Craft Beer Kings, El Monte, CA

$15 for black butte isn't that bad..I didn't get any when it came out(it doesn't come here at all actually), and like I said, by the time I pay for shipping in a trade, I'm either at or most likely above the price of any beers I paid for. Most FW for the DC area are $20, with a one per policy..and in most cases (sucaba and DDBA) people are in line before it arrives and when the stores only get 6 bottles a store it's sold out immediately. So I had no problem paying that. Maybe not the best prices, but at the end of the day this is the only time I'll be able to get some of these beers without trading for them, and I'd be way over the $ amount I paid of them on CBK.

 

This is one of the most troubling posts about CBK, at least for me. I work for a brick and mortar music store who also has an online storefront. We have had issues before (due to having such a vast inventory) where a person ordered an item that we didn't have in stock and hadn't gotten from a vendor in many years. Presumably, the customer ordered it because the price was so low and hadn't been updated (otherwise, why not go to Amazon?). We have actually lost money on a few of those occasions because our current cost was even more than the outdated list price online. But guess what?? We HONORED those transactions and sent the items at the price they were ordered at because that's good business.

Maybe I am thinking too much into it and there actually were imposed limits on the bottles...but more likely, CBK were not a fan of the profit margin on the original order and "adjusted" it accordingly.

 

I'm going to take a viewpoint here that is somewhat contrarian but mostly just a hard comment for everyone:

This thread reads like another $/oz and "Wat wit dat price!?!? ZOMG" bullshit thread.

If you do not like their practices, do not use their service. If you do not like their prices, do not buy from them.

The best response to poor market practices is a refusal to use their services.

Quit whining about what they do. Anyone who buys from them, that frequents BA, should have seen previous bitch and whine posts about the quality of their boxes, and the repeated issues people have had with them.

Should they have simply delivered on their promise? YES. Should you (royal you) act like a big boy or big girl, do your due diligence and deal with the consequences? YES. If you feel like you got screwed, and you legally purchased from them, there are two really fun places to go: The better business bureau, and small claims court. Sue them. Its that simple. You know how much it costs to sue someone in small claims? Next to nothing. Bitching on the board probably wont change anything. (I should probably heed that advice, as this post will probably change nothing.)

They are not impacting your ability to get your beer. And guess what! The last time I checked, there was PLENTY of FANTASTIC beer around, in VAST QUANTITIES.

Note: I have never purchased from CBK or had any interaction with them in any capacity. I just think that 5 pages of whiny adults is ridiculous enough to warrant comment.

 

I agree with some of this and truthfully I think the biggest problem for most of the people on this thread is the fact that Moe, the founder and owner (maybe?, I truthfully don't know) is so involved in the BA community, which it makes it much less like a "bitching about company X" thread. If that piece of puzzle was not present, I am not entirely sure this thread would have taken the turn that it did.

 

I actually did read through most of the thread. Cutting in line and getting a pipeline to beer doeskin bother me. What bothers me is that people allow it to happen. Complain about those people, not the person who is using the loophole. Do something about it if you see it. You cant police the world.

And to you 1) point. This is the exact reason why I have been shying away from this site. People with too much time and negative energy. If you have a consumer complaint, voice it. Get over it. Move on. It doesn't need to drag into a diatribe.

He said she said nonsense is best suited for Dr. Phil or Facebook.

 

Not quite right. Alerting the wider beer community, so other BAs aren't supporting his shitty biz practices, is a fair and potentially helpful thing to do.

 

Anyone who engages in business with someone without doing their due diligence will get what is due to them. Thats the crux of my point. It's a point that people here will undoubtedly miss

 

Its just really funny for me to read this thread, having never purchased from them. Let me try and note something as well:

Check this out

And Check this out

Now, out of 110 reviews, the vast majority of them are positive. Unless they are padding their stats by abusing the rating systems, I would be much more apt to assume that these isolated cases do not make the majority.

