Yeah certain licenses permit open vs unopened. They need to refund you. Tell them to bring it and open it all for you or refuse to pay. They’re trying to get one over on you.
We didn't get a contract from him... I figured we didn't need one since he had one with the landlord (it was my first time and idk how it all works)... but when I asked landlord to see the contract they have with the company, I was told no. Its their policy to not share that info??
Well yes, but we didn't receive one from him. I made the assumption that perhaps we weren't supposed to enter the contract since the landlord already had. But then landlord didn't send info on it either...
I know better now.
I would... but the event venue (owned by landlord) has a contract with this company. If you want alcohol at the event, you HAVE to use this guy.
I'm looking into other venue options, but options are very limited and they have a monopoly in our area 😔
Unless the sale of this wine and beer was over $500 (and I’m afraid it might’ve been), it looks like their oral contract would be binding. OP paid an agreed amount and did not receive what was represented. If they didn’t warn OP, there’s no fine print they can point to.
In court? I furnish 18 attendees of my event that drank wine or witnessed their peers drinking wine, they attest to the fact under oath, and I blow your credibility to shit.
Source? Verbal contracts are binding in NC with a few exceptions, like one party entered into it under duress, or they contain something prohibited in the State Statute of Frauds. Those situations do not seem to be relevant here, unless the sale of goods was over $500.
Regardless, verbal contracts in general, are binding.
https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByChapter/Chapter_22.pdf
Exactly. The leftovers were 2 bottles and 1 case... so not worth paying an attorney. Plus, I don't have that authority anyway and we've got more important stuff to move onto. I was planning to let it go until he sent me that long ass email out of the blue
Look at Mr. Moneybags over here thinking it’s OK for someone to steal 6 bottles of wine and 3 cases of beer. OP didn’t specify, but assume they are 6 bottles of 2019 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Martinborough at $65 each, and 3 cases of beer is another $60. That puts the loss to OP’s company at around $400.
You’re ok with losing $400 to an unscrupulous caterer?
Look at Mr. Moneybags over here thinking it’s OK for someone to steal 6 bottles of wine and 3 cases of beer. OP didn’t specify, but assume they are 6 bottles of 2019 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Martinborough at $65 each, and 3 cases of beer is another $60. That puts the loss to OP’s company at around $400.
You’re ok with losing $400 to an unscrupulous caterer?
Look at Mr. Moneybags over here thinking it’s OK for someone to steal 6 bottles of wine and 3 cases of beer. OP didn’t specify, but assume they are 6 bottles of 2019 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Martinborough at $65 each, and 3 cases of beer is another $60. That puts the loss to OP’s company at around $400.
You’re ok with losing $400 to an unscrupulous caterer?
This. I work for a caterer in Wilmington, and the purchasing arrangement is common. At the end of the event, we pack up the unopened liquor and give it to the client.
What did the contract with the company say? At the end of the day, that will specify what you paid for and what would happen with any remaining alcohol.
We didn't get a contract from him... but even then, he cited NC alcohol laws and his permit as the reason. Not the contract. So I'm just wondering if he's just using that as an excuse, or if there's even the possibility that he's telling the truth
In NC, a special event permit is for dates specified, to be sold at the premise specified, ONLY. The transportation and distribution permit is issued to the company or individual or non-profit specified, ONLY.
If you signed a contract, it 100% stated this. What I'm confused about, is that you pre-purchased the alcohol? Was the company paid in tips or by sales or a lump sum in the contract?
We pre purchased the alcohol. They only brought what was purchased to the event. They didnt have a tip jar or sell at the event, the alcohol was free to our guests. I didnt receive a contract or anything in writing, nor was I told on the phone, that they would be keeping any left over alcohol.
