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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

eek I caused a 150 corkage fee last night wwyd

362 replies

alittlethyme · 18/01/2015 10:16

Was at a wedding last night. Each of the tables we're named after a spirit and they had a bottle of whatever on the table. I was a bit tipsy and didn't know many people, so cracked open some whisky without noticing that it had a label on the other side saying drinking this would be a 150 fee. I only had a few mm and screwed the lid back on tightly after I realise d the fee.

One aibu to think 150 a bottle is a stupid amount?

Two should I go back to the hotel today sober to try and get a reduction in the fee as was barely touched?

Three should I pay whatever the charge is?

OP posts:

springalong · 18/01/2015 12:57

I am a really honest person and own up to everything, but I do think in this case you could be forgiven for not having "seen" the small notice on the bottle. Like every other poster I do feel the B&G were a bit silly and as for the hotel, well shocking corkage.

partialderivative · 18/01/2015 13:04

Why should the B&G pay for the OP's mistake?

They will have paid for enough already, let alone the OP's drunken mistakes.

If a similar thing had happened at our wedding (not that we had bottles of whiskey on each table) I would expect a guest to pay the bill and not pass it on to the host.

JADS · 18/01/2015 13:04

What crap table decorations! Forget that they look tacky for a second...

Firstly the chances of at least one guest cracking open the bottle is fairly high. £150 is quite a lot to gamble.

Secondly they took them away while the guests were eating so they probably looked at for a maximum of 10 mins. Say a bottle of spirits is £10 from the supermarket that's £100 for 10 mins! I can see gin being drunk but famous grouse - blerugh!

What a ridiculous idea! Op don't pay.

expatinscotland · 18/01/2015 13:05

What a stupid idea! I would say nothing and certainly would not anything.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 18/01/2015 13:06

Because the bride and groom made the arrangement! They were well aware that guests may open the bottles and the charge this would incur and they went ahead anyway. The corkage charge is therefore a wedding related cost that the Bride and groom were fully expecting and agreed in principle to pay.

ChasedByBees · 18/01/2015 13:06

I agree with (most) others that this was v daft of the bride and groom.

Did the hotel / B&G notice? I would pretend you hadn't seen the sign. If people have noticed I would argue with the hotel that corkage hardly applies to a small sip when you didn't realise (or leave it to the B&G to do).

iwanttogotothechaletschool · 18/01/2015 13:08

How close are you to the bride and groom? I'd keep quiet for now and see if anyone noticed.

Theveryhungrycaterpillar123 · 18/01/2015 13:10

It was a stupid idea of the B&G.

Corkage at our wedding was roughly £14, £150 is ridiculous. But it's completely the B&G fault, what did they expect?

Naming tables is quite a normal thing to do at weddings.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 18/01/2015 13:11

Ridiculous. Hotels really take the piss sometimes don't they? Especially at weddings. I don't think I'd pay as 1) you didn't realise til you'd opened it
2) they are taking the p (the hotel I mean)

FightOrFlight · 18/01/2015 13:13

If they are going to charge you then they should have left the bottle on your table, or brought it back once they'd noticed it was open.

They probably haven't noticed but if they did and have not only charged £150 corkage but taken the bottle away then the have robbed you twice.

If you own up and end up paying, demand that they courier the original opened bottle to you.

I wouldn't have opened it purely because I dislike whisky/whiskey. If it had been brandyI may have had a small snifter.

For those saying the OP was "pissed", there is a huge difference between what she said (a bit tipsy) and falling over drunk. If you haven't eaten much and have a glass of champagne on arrival then chances are that you will feel a bit tipsy (unless you are a hardened drinker like me)

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 18/01/2015 13:14

Who reads bottles of alcohol.

i wouldn't pay.

Lweji · 18/01/2015 13:18

I wouldn't have noticed the note at the back of the bottle even sober!
That is very underhand, IMO. Such charges should have been made very clear, not hiding behind bottles.
I wouldn't pay any charges. And if the bride and groom didn't want the bottles opened, they should have warned guests or complained to the hotel.

