This tequila sale got a bit too salty.
A longtime customer of an Upper East Side liquor store said he was “‘verbally accosted” when he tried to return a “rancid” bottle of tequila — but a store manager insisted the claims over the $200 Don Julio 1942 are ginned up.
Lauren and Michael Rosen took their gripes online to recount the dust-up at Garnet Wines & Liquors.
“Not only did they sell me a rancid bottle of expensive tequila, but after refusing to do anything about it, the rude staff told my husband ‘Look at your last name, you are disgusting and I bet your wife is disgusting too’,” Lauren Rosen posted on Yelp earlier this month about the store on Lexington Avenue at 68th Street.
Michael Rosen told The Post that he took the worker’s remark to be a reflection on his last name, a common Jewish surname. He declined to comment further.
The shop fired back on Yelp that Rosen was at fault — because he tried to get a refund after the store’s seven-day return policy.
Dilip Patel, a store manager, said in an interview that Rosen was nasty, cursed at workers and besides, there was no way the tequila could have gone bad.
“This man was so obnoxious,” Patel said.
He denied a worker made the remark about Rosen’s last name.
Other customers have apparently soured on the shop too, according to online reviews. The shop did not respond to most of them online.
Annisa Smith, 36, was among the critics and told The Post that she went to the store in June with her 60-year-old mom and left without buying anything. She said a worker ran out after the women demanding to check their bags and saying it was store policy to do so.
When the pair went back inside to see the policy, Smith said her mom, upset at the treatment they received, argued with the worker, who then called 911.
“There are two black women who are being really aggressive in the store,” she claimed he said.
When they left, Smith alleged the worker followed them for several blocks. She went directly to a police precinct and filed a complaint.
“I’ve heard stories about racial profiling but I’ve just never experienced it until then,” said Smith, a model who lives in Queens.
The NYPD confirmed there was a 911 call placed for a dispute at the store and a harassment complaint filed.
Other reviewers complained about being racially profiled or accused of stealing.
Patel said the store has been hit by shoplifters and workers sometimes followed customers out if they suspected theft, but he denied anyone was racially profiled.
“I’m a minority. My employees are minorities,” said Patel, who is from India.
The city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection said it had received two overcharging complaints about Garnet in the last two years and one about a delivery. The agency also said it entered a settlement agreement with the business that required it to pay $3,300 to a worker who had been denied sick leave.
When asked about the settlement agreement, Patel told The Post that the worker was “a nice black man and we paid him.”
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