Sainsbury’s has received complaints from customers after scrapping its £2.63 prosecco deal due to high demand.
Savvy shoppers rushed to buy bottles of their favourite drink when a combination of three Sainsbury’s deals meant they could cash in on a bargain deal for a bottle of the Taste the Difference fizz, which had been on offer at £7.50.
They were given a further 25 per cent off if they bought six bottles. A third deal in the form of a voucher code gave new online shoppers £18 off if they spent more than £60, bringing the overall cost down by almost £5.
But the supermarket has quickly started running out of stock when news of the deal spread online after website Money Saving Expert alerted its readers.
Sainsbury’s told its customers on Tuesday it was withdrawing the offer because stocks had run low.
Customers were told those who had ordered online but not received their delivery would now be charged the full price, with a voucher making up the difference as compensation.
The announcement led shoppers to complain via social media using the hastag #proseccogate.
One customer wrote on Twitter: “Ordered last week to collect tomorrow for my wedding. Sainbury’s emailed us today. Appalling.”
“Anything to say about your disgraceful prosseco con? You seem to be very quick to respond to everything apart from #proseccogate,” another shopper said.
A spokesperson for Sainbury’s said the grocer’s prosecco deal had been “extremely popular” and “subject to availability” as any other offer.
“We understand that some customers may be disappointed so, as a gesture of goodwill, we have offered them e-vouchers,” Sainbury’s said.
The readers of Money Saving Expert threatened to boycott the supermarket after voicing their anger with the compensatory vouchers.
The popularity of prosecco is putting pressure on supermarket supplies, with many retailers looking to stock up on cava in case they run out of the UK's favourite fizz.
In April, Toby Magill, head of beer, wine and spirits at IRI, told The Grocer that like Champagne, prosecco is “geographically limited” and can only be produced in a small region of Italy.
“Supply is finite. Demand is growing everywhere in the world so there’s a limit on what retailers can get their hands on,“ Magill said.