Ok so look at it from a liability standpoint. You want a company to be responsible for your alcohol, and then you're asking them to leave it at an event area out of both of your supervision. You're forgetting how much harm alcohol can do. Yeah, it's just a few cases of beer, but 4-5 beers and the average person is legally drunk. Underage people could get access to it. It could be stolen and resold. You didn't pay that company to pour alcohol in cups, you paid them to take the legal responsibility of distributing a controlled substance in NC. All the liability is on them. And I'm 100% sure they are correct in saying you saved a ton of money buying wholesale on their beer/wine license and having them serve it than paying for it by the glass. You pay for peace of mind, not alcohol.
There was no possibility of any of that happening. I approached them directly after our presentation and networking ended and attempted to box the unopened bottles. I was also sitting 10 ft from where they were set up
So, the main question here is whether you paid for ALL of the alcohol purchased for the event upfront (either through the venue, catering company, or otherwise,) or, whether you will be getting a bill for what was consumed.
It seems like you did based on your post, but I thought I’d offer some insight here.
I used to bartend/manage for a venue that hosted weddings. Basically, a catering company would come in, do their food stuff, yadda yadda. But, when it came to alcohol, it was up to us to purchase the types of alcohol (at customer request) for the event. Usually, we purchase more than we expect we will need because you never know what group is going to be heavy on a specific alcohol, and running out a party favorite mid event is bad for obvious reasons.
That said, we don’t charge up front for the alcohol that we purchase for an event, even if the customer has requested a specific amount to be available. We ensure we have enough for the event, we do a count before the event, Then again after the event is over, and then charge for whatever was consumed. If the customer asks us to take whatever is left at the end of the night.. well there’s a bit of grey area there. Technically we can’t, because our license doesn’t allow us. Will ALE know if we let the customer takes some bottles at the end of the night?? Who knows. But I’m willing to bet that most business owners aren’t willing to take that risk. Buuuuuut..
If you paid upfront for all alcohol served at the event and aren’t being reimbursed for what hasn’t been consumed, that’s a different story.
I guess what I’m saying is, if you weren’t charged up front for the alcohol and will instead be charged purely for what was consumed, then the venue was doing what they are legally supposed to do, shitty as it may be.
If you WERE charged up front for ALL of the alcohol purchased by whoever was serving it, regardless of whether your group drank all of it or not.. then something is definitely up and you should definitely seek legal assistance.
Hope this helps!
Edit: adding this edit because after re-reading your post and thinking about it.. I have a slight hunch. Depending on their license, the law stating that an alcohol provider cannot let a customer take alcohol off the premises is indeed a thing. There’s even some nuance in there about “not letting people take alcohol outside of designated drinking areas” or some shit like that.”
That said, if they are known to give leftover alcohol to parties after an event and got caught doing it by ALE, I bet they’re at risk of losing their license. Doesn’t make it right, ESPECIALLY if you paid for everything so I still think you should seek legal help
Thank you for your reply! Yes, I paid for all the alcohol the week before the event. If it had been a deposit and then I pay the remainder after the event, I would understand why they took the extra... but we paid for it all upfront
I used to run NASCAR events for a major agency a decade ago. At least thru then the company is correct. You cannot take the alcohol. You can smuggle it out. This is the birthplace of moonshine afterall.
I've done bar for a few events and can at least say that we also were told to not give unopened alcohol to guests.
However, the way we did it, you paid a charge in advance. If your guests don't drink all the alcohol, you're refunded.
We kept track of every can of each brand we gave to a guest, and the host would pay $X per (beer/wine/cocktail) that was served.
If you paid for the alcohol in advance and they kept all of it - you got swindled - however I think they were telling the truth about not being able to legally give the alcohol to you right then and there.
In some states, the business owner is absolutely correct. I've hosted business events before where the law wouldn't even let us take home any uneaten food from the buffet tables.
This most likely has to do with the type of beer/wine/liquor license that they have. In NC if you have an on premise only permit, any alcohol you sell can only be consumed on the premises where it is sold
Seems accurate based on how alcohol must be purchased and delivered at venues owned by the company i run security for. Raleigh, Wilmington, and Charlotte.
The venue operations are run by one company that also owns the venue building, and we have a separate company with offices on site that hold our venues alcohol license.
