Good Customer Care Tales

Allagash. Their staff is always tremendous. My last visit was on a particularly nice Saturday afternoon. The tasting area was packed and the staff checking IDs had to hold the line due to fire code restrictions. I think my wife and I waited 4-5 minutes for a few guests to leave...on a perfectly pleasant spring day, mind you. An hour later I was checking out with some bottled goodies and the staff member that had checked our IDs handed me a 4 pack gratis. Even after insisting that it was not necessary, she apologized that we had to wait.

That is one of many stories of how the staff at Allagash have gone above and beyond. They are top notch.

 

I bought a 6 pack of a stout from Shorts and it was very clearly infected. I posted a review here. I didn't call them or email them, but someone from Shorts read it and sent me a message saying they were sorry to hear I had a bad beer and they found out that they had shipped out some bad beer by accident so they sent me a voucher for a free 6-pack.

 

Another vote for Samuel Adams. Early in my craft career I bought a six of Boston Lager. One bottle's neck was cracked and two were flat. They sent me a rebate, a t-shirt, and a nice bottle opener.

 

Not in the same vein as others, but at my local bev. store I'm always available and happy to help answer customer questions while I shop. I get employee discount at this store. Kinda customer service I like.

Best from a brewery was from Duck Rabbit who couldn't send me beer, but sent me about 75.00 of swag to make up for some infected beer. Paul Philippon contacted me and took care of the whole deal quick and easy. Not only best customer service for beer, but best customer service for anything I've experienced.

 

Great topic! I've had plenty of positive experiences with breweries, but the one that comes to mind recently is Jack's Abby. I bought two bottles of their "Brewery Maker" and was looking forward to cracking them a year later. Regrettably, they were both tart and sour--not what you're looking for in a barley wine. I let them know that the batch might be infected and sent them pics of the bottles so they knew the bottling dates, but didn't expect anything in return. Instead, they immediately apologized and hooked me up with a gift card that was slightly more than what I paid for the original bottles. Needless to say, I spent it on more Jack's Abby beer!

 

I bought a four-pack of Boulevard The Sixth Glass and the bottles all gushed, I contacted them and they sent a check in the mail.
I thought that a couple of bottles of High-Westified were off, so I contacted Lagunitas, they were really nice about it. They sent me a box of schwag, and an empty bottle shipper to send back the bottles I had. Once they recieved the beers, they got back to me with their findings (not infected).
I have a couple others as well, but these are the ones that stand out.
Cheers!

 

Will absolutely second this. Well said.

Will add a combination of Mystic, their distributor, and Muckey's Liquors as well.

Nikki's in Providence, RI - hear some complaints about that store, but they have always treated me right. Owner is on point when it comes to beer.

Julio's in Westboro, MA. Although it is a haul or a drive, we do try to get there a couple times a year. No matter who is working in the beer section, they are always polite and super-courteous. And they listen so they can make some very solid recommendations.

Honorable mention - Yankee Spirits in Swansea, MA. While it is more or less self-serve, they have rearranged the store completely. The renovation not only looks good, but the beer section is showing a higher degree of attention and much improved "curation" - well done. The whole shopping experience is significantly improved.

 

@Sixpoint went above and beyond for me recently when a distributor in my area dropped the ball on their beer.

A few years ago I reported to Long Trail what I thought were off flavors in one of the beers in a mix 12-pack (a Summer Survival pack I think). I wasn't upset and didn't ask for or expect anything. I just wanted to give them the info in case it helped them pinpoint a QA issue. They thanked me for the information and then I got a check in the mail a few days later reimbursing me for the 12-pack, which I put to another Long Trail purchase later.

 

What JR said. The entire group there is beyond fantastic.

Additionally, there's something in the water in NYC. Had a bottle of Double Negative from Grimm where some trub got into the bottle, so I let @Grimm_Artisanal_Ales know, and Joe stoop-bombed me with a replacement and another of their stouts that I had missed out on and never expected to try. I was very grateful and am very excited to head to their new space in the coming weeks.

 

I agree they were great, and I got caught up in their infection problem, had some Duck Rabitt and Milk Stout that were cherry juice. Got some swag, hey it happens.

 

Giving a shout out to Tombstone, Mother Road, and Arizona Wilderness. Class acts and they appreciate their customers. Cheers guys!

 

I still have four bottles of infected Rabid Duck. We pull one out for each of our "Bring Out Your Dead" tastings of old and awful beers we do about once a year. It truly is one of the most horrible things possible to put into your mouth.

 

Ordered a CBS glass from Founder’s this year and it had a blister in it. Contacted the brewery and all I had to do was send a picture and they sent a replacement glass. Was relieved I didn’t have to pay to send it back.

 

Sixpoint again. A couple weeks ago I reached out about when Alpenflo would be available nearby. Within hours Shane responded and connected me with employee knowledgeable of where they were in distribution while another employee reached out, asked my address, and sent me some cool Alpenflo gear.

 

Bought some glassware and a shirt from Firestone; somehow the order got doubled and I ended up with 6 Teku’s and two shirts. I offered to ship the extras back, but they told me to keep them.

 

@beergoot sounds like you can update us on your initial post