Am I getting suckered by the local liquor store?

In a strip mall down the street from me is a liquor store run by the nicest family, Indian, I think. They are friendly to me and greet me warmly and make conversation with me and, though they don't usually hand out receipts, they do usually round my purchase down to the nearest dollar. There's a support-the-mom-and-pop part of me that makes me feel this is where I should go to pick up a bottle of wine rather than at one of the grocery stores nearby. Their prices are generally higher than at the grocery stores, but the support-the-mom-and-pop impulse usually says that's okay. The are nice people and I would like to see them stay in the neighborhood. The best prices and selection around here happen to be not at the grocery stores but at Di Carlo's on Route 60, which is my first choice for both reasons, but a bit farther a drive.

Here's the thing, though, that's starting to bother me about the mom-and-pop place. (Really it's Pop and his brother and his nephew, far as I can tell, no Mom in the picture). The last thing I purchased was bottle of wine labelled chardonnay, but the liquid inside of it was a dark brown and tasted somewhere between sherry and yuck. I had to pour it out. The purchase before that involved a cork that broke halfway through removal; the one before that a cork that crumbled and fell into the bottle. Sometime in the last year I also recall buying a bottle of wine in which the cork was sunk a half inch or so below the rim of the glass, and a bottle that had the foil wrapping loose around the neck (now that's something I should have noticed before I left the store).

I'm starting to wonder, is there some sort of wine and liquor rejects outlet that sells bottles that grocery stores and more reputable liquor stores won't buy? And if so, should I be equally suspect of sales and the product in general at similarly small strip mall liquor stores?

It sounds like they don't know how to store wine properly, and their wines probably don't see much turnover. If they're nice folks, I'd continue to support them by buying chips, soda, lottery tickets, etc. from them, but I'd definitely buy my wine from elsewhere.

It is a common practice for distributors to sell "close-out" product at drastically reduced prices--these can be "great buys" or "don't buys" but since, typically, these aren't known labels, you have to be able to trust the store owner if you're purchasing unfamiliar wines. You don't mention if the wines you're buying are familiar brands or unknowns. I'd definitely bring these bottles back--and if the store refused to refund you, you'd definitely know that they're not on the up and up....

Familiar brands all.

I think the explanations by Khaopaat and boudreaulicious are right on. It isn't clear whether the store is screwing up by not storing the wine properly (in combination with low turnover) or whether they are buying discounted items from a distributor. It sounds like the lesson is not to buy wine from this place.

I generally don't bring bad bottles back to the store, esp cheap bottles or "mom and pop" places like this one, mainly because it isn't worth the effort.

Don't buy wine from them.

I agree, don't buy wine there!

Highly unlikely that it's a storage issue with the store since, unless they bought a huge inventory of something, a liquor store would not usually hold a name brand product long enough for that many bottles to have issues. Probably something to do with how they're purchasing. I'd say it's just not worth the effort to figure it out.

Instead, I'd suggest that you find a nice little local wine shop, attend a tasting (most small shops offer these for low or no cost at least once a month) to see if you like the kinds of wines they recommend and go from there. One of my most valuable resources is having a go-to shop like that, with an owner whose tastes I trust, who has taken the time to get to know my tastes over time (by asking what I thought of different things he's recommended) and offering an entire wall of under $13 options. Because I know they are discerning buyers, I can choose even relatively inexpensive bottles without worry. AND I get to try a lot of things that I probably wouldn't otherwise. Of course, if I'm in the mood to splurge on something pricier, I can also make that purchase with confidence since I know they won't steer me wrong.