Good Customer Service

I've drunk a crap ton of beer and have no beer related customer service stories to tell. Good or bad.

Am I doing it wrong?

 

Ballast Point has excellent customer service.

 

Deschutes has always done well by me. When I reported that a store in Casper had 4 year old Cascade Ale on the shelf, 2009 The Abyss infection. They listen and take action.

 

VICTORY had good service for me once on a little issue. Love them

 

I like to think of Sixpoint as the shining star of customer service in this industry.. they've literally taken suggestions from people in these forums and implemented them within days. Wish they were all like that!

 

We have a ton of small craft brewers in the area - new ones pop up every day. Most of them are involved in and give back to the community. I was biking on a bike a couple of years ago and I saw 20 or so people wearing Surly T-Shirts cleaning up the bike path. Many of the craft brewers open up their tap rooms for public events, donate beer to fund raising events and sponsor homebrew competitions. I have never had an issue with any of the ones I have gone to but they have always been friendly and more than happy to talk about their beer. Several local retailers have replaced bad beer (in particular Four Firkins, Elevated, and South Lyndale Liquors) no questions asked. I think most people in the craft beer industry care about their customers and share our enthusiasm for craft beer.

 

I ordered some glasses from Treehouse last year. Despite being carefully packed, one arrived with a big chip in the base. I emailed them about it. They responded to my email right away and they immediately shipped me out a replacement glass. Included in the box was a nice handwritten note apologizing and thanking me for my patience and my order. Not that I needed another reason to like them, but the way they handled the situation gave me warm and fuzzy feelings about them!

 

You know its only beer, but it give us all room for hope.

 

The times I've gone to Dogfish, their customer service has been fantastic. Just a bunch of people who are dedicated to their craft. My wife and I visited on our anniversary and when they(the DFH employees) found out, they arranged a private brewery tour and gave us a couple of pint glasses. And when we ate at the brewpub before we left town the next day, one of the people from the brewery was there, remembered it was our anniversary, and sent us over a round.

 

I had 5 or 6 cans of Westbrook IPA explode at around 80 degrees. It was crazy! I emailed the brewery just to let them know w/o requesting or expecting anything for it and they replied that I could have a free case of the IPA next time I visited - at the time, I lived in the Philadelphia area. I never took them up on it since it would require flying with a case of cans (need room for walez) but I appreciated the gesture.

 

I've talked to Deschutes a few times, not even about something that had happened, just with a general question, and they were incredibly nice. Went above and beyond what I expected and it makes me enjoy their beer even more knowing the kind of people that make it.

 

The good folks at Tree House Brewing sent me a shirt after one of my growlers spontaneously shattered in the car on the way home. They saw my picture of it on the gram and asked me to email them. Oh, and that's not even mentioning how friendly the entire staff was at the brewery.

 

I like this thread, let's spread some positive vibes.

Anybody in the South-Coast area needs to go over to Buzzards Bay Brewing for a good time. Super hospitable staff who are just more then happy to talk beer with anybody that walks in. You can wander through the brewery with a pint in hand at your own pace, and everybody there is happy to answer any questions you may have. They're just beer people who like other beer people, plain and simple. Great customer service all around. No attitudes, no bullshit, just a great time at a beautiful brewing facility.

 

I've had good experiences with Founders and Bell's.

 

Somewhat of an old story, but about 5 years or so ago (when I was home brewing) I was attempting to brew a clone of FinestKind and had questions about what finishing hops they used. Sent an email, waited a week or so with no reply, so I figured I'd give them a call. After a short wait, I was connected with their head brewer who kindly answered all my questions. About 15 minutes later, I received a call from Mr. Egelston (aka "Dear Leader"), who asked if that was me who spoke to the brewer and were my questions answered. He'd seen my email, but didn't had the time to get to it straight away.

Been a fanboy ever since...

Now if they would only distribute to WV.

 

Long story short, I emailed a brewery about an issue I had with a festival they put on. The brewery invited myself and a friend on a behind the scenes tour and tasting with the head brewer. We tried several beers that hadn't even hit the market yet.

All in all, they went out of their way to make things right with me