Anyone returned corked wine to a supermarket?

[Dicky Knee]

Hi All,

Just opened a bottle of Rioja that I bought from Sainsburys a few weeks ago.

It is corked. Smells rank and had a little sip and not much flavour or body.

I should return it and get a refund (it is likely the whole batch will be the same).

But I am hesitating. Will they refund or argue or just think I am a w*nker?

Has anyone done it before and what was the outcome?

Cheers (with a different bottle),

Dicky

[Hoover.]

not done it with a supermarket, but have done with the local off licence.

To be honest I think you should be ok with a supermarket, as they probably won't know what you are on about and will just agree

[jas xjr]

Return it ,they will not argue or think anything about you. Happens fairly regularly

[Mermaid]

1 in 3 bottles I find unacceptable subsequently. The 1st 2 are fine.

[peter tdci]

You might need to have your receipt with you - and there might be a time limit.

Otherwise, no problem - they wouldn't want to risk upsetting you for something as simple as this. In any case, they will claim it back from their supplier, so Sainsburys themselves won't lose!

[essayer]

Mermaid said:

1 in 3 bottles I find unacceptable subsequently. The 1st 2 are fine.

[Sharted]

Just email them, they will refund cost of wine or more.

This has been the case for us recently when they delivered some fish in a damaged packet which had allowed it to go off.

In hindsight this may only apply to home delivery.

[pointedstarman]

Took a bottle back to our local Tesco not that long ago (without receipt) - was replaced without question. They offered a full refund also but the wine was on offer so preferred to swap.

[Baryonyx]

Look on the bottle, there is probably some text on it stating that if you're not entirely satisfied with the product you can return it without affecting your statutory rights etc etc. Take it back.

[Mark A B]

What kind of price are we talking?

You're intitled to take it back but depending on price I'd probably just write it off.


A woman I work with is forever taking stuff back to MnS. A few weeks ago she took a smoked ham wrapper back because it was too salty. She ate the full thing but decided afterwards it shouldn't of been like that.

[Mark A B]

What kind of price are we talking?

You're intitled to take it back but depending on price I'd probably just write it off.


A woman I work with is forever taking stuff back to MnS. A few weeks ago she took a smoked ham wrapper back because it was too salty. She ate the full thing but decided afterwards it shouldn't of been like that.

[Dr G]

Have done as much; absolutely no quibble from staff in my local Sainsbury's. Swapped for an alternative there and then (did have receipt).

The customer service person is there to make you happy and come back; losing your potential future custom over £8 is simply not worth it.

[guindilias]

I've never had a problem taking back corked wine to anywhere - supermarkets, local off licence, or wine merchants. The only people who might have trouble are people who think "corked" means that there are a couple of bits of cork floating in the wine - after they have opened it wrongly by screwing the corkscrew right down and through the cork.
Anyone in an off licence or wine merchants will be able to tell instantly if a bottle is corked - because it smells like an old dish rag left in the sink for a week.
Anyone in a supermarket will not care less, because if you went to the trouble of bringing it back and they happen to have no sense of smell, they will always just take your word for it. Corked wine happens to between 1 in 7 to 1 in 10 bottles with real corks - sad thing is, if it's not too far gone, plenty of people will just drink it anyway and just think the wine wasn't very nice. Synthetic corks are a huge move forward!

[paolow]

I also have done this - turned up at customer services with a 90% full bottle with the cork sticking out and only got as far as "hi - I bought this....." before the staff member saw where it was going and cut in along the lines of "corked? would you like a refund or replacement"
Its clearly not uncommon
No mention of a reciept etc either but it was a line only that supermarket carried. That said - they didn't know that before they checked the bottle.....
Good service anyway

[Riley Blue]

I take back any food or drink that isn't 100% perfect. Never had any problems about it either. Supermarkets accept it without a murmur, smaller shops sometimes ask a few questions.

[guindilias]

Riley Blue said:

I take back any food or drink that isn't 100% perfect. Never had any problems about it either. Supermarkets accept it without a murmur, smaller shops sometimes ask a few questions.

In fact sometimes I take it one step further, and simply walk in and hurl the opened bottle of wine at the nearest member of staff, sometimes scarring them for life.
They never murmur after that, the most common reaction is a simple "Oh my god, look what you've done to her face!"
Well, she did it to herself, really, shouldn't have got in the way, should she.
Never had any negative results apart from a few days in a cell, a short court appearance, and a fine which barely even dents my wallet, let alone my bank account.
The prison sentence? Pfffft. I have PEOPLE who ensure that is avoided.

[caziques]

Honestly can't remember the last time I had a bottle of wine with a cork in it.

Not sure I'd even find one on the shelves in NZ - thank goodness for progress.

[zygalski]

[Ace-T]

We had a particularly lazy couple of days when we bought 2 Sainsburys 10 quid dinners which included a bottle of wine. Bought the same bottle with each deal, opened one and it was vile (bizarrely it was a screw top). Took both back, one with about half a glass missing and they gave us our money back. I would give it a go if I were you.

[FiF]

If you are reasonable about it and especially with the receipt, it won't cause a ripple. Money back without question.

If you go back and make a whole song and dance about it, then you'll still get your money back, and if you push it enough, like someone of our aquaintance, nb: not a friend*, then you'll probably get a ten or twenty quid voucher from the duty manager just to make you STFU and sod off out of their life.

• *They frequently pull this stunt in different stores every week. Seen it done, an embarrassment, and I'm not even with them.