Calling bottle shops to ask for whales

I would keep all the ltd releases for myself.

 

One guy goes to a store once a week and buys $100 of beer each time and keeps himself to himself. Another guy goes to the store six times a week, averages $10 per visit, and talks the ear off any employee he sees. The store has one bottle left of KBS and both guys walk into the store. Who is the regular?

 

A local store that I frequent used to post to social media when a rare or exciting beer was in. They would have people line-up to buy whatever allotment the store set for that given beer.

They recently switched to no longer announcing beers, and simply putting them on the shelves. I much prefer this as it gives people an equal shot at a beer, not just those who are glued to Twitter all day. Sometimes I will go in and there will be a gem sitting there, other times there won't be. That's the fun of it! I am starting to detest the stores that hoard the "whales" and have special release events for them requiring you to basically give up your first born child (or quit your job) to get certain beers. It is a damn beer, put it on the shelf like the rest of the other beers.

 

Let's drop this argument and visit Target. I need to buy a new pair of pants. I walk into the store and a sales associate scans my previous purchases. She then points out the areas of the store I'm allowed to buy from today. She tells me if I purchase $100.00 worth of merchandise today, I can unlock access to the menswear section! Otherwise, I'm limited to 1 item. They're concerned I'm going to give those slacks away to someone that can't appreciate them as much as the pants enthusiasts that come in every week.

Forget Target, let's go out to lunch. There's a little cafe up the street that has a killer bacon cheeseburger with seasoned french fries! I'll just walk in and get a table since it looks like they're not too crowded. ...Oh, I can't sit down? But there are plenty of empty tables! The capacity of this place is near 80 people and you've got maybe 13 people in here. ...Hm, I see. Those tables are reserved for regulars? I don't eat at this place often enough to be able to buy the awesome cheeseburger? Oh well, sure hope those regular lunchgoers come in soon.

Guess we'd better go to the gas station and fill up. My car runs best on 92 octane. I'll just pull into the Chevron and slide my debit card. Hm. That's weird. The pump says that I haven't bought enough Chevron gasoline this year to purchase 92 octane and they have to save it for their regular customers because the regulars will get disappointed if there's not enough. I'll have to settle for 86 octane, but if I buy 4 more tanks over the next few months, I'll earn enough loyalty points to get the 92 octane.

Finally. Home. Let me just turn on DirecTV. There's got to be something on, I've got over 300 channels. ...But wait, some of my channels are blocked. I can't view the content that I'm willing to pay for because I haven't watched enough TV and generated enough advertising revenue by watching commercials. If I'm willing to sit through a certain number of hours, then I can gain special "regular viewer access" to the rest of the programming I'm willing to pay for right this second.

Man, it is tough to be a consumer when businesses don't want to sell you the products you're willing to pay for. But, I guess that's the way business is run. After all, these hoarding bottle shops are clearly highly successful. Far be it for me to question what has clearly the become the standard among time-tested, high-profit business models.

 

I was aware of a bottle shop or two...one north of Pittsburgh and one south...but while I was visiting last year, it was what we did. I didn't mind...hell I loved walking out with two cases of head hunter and a case of flower power. It was awesome!

The BCBS comment, that was just referencing one of the post a pic of your last haul...and one of the case pics was from PA. Just a little envy coming out in my posts.

 

I've worked at two liquor stores, and I just want to tell everyone that everyone working at the store when you call hates this. If there is a limited supply of a rare beer in the back, we give it to a friendly, regular customer that doesn't bug us about the whales.

 

If someone calls me at work and asks if we have a certain beer, I'm not going to lie to them. If one case of Cantillon showed up that morning and you happened to have the good timing to call and ask that day, I'll let you know that I have one case of Cantillon. What I won't do is set any aside for you, or guarantee that there will still be some left by the time you make it down to the store. I also don't give specific dates for when limited releases will arrive, because sometimes shit happens and I don't get the beer when I was expecting to.

Pliny is far and away the worst beer for customers trying to call and have me save some for them. I've been yelled at over the phone more than once for refusing to hold half a case of Pliny for someone. Please don't be that asshole.

 

Both. Who gets the bottle? The regular that comes in first, unless the guy who buys $100 of beer is rude to the staff.

 

They both are.

The customer that goes in 3 times a year is not.

 

Why tell a customer that they don't have it or won't be getting it? If I called a shop that told me they received a few bottles but reserved for their regulars, I could potentially be inclined to go to that bottle shop more frequently now that I know they receive distribution of rarer bottles or beers that I am seeking out.

 

Exactly, these stores are getting the allocations they get because of the people buying the brewers beer week in and week out. Those people earned the limited stuff, not someone who tries to swoop in just to grab the limited stuff.

 

You should give them the directions to SR over the phone!

 

I'm sure they hate it, but unfortunately answering the phone and providing information is part of their job description. And trust me, customers hate bugging stores about the whales...unfortunately if you don't try to stay on top of things it'll be sold out before you ever knew it was for sale.

 

Don't disagree with you on that. But in this case, which "regular" gets the KBS, assuming they arrive at the same time, and assuming neither knows that the store has any.

Some would say the guy who spends more should receive it, but other people will say craft beer shouldn't be purely about the $ and they'd have a point.

Others would say the guy who goes in more often and interacts with the staff more should receive it, but other people will say that the once-a-week guy shouldn't be punished for being introverted and/or not being able to come in every day (he still supports the store the most when it comes down to the bottom line), and they'd have a point too.

 

And that's just it. Is $30 a week enough to be considered a regular because I think it is. Would be nice if we all had $200 ( reference to another thread) to spend on a 12 pack but some of us spend around $25-$50 in any given week and that constitutes a plentiful sum when multiplied by a factor of beer geek to the looking for beer power. When I shop I am not there to shoot the breeze. I want to be left alone to shop what is on the shelves. I will buy what I see and you won't hear a word from me except when I say thanks at the end of the transaction. Should take no more than 20 minutes to shop for anything that isn't clothes.

 

I imagine the guy who first asks if they had any KBS would get it.

 

This made me chuckle for some time. Thank you.

 

You obviously didn't take a course in economics...ever heard of a thing called supply and demand? None of those examples even come close to accurately describing the situation of what the bottle shops go through over these releases.

 

thank you, I worked in a few stores and I could only remember those that stand out for some reason. you know?

 

First one in the door and asks for it gets it, in my opinion.