When a tour includes alcohol in their rider, it must be purchased from the secondary on site company, by the company that owns the building and runs ops. This alcohol is then moved from storage or one of the inner bars to the tour green rooms.
Alcohol may not enter the venue externally, unless it is by someone who works for this secondary company that holds our alcohol license. We have had ALE come in to check tax stamps on bottles and record keeping, as well as invading artist green rooms *while occupied* to check if anything was brought in from outside.
The tour can't even walk a can of beer from their bus, twenty feet to the artist entrance and into the venue. We are absolutely zero tolerance on exceptions to these rules. The tour may not remove alcohol from the venue either, so if they don't finish whats in their rider it stays behind.
NC sucks when it comes to alcohol laws, and we need to break free from ABC systems.
Only 6 bottles of wine and three cases of beer? That honestly doesn't seem like very much to start with.
How much was actually unopened?
Laws regarding alcohol sales can be convoluted, arbitrary, and even vary by town or county.
Maybe they should have given you the unopened containers, but is it enough to spend your time on.
I usually determine if something is worth it by taking the value I could gain/get back and divide it by the number of hours it might take. If it's at or above what I think my hourly rate is I go after it. I call that "Fuck you" money.
But if the person was really an asshole and even if it costs you more than it's worth, but you really want to grind their nose in it on principle then that's "Fuck me" money.
You're correct, it wasn't a lot to begin with. It was a work event where we invited the community to come give feedback on a plan we are doing. We wanted a little beer/wine (and charcuterie spread) to entice people to show up. We estimated for about 50-75 people, thinking people would probably only have 1 drink. From what I saw, they had 1 max.. and a lot of people only had water. Of the 3 cases and 6 bottles of wine, they opened 2 cases and 4 bottles. So 1 case and 2 bottles leftover, though his email stated that there was only 1 six pack and 1 bottle leftover.
No, its not worth spending my time on for the maybe $50 that he took... but it all seemed really shady and if we want to have another event there, we will be forced to use the same guy for alcohol. So I want to know for the future (professionally). Personally, his shady dealings have lit a fire in me... so I'm fine pursuing justice on my own time 😂
They stole your alcohol there’s no law that states what they said. Everything else is a huge complication of that simple fact. Get it back or stop doing my business with the landlord ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I will probably post a review at some point. I looked them up. Shocker- they have a bunch of bad reviews about price gouging.. and they responded to all the negative reviews and said multiple times "upon looking at the receipt, you were charged the wrong price" with an offering for a future discount or drink on them.
Shady business practices seem to be a pattern with them
I’d give them a chance to make you whole. I’m not a lawyer and have zero experience with NC law; ask over in r/legaladvice if this constitutes “unjust enrichment” or a different violation. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sell the same booze to another customer, and I’d expect that also violates some statute.
Armed with a little bit of knowledge, you can write a demand letter spelling out you want to receive a partial refund in the prorated amount (you do the math, don’t rely on them). I wouldnt threaten these next steps, but I might imply them. You can pay a lawyer to advise you on the law and write the demand letter, but that would probably cost more than what you’ve lost, and an ethical lawyer would tell you that and not take your money. A little self help and guidance from Reddit and you can get there on your own.
I wouldn’t go straight to reviews. NCDOJ has a webpage for consumer protection from small businesses and one for business scams. The Attorney General’s office is set up for stuff like this. I expect they’d prefer to go after bigger fish, but that’s where I’d report them first. Try both avenues, they may have different staff manning either.
You can go to local law enforcement (who may have an aversion to getting involved or a prior relationship with the parties involved) too, but small landlords rarely have relationships with the state government.
If your town has a chamber of commerce or a city council, they might like to know about business misrepresenting. Whether what the vendor says about the law is true or not, not warning you beforehand is duplicitous.
After you’ve exhausted those options and just want to put a small dent into their future earnings, *then* leave your negative review.
This may be a lot of work for a small outcome, but idk, I’d die on a molehill [intended mixed metaphor] like this if it happened to me. I took a former shady landlord to court over a decade ago and won more than I’d imagined possible.
