Why not call stores out???

Right. The family thing was to underscore innocent until proven guilty of knowingly deceiving customers
.

 

Write a bad review if you have issues with a particular store.
The forum is not for calling out individual stores, but is more suited to discussing beer industry practices in a general sense.

 

I couple people have mentioned this, but I think even though some people are dissatisfied with the pricing structure, employees, distribution of coveted beers, etc they want to appear to be nice to the store owner so that when a hot beer hits then they can get a bottle. They want to complain about a store, but don't want to go public and burn bridges when that store gets something they really want: Cantillon, Heady Topper, CBS, GI BA beers... Many people that work at better beer bars and stores are posters on BA and RB, and often know customers by username.

There are a couple stores/bars in Philly where I'll gladly give them my money even if I think the pricing is a little more than I would like to pay because of the service they provide. There are other stores that charge around the same amount (maybe a bit more) that I would never go to because I feel like the people that own and work there aren't advocates for beer, but just trying to make as much money as they can, the 2 Foodery stores in Philly, for example. Places I've heard of like Perfect Pour in MD or Surdyk's in MN are the example of business with bad reputations I would not buy from and I think outing them is important.

 

Posting on the forum would allow you to get more feedback however. I think it would allow you to see if this was a single instance or a trend much more than a review noting the offense. This would be important to me because a single instance is easy to forgive, mistakes happen, but if it's a trend, I'm taking my business elsewhere. I think it is an acceptable post for a regional forum.

 

So true.

 

THAT STUPID KID AT THE PACKY GAVE ME THE STINKEYE!!

 

I'm perfectly willing to call a store out. Since we have this thread going I'll take the opportunity to say that "Book Land" in the Spokane Valley is a horrible beer retailer. They are unapologetic about their lack of refrigeration and beer selection, the staff has absolutely no craft beer knowledge, and every time I go in asking about Pliny the Elder they say things like "Oh, god. This guy." and "Look, we're going to call the police if you don't leave."

 

Because you may still need to shop there despite not liking the place?

 

The fact is that openly calling out a store will lead to a shit storm. It sets a very argumentative tone for the thread. Often the store owner will hear about it and come on to post in defense, and the thread will just devolve from there. I've seen a number that were locked and then deleted. I think if a store owner feels unfair treatment the Bros will certainly consider removing the thread as a courtesy.

A much better practice that I've seen is to not call the store out, but give enough information so that a reasonably knowledgeable person can figure it out. Someone else will even post the name further down, if you even bother to read that far. This really works much much better to keep the shit storm at bay and still get the info out to those who care.

 

The best way to call a store out is to take your dollars elsewhere. If everybody did this, stores would be forced into changing. I think loudly complaining often only leads to more consumer anger and frustration when nothing changes.

 

People don't listen to people they do not know and trust. You could stand outside with picket signs screaming that they are thieves and the general population would still walk in the door and get what they came for. I don't blame anyone for speaking out against bad business practices, I just think the only person it really helps is the person doing the warning.

 

I do think posting on review sites helps, like on yelp, or pages where people search for businesses.

 

I have also noticed Yelp is generally the top result of a Google search.

 

I use a combination when traveling. BA doesn't always have locations into the system that are less popular/harder to find. I am always searching for the hidden gems.

 

Story time!

About four months ago or so, I stopped by the Foodery on 10th Street. I had made many phone calls to Brendan and Matthias of B. United International in finding Italian craft, and this was one place. So I stopped by to pick up a bottle of Grado Plato Chocarrubica. I had this one tap just recently then, and was excited to share with my wife. Upon opening the bottle it gushed like Ole Faithful. The smell was funky and the taste was vinegar/mildew. So I knew that I should let the Foodery know the situation. I waited for a week for a response, and in that time I e-mailed Brendan to confirm the infected bottle was indeed infected. So he decide to e-mail and call them with no luck as well. When finally he did, he told me of the chaos, and he was going to stop by with a new bottle for me.

So when I went back, I asked about this bottle for me, and apparently three of the employees had no clue what was going on. I then proceeded to tell them I was Giovanni and Brendan had a bottle for me. But boy was I met with a serious attitude with the check out clerk. I remained cool calm collective(even when I had "Your soul is mine" t-shirt!) and I had bought another bottle as well.

Sadly this bottle was infected too! Either Brendan did not make it before I went in or there was no communication on which bottle was for me, we will never know.

But I believe I tried to be fair and professional too. I have been in the food industry for 15 years and I know the ups and downs. This is just a business for them, and the love of craft beer is not found here. I rather go to Hawthornes or Wine Works in Marlton!

 

^^ That's a good illustration of what I mean.

The prices at the Foodery suck, but so do the prices at most PA bottle shops. What makes it suck less is when you get good service from friendly, knowledgable staff.

I guess what can also be done is that instead of calling out the bad stores, giving props to the good stores. But the only problem is if too many people know about your honey hole, then that store might come up dry for you in the future when limited beers hit.