Wine and spirit buyers could be a step closer to getting tens of millions in refunds from the PLCB

Types : In the News

The PLCB has lost again in a five-year court case over its $1.75-per-bottle shipping fee charged to customers. More than $50 million in fees could be refunded, a lawyer said.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, losing yet again in a five-year court battle, may be a step closer to refunding potentially at least $50 million in handling fees to some wine and spirit customers.

In a decision published Aug. 21, Commonwealth Court rejected the PLCB’s claim that a lawsuit filed in 2020 by customers using its special liquor order system had been barred by the statute of limitations. The SLO system allows discerning buyers, as well as restaurants and bars, to order bottles not available in Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores.

“The PLCB unlawfully collected millions of dollars from the citizens of this commonwealth,” said John G. Papianou, a partner at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads in Philadelphia and counsel for the petitioners. “It’s sad they won’t return it. That would be doing the right thing. Instead, we have a state-agency doing everything it conceivably can to keep that money.”

Papianou said he would seek class-action status for everyone who paid the $1.75 handling fee from June 2017 — when direct delivery was supposed to start — through June 2022, when it was implemented. He estimated that total fees could exceed $50 million.