What would you do if this happened?

Bamber19

Since when has alcoholism been a financial issue, all this would have meant possibly is that the alcoholic would have got a slightly more expensive wine than normal.

antrobus

I'm constantly surprised by the number of people on MSE who have 'friends' with 'problems' who are apparently unable to ask for advice or help themselves.

Jon_01 wrote: »

I've suggested that he contacts AA, his local TV and newspapers and gets them as much bad PR as possible.

I'd suggest that the friend doesn't contact anyone at all. Not unless he wants the whole world to know that he is both, a) an alcoholic, and b) a complete twonk, that is.

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

somethingcorporate wrote: »

What potential harm? Come on be sensible here - how many alcohol adverts are on the TV / magazines etc every day?

My thoughts are if the guy is soooo deeply harmed by such a tiny error then his problems need more than a book to solve.

It's a little bit in poor taste but is obviously a simple error. I find it amazing at the petty things we westerners get so hacked off about when in the scheme of things they are less than nothing.

Not to mention the fact that he would probably have to order the wine off the internet and wait for at least a week for it all to be delivered. What kind of alcoholic is that? But nevermind that, there's money to be made here, maybe some tin pot local newspaper might turn the OP into a minor celebrity for 5 minutes.

967stuart

Jon_01 wrote: »

I'm posting this for a friend as he doesn't know what to do and is very angry (which is an understatement).

His wife ordered from an online store a copy of Alcoholics Anonymous Big Book.
Clearly I don't need to go into the reasons why she ordered this.

My mate took the package in and was horrified when he opened it to find that on top of the book was a voucher for £X off wine!

He was on the phone to the supplier within minutes, the persons he spoke to had to pass it up the chain and next day he had an answer that it was an automatic system and everything they sent got the same marketing stuff and that's the way they do it...

Understandably not happy he went up the chain himself and had an email basicly saying sorry and here 15 quid!

They seem totally unaware of the potential harm this could have caused and don't seem at all bothered.

I've suggested that he contacts AA, his local TV and newspapers and gets them as much bad PR as possible.

Any thoughts guys?

I think your friend needs to get a sense of humor.

SandC

Those wines offers are still far too expensive for your average alcoholic to bother with. Plus they would have to wait for delivery.

Pickers on lines at Amazon must pass through thousands and thousands of books every shift. No way have they got time to even notice most of the titles of the books. Besides which, the people putting the marketing offers in will be a whole separate area and if they notice any book titles at all it will only be the one on top - or are they supposed to sift through the package first?

Extremely generous of Amazon in my opinion.

biscit

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Your friend has done the right thing by complaining and I hope he tore the voucher up.

I don't think many people are suggesting otherwise. I think he was right to complain, but the apology and £15 are a resonable and proportional response to the complaint.

Fuzzy_Duck

pitkin2020 wrote: »

The box would have been packaged by hand though so it shouldn't have been put in common sense would tell you that. Someone has ordered the book to try and get some help, self help and having a tempting offer placed in the box is just cruel and irresponsible. If this person has a serious alcohol problem they maybe avoiding going out etc to avoid the temptation so to have it handed to them isn't on.

Do they stick discount voucers in for donuts and cakes to people who buy weight watchers book etc.

Your friend has done the right thing by complaining and I hope he tore the voucher up. Yes temptation is everywhere but it doesn't mean even more should be forced on you when you are trying to get help.

As SandC says, the people packing are hardly likely to look at the books and vouchers they're packing. Their job is to pack as quickly as possible; that doesn't leave them time to look at the book titles. Also, again as SandC has mentioned, the vouchers are probably inserted elsewhere.

Personally I think Amazon were very kind giving a £15 voucher as well as an apology. We're all bombarded with ads every day after all- if a voucher for cheap wine is enough to cause a relapse how does he cope turning on the TV or venturing outside? It would of been far better to try and see the funny side imo, or failing that rip up the voucher and shove it in the bin.

fiendishly

Dave101t wrote: »

maybe a recovering alcoholic may want to celebrate with wine?

Priceless Dave :rotfl:

Gavin83

What solution does your 'friend' want exactly?

Dreamnine

Why buy the book online anyway? They are sold at meetings.