Price gouging rant...

Man, I remember the days when I could easily walk out of a store with a case of Pliny, and at $4.99


It's been many years since then. But yeah, I would simply shoot Vinny an email about it. What do you have to lose?

 

that IS price gouging. they upped the price by more than 3 bucks in a week! pretty rapid, and from what it sounds like, very greedy from the owner.

some very interesting responses in here. it sounds like you weren't being that insane of a customer where he really should have taken the inventory back and not sold to you, but it also sounds like you are better off giving better people your money for sure.

but +1 to reporting to RR for price gouging, they go to great lengths to make sure their beer gets sold fairly. also, if you pm the store, i can pass it along to the stone rep so they know what the account is up to

 

Hi times in costa mesa sells 2 bottles.you are in orange county right?

 

I know Mrs Vinnie Cilurzo (Natalie) went around LA/OC area stores (a few years back-maybe two) that stocked RRBC beers and warned the owners to keep the bottles stocked in the coolers where everyone had access to them and not to overprice pliny and the rest of the bottles. I know of 4 stores in my local area that was visited by Natalie. And all 4 have been doing as told. Well somewhat. I know of one such place that was warned and did nothing about it. They no longer carry RRBC beers. Maybe Mrs Cilurzo should be notified.

 

Russian River wants the retail stores who get Pliny to sell it at no more than $4.99 and kept cold. If they find out, they'll give a warning and then pull their allocation. This is the one time snitching is fine, when there's price gouging involved.

Oh, and the owner sounds like the Soup ****.

 

Or Beer ****!

 

Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay.

Pick your poison; pay $10 for a bottle and have it more readily available, or run the risk of its inventory running dry quicker.

Those aren't great options, I know. But it's not just A or B, there's probably C. Get Sculpin instead.

 

This is not gas or food after a hurricane. I'm a strong believer in everyone charging whatever they want and getting as much as they can. I sure do that with my salary.

And if that price is too high, nobody will buy it.

 

If your going to drive 15 minutes out of the way for pliny then why not drive another 15 minutes to ABC to buy the big 3 ipa's for $6 and less. Much better beer than pTe. And you can get 3 each(if they have all 3 in). Or at least 2 of the 3. Much better beer.

 

a 15 minute jaunt out of the way isn't too far and I've driven further for less.

 

Except when the company who produces said beer actively pulls store allocations if the beer is overpriced and not kept properly.

 

I think you guys may be confused, one of the primary benefits of a BA account is the public shaming of rip-off beer stores.

 

What bearing does a natural disaster have on this discussion? I see the point you're trying to make, and I understand the concept of the free market, supply and demand, blah blah, etc. However, if it is the dictated policy of the manufacturer to sell their product at a set price, and the vendor decides to ignore that mandate and charge exorbitantly high prices, how is that okay and how is that not gouging? I know you seem to take pride in being one of those people whose "wallet will do the talking," but it's not okay for a business to abuse its customers. Obviously, there is probably an ideological divide here that cannot be reconciled, but how do you not find this outrageous?

 

It's just semantics. Technically, the store is not gouging.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_gouging

 

Russian River's policy of checking its accounts for quality and price control has its benefits, but for a beer like Pliny the Elder, whose demand grossly
outweighs its supply (in Orange County, at least),
the unintended consequence of said policy is the
risk of shortages, even when bottle limits are imposed.

 

Ah, but you forget there are laws on the books in CA that protect against gouging:

1. Necessary items: Most laws apply exclusively to items which are essential to survival.
2. Price ceilings: Laws limit the maximum price that can be charged for given goods.

Here's the link to the text of the law that prevents liquor stores from gouging on RR's PtE: http://tinyurl.com/2fcpre6

 

Gah, you got me!