Inappropriate Tesco substitute! WIBU to complain?

[tigerlady14]

tw: mention of alcoholism

100% fine with being told I’m being very silly and overreacting which I think might be likely due to the emotional circumstances surrounding this, but I need some clearheaded opinions as my knee jerk reaction tells me this is really inappropriate.
For background I am a recovering alcoholic and looking forwards to celebrating 2.5 years of sobriety this week. For a treat I decided to add a pretty expensive “premium” alcohol-free beverage to my weekly Tesco order. I drink alcohol-free drinks quite often but this one was a particularly special one to mark the significant occasion for me (this is why I think I may be BU as I might be particularly sensitive due to the nature of the purchase.)
I was therefore really surprised to see that they had substituted this with the original, alcohol equivalent when my order arrived! I of course refused the substitution and they took it away with no problems so happy to be told that I should accept this as the end of it, but I can’t help but feeling a sense that this substitution is really quite inappropriate.
I am aware that when placing the order you can select if you want substitutions or not, in this case I chose to allow substitutions as I expected to receive something similarly alcohol-free if they didn’t have the item in stock. It didn’t cross my mind that they might substitute it with alcohol, particularly as I live in Scotland and there is a clear pop up on the website indicating that alcohol cannot be purchased on orders being delivered prior to 10am (the slot was 8-9am) due to licensing laws.
Therefore I am wondering WIBU to complain about this substitution, both due to the inappropriate nature of it as well as the violation of licensing laws? I can’t imagine any situation where someone would have ordered an alcohol free drink and would be happy to receive one with alcohol, it just seems wholly unsuitable. However as I say this is obviously quite emotional for me so happy to be told I am being silly.

YANBU: complain to make them aware of the issue and so that they might take it into consideration in future
YABU: you are overreacting, no harm was done as the substitution was removed and refunded

Yanbu. Similar happened to us. They subbed some vegan stuff dh ordered with the 'normal' equivalent in a click & collect order. Fine for me, less so for dh as he's dairy intolerant which is why he ordered what he did. There were plenty of vegan alternatives available.
Celebrating sobriety with something related to alcohol does seem a bit odd to me though.

I often get gluten products as substitutes for gluten free which is a bit ridiculous but I wouldn't complain. I think this is way worse because alcohol addiction is pretty common and well-known so it wouldn't be beyond the imagination of Tesco to see how this could negatively affect someone who is sober.

I wouldn't necesserily complain but just let them know then potential implications for a recovering alcoholic and see if they will consider changing their policy to fit in with this. You can do it nicely without making it a 'complaint'.

It's not a reasonable substitution in principle.

So strong and independent and edgy, everyone is so in awe 🙄

Maybe you could get down off your high horse long enough to notice that alcohol is a heavily regulated product and, like cigarettes, isn't appropriate from a commercial perspective to just hand out unbidden? Or are you just going to stick to your super clever, pithy remarks?

Tell me you have no experience or knowledge of addiction. Your post is crass.

Op sent it back and did not fall off the wagon. What's she supposed to be accepting responsibility for?

Agreed.

To be fair I think there's little point in engaging with an ignorant post like that. ETA I meant the post by @Hwi not yours.

There does seem to be a widespread lack of understanding on the part of supermarkets as to what alcohol-free drinks are. The clue is kind of in the name!

I don't drink alcohol at all, but I do sometimes buy non-alcoholic wine or beer. The self-service till always flags it up as needing somebody to verify that I'm over 18... because apparently you have to be over 18 in order to not buy alcohol?!

It doesn't help either when most places lump low and no alcohol products together.

I think there must be a general assumption that no alcohol drinks are only ever drunk by people who do happily drink alcohol, but fancy a bit of a change. There's very little comprehension of teetotallers who would only ever choose wine or beer if it's alcohol free - just like vegetarians don't just choose Linda McCartney sausages on occasion for a bit of a change from the pork sausages that they also frequently eat!

Spent my childhood with gran and granddad, who was an alkie, I know what I am talking about. Not from the high horse's perspective, but on the contrary, from hiding under the rocking horse on occasions.

Zero-alcohol drinks have nothing to do with alcohol - be they wine, beer, grape juice, lemonade, orange squash or fizzy water.

You might have had relatives with a substance misuse problem. Your post is still crass and offensive.

Sorry to hear that. My mother was also an alcoholic.

But just because your relatives were (abusive I am guessing) alcoholics, does not mean they are all terrible and undeserving of support.

And yet you appear devoid of empathy for someone who recognised a problem, acknowledged it, and is addressing it with apparent success.

Well done OP

might be worth a quite note to Tesco as it is inappropriate and opens up the chance of them accidentally providing alcohol to the underage

You have to be over 18 to receive the delivery

I go what you meant. Your right too.

My granddad used to recognise and acknowledge the problem monthly, stay dry for a while and then it would start again, blaming it on the government, politics, etc. Yes, I am devoid of empathy for a reason. Guess what, the problem at the end of the day was my gran's, not his in every respect - she used to pick up all that shite until she died. The alkie granddad lived into his 90s, recognising and acknowledging the problem regularly.

Well I guess we'll have to agree to differ here. Op said she bought something premium, non alcoholic then was delivered the original version which contained alcohol.
If I was celebrating my sobriety I don't think I'd choose to do it that way, as personally I do view alcohol free versions of alcoholic drinks to be related.

I once got a packet of Twix instead of Tampax - that wasn't helpful either!

To the OP - I would raise it politely as a concern rather than a complaint - it's a very poor substitution. And well done on your sobriety.

The algorithm is made and modified by people.

And thought it was appropriate to make a snide post about accepting responsibility.

And none of that is relevant to the OP and you still thought it was big and clever to put the boot in.