Customer says
“I opened the 2019 Brunello yesterday and it smelled like a wet basement.”
Wine · gourmet food · cold-chain
The only returns AI that knows what cork taint is — and won't refund a perfectly good bottle.
Wine and food returns aren't really returns. Cork taint, cold-chain breach, chocolate bloom, allergen labeling — each needs a different question, a different photo, and a different escalation. Generic apps file them all as 'damaged.' We don't.
Cork taint (TCA)Cold-chain breachChocolate bloomFood-labeling errorGlass breakage / LCLAllergen / safety routing
Free plan included · 5-minute install · no credit card
The problem
Why food and wine returns break generic returns apps
A customer says 'this wine tastes off.' Was it cork taint (you owe a replacement), oxidation from a faulty closure (warranty + carrier-claim), or just not their style (your call)? Each path costs a different amount and routes to a different team. A customer says 'the chocolate looks white.' That's bloom — a cold-chain artifact, often safe to eat but visually disqualifying. A customer says 'I had a reaction.' That's a safety-queue escalation, not a CS ticket. Eturns asks the right question for each, asks for the right photo, and routes to the right team. Nothing about food returns is generic.
How a real claim flows
One conversation, three roles played: customer, AI, your team.
AI handles
Recognizes 'wet basement' as a TCA descriptor, confirms the order, asks for a photo of the cork showing the wet line, opens a warranty escalation marked 'cork_taint — TCA confirmed,' and tells the customer a replacement bottle is approved and the original does not need to come back.
Outcome
Bottle replaced in 4 hours. Customer keeps the bad bottle (it's not safety-relevant). The warranty escalation includes the photo so the merchant can decide whether to debit the importer.
0wine bottles asked to be shipped back when the right answer is 'keep it'
What the AI knows
6 defect categories tuned for wine & food.
Each category controls which photo the AI requests, which department the case routes to, and which SLA the customer hears. Turn any of them off in your merchant dashboard.
Cork taint (TCA contamination)
cork_taintWet-cardboard / musty-basement smell at the moment of opening. AI asks the customer to describe the aroma in their words, screens for known TCA descriptors, requests a photo of the cork showing the wet-line, and approves a replacement bottle without ever asking the customer to ship it back.
Cold-chain breach
cold_chain_breachChocolate bloom, melted product, separated cheese. AI checks the carrier's transit time, asks for the temperature-indicator photo if your packaging includes one, and routes to fulfillment with the timeline so you can debit the carrier later.
Wine oxidation / closure failure
wine_oxidationBottle is brown, sherried, or vinegar-like before its time. AI distinguishes oxidation (closure / storage failure — replacement) from intentional oxidative styles (Madeira, sherry — politely declines).
Allergen / labeling error
food_labeling_errorMissing allergen disclosure, mis-printed expiry, ingredients vary from labeling. AI escalates to legal queue immediately — never tries to triage a labeling error itself, never asks for more details, just routes with the order context.
Expired or near-expiry product
expiry_violationProduct arrived past its best-by or expires within the merchant's freshness threshold. AI auto-approves replacement + carrier-claim opens silently for compensation.
Glass breakage / LCL freight damage
glass_breakage_lclWine cases, oil bottles, or jarred goods broken in transit. AI requests photos of (1) the outer carton, (2) the inner damage, (3) the bill of lading if LCL freight, then files the carrier claim with the documentation pre-attached.
Where it routes
Specialist destinations, not a generic CS queue.
Eturns ships with 14 routing destinations beyond CS. The wine & food disclosure profile uses these:
| Department | Triggered when | SLA the customer hears |
|---|---|---|
warranty | Cork taint, oxidation, sealed-product closure failure | Replacement approved within 4 business hours, shipped next available cold-chain window |
fulfillment | Cold-chain breach, glass breakage, transit-related damage | Replacement same day; carrier-claim opened silently within 24 hours |
legal | Allergen labeling error, ingredient mismatch, regulatory disclosure miss | Hand-off to legal within 1 hour with the conversation, photos, and SKU details attached |
carrier_claim | LCL freight damage with bill-of-lading evidence | Claim filed automatically; merchant confirms once the carrier acknowledges |
Disclosure profile
Standard + safety overlays
The standard disclosure profile applies, with one critical overlay: any mention of an adverse reaction, allergen exposure, or ingestion safety concern triggers an immediate hand-off to the safety queue with no further AI engagement. The AI never debates a safety claim — it routes and disengages. This is the right behavior for the regulatory environment food + supplement merchants operate in.
Who this is for
If your store sells any of these, the wine & food profile fits you.
- Wine DTC clubs and direct-import retailers
- Gourmet food and chocolatier brands
- Cold-chain shippers (specialty meats, cheeses, ice cream)
- Supplement and wellness brands with FDA-adjacent claims
Questions wine & food merchants actually ask
Frequently asked.
What stops the AI from approving every 'tastes off' claim?
It asks for descriptors and discriminates. Real TCA gives 'wet cardboard,' 'damp basement,' 'musty.' Style preferences give 'I just don't like it.' We approve replacements for the first; we politely decline the second within your policy.
Does the AI ever try to triage an allergen claim itself?
Never. The instant the customer mentions an allergen mismatch or an adverse reaction, the AI hands off to your legal queue and stops engaging. This is the right answer in any regulated food/supplement environment.
How does the carrier-claim flow work?
The AI requests the photos a carrier needs (outer carton, inner damage, BoL for LCL), opens the warranty/fulfillment escalation, and a separate carrier_claim flag fires so your ops team has the evidence pre-attached when they file.
Can it handle frozen / temperature-sensitive shipments?
Yes. If you include a temperature-indicator strip in your packaging, the AI asks for a photo of it. If you don't, it falls back to checking the carrier's transit time against your packaging's rated hold time and flags suspected breaches for your ops team.
Ready to give wine & food the returns flow it deserves?
Install Eturns from the Shopify App Store. Free plan included. Setup takes 5 minutes — the AI auto-detects wine & food from your products and policies.