Wife asked for Malibu and they gave a cheap alternative

neilmcl

SuperHan wrote: »

I'm not sure there is anything wrong with this, just because it's common practice, and surely someone would have picked up on it before? (Obviously not conclusively indicative that it's within the law, before anyone says).

Did they have Malibu on show, or a menu saying Malibu was available. I drink Archers normally, but in most night clubs I will get a cheap peach schnapps, which never tastes as good. I don't complain though, because when I ask for an Archers, I really just want the closest approximation, or Archers if it's available.

If they had said we don't do Malibu, will coconut rum do, what would she have said?

I'm not sure it's trade descriptions as they didn't describe it as Malibu as such?

Contact TS by all means, but personally I don't know if you'll get very far. It would be intriguing to know though!

So going on from your argument, if you went into a pub and asked for a pint of Stella but was given a pint of Fosters instead, would you think that OK?

The OP's missus asked for a Malibu and coke but was given, notice I didn't say "offered", a cheap alternative. If She hadn't have seen them pour it she'd be none the wiser.

SuperHan

neilmcl wrote: »

So going on from your argument, if you went into a pub and asked for a pint of Stella but was given a pint of Fosters instead, would you think that OK?

The OP's missus asked for a Malibu and coke but was given, notice I didn't say "offered", a cheap alternative. If She hadn't have seen them pour it she'd be none the wiser.

I'm not saying it's okay - it's annoying when it happens, because there have been times when I would have ordered something else if I'd known it wasn't Archers.

However, I'd say about 95% of the time, it doesn't really matter, and everyone would be happy.

If she'd have been none the wiser, surely that's even less grounds for complaint!!

I just wouldn't have paid for the drink once I saw it was a cheaper version and ordered something else instead...

I'm not a lager drinker though... They could put anything in a glass and tell me it was Stella and I'd believe them

globetraveller

Contact the bar owner directly and put your view across. It looks like someone has been poorly trained. They didn't try to pass it off as Malibu when confronted and it wasn't a Malibu bottle but its obviously wrong to automatically give this without offering it.
See what their reply is and then take it further if need be.

rachhh

I work in a nightclub that use a cheaper version of jager for 'jagerbombs'. We can't say they're jagerbombs and our signs say 'Jung bombs', but if someone asks for a Jagerbomb we can serve them 'our' version without having to correct every single person.
Trading standards have said this is ok, as long as the bottle is clearly there and we never call it jager ourselves as bar staff.

fluffnutter

I bet they tasted exactly the same. Especially when drowned in coke.

boo_star

rachhh wrote: »

I work in a nightclub that use a cheaper version of jager for 'jagerbombs'. We can't say they're jagerbombs and our signs say 'Jung bombs', but if someone asks for a Jagerbomb we can serve them 'our' version without having to correct every single person.
Trading standards have said this is ok, as long as the bottle is clearly there and we never call it jager ourselves as bar staff.

Presumably because jägerbomb isn't a registered trademark, you might expect jägermeister in it but it's probably not something that can be reasonably enforced (the brand name being jagermeister in this case.)

"Malibu" is unambiguous however, it is a brand name and the bar should either provide actual Malibu or inform the customer that it won't be Malibu, but a coconut rum.

It's passing off and can land them in trouble.

bod1467

Skivey wrote: »

The wife came to me last night after a night out really annoyed that she went to a bar and asked for malibu and coke and they serverd her a cheap knock off.

Can you clarify whether they just served the alternative without saying, or whether they mentioned it was an alternative before serving it? (This is not totally clear from your post).

fluffnutter

bod1467 wrote: »

Can you clarify whether they just served the alternative without saying, or whether they mentioned it was an alternative before serving it? (This is not totally clear from your post).

I was wondering this. Because if they mentioned it before serving, then they've certainly done nothing wrong and the OP's OH would have had an opportunity to say 'I'd rather have malibu please'. Even if they didn't mention it, she's clearly aware of the swap (else why the thread in the first place) so why didn't she just say 'I asked for malibu. Could you change it please?' when the drink was given to her?

TBH, I don't really understand how you can be served a drink you didn't ask for if you're aware of the fact. Surely you'd just ask for what you did want and that's the end of it...?

Seems like a whole load of chuntering for nothing, particularly as it must be easy to resolve there and then.

pulliptears

Ooooo what is the cheap version of Jager then? I do love a shot of Jagermeister, never understood why people add stuff to it because it's just gorgeous on its own.

mo786uk

You need to understand the law the control misleading behaviour in business to consumer contracts - its about engaging in a practice likely to mislead - not necessarily being caught once misleading someone

So even if the OP noticed it wasn't Malibu they could still be committing an offence if their practice is to put in non Malibu all the time and it is only seen by some customers.