Bad beer and bad brewery communication

It was an international email that probably had to be translated into Canadian. Give it a while longer.

 

Good question, I had issues with two separate foreign beers, both which came over with little to no yeast present. I informed the retailers who informed the distributor, whose response was basically "tough shit". I sent an email to both breweries with no response. Both were Belgian, so language is probably an issue.

In your case, if the brewery snubbed you, I would inform the retailer/distro and post on their Facebook page. You don't have to bad mouth them, just say that you emailed about an issue and got brushed off. Let people make decisions based on your experience without destroying your own credibility. And, there may be different brewery personnel in charge of emails and facebook content, so you may reach a different part of the company. That's just my two cents on the issue.

 

If it were my beer, I would prefer a discreet email, which you've already done. Second choice, a direct message via Facebook. If that still doesn't work, a public message via facebook would be OK as well.
We see nothing wrong with addressing a potential problem publicly because we see it as a way to show how we do our customer service.

Don't be shy, let the brewers know.

-Bill

 

I'd send a follow-up email before you post anything publicly. The first email might have gotten lost, deleted, overlooked, etc. Let them know that you sent a message 3 weeks ago and haven't heard back. These are human beings after all, prone to make mistakes.

If you still don't hear back within a reasonable period after that, unleash hell.

 

Not knowing what your email said I have nothing to go off of but I will say that you are more likely to receive follow up from a brewery if you a detailed in your message. Breweries get a lot of emails and many of them are very generic. A generic email is not going to be the easiest to respond to. If you are more detailed you will more than likely supply needed information and make responding easier and the whole communication process much more efficient.

Also, depending on the brewery, the person in charge of responding to emails may have several other responsibilities, may have had to route the email to a more appropriate person for answers or a number of other possibilities. This is said not to excuse the brewery by any means but it is just being realistic about the way things work at some breweries.

This post is not in direct response to the OP, there is not enough information for me to make any informed judgement, but it is more of a general statement about contacting breweries. Help them help you, provide as much useful and unbiased information as you can and make their job responding to you as easy as possible. This will certainly increase your chances of a response.

 

Took another brewer about six weeks to get back to an email I sent them regarding a six pack of bad beer I'd bought on vacation (they don't distribute to Illinois). Their QC guy replied eventually with apologies and ended up sending me a replacement 6 pack and a nice bottle opener. Don't be impatient!

 

Call the RCMP. What brewery is it?

 

I must say one particular brewery gave me the absolute opposite reaction.

I sent an email to the owner, yes he lists his e-mail, telling them that I noticed a large number of floating yeast in the bottle and even though it didn't have an affect on the taste it was still visually displeasing. I was responded to within 24 hours saying they were aware of the problem and offered to refund the bottles and pay for shipping.

 

I have had good response to issue from many breweries EXCEPT

Breckenridge. I have stopped buying their beer forever. Not that it was great but the small batch IPA on tap was pretty darn good.

I did email Troegs with a question and have not heard back but it had nothing to do with any beer problem.

Enjoy

 

What outcome are you looking for?

 

Um... all the Belgians I have met have spoken and written a minimum of 4 languages with complete fluency...

 

My advice is to contact Mr. Lahey and Randy, I am quite sure they will get to the bottom of it.

 

I've had incredibly positive responses with Weyerbacher in the past which is why I'll be a fan of theirs for life. Depending on the brewery, they could be working with a bare bones crew and they wear several hats and sometimes things slip through the cracks (unfortunately). I'm old fashioned, if it's that important just pick up the @#$% phone.

 

Seems like you are looking for a little more than just letting them know about bad product. If that was really your only goal, you've accomplished it - move on.

 

thought this was oging to be another Sixpoint thread, moving on...

 

i was just about to say that Sixpoint responded to my e-mail and sent me a t-shirt, and 3 4 packs, all because I e-mailed them with a concern about a damaged 4 pack I had picked up.

 

I'm going to send them an email saying I'm concerend about your concern and see what I can get!

 

Do you have a story that you feel comfortable sharing with us?

Cheers!