but yah, if a customer bothers to come all the way back to the store, and the bottle is confirmed corked… it’s irrelevant how much is left…just replace the bottle…
how much ‘cost’ is the store really eating if the retail cost is $20…

I have no problem replacing and have anytime there’s an issue, this just happened to catch me off guard by his tone and how he approached me like it was my fault and I made the wine. Yeah my response wasn’t exactly the best reply.

[Craig_G]

Next time, take four days to think it over. See how that works.

[dteng]

@C. Bowman

@markye

Funny response by Carrie.

but yah, if a customer bothers to come all the way back to the store, and the bottle is confirmed corked… it’s irrelevant how much is left…just replace the bottle…
how much ‘cost’ is the store really eating if the retail cost is $20…

I have no problem replacing and have anytime there’s an issue, this just happened to catch me off guard by his tone and how he approached me like it was my fault and I made the wine. Yeah my response wasn’t exactly the best reply.

But still, your response was very entertaining, and that’s gotta count for something!!

[Peter_Gatti]

@Chuck Miller

Assuming it was corked, what difference does it make how full the bottle is, realistically? I can easily see the situation where a wine is poured into several glasses, and some are dumped in a spit bucket or down the sink, before the person that opened the bottle says ‘Wait, wait, I need to take it back for a refund’. Unless you think that they actually enjoyed drinking the corked wine, or poured a different corked wine back in the bottle, why do you need 600ml+ to be returned to determine that it deserves a refund?

Chuck, here in Texas, the wholesalers won’t take back corked / oxidized / cooked wine unless the bottle is at least ¾ to 4/5 full. Any less than that volume and we eat it.

[Mary_Baker]

Definitely an OOPS, but we all have them. Besides, if he and his friend drank the bottle before discovering the TCA, then they got their $20 worth of enjoyment, right?

[Ed_Murray]

@Peter Gatti

@Chuck Miller

Assuming it was corked, what difference does it make how full the bottle is, realistically? I can easily see the situation where a wine is poured into several glasses, and some are dumped in a spit bucket or down the sink, before the person that opened the bottle says ‘Wait, wait, I need to take it back for a refund’. Unless you think that they actually enjoyed drinking the corked wine, or poured a different corked wine back in the bottle, why do you need 600ml+ to be returned to determine that it deserves a refund?

Chuck, here in Texas, the wholesalers won’t take back corked / oxidized / cooked wine unless the bottle is at least ¾ to 4/5 full. Any less than that volume and we eat it.

At least they don’t make you drink it!

[Chuck_Miller]

@Peter Gatti

@Chuck Miller

Assuming it was corked, what difference does it make how full the bottle is, realistically? I can easily see the situation where a wine is poured into several glasses, and some are dumped in a spit bucket or down the sink, before the person that opened the bottle says ‘Wait, wait, I need to take it back for a refund’. Unless you think that they actually enjoyed drinking the corked wine, or poured a different corked wine back in the bottle, why do you need 600ml+ to be returned to determine that it deserves a refund?

Chuck, here in Texas, the wholesalers won’t take back corked / oxidized / cooked wine unless the bottle is at least ¾ to 4/5 full. Any less than that volume and we eat it.

And what’s to stop anyone from topping off the bottle with other returned wines, cheap wines, or water before returning it to you or before you return it to the wholesaler? it’s certainly not a legal issue, just wholesaler policy.