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Recently tried to buy wine at Costco and was refused. I believe this is violates the Ill pub liq license. How do I pursue this?
Anonymous8 views4 answers
I do wine demos there and was trying to buy for my job. Thank you.
I was denied the sale because I'm not a Costco member, which is contrary to 1) my experience on several previous purchases, and 2) what my peer demonstrators tell me. They say that because Costco has a public liquor license, denying sales to non-members is a violation of the law. I'm trying to verify this. My calls to both the Illinois Liquor Commission and Chicago license division are not being returned. If this is a violation, I want to pursue it, but Ill. & Chgo. are roadblocks. Thank you.
Does the refusal have anything to do with the fact that you do demonstrations at Costco? There may be an arrangement between Costco and your company which has particular guidelines for purchasing and billing. If you were buying as an agent of your company or employer, it wouldn't be unreasonable for Costco to treat you as such. Unless you provide more information, though, we're grasping at straws.
I do not know the answer to your question. The "Public License" argument does not work in liquor by the drink but I do not know if it works for package. There are several bars on Clark Street that are almost exclusively supported by lawyers. Those guys would know off the top of their heads. I would catch them before about 11 p.m. Might be something on the Illinois Liquor Commission's web page. I know another membership club does allow non-members to buy liquor and come in to purchase eyeglasses, but that is because they got into trouble in another state. Some good Illinois Night Club owning lawyer will put the correct answer on here.
