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

Tesco have a space for each item you order where you can add notes specifically for that product, so you could keep substitutions checked, but add a note to say only non-alcoholic substitutions.

Update: called Tesco and asked to provide feedback and spoke to a very helpful operator who decided to escalate it to a manager. The manager called me back straight away for more information and seems to be taking it very seriously as he stated the policy is that the system should never suggest alcohol as a substitute for a non-alcoholic drink, and also that it should have flagged that there was alcohol due to be delivered in an order prior to 10am so they were in breach of licensing - it has been a system failure on both counts as many predicted. They seem very concerned and are going to look into identifying what’s gone wrong to make sure it doesn’t happen again and will be back in touch with an update next week :) thanks everyone for your advice and feedback and I’m glad I raised it to them to make them aware

I'm glaat they listened, gettting sober is a massive achievement too btw, well done

Licensing laws have not been broken. They did not supply alcohol and you can buy alcohol in a supermarket before ten anyway.

Why do people think alcohol can’t be delivered before 10am?

Genuinely curious, as our local Tesco sells alcohol 24/7… and we often get a 9-10 delivery slot with wine included!

It is Scottish licensing laws not sure about other countries in the UK.

Says in the Tesco app in Scotland alcohol can only be delivered between 10am and 10pm.

I ordered curry sauce and they subbed it with pasta sauce. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Also ordered a cheese and onion pie, so a meat free option. And they sent me a steak pie. It’s like sending a packet of ham when you asked for cheese spread. 😂

Thank you, mystery solved!

I’m surprised it let you pick it for the order.

Mine is mighty insistent in not letting me order anything from the booze aisles (including sodding grenadine) if have the 7-11pm saver delivery slot as it goes past 10pm. The system quirk will have them head scratching.

Yeah it’s very odd. Just wanna say you are awesome, 2.5 years wow! I have several alcoholic friends and they can only dream of that.

It is an automated system that chooses the substitution, not the human picking the order.
Also, many "alcohol free" beverages aren't actually completely alcohol free, it is made the same way as the alcoholic version then has the alcohol removed, and they can't get all of it, so most do have some alcohol content, as is written in the small print on the label. (and why the 0% alcohol banners on the front have asterisks beside them)

A friend who works at Tesco told me that they get told to sub with the same brand rather than a similar product different brand.
Which definitely makes sense as I've had tesco own brand veggie sausages replaced with their meat ones, and Ella's kitchen pouches of e.g apple puree replaced with random other Ella's things, rather than a different brand of apple.
So I can see them giving you the alcohol version of your AF drink in the same context.
Doesn't make sense though, and I'd still let them know

Because in Scotland it's against the law to sell it before 10am and the OP is in Scotland

This thread must be really Scottish heavy as so many posters have mentioned it. I didn't know about it either

Surely it depends when it was ordered and purchased not when it was delivered?

Not in Scotland, where the op lives. So, yes licensing laws have indeed been broken.

The law would be on sale/supply from a licenced premises to stop clever loopholes being used to explain breaches.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2005/16/section/63

63Prohibition of sale, consumption and taking away of alcohol outwith licensed hours(1)Subject to subsection (2), a person commits an offence if, outwith licensed hours, the person—
(a)sells alcohol, or allows alcohol to be sold, on licensed premises,
(b)allows alcohol to be consumed on licensed premises, or
(c)allows alcohol to be taken from licensed premises.

I'm a picker. We can over ride the suggestions.

Tesco policy is bigger and better so always sub for a larger or better version of what was ordered.