Don't be a CraftHole

Via the Swayzie Express?

 

They would have to ask Todd to buy beer for them. He's the coolest guy in the world. That show never got enough credit for how good it was.

 

Only when i go for the Bangor International Model Train Convention

 

I go into stores lurk about then whisper " got any wales bro" to the clerk, Ive only been arrested twice.....
then I roll my eyes and mutter about bloody Shelf Turds on the way to the squad car....

 

Many times the clerks are the assholes.

I've seen innocent noobs walk into bottle shops looking for BCBS, witness the clerk tell the noob they don't have it but not to worry because this bottle of Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout is just as good if not better. Out the door the poor noob walks with their Bourbon County money blown on something that doesn't come anywhere close.

Many scenarios similar to that play themselves out all the time.

 

I've seen some VT and MA breweries package their run of the mill IPA's in nice cans and fill the vacuum left by the great ones that are not available in those parts. I pity the noob who walks in for Heady Topper, but walks out with Boom Sauce or Trout River- or worse on the advice of the person behind the counter. Nature does abhor a vacuum though.

 

I don't think I'm really rude about it, but I definitely am not going to list everything in the cellar for someone who just wants anything 'rare' and probably won't be a repeat customer. It typically goes like this:

"What do you have in the back?"

"Is there anything specific you're looking for?"

"No, I just want something hard to find."

"If there's a certain beer you want and we have it, I'm happy to get it for you. We like to keep the cellar under wraps for when people really want something enough to ask for it by name."

I'll definitely mention any new arrivals of special release stuff but in all reality it's not reasonable to expect me to list everything rare that we have - especially if you're going to make faces or shit-talk beers that aren't to your taste or not rare enough for you. The thing is, like I said, that stuff sells itself. We hold onto it for a reason - if we released it all to the public it would be gone and none left for our regulars. Being in Denver, a lot of stuff we save to release for GABF so visitors might have a shot at whales they can't get back home. I feel like we're actually doing a good thing but often whale hunters just feel entitled to buy whatever is in the store... Sorry, I want it to be worth our while.

 

Boom Sauce is legit though.

 

Based on the quoted conversation above, you're not being rude at all. In fact that is honest, polite and professional. You don't seem to be a clerkhole at all.
My point was the non-regular/hunter shouldn't act entitled or condescending in their request, the clerk should be polite and honest in their response and the non-regular/hunter should be polite and understanding when told certain beers are not available to them. End result is a lot less negativity and anger in the world.

 

Let me take a crack at this as a beer guy in a liquor store. There are several differences between beer and shoes. For instance, most people don't buy shoes once or more per week as their 'daily' - shoe stores don't rely on the same customers coming back over and over to keep their lights on (at least not with the same frequency).

Your second point is more what I want to address, though - I think you might be surprised to know, if I (or the shoe store clerk) have something that I'm saving for someone, and you ask if I have it, I'm probably just going to tell you I don't have it. Even if I told you I was saving it for someone, it's your right to get pissed, but it's not exactly reasonable. You're not entitled to the beer (shoes) just because it exists and is in the store. I'm not going to do some shitty thing like try to inflate the price because you want it - I'm just going to say we don't have it. Frankly I'm not sure why a store would display a product and mark it as 'for staff only,' but that's their business.

Consider the flip-side: instead of being upset that a beer was held for an employee, imagine you're that employee. You love beer so much you decided to make it your career. You actually had to fight for a $12 an hour job just to get into the industry. You're out of town when Abraxas is released and you've never tried it. It's probably the most expensive bottle you've ever bought, but you're willing to spend it because you've heard so much about it. You get back from your trip, and fellow staff tell you "Oh by the way, we sold the last Abraxas that we were holding for you. Some guy was throwing a fit because he saw it sitting out and we told him it was being held for staff. Sorry."

Who's the crafthole here?

 

First off, sneakers was a very good example. It is a limited luxury item and frankly there are plenty of people that make it there thing to obtain all of the latest limited editions. These people do keep the lights on at many places as opposed to the people who buy 1 pair a year. You can also use designer handbags or clothes or widgets as the example if that is easier for you. It is an item that is not a necessity and demand far outweighs supply.

Secondly, I never said anything about "throwing a fit" I have a right to be annoyed. I am here with my money ready to purchase the item. The store has the item but is not selling it to me and instead is holding it for someone who is not there with money out.

