Been supporting this store for 3 years. Spent lots of money here, came by weekly. Never again. I've purchased wine, liquor, etc with no issues. Purchased a new liquor that sounded interesting. Of course the employees didn't know anything about it (you're solely on your own when it comes to advice - even one of the cashier's flat out told me when asked about some of the hundreds of single shot liquor bottles literally right in front of her "I have no idea about any of that stuff in front of me. I never look." Ok.... so back to my purchase. It's a $13 bottle chocolate drink. It tasted horrible, NOT because of the chocolate flavor, but because it tasted like it turned. Imagine back in the day when you would put too much cocao powder when making chocolate milk, so much so that it tasted like you were drinking dust? Yeah, it was like that. It tasted spoiled. Nothing to do with the flavor profile. I went back to the store, and hoped they would work with me. I honestly didn't want my money back - I really just wanted a credit towards another purchase. I realize this is not the norm, and I have NEVER returned anything here before. You would've thought I was asking them to rebuild the Ark. The manager Dawn was not very apathetic, about as hands-off "I can't do that" as I'd expect from a DMV employee, not the manager of a small town, neighborhood liquor store. She tried a sip of the drink in front of me and told me it was absolutely fine, told me it was not a liqueur, etc. I felt like I was on trial over a $13 bottle of bad liquor. I didn't really feel like going into detail that I used to own a craft beer bar back in Tampa for 10 years, and we did many tastings with liquor reps, so I know how the business works. I also didn't go into detail at how if I had a customer who had an issue with their purchase, that I'd refund their money or give them store credit, just like Total Wine does, and just like ABC Liquor does. I get it if I was a REPEAT offender and I know this costs the store money - so it's not like I make a habit of this. Anyway, I gave Dawn my bottle and she told me that she would talk to the manufacturers because she couldn't do anything about it. I guess her barcode only scans purchases and not refunds. And she told me, "We'll get it handled." That was week 1. Stopped by several times for the next few weeks, still supporting the store, still buying other items. The employees never knew anything about anything. I was always told, Dawn hasn't seen the liquor reps. There's been snow so the reps haven't been able to come by. Dawn hasn't said anything. Meanwhile Dawn had my contact info the entire time. Finally, after multiple visits, I asked for my bottle back. It was clear my $13 issue was not important enough. No one could find the bottle. I kept being told to come by when Dawn is there during the day - but I actually work for a living, so I don't have time to chase a store manager for a simple answer when she has my contact info - plus I was already stopping by several times a week! I mean how much more available could I be? My whole life I've spent in retail and management so I already knew where this story was going to end. Finally tracked down Dawn because I just wanted my lousy bottle back. Sure enough, she told me that the manufacturers couldn't do anything for me, proceeded to tell me tips of how to serve this garbage properly, etc. It was very condescending. I was like, can you just give me a store credit? She still couldn't do anything to help me. Color me surprised after weeks of her never bothering to contact me. I called to ask who the owner was so I could at least give them feedback, but was told that they could not give me their contact info "because they'd get fired." So since they've been unhelpful since day one, here's my public review. I always try to follow the chain of command to at least give a business the opportunity to correct an issue. But the gatekeepers have won here. I've since been supporting The Bottle Store in Newport. Much cleaner & much friendlier! Go there for better customer service! read more
