Corked bottle refund

[Frederick Blais]

2 weeks ago I bought a bottle of Burmester 40 years old. Unfortunately it was corked.

I went to the Burmester shop in Vila Nova de Gaia and after a few ''sorry I don't know what to do with this'' someone finally called her manager and the answer is ''our company does not offer refund for corked bottles''... I was suprised and sadden to hear this. So far, it is the very first time I bring back a corked bottle to a winery and being turned away.

I feel it is a very bad policy, what are your thoughts on this?

[Lucas S]

They could have helped you out but if they had a policy of making whole everyone who bought a corked bottle, they couldn't stay in business.

I am kind of hoping to get a corked bottle at some point in order to try Tom's method. Which is to recork it (preferably with some inert gas to displace the O2) and wait six plus months for the TCA to go away.

Since that's an old tawny you don't have to worry as much about a bit of O2 anyways.

[Frederick Blais]

They could have helped you out but if they had a policy of making whole everyone who bought a corked bottle, they couldn't stay in business.

I think this is a very bad statement without any backing proof. Burmester and Sogevinus and very profitable and corked wines represent less than 2% of the wines they bottled, even less for those who claim refunds. Just a small impact on their revenues but a big one on their immage and relationship with their loyal customers.

[Mark L]

I would agree that since it was within 2 weeks, and especially if it was a recent bottling, it makes sense to try to help you out with a new bottle. (Not faulty customer storage, not buying a very old vintage wine bottle that the buyer realizes has a chance of being corked, etc) I also realize that on some detailed level, there is a bit of a sliding scale with regards to what would be considered corked. So it could possibly be tricky for an establishment to have a cut and dry policy for something that could otherwise be considered subjective on some level.

It would have been nice from a customer service standpoint if someone tasted it, gave you an opinion of whether they considered it corked or not, etc. But these days they probably are not allowed to do even that? Or at least they could have been more empathetic in their explanation of their policy. Either way, it's not like you bought a '45 Latour and are surprised it's not perfect.

Perhaps I should just let others who may own or operate stores reply here!

That said, I will note that many stores here in California have an absolute no returns policy on ALL alcohol.


From the sound of it, I agree that in general it is great policy for a store (especially if it is not a 3rd party store, but the actual winery) to say, "we are so sorry you are unhappy with the purchase and thank you so much for letting us know about the corked bottle. It is very important that we know. We will check into this, but meanwhile, here is a new bottle, and we hope you are pleased this time." Regardless of what they actually look into or actually do behind the scenes, chances are, you're significantly more likely to spend much more money there, and give them much more business, and hence more than make up for any "loss" that they could have incurred by absorbing that bottle (which was corked anyway!)

Sorry you had that experience!

[Thomas V]

Poor customer service.

If you have a customer come back with a newly purchased bottle that is faulty you instantly reimburse them and offer your apologies. If it is in the lodge I would even offer them a complimentary glass of port on the house. Make the customer become an ambassador for the brand and the service you provide.

The customer could have a special occasion spoiled by the wine and at no fault of their own. They even had to come back to the shop and spend additional time.

As Fred mentioned only few % are faulty and of those only a very few customers will actually bother to attempt to get reimbursed.

[Moses Botbol]

They could have helped you out but if they had a policy of making whole everyone who bought a corked bottle, they couldn't stay in business.

I think this is a very bad statement without any backing proof. Burmester and Sogevinus and very profitable and corked wines represent less than 2% of the wines they bottled, even less for those who claim refunds. Just a small impact on their revenues but a big one on their immage and relationship with their loyal customers.

Totally agree Fred. For sure there will be a percent that get turned away, never or seldom to ever buy their products again. Only a small percent are going to take the effort to return a bottle in first place. If this was a B&M liquor store in MA; they'd take it back no problem.

[Glenn E.]

2 weeks ago I bought a bottle of Burmester 40 years old. Unfortunately it was corked.

Just to be clear, did you buy the bottle from the Burmester shop?

If so, then they absolutely should have exchanged it for you. It's their wine, you bought it from them, it's a bad bottle... they should exchange it.

If not... it's much less cut & dry. It may seem cut & dry since you are claiming it was corked, but Burmester should not be expected to exchange imperfect bottles purchased elsewhere all the time. What if the imperfection was caused by handling by an intermediary? Again, that's obviously not the case with a corked bottle, but they may not have separate policies for "corked" and "otherwise damaged" wines.

[Andy Velebil]

We’re talking a corked bottle and not something that a customer did, like cook it in a hot window or just a dislike based on taste. As soon as that corked was installed on the bottling line it was damaged. So that should not be part of the discussion or rational not to replace it in this case.

I don’t know any wine company that won’t replace a corked wine. Some may want you to send the bottle or just the cork back, some won’t. Regardless, for a bottle that expensive this is horrible customer service. I certainly hope it was just a mistake by an employee that didn’t know better. I would reach out to their customer service at corporate and politely inquire about a replacement and that you’ll drop the bottle of at any of their Gaia locations for them to check it.