Don't be a CraftHole

Perfectly put. Respectful conduct is everything.

 

Customer feedback over selection in and of itself isn't douchey. Now it can be douchey, but it's not necessarily douchy. Something like, "I was looking for a a nice imperial stout but all you have is Guinness." is constructive feedback. Something like, "Your selection is crap, get some whalez bro!" is douchey and non-constructive.

Note: I'm using your post as a spring board for my own ideas not disagreeing.

Our approach to shopping plays into our preconceptions. For someone who normally has a nice little conversation with the owner/employee when they stop in the idea of just stopping in implies, in their mind, a certain level of employee time and attention for simply stopping in. For someone for whom employee interaction is generally limited to a smile when they enter and checking out there are different ideas about the time commitment burden they're placing upon owner/employee.

I agree if you're going to chat up the staff and otherwise require a time investment from the employee it's quite reasonable to make sure you snag something so the time wasn't a loss for the store. Some of us though are more like silent shadows browsing the shelves. I realize there is always going to be some level of time commitment when a customer is in the store (if nothing else to pay attention to see if I'm trying to flag someone down for advice), but in that case said customer is not deliberately requesting employee time and so feel the occasional quick, "Do you have X?" and leaving empty handed balances out for the times they rush in, grab a sixer, and check out without anything beyond the most minimal time investment on the owner's/employee's part.

It doesn't have anything to do with moral fiber. I have limited beer fridge space and if I'm craving a specific beer I don't want to fill it up with something else. Which means if I'm really craving some Summerfest I'm not going to buy something else. Yes, Summerfest is in no way a whale, but it's not like asking if they have any Summerfest is a shorter question than asking if they have X whale. Now most days I'm just looking for a beer that will pique my interest and not a specific beer, but there are times I'm looking specifically for X and those times I don't have an issue with walking out empty handed.

 

Why be clerkhole? Why not just be honest: "we reserve those for regular customers and those beers are all spoken for". I'd respect that and politely thank him/her. Consumers shouldn't be rude to clerks and clerks shouldn't be rude to consumers.

 

My favorite clerkhole moment of all time. Rude customer asks the guy behind the counter "are you a cash register?" and he said "no..."

He isnt wrong.

 

Ohhh, CraftHole! Gotcha. I thought that this post was going to be about retailers that don't carry the good stuff.

 

The tag line was a joke man, relax.

 

I'm retired, old clothes are as dressed up as I get.

 

Haha, I can walk into a beer store and buy nothing, it takes a certain strength and a full cellar at home to do so.

But my future business is very valuable to any nearby liquor store and I'm always polite when asking. The street goes both ways, I buy more stuff from a few places simply because they were nice to me first and took advantage of the opportunity to pick up a good customer.

Personally I hate the whole holding beer thing, I never ask for anyone to do it for me but I will ask to go on a call list if they have one. The two tiers of customer thing is very frustrating. Put the beer on the shelf with fair limits, tweet, facebook, or call your regulars and let them know when it's there and that's it. There's a whole shady side of this business that drives me insane, it goes way beyond client retention.

 

At a store they had 6 kbs behind counter. They had labels for staff only. Guy tried to offer 3$ more per bottle. Store said for staff only. Guy walked out without purchasing anything. I was buying yearly case of Bigfoot. I asked if had any more kbs. Answer was yes got 6 bottles. I told him that they were for staff, he replied
He puts those labels because he gets craftholes.

 

I remember that saying too and I always thought it was coined by Sam Calagione referring to craft brewers being 99% asshole free.

 

Agree with your response to my comment. You've articulated my point with examples and the distinction is important.

 

Yes, people then used it to point out the culture (industry and consumers alike).

 

So basically he discriminated against customers based on their purchasing habits. I mean that's cool you got some bottles, but the owner snuffed another customer for you to get them. Not illegal by any means, but kinda crappy when you think about it. It's like walking into another store in any other situation and having this happen, you'd be pretty pissed if it was you. Sorry sir, you can't have the last pizza. Oh you, next in line you can have it instead!

 

At least you know the rare stuff is fresh. Most of these stores sell crap old IPAs and porters.
Keep fresh 2 hearted and all day ipa on the shelf and i'll stop hunting for "the good stuff"

Actually the "rarest" beer on the shelves these days is a fresh IPA.

 

Crafthole is kind of weak as a tetm. Don't see it catching on.

 

I am really baffled by this superiority complex.... over beer...

 

Good a reason as any.

 

It really is that simple. People walk into every single type of business and leave empty-handed if they don't find what they want. It's totally reasonable to want a specific item and leave if a place doesn't have it. If you do so respectfully, there's no reason for any store owners or workers to get bent out of shape over it.

 

Please tell us the rest of the story , Paul H. . I.e, Page ......2!

Really! I'm curious. (Enough for a book yet?)

 

See it all the time among people. These are the same people that give classics like Stone IPA low ratings.