What are your gripes about bottle shops?

My largest concern is old beer that the retailer refuses to discount or replace.

 

* Price gouging is my main issue - i.e. Bell's Whiskey Barrel Aged Cherry Stout in one shop at $13.99 and another at $32.99.
* Not having prices marked or clearly listed.
* Storing warm is also another issue. There's several warehouse stores near me that are not air-conditioned in the summer - I just don't shop there between June and September.
* Old beer.
* Uninterested staff, or overly interested staff - I don't like being followed around with someone trying to tell me everything they know about beer (fortunately that's not that common).
* Unclean shops with dusty shelves, etc.
* Bad parking lots or broken concrete or entranceway doors.

 

1. Beer not being pulled based on age, though I admittedly don't check dates because I tend to drink darker and/or BA beers that age well. Still, if you constantly see dust covered bottles, there is an issue.
   
2. Beer that is exposed to direct sunlight coming through a window that has a shade that isn't always pulled.
3. Bottle shops that play games with limited cult releases - such as buy this to get that, or stand in line to sign up then come back later and stand in line to get it (gets you in the store twice). Or requiring you join their beer club to get certain beers.
   
4. Insufficient parking.

 

Places that don’t sell singles.

 

We have one liquor store that has singles in row racks in a cooler, and the beers are put in there randomly. Since you can only see and easily access the front bottles in each row, if you don't like the selections at the front then you need to take them out to see what's behind, and wrestle them back in again. This seems to be making the assumption that customers would be happy to get any craft they can access at the front, almost as if this was set up by someone that doesn't understand that all craft is not the same.

 

Also dust, why can't they at least dust off the bottles. Makes me question their overall attitude toward both beer and their customers.

 

My go to bottle shop gets no complaints.

Cool guy, great vibe and now 24 taps.

 

Price your beer

No price , I walk away

No price I will stop coming

I have stopped going to a few spots including whole foods due to no prices.

Don't tell me to bring the beer to the register to get a price. Put the price in the shelf or I walk away.

You can price your beer at $100 a beer as long as it has a price on it.

I'll stop coming at that price but at least it's priced

Old beer is also my complaint. I mentioned 1 yr plus warm IPA to a shop once and was told "don't buy it, nothing wrong with it". I don't go there anymore.

Enjoy

 

... places that don't sell what I want

 

Both places I go to are pretty cool, one is run by people who know their stuff and clearly have a passion but old beer is my number one issue. Even old bottles of Enjoy By IPA's just sit there for months. You'd think they'd at least get that one right

 

Overpriced stores in PA. We are already paying high prices and then some stores jack it up even more compared to other nearby shops. Also, old beer that sits on shelves.

 

Agreed.

If you force me to buy a 4 or 6 pack of a beer I've never had, I will never buy a beer I've never had from your store.

If you allow me to break up anything in your store, you have a regular, loyal customer.

 

Aye, this is the best way to get and keep me as a customer. If I had to choose I would take singles over selection.

 

Attitude.

 

Most of the stores that I frequent are pretty good. Things that I don't like;
1. Mix-a-six shelves that are stocked with out dated beer. Kinda defeats the purpose!
2. Stores that hold back desirable beer, jack up the prices.
There are a few others, but these are the big ones to me. Others have listed things that would be an issue for me but I usually don't encounter them at my regular stores.

 

I like a nice balance between stock/shelf beer and higher-end options. I also really appreciate an expansive 12-pack section...especially in the summer when I do lots of entertaining at my house.

Obviously old beer is a problem.

And like someone above mentioned, no pricing is a big problem. I will not be embarrassed at the checkout if the price for some local 4-pack of Pale Ale is 22.99 and I'm not down to pay that

 

Purely anecdotal on my part but I've noticed often enough in different stores that the mix-a-six rack seems to be a place where old ailing beers go to die.