I wanted a good bottle of merlot for a celebration, and called the owner of Honey Creek package with a price range, asking him to select a bottle for me. I got to the store and he had two bottles for me to choose from. I selected one whose name I knew, and was happy with the purchase.
Then I tried to leave the store. The owner wanted to chat, actually not just chat, talk my ear off, ask me to bring in relatives as customers, a relative I told him lived all the way in North Brookhaven, the center of great wine availability, like he's going to drive out to Conyers to buy wine. This monologue went on for approximately 15 minutes with me trying to leave to get home to celebrate. The monologue ended, curiously, with a 5 minute monologue on corked wine, wine whose cork has dried out from improper storage. He told me that corked wine usually can be saved. That there is usually enough cork at the end where the wine is in the bottle that the wine is still drinkable, and by straining it to get the cork dust and pieces out, you can save the wine. I thought nothing of this. I thought that this was just one wine lover giving advice to another. I would soon find out that was not the case.
When I got home and tried to open the wine the corkscrew pulled out with absolutely no effort along with a cloud of cork dust. Imagine my disappointment. I don't spend that kind of money on a bottle of wine ever, I was ready to celebrate, I had relied upon and trusted this man to select a bottle for my celebration, and here I was digging cork dust and teeny pieces of cork out of the bottle neck so that I could at least try the wine and see if it had gone bad. It had. The wine tasted like wet newspaper smells.
I immediately called Honey Creek package store to tell them what had happened, and the man who answered the phone spoke with the owner and told me to bring the bottle back and they would give me a refund. This bottle of wine cost almost $100. And $10 more than other stores when I later researched the going price.
I put a usable cork in what was left of the wine put it back in the bag, put all of the pieces and dust of the cork into a baggie, and put both into the trunk of my car.
Days later when I tried to return the wine I was given the run-around. First of all they said the wine bottle wasn't full. Come on, did they actually expect me to try to pour a glass of wine back into a wine bottle? Then they tried to tell me that I needed to come back the next morning because that's when the wine distributor would be there, and I could get my refund then. Sorry Charlie no way. I work. I am not available to be at a package store on a Tuesday morning. I told the man in no uncertain terms I was not leaving the store without the promised refund. He refused, telling me he was not authorized. I told him to call the owner and get authorization because I was not leaving without the refund. He called the owner and came back to me and told me that I needed to come back the next morning when the distributor was there. By now there was quite a crowd in the line behind me who had seen and heard the way that I was being treated, and they were all rooting for me. They were not the slightest bit angry that I was holding up the line. Rather, they were happy and reassuring seeing that I was demanding what was obviously the right thing for the store to do. The guy at the register started to see that I was not going to back down and that I had the support of the crowd behind me. He called the owner again, didn't say a word to me, took my debit card, and processed the refund. I checked my bank account a few days later and the refund had gone through.
I would like for the reader to note that there was never any sort of apology. Not for the fact that they sold me a bottle of wine which they probably knew was corked. Or for pretty much ruining my celebration because I knew I had just been taken advantage of. Or for the inconvenience of having to bring the wine back to the store. Or for the hassle when I tried to return the wine. No apology whatsoever. Also, please note that I am a woman. I'll let you draw your own conclusions from that fact.
And now, my advice. They've probably got cases of corked Cakebread Merlot in the store. Don't buy one. Buy your good wine at a reputable wine store. Not a beer store. I learned my lesson. read more