Thirdly, I find it absurd that a store would let employees have first crack at any limited item. (This sentiment is not limited to beer. It goes to sneakers, handbags.......) If it were my store, the employees wouldn't be allowed to purchase the limited items. They would be reserved for customers. You agreed to take a "$12 an hour job just to get in the industry" don't complain to me or claim that you are entitled to extra benefits because you have a "$12 an hour job." In most retail establishments, the employees would not get first crack at the limited edition widgets.

Finally, save your money on Abraxas. Not worth it.

 

I think most 'craftholes' are actually 'assholes' in real life...they just can't help it.

 

Abraxas is just an example, but you just illustrated perfectly what a crafthole is by knocking something that's not to your taste. Here's the thing though. I'm not just an employee at my store, I'm also a customer there, and a pretty valuable one at that because I'm extremely loyal. You, as a customer who undoubtedly buys less beer at my store than I do, are not entitled to anything just because it's there. You say it's absurd that you are there with money and the item is not for sale. Guess why? Because it's going to sell no matter what. That's just a fact - we don't need your entitled ass to buy it, because a valuable regular customer will buy it. If limited sneakers are enough to pay the rent for the store, great. Limited beers are not. Here's something else - we employees don't buy up all the limited stuff, 1. because there aren't enough of us to buy it all, and 2. we don't make enough money to. I'm not sure where you got the idea that you as Holy Whale Customer are entitled to whatever you want but the guy who sacrificed to get into the business in the first place should be restricted from buying the object of your desire. You're not better than me just because you're a customer.

Also since it's my job to educate and recommend beer for customers all day, it would probably be a bad idea for you as an owner to restrict your employees from trying hard-to-find beers, since tasting things like that is literally a part of the job. It's not some 'extra benefit' that I think I'm entitled to, it is a perk of working in the industry.

 

I am sure that most retail employees are customers at their stores and frankly I am not sure you spend more per week at your store than I hypothetically do. But assuming that you do spend more, I don't know why that makes you feel so entitled. But if you are making that the criteria for getting a limited edition beer, than let's set up a reward program. Whoever spends the most gets first dibs.

This statement that you made is completely self serving and a way for you to rationalize your sense of entitlement:
"Also since it's my job to educate and recommend beer for customers all day, it would probably be a bad idea for you as an owner to restrict your employees from trying hard-to-find beers, since tasting things like that is literally a part of the job. It's not some 'extra benefit' that I think I'm entitled to, it is a perk of working in the industry"
How does you purchasing a bottle of this limited hard to find beer help your store's owner in any way shape or form? By your own admission, "It's going to sell no matter what." What are you going to tell people, if you like ______, you should try LIMITED EDITON. Oh wait you can't it was sold out long ago.
Again, to paraphrase what you said, "[the store] don't need your entitled ass to buy it, because a valuable regular customer will buy it."

 

I'm entitled because it is literally a perk that was said to me out loud when I started the job. You are not entitled to anything just because you walk in with a wad of cash. Again, in case you missed it the first time, I'm not sure why you think you as a customer are more deserving than me as an employee. You want the system to be 'fair,' but exclude employees? How is that fair? You think you're owed a consideration as almighty customer, but wouldn't extend the same consideration to the people providing you a service? Somehow my point of view is self-serving, but yours isn't?

 

Hey, I drink more than average, doesn't that entitle me to a greater share? Seems logical.

 

Well said. I usually can find at least one beer I like in a random gas station or pharmacy.

 

If the store is holding beer for anyone, they just shouldn't have it out on display. If a guys asks for the special release that's set aside for whoever, the response should be, "We're sold out."

 

I whale hunt, did so when I was looking for KBS in the past couple weeks. I walked into four different bottle shops, two of which I am a regular customer and was able to get four four-packs of KBS.

My buying habits stand between independently owned bottle shops and chain stores. I usually buy beers that are not as available as other beers at independently owned bottle shops because they carry a better inventory but I usually buy my everyday beers at chain stores because they have better prices on everyday beers. I rarely walk out of a store without buying something as I feel that is wrong, especially if I ask for a particular beer, they have cool, they don't, I usually pull the trigger on something else. I never try to be a crafthole but I cannot say that I am not guilty.

 

Oh, of course. I've come to accept a certain percentage of the population are just born assholes. This is just the manifestation of this fact that pertains to what we talk about here. This thread just keeps hanging in there doesn't it?