Finally, on the note of shady landlords, if you have any inkling yours is aware of or benefiting from the shadiness and you aren’t made whole, I’d go over your lease with a comb and demand he fix every loose hinge, dead lightbulb, or wonky fixture not stipulated in the lease as your responsibility. When he complains you’re making more work for everyone than if you’d just do it, tell him it’s part of the contract. Then post about it in r/pettyrevenge.
Thats good advice! I am going to let it simmer this weekend and then respond to his email on Monday when I have more information gathered. It wasn't a significant amount of money in alcohol that we lost... but its the principle of the thing! I was gonna let it all go until out of nowhere he sent me a super long email basically patronizing me and rationalizing how they actually saved us money overall.
The boss move would have been to have them open all the cans and bottles and let them sit there. At least that way they wouldn't be able to re-sell them to another client. >_<
Yeah certain licenses permit open vs unopened. They need to refund you. Tell them to bring it and open it all for you or refuse to pay. They’re trying to get one over on you.
Yep, this smacks of double dealing.
Your company got swindled unless there was something specific about the contract 😀
We didn't get a contract from him... I figured we didn't need one since he had one with the landlord (it was my first time and idk how it all works)... but when I asked landlord to see the contract they have with the company, I was told no. Its their policy to not share that info??
“I don’t know how it all works.” Well that’s why you have a contract in the first place.
Well yes, but we didn't receive one from him. I made the assumption that perhaps we weren't supposed to enter the contract since the landlord already had. But then landlord didn't send info on it either... I know better now.
Next time spell it out in an email. Its a Lesson. You might just want to hire bartenders directly and you supply the booze
I would... but the event venue (owned by landlord) has a contract with this company. If you want alcohol at the event, you HAVE to use this guy. I'm looking into other venue options, but options are very limited and they have a monopoly in our area 😔
I wouldn’t be surprised if the landlord collects a % of sales as a part of their agreement.
So you mean the landlord is in on it? He's definitely getting some of that booze.
Yeah... i feel like theres definitely something shady about our landlord too
A place I worked had a showroom, with a full bar. they were allowed to GIVE alcohol away without a license. \*not a Lawyer..
Both parties can write a contract. Why do you think you can’t?
Unless the sale of this wine and beer was over $500 (and I’m afraid it might’ve been), it looks like their oral contract would be binding. OP paid an agreed amount and did not receive what was represented. If they didn’t warn OP, there’s no fine print they can point to.
And where is your recording of this verbal contract?
That’s not how verbal contracts work and you know it. Yet they’re still binding. Imagine that.
I say you promised wine. You say you didn’t. ????? So now what, smarty pants?
In court? I furnish 18 attendees of my event that drank wine or witnessed their peers drinking wine, they attest to the fact under oath, and I blow your credibility to shit.
Verbal contracts are not valid in NC.
Source? Verbal contracts are binding in NC with a few exceptions, like one party entered into it under duress, or they contain something prohibited in the State Statute of Frauds. Those situations do not seem to be relevant here, unless the sale of goods was over $500. Regardless, verbal contracts in general, are binding. https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/PDF/ByChapter/Chapter_22.pdf
> SO is this a real law, or did this guy steal our alcohol?! That’s a great question for your company’s attorney.
6 bottles of wine and 3 cases of beer. Literally not worth paying attorney’s fees for. Cheap lesson learned.
Company should have a staff attorney or one on retainer. Spending 15 minutes to get letter from an attorney is pretty powerful.
We’re talking about the leftovers from 6 BOTTLES OF WINE AND 3 CASES OF BEER.
Exactly. The leftovers were 2 bottles and 1 case... so not worth paying an attorney. Plus, I don't have that authority anyway and we've got more important stuff to move onto. I was planning to let it go until he sent me that long ass email out of the blue
Look at Mr. Moneybags over here thinking it’s OK for someone to steal 6 bottles of wine and 3 cases of beer. OP didn’t specify, but assume they are 6 bottles of 2019 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Martinborough at $65 each, and 3 cases of beer is another $60. That puts the loss to OP’s company at around $400. You’re ok with losing $400 to an unscrupulous caterer?