Thats why I liken this to the $/oz threads. If you don't like the prices, you can purchase beer elsewhere. If they have a corner on a market, that sucks, deal with it. You dont need a T25. And guess what, if a T25 DID come on the market, at market prices, it would probably be gone well ahead of anyone on here knowing or getting their hands on it.

 

Yes but people here have posted experiences about Moe/CBK changing the terms of purchase on the fly during the fulfillment of an order and other bad practices (i.e. imposing a bottle limit during the shipping of an order that wasn't posted during the sale). Reading up on those firsthand experiences on a user forum is exactly the kind of due diligence somebody should and can be doing. Meanwhile, you could also decide to NOT click on this thread and go about your merry day.

 

Did you read my post? I made that point about myself, I am choosing to play devil's advocate here, and be a complete hypocrite.

 

I, for one, wouldn't take it upon myself to spend hundreds of words defending a Minnesota bottle shop owner, clearly reviled by his local BA neighbors, whom I've never met and with whom I've never done business.

 

Oh, a conspiracy theorist AND a whiner? Fine, I'll say it again. Nope. I've never shipped beer or gotten a shipment from anywhere. Only places ive brought it home from are Illinois, wisconsin and Oregon. Anything else I've had is from friends who travel. Check my ratings if you wish.

Yeah I am bored, and while I was amused in the first couple of pages, I saw the conversation turn into a standard bitchfest, so I thought I would contribute.

 

Well, this thread has served as due diligence for me and apparently a lot of others that have read it. So you could argue you've missed your own point, no?

Either way, it's some of the better reading on these forums - so thanks Pacific-ers for this!

 

Yeah, stay in your own forums... We don't invade yours and talk about shit we know nothing about.

 

BRB Going to find a bottle shop in Minnesota that I've never been to and write a dissertation on it.

 

So seriously, he promised you another $25.99 Black Buttee XXV if you would you said what a solid BA he has? Also two of those $350 beer memberships are left you should jump on it before they are gone.

 

Those 2 memberships....amazing they have lasted this long since the other ones sold so fast!

 

Hey guys, just wanted to give my two cents here. I happened to be in the LA Area (which hardly ever happens) and I wanted to stop by Plaza Market to check it out and see what it's all about. @ThatOneGuyMoe happened to be in the store. I've seen him around before at numerous events and I've never seen him do anything that I would consider rude or inappropriate. Not to say it hasn't happened or couldn't happen. I just went in there with an open mind, and he didn't know me from a stranger off the street. I perused the selection, saw a couple good ones, and grabbed them. Then I asked if he had any of the Avery Monks left, and he graciously checked and offered me the last one they had.

We then struck up a convo about some mutual beer buddies, and general beer shop BS. He seemed super cool and even invited me to share some bottles with him at a local establishment by me in the near future. As a customer I was pleased with the selection and pricing, and I would visit the store again, if I was in the area.

Disclaimer- I'm not here to defend him, or to even offset all the negativity being thrown his way. If I had experienced what some of you have, I would likely share in the tar and feathering. I just wanted to say that as a complete stranger walking in today, he was courteous, professional and helpful. I've encountered far worse in the beer scene, and I thought the BA's on here who haven't had a bad experience with him should be aware.

The IG posts is another subject entirely, there are hundreds if not thousands of guys around the U.S. who post huge hauls way beyond their needs, and I would have to estimate that at least the majority of us at one time or another have snagged more beer than we necessarily need if we have the opportunity to do so. Line cutting is a big no no, but glass houses and stones and what not. Who here has NEVER cut a line for anything ever? Come on guys.

Anyways, I'm not doing this in hopes Moe hooks me up down the road, or anything like that. I just thought some here would like to know what it was like to interact with him as a complete stranger.

Cheers guys

 

Do you even mule, bro?

 

Didn't this guy show up in a Bad Trader thread several months back? I can't find it now but I distinctly remember seeing someone complain about getting an Oude Tart instead of an Oude Tart w/ Cherries or something like that.