HelloItsStillMeFell · 18/01/2015 13:19

What?!!! This is totally crazy. If the bride and groom knew about this in advance then they never should have agreed to it unless they were prepared to foot the bill. Since when are guests expected to read the small print before drinking bottles of booze very helpfully put on their table, right in front of their noses? And how are you supposed to decide which guest pays? No one person is going to drink the whole bottle, are they, so did they expect other people at the table to all chip in on a measure by measure basis? What a poorly thought out and ridiculous idea.

It sounds like a cynical money making ploy on the part of the venue and the B&G were idiots to agree to it. It's a really crass and ill-judged to put them on the tables if the B&G were not prepared to stump up the cash for people to drink them.

partialderivative · 18/01/2015 13:23

i wouldn't pay.

But many others think it ok for the B&G to pay.

This astonishes me.

Which 'side' of the party were you OP, friends of family?

I know for a fact that none of my friends would expect me to cough up for a stupid alcohol related error. They would pay themselves as they are friends.

I suppose you can't choose your own relatives, but you can judge them after such a blunder.

DropYourSword · 18/01/2015 13:24

Why are you so invested in this partial?

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 18/01/2015 13:27

Of course it's ok for the bride and groom to pay! It was their arrangement. They should have been expecting to pay and if they weren't then they are fools.

MrsRabbitsTwin · 18/01/2015 13:27

I could just about, at a stretch, understand decorating the table with a nice malt, although it would be a bit stupid to expect people not to drink it.

I can't fathom why anyone would think a bottle of Grouse was a table decoration. Did the bride go up the aisle holding a bottle of Buckfast instead of a bouquet?

Tinkerball · 18/01/2015 13:28

Of course the bride and groom should pay! It was a stupid idea for a table decoration, they are lucky more weren't opened.

HelloItsStillMeFell · 18/01/2015 13:30

Of course it's ok for the B&G to have to pay - it was their stupid idea to do it in the first place! It's completely unfair and tantamount to trickery and deception to expect your guests to check whether the drink was complimentary or not. If you asked people, 99% of them would assume that if it was on the table it was paid for in advance. Why should the onus be on the guest to look for silly warning labels?

limitedperiodonly · 18/01/2015 13:31

Who reads bottles of alcohol

Well you should, because there could be important nutritional information on the labels.

Thus far I've noticed only dire warnings but I feel it's important to keep checking.

Aeroflotgirl · 18/01/2015 13:32

Yes silly of the bride and groom, it's like outting sweets out and telling kids not to eat them, tgey should haven used flowers, stones or something else. Their own fault, I am sure your not the only one tgat has done this.

Annunziata · 18/01/2015 13:34

Thus far I've noticed only dire warnings but I feel it's important to keep checking

The bridge and groom were really stupid. OP shouldn't have to pay.

GraysAnalogy · 18/01/2015 13:35

If I go to a wedding and bottles of alcohol are on the table then they get drunk. I don't study the label to ensure I'm not going to get charged. In fact I didn't even realise this was a thing.

And why the hell should the OP pay for the B&G's ridiculous failed idea - especially for something she had a couple of millimetres from.

CrispyFern · 18/01/2015 13:36

Haha at the Buckfast bouquet!

I think the bride and groom should pay.

HelloItsStillMeFell · 18/01/2015 13:36

Also it might have been really obvious these were not for drinking. You wouldn't start dismantling the decorations before even having dinner.

What nonsense! You wouldn't start dismantling a flower arrangement or any other kind of non-edible/drinkable decoration because it would be quite OBVIOUS that it is there as decoration and you are not supposed to eat or drink it.

A bottle of booze on a table at a wedding is almost always there to be bloody drunk, so how on earth are the guests expected to know the difference? If little boxes sugared almonds or truffles were left on the table would you expect to not be allowed to eat those without paying as well?

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