What are your gripes about bottle shops?

The owner of the store I go to most often will not sell Grimm beers to people we has determined to be non-customers. Having a beard is almost enough to get you on that list.

It's fucked up, but he means well.

 

That's an easy one. Out dated beer and price gouging.

 

What is a 'non-customer'?

 

In his mind someone who only shows up to buy "special" beers, never to be seen again. One who works their way down the turnpike picking up as many units as possible

 

When a store doesn't fully meet all my personal needs. The same principal applies to my friends, the government, hair salons and the weather.

 

All the usual stuff listed already - it gets me when I see old seasonal products still out on the shelf from months past....talk to your distributor sales people for goodness sakes and get rid of that stuff! Do stores really think someone will buy a Christmas ale in June?

Dark stores (Lizardville in Copley OH in particular) with shitty or no prices on beers and they jack up the singles prices, and it is so dark you cannot see things!

There is another beer store I rarely frequent anymore, as they price their beers $1/2+ more than anywhere else, and have lots and lots of old stock....crazy!

 

Warm storage. Why is it the many "craft centric/craft friendly/craft knowledgable" stores stock their inventory in a way that we know is empirically bad for the beer? Meanwhile the grocery store down the street is 100% cold. So people say "Buy from your local bottle shop..." but some honestly don't do what's best for the product.

 

Exactly. There are a number of good retail choices available around here. If I didn't like something about a retail outlet, I simply wouldn't return. Selling beer in some areas of Asia would be a big challenge. This is generally where I opt for the popular local lagers that are likely freshest.

 

Pretentious staff that talk down to customers. Happened to me a couple of times, the last time I wanted to grab the beret wearing, neckbeard, man-bun condescending dope that wasn't even old enough to legally drink 5 years ago and drag him outside and kick the shit out of him!!

OK, I'm better now

 

Almost everything mentioned so far irks me to some degree, but the three that for some reason bother me the most are:

1) No prices on bottles/six packs (yeah, i know i can ask the cashier, but by the time I've asked for the price on the 5th beer, the cashier is annoyed and I forgot the prices on the other 4 beers)

2) Bottled beer stored near windows that receive direct sun light

3) When places put out the previous year's seasonal beers trying to pass them off as this year's

 

ah, okay. makes sense. I suppose he just wants to keep his 'regulars' happy. But how is he to know that that person didn't just move into the community and this is his first time in the shop?

Also, as a business owner, who cares who buys your product? money is money.

Either way, it's an interesting stance for a business owner to take.

 

It would be great to see a store with all their bottles refrigerated, no old stock, singles available with a knowledgable staff... but imagine the prices at a place like that. I can't imagine all of that is possible without the owner driving prices up. I just pick my poison between the local shops, they all have faults of some kind.

 

If the guy just moved in the community, a shop not having the newest ultra rare beer for him on his first visit shouldn't deter him, unless he's just high maintenance.

 

Selective store owners may find themselves on the receiving end of selective customers.

 

I have a long commute, so there are few shops that I hit along the way. My biggest gripe is that the store closest to me could be the best or if they only put in some effort. They consistently store beer warm, and have old beer on the shelves. I almost picked up a mixed six-pack from a German Brewer, however when I saw that the best by date was already 18 months past, I put it back. It's not the first time I put something back there, and have decided to only check there for one-offs and barrel-aged beers. There's no way I would buy an IPA from that place.

 

Places that sell singles of shelf-aged IPA's.

 

I see these all the time. Problem is, it's their macro swill that they keep refrigerated.

 

have to say friendly staff is enough, when I'm buying 50$ plus worth of beers with overpriced singles (don't mind too much for the ability to not buy a 4pk I might not like) don't act like I'm a lunatic for asking if you have a certain local brew in stock. Happened recently at a place I stop in about once a week and almost always buy a decent amount just left a bad taste in my mouth if their selection wasn't above average I'd stop going

 

Mostly everything that has been posted on this thread I agree with, but another thing that irks me is when I am talking with a bottleshop employee, and they either can't answer any of my questions, or know little about the beer they are stocking/selling. This tends to be frustrating.

 

Agreed especially when you are marketing "craft" stuff and posting stuff online then you go in and people know nothing...was in a place recently where the employee couldn't find Sip of Sunshine for a customer(not me) I overheard the exchange from another aisle when I walked by cooler it was plain as day where it was, shameful