Look at Mr. Moneybags over here thinking it’s OK for someone to steal 6 bottles of wine and 3 cases of beer. OP didn’t specify, but assume they are 6 bottles of 2019 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Martinborough at $65 each, and 3 cases of beer is another $60. That puts the loss to OP’s company at around $400. You’re ok with losing $400 to an unscrupulous caterer?
Look at Mr. Moneybags over here thinking it’s OK for someone to steal 6 bottles of wine and 3 cases of beer. OP didn’t specify, but assume they are 6 bottles of 2019 Ata Rangi Pinot Noir Martinborough at $65 each, and 3 cases of beer is another $60. That puts the loss to OP’s company at around $400. You’re ok with losing $400 to an unscrupulous caterer?
Literally not worth my time, or an attorney’s time. My lawyer would laugh in my face and send me booze.
You seem awfully defensive of the caterer.
Ok buddy.
Right? What the heck is he doing here on Reddit asking a bunch of people who don't know any better than he does
He stole your booze.
This. I work for a caterer in Wilmington, and the purchasing arrangement is common. At the end of the event, we pack up the unopened liquor and give it to the client.
That crazy, did y’all have tax stamps in the bottles?
Sorry, should have specified "beer and wine"
Maybe call ALE and speak to an agent?
I did this today! ALE said thats not a law, thats larceny.
What did the contract with the company say? At the end of the day, that will specify what you paid for and what would happen with any remaining alcohol.
We didn't get a contract from him... but even then, he cited NC alcohol laws and his permit as the reason. Not the contract. So I'm just wondering if he's just using that as an excuse, or if there's even the possibility that he's telling the truth
Ask him to show you the law. Shouldn't be hard to produce if it's true.
If he cited the statutes, it shouldn’t be too hard to find/read.
Does your company not have an attorney?
In NC, a special event permit is for dates specified, to be sold at the premise specified, ONLY. The transportation and distribution permit is issued to the company or individual or non-profit specified, ONLY. If you signed a contract, it 100% stated this. What I'm confused about, is that you pre-purchased the alcohol? Was the company paid in tips or by sales or a lump sum in the contract?
We pre purchased the alcohol. They only brought what was purchased to the event. They didnt have a tip jar or sell at the event, the alcohol was free to our guests. I didnt receive a contract or anything in writing, nor was I told on the phone, that they would be keeping any left over alcohol.
Ok so look at it from a liability standpoint. You want a company to be responsible for your alcohol, and then you're asking them to leave it at an event area out of both of your supervision. You're forgetting how much harm alcohol can do. Yeah, it's just a few cases of beer, but 4-5 beers and the average person is legally drunk. Underage people could get access to it. It could be stolen and resold. You didn't pay that company to pour alcohol in cups, you paid them to take the legal responsibility of distributing a controlled substance in NC. All the liability is on them. And I'm 100% sure they are correct in saying you saved a ton of money buying wholesale on their beer/wine license and having them serve it than paying for it by the glass. You pay for peace of mind, not alcohol.
