unexpected cost of a bottle of wine

liquidity_2

A group of 3 of us recently went out to dinner at a restaurant in Scotland. We ordered a bottle of wine at £28 (as it happens the most expensive bottle on the wine list save for the Champagne) and the waiter returned a few minutes later to say they had sold out of that wine and offered us a different one that was, in his words, "a little bit more". Those were his exact words. We had our meal which was fine but were shocked to find the bottle of wine (not on the wine list) to be priced at £60. We brought this to the waiter's attention and he grudgingly took £10 off the bill but wouldn't budge beyond that. He dodged the question of how much "a little bit" more meant and equally dodged the argument that having a £28 bottle as teh most expensive wine on their wine list sort of calibrated our expectation as to what to pay. The manager was equally useless and as it was getting late we paid the bill under duress via credit card and left.

It was not clear to me if the waiter knew about the real price when he offered us the alternate bottle of wine. He also inferred the £10 would be coming out of his pocket. I don't have much sympathy though - he literally made us pay for his ignorance (at best) or sharp practice (at worst).

I can write the the owner a letter/email which will probably get a stiff ignoring. I can leave a bad review on trip advisor.

But more importantly, do I have any sort of leg to stand on with putting a claim in via the credit card company?

Thanks in advance for any advice. No sympathy needed - lesson learned - next time will happily be willing to be seen as cheap and mean and ask the price beforehand if it's not clear. The wine was good by the way but we would not have wished to spend £60 on it!

Name of the restaurant will not be supplied but will say it's in the centre of Arbroath which is not where you expect to find £60 bottles of wine on the list.

powerful_Rogue

Not a leg to stand on i'm afraid.

You didn't ask the price at the time and have now obviously drunk the wine.

Lesson learnt, move on from it.

cono1717

Did you write on any bill that they kept that the bill was paid under duress? This could be useful later otherwise its he said she said, ultimately if you had a nice night you need to decide if its worth all the hassle for £20? Next time ask the price before accepting.

melanzana

Sorry, but if that happens always ask what the price is.

I don't know what redress you might have, but you drank it just the same.

powerful_Rogue

cono1717 wrote: »

Did you write on any bill that they kept that the bill was paid under duress? This could be useful later otherwise its he said she said, ultimately if you had a nice night you need to decide if its worth all the hassle for £20? Next time ask the price before accepting.

Paid under duress?

That's the second time that has cropped up in as many days. Is this the new 'get out' clause people are using?

cono1717

Not a get out clause just a way to say you were not happy with the situation that occurred before you paid. Helps to eradicate the my word against yours scenario. Doesn't mean the OP has a leg to stand on in this case, but in general cases it can help.

Marktheshark

Mark up on restaurant wine is about 800% on average.
Mostly it is purchased from wine merchants who have rounds and is usually unheard of brands from small producers.

The Small producers are usually paid less than a dollar per bottle.

On the cost, get it in writing next time, not as if a waiter has nothing to write on at hand is it.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

Paid under duress?

That's the second time that has cropped up in as many days. Is this the new 'get out' clause people are using?

it sounds like there were a couple of heavies standing beside OP, just to make sure it was paid.

DomRavioli

OP, the definition of Duress is "threats, violence, constraints, or other action used to coerce someone into doing something against their will or better judgement.".

So no.

naedanger

liquidity wrote: »

A group of 3 of us recently went out to dinner at a restaurant in Scotland. We ordered a bottle of wine at £28 (as it happens the most expensive bottle on the wine list save for the Champagne) and the waiter returned a few minutes later to say they had sold out of that wine and offered us a different one that was, in his words, "a little bit more". Those were his exact words. We had our meal which was fine but were shocked to find the bottle of wine (not on the wine list) to be priced at £60. We brought this to the waiter's attention and he grudgingly took £10 off the bill but wouldn't budge beyond that. He dodged the question of how much "a little bit" more meant and equally dodged the argument that having a £28 bottle as teh most expensive wine on their wine list sort of calibrated our expectation as to what to pay. The manager was equally useless and as it was getting late we paid the bill under duress via credit card and left.

It was not clear to me if the waiter knew about the real price when he offered us the alternate bottle of wine. He also inferred the £10 would be coming out of his pocket. I don't have much sympathy though - he literally made us pay for his ignorance (at best) or sharp practice (at worst).

I can write the the owner a letter/email which will probably get a stiff ignoring. I can leave a bad review on trip advisor.

But more importantly, do I have any sort of leg to stand on with putting a claim in via the credit card company?

Thanks in advance for any advice. No sympathy needed - lesson learned - next time will happily be willing to be seen as cheap and mean and ask the price beforehand if it's not clear. The wine was good by the way but we would not have wished to spend £60 on it!

Name of the restaurant will not be supplied but will say it's in the centre of Arbroath which is not where you expect to find £60 bottles of wine on the list.

Unlike others, I think you have a valid complaint.

You were told the price would be "a little bit more". Therefore I do not believe a court would force you to pay more than what a reasonable person would believe this to be given all the circumstances that were known to you at the time. I would have thought £35 would have been more than sufficient.

Personally I doubt I would pursue the matter for the amount involved, other than possibly writing a letter of complaint.

(I am also surprised at how uncommercial the restaurant were.)

Hintza

powerful_Rogue wrote: »

Paid under duress?

That's the second time that has cropped up in as many days. Is this the new 'get out' clause people are using?

Is that not when the two guys in front of you have black suits, sunglasses, baseball bat and cut throat razor? I suppose it can be anything nowadays if it encroaches on some snowflake's safe space.


OP I would be raging and I would be talking to the owner (as high up the tree that you can go) if he says tough luck then write a few reviews and tell all your friends.