Do (successful) breweries give a damn?

I don't get it either! I live in their area, though, so can often (thank God) get their drafts on tap at some local places. I love all their beers (well not gumball head, but, that's a style complaint). I had a frigging blast at DLD 2013, still remember it fondly as my best birthday present ever!!

 

Totally agree. Direct communication is the best way to go.

 

Boulevard Brewing was very snobby towards me when I contacted them over a bad bottle. I didn't complain or anything, I just brought it to their attention in case they had an infection or something.

 

I sure hope so.

 

Can't recall exact details but my experience was exactly opposite. A few years ago I think BBQ was determined to be infected, might have been their imperial stout. Anyway, shoot them an email with a photo of the label and your address and how much you paid, couple weeks later get a check in the mail. It's one reason I'm a loyal Boulevard customer. Sad that some breweries can't simply stand behind their product. Just posting this to balance things out a little, not negating your experience.

 

Do brewers and breweries care? Yes, you are how they make money, its product for money, you stop buying they make less.

Using Social media is a wonderful tool but easy for your lone comment to get lost in the shuffle.

Brewers/Breweries using social media sometimes don't see it as a way of interacting with the community ( sometimes they get enough of that hitting a few beer fests a year) but more of a means to let the public know what to look out for or what cool/interesting/dull thing they are doing.

Calling a brewery to get questions answered is also a crap shoot, ever try to answer the phone or talk to the phone while vacuuming? its kinda like that. more so on brew day or high traffic days.

Email is your best bet these days. Make sure you put a relevant subject line and word it/ structure it in a manner that is easy to read.

Patience is a virtue, it might take time even for the best to respond. But then sometimes they won't and you will either suck it up or move on.

 

I gotta weigh in on FFF.
I believe their reputation for bad service has to do with the owner and it funnels down.
I overheard an employee (who I believe was new and getting trained) at the kiosk being told essentially they had the right to refuse service to anyone out of line. I believe inside they get a lot of entitled people who are going to this "new" place and aren't beer geeks like most of us and don't bother to research crap before they come in and have 1000 questions. I think as busy as the brewpub is they come off being assholes. I've been in line numerous times at the kiosk and overheard comments from significant others or members of the family being sent to pick up beer who have no clue what the difference between a pilsener or a DIPA or a RIS. I may not agree but I think FFF has chosen to not kiss ass to those who don't make the minimal effort to be informed before they go to FFF. Been there 30 to 40 times , never had bad service. They have gone out of there way to make it easy for us. Gave us a free round for moving to another table 15 feet away. Boy that was a strain , moving 15 ft. They have had a batch of bad beer which they replaced and gave me a Gift card extra for my troubles. I believe it comes down to basic human interaction. Treat then as you would expect to be treated and they'll do the same. Basics like please and thank you. Rant over.

 

I've sent many emails to breweries and every one of them have responded to my query, observation, or suggestion. I get those crickets on the social media pages which tend to be more of a means of cheap advertising anyway. You know - "Hey we just bottled this, or We're having a beer dinner, please like us, tell your friends, We dumped scalding wort on our balls today." I know social media is a big deal now, but when I mean business or want answers, it's the contact email that still gets it done.

I think brewers give a shit to some extent. They have a lot to lose by the time you get that far. They may not have the staff to keep up sometimes though.

 

Hi, It's the week before Dark Lord Day. Send me a message and I'll make sure it gets to the appropriate person.

cheers

 

When dashing off a note or inquiry to a brewery by way of a social media platform, gauge its necessity by asking yourself if you'd bother doing so if you had to write a letter, add a stamp, and drop it in the mailbox.

The ease of communication facilitated by social media must result in huge amounts of dross, and for everyone to expect a response represents an upscaling of customer service expectations that seems far beyond a small business's ability to realistically meet.

 

Not based on personal experience, but based on what I've read here (which admittedly is to be taken with a massive grain of salt at times), it sounds like you're listing two breweries who have less-than-great reps in this space.

I would say email them for sure though. Private FB message may be one thing, but any other "social media channels" I assume must be public communication. No idea what you wrote, but I can imagine (just to play devil's advocate) that if someone posts a public message to your FB page saying "Beer X is infected what ya gonna do about it", it could be a little frustrating and/or easily missed.

I've only ever emailed a brewery once. They responded immediately, and they are definitely successful - HF.

 

I don't know how many emails it entails, but I'm batting 1.000 when it comes to emails I've sent to breweries for any reason getting a response. That includes emails to Boulevard, Perennial and Almanac, to name a few.

 

3 for 3 here as far as emails go (SN, Deschutes, Great Lakes), no complaint issues though. The best one was with GL, I had just tried some of their beer and was complementing them on how much I enjoyed them and hope that one day they distribute out to California. I sent them an email in the morning and got a very nice response back in the afternoon. Well done GL.

 

I'd be interested in hearing more if you'd be willing to email me at [email protected].

 

Glad you found your answer. Email is typically the best way to get a hold of us.

 

Yeah I get it. I've seen Morgan at the Funky Buddha Lounge die a little inside a few times when people would come around asking for MBCP. I mean, they hosted a sour day at the lounge once and he looked positively broken hearted when a couple of dudes came up asking for Maple Bacon when they had about 8 different berliners on tap. "No, that's in Oakland, but we do have 8 different sours we brewed here at the lounge." "Oh...I just wanted some Maple Bacon. Are you sure you don't have any?"

I understand it completely, to have your hard work flippantly dismissed because it's not a hyped up product, well that shit sucks.

 

Social media is excellent for desseminating information and marketing. I love social media for this reason. The people and businesses I like come to me in a single easy to navigate medium. Awesome! You're right that it's here to stay.

But social media is terrible for exchanging feedback and one-on-one interactions, because it's little more than a mob of mostly random people babbling, sometimes SHOUTING, "likes", and sprinkled with #hashtags. Ugh! You don't contact a business about a serious problem in 140 characters or less; or fire off a serious PM and then like your grandmother's cat photo in the same hand swipe. A business can't forward a FB PM to the appropriate individual in their company to handle it like they can with an email. Email is also a more permanent and secure record of the interaction than a 3rd party site with it's own policies and control over communication that can be at odds with other businesses. Until social media improves in utility then email is for serious communication. As many people have shown in this thread you get a response through email. One can say if the company cares they will monitor their social media, but one could also say that if customer cares enough to be taken seriously they will take the extra, literally, 5 seconds to open up their email.

I just don't understand the silly expectations of so many Gen-Y/Millenials who think all communication should be informal and on their terms. There's a time and place for certain types of interactions to get the desired responses. My age puts me on the border between Gen-X and Gen-Y and I'm very tech-savy, so I don't think I'm too out of touch, but I'm sure everyone thinks that about themselves... I guess I need to go buy myself a cane to shake at the whipper-snappers... *sigh*

/rant

 

Don't sell yourself short--your username does have "-bot" in it.

Also, well said.