Does anyone have any idea why a shop would want to adopt this policy?
I picked up two bottles of wine, discounted to £44 for the two. At the till I was told it's their policy to only sell wines and spirits if there are at least six per customer. Oh... Erm.... He then said I could buy some cheap wine to make the numbers up, to which I replied I wouldn't drink it anyway, so that's a silly idea. I walked away, came home, and ordered it off the net through Amazon.
I took a gander at the Majestic website, and in the FAQs it says something about their knowledge and service being the reason a customer must buy at least six bottles. Well, bye bye, I don't agree.
Grrr. Rant over. It's Saturday, and I'm going out tonight with an ol mate for a hot curry and a few beers. Tissues and a cup of water in the fridge already!
Tony
Posted on: 14 February 2014 by rodwsmith
No, what they sell to Aldi is costing them a few pennies.
They will be a lot more discriminating about what goes down their own throats.
Posted on: 14 February 2014 by tonym
Thanks for your usual very informative posts Rod. I'm with you completely with regard to the cost of wine; I guess the difficulty is for us ordinary punters is trying to work out, from wine that costs £8+ a bottle, what's good because unfortunately, even in the £20+ bracket, some is pretty poor stuff. That's where a good wine merchant scores of course.
I've always regarded wine as a luxury and drink it on that basis. As they say, life's too short to waste it on drinking poor wine!
There's a great deal of pleasure in shopping for wine in a decent wine merchants and every year I make a point of popping down to Ley & Wheelers in Colchester for their annual wine sale. A couple of years ago I arrived early & the old Mr Wheeler very kindly took me round the shop, and after quizzing me on the types of wine I liked (all of them...) pointed out various wines he recommended. He was very kind and patient and I ended up with some delicious wine, many bottles being returns from the various restaurants & hotels who Lay & Wheeler supply.
Posted on: 14 February 2014 by luka
Yes rodwsmith John A did build up this business but from v humble beginnings and has ploughed much back into charitable causes since the Bejam days!All credit to him.
Posted on: 18 February 2014 by Loki
rodwsmith: Frightening isn't it!?
Since buying from Averys 7 years ago we've never looked back. Like the WS we can order as many or as few wines as possible. We also have our own personal wine advisor who can guide us into new territory, knowing what we like/dislike and if we don't like the wine we get our money back. I order a lot of wine, some for functions in Valhalla, so a good deal is usually a positive bonus.
Quite impressed with Berry Brothers and Rudd too. I would like to be impressed with the WS ( i agree with their core principles) but the few bottles I've had from them (gifts to the gods) were poor.
I shan't be shopping at Majestic any time soon!