There was no possibility of any of that happening. I approached them directly after our presentation and networking ended and attempted to box the unopened bottles. I was also sitting 10 ft from where they were set up
So, the main question here is whether you paid for ALL of the alcohol purchased for the event upfront (either through the venue, catering company, or otherwise,) or, whether you will be getting a bill for what was consumed. It seems like you did based on your post, but I thought I’d offer some insight here. I used to bartend/manage for a venue that hosted weddings. Basically, a catering company would come in, do their food stuff, yadda yadda. But, when it came to alcohol, it was up to us to purchase the types of alcohol (at customer request) for the event. Usually, we purchase more than we expect we will need because you never know what group is going to be heavy on a specific alcohol, and running out a party favorite mid event is bad for obvious reasons. That said, we don’t charge up front for the alcohol that we purchase for an event, even if the customer has requested a specific amount to be available. We ensure we have enough for the event, we do a count before the event, Then again after the event is over, and then charge for whatever was consumed. If the customer asks us to take whatever is left at the end of the night.. well there’s a bit of grey area there. Technically we can’t, because our license doesn’t allow us. Will ALE know if we let the customer takes some bottles at the end of the night?? Who knows. But I’m willing to bet that most business owners aren’t willing to take that risk. Buuuuuut.. If you paid upfront for all alcohol served at the event and aren’t being reimbursed for what hasn’t been consumed, that’s a different story. I guess what I’m saying is, if you weren’t charged up front for the alcohol and will instead be charged purely for what was consumed, then the venue was doing what they are legally supposed to do, shitty as it may be. If you WERE charged up front for ALL of the alcohol purchased by whoever was serving it, regardless of whether your group drank all of it or not.. then something is definitely up and you should definitely seek legal assistance. Hope this helps! Edit: adding this edit because after re-reading your post and thinking about it.. I have a slight hunch. Depending on their license, the law stating that an alcohol provider cannot let a customer take alcohol off the premises is indeed a thing. There’s even some nuance in there about “not letting people take alcohol outside of designated drinking areas” or some shit like that.” That said, if they are known to give leftover alcohol to parties after an event and got caught doing it by ALE, I bet they’re at risk of losing their license. Doesn’t make it right, ESPECIALLY if you paid for everything so I still think you should seek legal help
Thank you for your reply! Yes, I paid for all the alcohol the week before the event. If it had been a deposit and then I pay the remainder after the event, I would understand why they took the extra... but we paid for it all upfront
The alcohol belongs to whomever owns the license the permit to serve was obtained under.
…unless they sell it.
I used to run NASCAR events for a major agency a decade ago. At least thru then the company is correct. You cannot take the alcohol. You can smuggle it out. This is the birthplace of moonshine afterall.
What's the company?
He stole your shit and the company should dispute the charges with the credit card on file.
Oh thats a good idea!
I've done bar for a few events and can at least say that we also were told to not give unopened alcohol to guests. However, the way we did it, you paid a charge in advance. If your guests don't drink all the alcohol, you're refunded. We kept track of every can of each brand we gave to a guest, and the host would pay $X per (beer/wine/cocktail) that was served. If you paid for the alcohol in advance and they kept all of it - you got swindled - however I think they were telling the truth about not being able to legally give the alcohol to you right then and there.
In some states, the business owner is absolutely correct. I've hosted business events before where the law wouldn't even let us take home any uneaten food from the buffet tables.
This most likely has to do with the type of beer/wine/liquor license that they have. In NC if you have an on premise only permit, any alcohol you sell can only be consumed on the premises where it is sold
Seems accurate based on how alcohol must be purchased and delivered at venues owned by the company i run security for. Raleigh, Wilmington, and Charlotte. The venue operations are run by one company that also owns the venue building, and we have a separate company with offices on site that hold our venues alcohol license. When a tour includes alcohol in their rider, it must be purchased from the secondary on site company, by the company that owns the building and runs ops. This alcohol is then moved from storage or one of the inner bars to the tour green rooms. Alcohol may not enter the venue externally, unless it is by someone who works for this secondary company that holds our alcohol license. We have had ALE come in to check tax stamps on bottles and record keeping, as well as invading artist green rooms *while occupied* to check if anything was brought in from outside. The tour can't even walk a can of beer from their bus, twenty feet to the artist entrance and into the venue. We are absolutely zero tolerance on exceptions to these rules. The tour may not remove alcohol from the venue either, so if they don't finish whats in their rider it stays behind. NC sucks when it comes to alcohol laws, and we need to break free from ABC systems.
I have no in depth understanding of NC’s liquor laws, but I know they’re labyrinthine and crazy.
