Calling bottle shops to ask for whales

I work at Total Wine, and we get calls almost daily asking if we have Bourbon County. I hate them, but im usually honest since were a corporate store. Ill call stores that I frequent (Beer Study, Carrboro Beverage Co, Bottle Revolution, and Sam's Quik Stop), but thats it.

 

Brews are becoming so sought after so limited and so scarce that stores are not posting on social media ,hiding brews. limiting sales and making you request them , raffles and lines for them it really has become a chore for retailers

 

It's never occurred to me that shop owners might lie - I call shops all the time...

That being said, I often ask for certain employees by name when I call, and then I identify myself, so those guys know it's me.

I just called Trader Joe's earlier though, and they gave me an accurate count of how many Vintage Ale 2013s they still had left.

 

I hate calling stores to ask about rare beers. When I'm in the store, I hate asking the guy behind the counter if/when a rare beer is coming in. Unfortunately, with the insanely low numbers of these things being shipped, the consumer doesn't have much choice other than to hound stores to try to track them down. What's the point of sending 6 bottles of beer to a store?

 

Honestly, if a shop is going to lie to me, then it sounds like a shop I do not wish to spend my money at. I understand the 'keep it for the regulars' concept, but at the same time, most of my bottle shops that I come in once a week and drop $100 at, not all of the employees know me by name. Also, I don't need them to hold special bottles for me, but if they have or do not have something, I expect them to be honest about it; this isn't used car sales.

 

My beer store guy has told me that he always tells people no when they call asking if they have a beer. His reasoning is "come in and ask and buy stuff." Who am I to argue? I realize it must be a pain for these beer store employees constantly dealing with the rare/limited release issues. The last thing I want to be is a pain in the ass so I'm pretty low key about asking for certain beers. Some stores will send emails out if you're on the list, which is nice.

 

This "secret society" shit is for the birds. Bottle shops are businesses, and if they want to build and maintain a long-term client base they need to treat all their customers fairly. Maybe they haven't considered this, but their "regulars" today might not be around tomorrow. I actually am a regular at a lot of stores, and I spend a lot of money on beer, all over town. But I don't expect special treatment. First come, first served is the only fair way to handle beer whose demand exceeds supply.

Don't publicize that you got X beer in? Fine. Have an across-the-board policy of not confirming that you got X beer in, no matter who calls? Fine. But if I call a store and ask if they got beer X in, and I'm told no, and then I learn (as it's easy to do these days) that some other customer bought beer X at that store after I inquired about it... well, that's one store I'm not likely to patronize again.

 

In what world is Zombie Dust a whale and KBS something more common?!

 

I buy my beer almost exclusively from my favorite store, but it's a 20-30 min drive so I usually only get there
~once/month and come out with $100-$150 of beer. I appreciate that I can call and have them hold something for me to pick up when I am able to make it.

 

I never call, just show up with a smile and strike up a friendly conversation with the beer guy. Poof, the whales appear. How can anyone expect a phone call to check inventory entitle preferential treatment without the guarantee of even showing up? Maybe it's time for some of these stores to create "frequent flyer" programs based on customer loyalty?

 

I get this from an owners perspective, but it's not really feasible for a consumer. I don't have the time/money/space to stop at multiple shops every week hoping to find limited beer X, not finding any, and buying another 6 pack I don't really want.

Right. And my problem is I don't know if I'm consider a "regular" and any of the stores I shop at. Like you, I spend a lot of money on beer at a bunch of stores around the area...each store has different selection, price, and convenience factor depending on where I'm coming from. Do I spend enough money at one, or shop frequently enough that I'm considered a regular?

 

I definitely get both points of view. There's another store that demands that you buy another of the brewery's product, like another 6 or 4 pack, if you want their rare release. Kinda like extortion, but a "friendly" type.

 

In a perfect world, yeah, maybe. But in a world of truck chasers, hoarders, beer scalpers and people who only show up from time to time to buy limited beer , the shop owners are protecting the business of the people who show up weEk in and week out to Buy all beer, not just walesz bro.

 

The worst is when the lie to you when you are in the store. I get not wanting to say over the phone but to lie to customers in the store is something else. Especially when the other employees were telling me exactly when they expected a certain beer. And then when I had to wait for the distribution truck to back out so I could leave. Even worse when I see people in the parking lot with said beer. To then tell me the delivery truck has not come yet and then to change the story to they didn't get any of the beer and then finally change it to "we are all sold out". Yeah, I never went back there again after that. I used to go there several times a week before then.

 

You hate them but you are one?