BC’s Liquor Two Tiered Liquor System: Part 1 Product Returns & Refunds

Dear Reader;

What follows is an excerpt from an e-mail conversation I had with a customer regarding bringing back a product that the customer broke in their carport. It showcases one of the many inequities in B.C.’s Liquor system.

This will be the first in a series that showcases that BC indeed has a two-tiered liquor system that benefits neither government revenue, the taxpayer, the customer, nor the social, health and ecducation programs that are funded through liquor taxes. 

Full disclosure: I am the buyer for a chain of private liquor stores, that would, as in any other industry, benefit from the closure of its main competition. With that in mind let it be understood that neither I, nor the company I work for, advocate the the closure of any BC Government Liquor Stores or its distribution centre. Rather we simply advocate that the rules of operation be the same for BC Liquor Stores and Private Liquor Stores.

What this series endeavours to prove is that a level playing field will actually benefit all stakeholders more than maintaing or expanding the system as it currently stands. This means make all rules of purchasing, distribution, advertising, and returns the same for all parties as regulated by a third party not controlled by either. We also suggest that at present there is neither a commercial nor ‘public’ good served by exanding the number of private liquor stores.

 Sue;

 It is a fair question. As a sales people both of us work on a ‘don’t ask don’t get’ basis, I admire the question.

 The question also gives me the opportunity to showcase a little more the inequity by which the liquor industry works in B.C.

 A few weeks back I had a similar question posed. I called my supplier for spirits, the BC LDB, yes the same one that operates my main competition the BCLDB, and asked them “if I take this back can I send it back to you given that if it went through a Gov’t store the LDB would simply charge it back to the supplier as a cost of doing business?” Expecting the answer ‘of course’ you can imagine my surprise when the answer was “No – bought it, it is your problem.”

 So I decided to call 6 local BC Liquor Stores and ask them the same question. The answers did not surprise me “Sure, just bring it back  and you can get another bottle or your money back.” My reply “But I don’t have my receipt.” Their answer “No problem we simply charge it back to the supplier and they pay for it.” What followed was the sound of my jaw dropping.

 Today I spoke with a colleague who had a customer who bought a bottle or premium German Riesling with the intention of hanging on to it for a special occasion. Four months passed and in walked the customer with the bottle in hand. The bottle was full less 2 glasses. The customer recognized my colleague and went and showed the bottle and said “too bad but it was corked.” Corked, if you didn’t know, happens to about 7% of all corked finished wines. There is no way to tell if a wine is corked by its appearance; you have to open it, smell it and taste it. What happens is that a bacteria that hadn’t been cleaned out the cork migrates into the wine and, in most cases, dampens or mutes the flavours. In moderate cases it makes them smell musty or ‘funky’, and in the worst case, the wine smells strongly of cork. Anyway the point is that there is no way to tell a wine is corked simply by looking at it, and there is no obligation on behalf of the customer to drink the wine within 2 weeks.

 You may be asking why two weeks. The BCLDB only allows Private Retailers to return corked or damaged (un-sellable) bottles within 2 weeks of the invoice date.

 The moral of the story is 1) try to take it back to an BC LDB store as they are not likely to require a receipt or any proof of purchase, yet they will refund or replace the bottle. 2) that the system is neither fair to private retailers, nor to the customer, nor the taxpayers, nor the social programs that Liquor taxes help fund. 

A fair system would not refund or replace all broken product, nor would it forbid some of its stakeholders from offering refunds/replacments while allowing others to freely offer refunds or replacemnts. No, a fair system would have to the same rules for all retailers in BC, while insuring accountability of staff, suppliers, distributors and customers.

In a time when the BC Government is squeezing all ministries and programs for every penny, it seems strange that they haven’t considered that they lose and etimated $2M/year to false refunds and replacements through BC LDB stores. Granted this is a small amount in relation to having $2.3B in annual revenues, but it would be enough to prevent cuts to arts, sports and seniors organizations.

Here is the link to the official BC Liquor Store Policy http://www.bcliquorstores.com/en/customerservice/productreturns Clearly ideal for posting on a webiste but not actually practiced at store level and ignored at BCLDB head office in Vancouver.

I look forward to your comments.

Enjoy, Trust your Taste, and Drink Responsibly.

Cheers
Rod Phillips
Buyer- Liquor Plus