VIP membership & other deplorable practices...

I suspect most folks didn't actually read the benefits and payment plan of the OP. Just like you didn't.

 

I left out the rest of your post. This part seems pretty clear. I guess you are also against putting limits on how much of a beer a customer can buy? Or would that be too much freedom to buy what you want?

 

"$35/year gets you dibs on popular stuff or stuff in limited supply. Which he won't sell to any Non "VIP" so he basically locks down his stock for a select few" - that's what I read. You pay to shop for a select product - no discounts, prizes or alerts - just the opportunity to buy.

 

"The VIP membership also gets you 10% off all food and drinks at the store, a free meal on your birthday, and costs $7 less each year... so after 5 years, it's free."

 

That's not the original post by Stout Combo - his was the start of the thread & the one I was referring to until seeing joey c's post - sorry, but the post you're quoting to me wasn't one I responded to. Great photo of Jer though!

 

Like you he left out the parts I quoted, which were a response in the thread. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I have found it is better to read the thread before making judgements and posts. Otherwise you may be pointed out as making assumptions based on incomplete evidence.

Now that you know, have you changed your opinion that it is a pay to shop scheme?

 

Joey C's 10% discount on all purchases with early notice on newly or soon to be stocked items for $20 annually sounds like good customer service and it excludes no one from buying. Non-members simply don't get early notice of 10% discount. My problem with your shop's policy is that it amounts to $35 to shop for good beer. Nothing else, save the buzz of conspicuous consumption as a "VIP".

 

So we are agreed that once upon a time free air was a fringe benefit for custimes of how Service Stations did business and with the switch to convenience store gas stations it became just another commodity to be sold.

 

Thank you for the thread tutorial, I will try to do better in the future. I'll go back to read your response to the response that I didn't respond to & let you know. I posted to Combo, so yes, I still think, at this moment, based on what may be faulty epistemological premises, that his originating post described a pay to shop scheme.

 

There is only one reason for folks to argue that a club is a good idea, and that is if there's one thing elitist beer geeks love more than beer, it's preferential treatment at the bottle shop. A large assortment of bogus arguments have been used by these folks to avoid admitting this.

Which, of course, has nothing to do with entitlement.

Edit: Actually that second sentence isn't entirely true. There are people straight up arguing that they're more entitled to limited releases because they presumably know more about the beers than the peasants.

 

It did and both took things out of context and misrepresented the actual situation. To his credit he did correct an error but only several posts into the thread and when challenged. More clarification of the actual plan was provided to by others and agreed to by the OP, so this is a thread where you have to wade through many posts to get a clear picture of the store owners plan.

 

This new batch is BA is getting "soft".

Back in the day nobody would stand for anything like this.

Seriously guys come to Pa, shop in the bottle shops and get molested on prices of singles and bombers. I feel that this goes so far over many folks heads that half of you have no idea what you are talking about.

Capitalism...gas station convenience stores? Are you joking or wat?

 

A genius quote from Groucho Marx.
His version was "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member." However, he also rephrased it as,
"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members."

 

Yes, as the compressor is not part of the core business, as an essential item for the service in the service station.

 

Wasn't asking for a growler fill of a limited beer kind of an obnoxious move? Most places barely allow you to buy one bottle of MM, asking for a growler seems unreasonable.

 

Freedom to buy these discretionary luxuries is currently sometimes or often prohibited by several different things - hoarders, truck chasers, people who drive all over town on release day, etc. (in other words, the status quo). One way to reduce those problems is to have the VIP system at a nominal cost (which it is). Many of us would rather have the nominal VIP obstacle than the status quo obstacles mentioned above.

Stout_Combo, honestly I wish it was nice and simple that we could just walk into a store and buy what we wanted. That was the way craft beer used to be in my experiences and that's one of the many reasons the current scene isn't necessarily better than a decade or two ago, in my opinion. But unfortunately that wonderful time is gone and now all of us are stuck with the status quo problems mentioned above which badly needs an alternative.

 

Really? I guess the garages stopped using pneumatic tools... On a more serious note, the one gas station in my area that has free air has been the most expensive in the area for the past four years. It use to be one of the cheapest, then the owner died and his son took over. The one I went to for air last has a 50-cent pump, but they claim all proceeds go to children's charity. Better than paying $2 extra for gas or $1.50 for air. A couple of gas stations in Madison that I used would have someone check your tires if you bought some gas and asked to get air. If you just came for air, they'd charge $1.

I dare you to match PA prices with MA ones.

 

That sounds to good to be true, unless the shop is overcharging for beer and wine. One could go into that store, pay $20.00 and join the club. Buying $400.00 worth of wine is easy. You could buy 1 $400.00 of wine and get $40.00 off.

 

Poor wording on my part. Not essential in the convenience store gas stations that lack a hoist and a mechanic with air tools. Essential with a air over oil hoist and air tools. There are a lot of above ground hoists these days that do not use air.

The garage at my house has a compressor, air tools, no hoist, but a fridge and keezer full of homebrew.