When a product says “Money-Back Guarantee” on the label, it’s not out of line to assume that you’ll get your money back if you don’t like it, right? That’s what one Sam’s Club customer thought when he bought some seriously subpar house-brand vodka at the liquor store at his local Sam’s Club. The problem: the store, corporate, and the distillery disagreed about who should honor that guarantee.
The vodka was Member’s Mark brand, the brand for generic products at Sam’s Club stores. You would think that before putting a money-back satisfaction guarantee on the label, the company would figure out who’s responsible for honoring it. Apparently, no one has ever complained about this vodka, which is difficult to believe. The customer, who eventually contacted CBS Sacramento’s Kurtis Ming, said that he found the drink “sour” and flavorless, which is a bad combination.
He brought it back to the store, which is how such a guarantee from a store brand should work. Sam’s Club employees told him that it’s illegal to accept returns of alcoholic beverages. (It isn’t.) The store sent him to corporate, and company representatives said that they would put him in touch with the distillery. They didn’t.
It took contacting the local CBS affiliate to force Sam’s Club to actually do anything about the subpar bottle. They accepted it back and gave the customer an extra $25 gift card, which was very nice.
He took his refund over to Costco’s liquor store to buy some vodka from their house brand, Kirkland.
Call Kurtis: Sam’s Club Wouldn’t Stand By Vodka Money-Back Guarantee [CBS Sacramento]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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