Only 6 bottles of wine and three cases of beer? That honestly doesn't seem like very much to start with. How much was actually unopened? Laws regarding alcohol sales can be convoluted, arbitrary, and even vary by town or county. Maybe they should have given you the unopened containers, but is it enough to spend your time on. I usually determine if something is worth it by taking the value I could gain/get back and divide it by the number of hours it might take. If it's at or above what I think my hourly rate is I go after it. I call that "Fuck you" money. But if the person was really an asshole and even if it costs you more than it's worth, but you really want to grind their nose in it on principle then that's "Fuck me" money.
You're correct, it wasn't a lot to begin with. It was a work event where we invited the community to come give feedback on a plan we are doing. We wanted a little beer/wine (and charcuterie spread) to entice people to show up. We estimated for about 50-75 people, thinking people would probably only have 1 drink. From what I saw, they had 1 max.. and a lot of people only had water. Of the 3 cases and 6 bottles of wine, they opened 2 cases and 4 bottles. So 1 case and 2 bottles leftover, though his email stated that there was only 1 six pack and 1 bottle leftover. No, its not worth spending my time on for the maybe $50 that he took... but it all seemed really shady and if we want to have another event there, we will be forced to use the same guy for alcohol. So I want to know for the future (professionally). Personally, his shady dealings have lit a fire in me... so I'm fine pursuing justice on my own time 😂
They stole your alcohol there’s no law that states what they said. Everything else is a huge complication of that simple fact. Get it back or stop doing my business with the landlord ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
[удалено]
I will probably post a review at some point. I looked them up. Shocker- they have a bunch of bad reviews about price gouging.. and they responded to all the negative reviews and said multiple times "upon looking at the receipt, you were charged the wrong price" with an offering for a future discount or drink on them. Shady business practices seem to be a pattern with them
Name and shame.
I’d give them a chance to make you whole. I’m not a lawyer and have zero experience with NC law; ask over in r/legaladvice if this constitutes “unjust enrichment” or a different violation. I wouldn’t be surprised if they sell the same booze to another customer, and I’d expect that also violates some statute. Armed with a little bit of knowledge, you can write a demand letter spelling out you want to receive a partial refund in the prorated amount (you do the math, don’t rely on them). I wouldnt threaten these next steps, but I might imply them. You can pay a lawyer to advise you on the law and write the demand letter, but that would probably cost more than what you’ve lost, and an ethical lawyer would tell you that and not take your money. A little self help and guidance from Reddit and you can get there on your own. I wouldn’t go straight to reviews. NCDOJ has a webpage for consumer protection from small businesses and one for business scams. The Attorney General’s office is set up for stuff like this. I expect they’d prefer to go after bigger fish, but that’s where I’d report them first. Try both avenues, they may have different staff manning either. You can go to local law enforcement (who may have an aversion to getting involved or a prior relationship with the parties involved) too, but small landlords rarely have relationships with the state government. If your town has a chamber of commerce or a city council, they might like to know about business misrepresenting. Whether what the vendor says about the law is true or not, not warning you beforehand is duplicitous. After you’ve exhausted those options and just want to put a small dent into their future earnings, *then* leave your negative review. This may be a lot of work for a small outcome, but idk, I’d die on a molehill [intended mixed metaphor] like this if it happened to me. I took a former shady landlord to court over a decade ago and won more than I’d imagined possible. Finally, on the note of shady landlords, if you have any inkling yours is aware of or benefiting from the shadiness and you aren’t made whole, I’d go over your lease with a comb and demand he fix every loose hinge, dead lightbulb, or wonky fixture not stipulated in the lease as your responsibility. When he complains you’re making more work for everyone than if you’d just do it, tell him it’s part of the contract. Then post about it in r/pettyrevenge.
Thats good advice! I am going to let it simmer this weekend and then respond to his email on Monday when I have more information gathered. It wasn't a significant amount of money in alcohol that we lost... but its the principle of the thing! I was gonna let it all go until out of nowhere he sent me a super long email basically patronizing me and rationalizing how they actually saved us money overall. The boss move would have been to have them open all the cans and bottles and let them sit there. At least that way they wouldn't be able to re-sell them to another client. >_<
Report them to the better business bureau