customer service and craft beer

You asked a direct question and got a direct answer. They rudely insinuated that you were demanding preferential treatment. I think the appropriate answer would have been "we don't know when we will be ready with any new products, our current offerings are of limited quantities, and we do our best to keep going, thank you for your interest"

I mean it's really that simple. No matter how annoying the customer is, you've got to be cordial. Sadly you weren't handled properly.

If it makes you feel any better, I think they make lousy beer.

 

Had mixed emotions reading this post. OP did indeed ask the same question twice in the thread with SARA. The policy is the policy, as they say, they really don't announce any bottle releases, you have to check the Facebook/Instagram when they open each day to see if they have bottles or not.

So SARA was not in the wrong there, they have tons of people who drive a long way to get there. Hell, I'm in the Bay area and it was a 2 hour round trip drive. They're off the beaten path regardless. Everyone has to follow the same rules, or so I thought...

During my SARA trip, i was fortunate to pick up 2 bottles of the Saison Bernice. I really wanted to purchase a third, and even asked if there was a chance that I could. No dice. Then, I see people coming in in droves that are picking up more than two bottles. Bartender was checking some list when they were coming in. I assumed that maybe these were locals who had special privileges. Then, a some dudes walked up and only bought one bottle each of the Bernice. Some guy who was sitting in the back was apparently watching closely - he asked if he could "buy their remaining allocation ". She obliged and handed the dude two bottles. This guy had like 8 bottles on his table.

And what's funny is, I had asked the bartender if there was ANY WAY possible that I could buy extra bottles.

To me, this was cronyism/double standard bullshit. But I didn't want to make a big deal and say anything. I had one hour to enjoy my beers and get back to work. I felt like there was quite a bit of favoritism going on at SARA, but I will be back because the beers were great. Hopefully they reign this in but I'm not keeping my fingers crossed.

 

That's insane. If a customer brought this to my attention at my brewery the one responsible would receive a lot of corrective training.

Guys, I don't care how popular/profitable a brewery or any company is, you cannot treat customers like that. It doesn't matter if questions or inquiries are repetitive or downright stupid..

Money is definitely attracting the wrong people to this industry.

 

I stopped right after I read the words "preferential treatment". Eff those people.

 

Doesn't matter. Having a business that sells products to customers means customer service. If you can't hold back your condescending thoughts to the customers, you have no business selling anything to them. Look at the sh*t comments that breweries like Bell's and Founders have to deal with on their Facebook pages. Do you see them acting that way? No, because they are pros.

 

Exactly!

Every brewery will have bad reviews and unruly customers now that Yelp and untapped are a thing. Technology has given the consumer power and a sense of entitlement and all that means from the business side is that they adapt.

 

Because they're so INSANELY popular. I mean, they've got TEN THOUSAND Facebook likes! Never heard of them until today. Must be a truly shitty life to have people want to buy the products you are selling, so let's be a dick about it.

 

They're one of California's most popular breweries among beer geeks. People will drive several hours round trip just to get two bottles to go. I'm sure there are hyped breweries that I haven't heard of in the Midwest, but that really doesn't mean anything now does it? Kind of hard to keep up these days.

Sante's method for the last few years has been just a picture of the board on FB and Instagram (maybe twitter, too?), which the OP surely knew this since the communication came through FB. I agree they could have worded it more politely (we all agree on this!), but he knew he was asking for an exception to be made. I've seen and heard about many far more egregious customer service experiences in the past. They got short with him. Not that big of deal IMO. He clearly still feels slighted by their curtness *and* the fact that they didn't make an exception which you can infer in the wording of the OP. I've had worse done to me in person and got over it.

 

What sort of big buck salaries are Brewery Facebook Jockeys pulling down these days?
Fringe benefits? (Other than a free beer after work.)

 

Anyone who has followed them on Facebook for over a year, which one can safely presume the OP has, knows exactly how they do things. They never announce bottle releases except on the same day. OP asked for special treatment, didn't get it and got bent out of shape over it. The wording of the response was handled poorly, but I don't think the wording is the only reason for this thread.

 

Exactly...and it doesn't give the brewery (or ANY other business) the right to be a jerk in response. As said before, much bigger breweries and companies have dealt with many more jerky customers than this (and I'm not saying OP was a jerk) and have courteously dealt with it. If the brewery employee was having a "bad day", then that person shouldn't be dealing with customer inquiries, and that is the brewery's fault.

 

It's hardly a big assumption and I don't excuse the wording the employee used. I'm just fairly convinced he knew he was asking for special treatment. That's all.

 

Considering that most small breweries cannot afford to pay someone just to manage social media (it isnt that hard) it is more than likely someone in a managerial position or an owner.

Regardless, you missed the point.

 

Apologies for parsing the conversation but OP mentioned himself that because he has a long drive and is traveling with family that he did not think it was a big deal to ask about bottle release details a few days ahead of his date window. This could be interpreted as OP seeking preferential treatment due to his long drive & accompanying family. I can see it this way certainly.

 

He shouldn't have acted like your bothering him, most of the time breweries are happy to talk to you and glad your stopping by lol. I visit Sara a lot and never get a bad vibe, maybe he was having a rough one but either way can't put that on customers.

 

I with you on this one. While I can understand what @Jaycase is saying, I think it is largely immaterial. Whether the employee thought the OP was trying to get preferential treatment doesn't matter, because he treated the customer in an unsatisfactory manner, which is all that's relevant (IMO, of course).