When to give up on your LHBS?

I'm the FIRST person to try my hardest to support local businesses, but i'm having a hard time with my LHBS. I'm a pretty big noob, so i don't have a frame of reference longer than about a month, but i just placed a pretty big online order and i don't think i'll be going back. first problem is hours. they're only open 4 days a week. second is the service. the auto siphon i bought there broke on my second use (the little plastic piece in the bottom came out), so i took it back to exchange it. the owner tried to fix it for 15 minutes, then ignored me for 15 minutes when another customer came in, only they weren't a customer, they were there to chat about some random nonsense. when i politely interrupted to explain that i'd simply like a replacement i was accused of "taking it apart". i explained that, no, it simply broke while i was using it. at that point i got an "oh, uh, well, yeah, just grab a new one off the shelf". lastly, i stopped by last week on a day that they're suppose to be open to find a sign on the door that simply said " on vacation". that's great, congratulations! everyone deserves a little time off. how about a date you'll next be open. how about a "sorry for the inconvenience". combine that with the mediocre advice (let's face it, the collective here is far smarter than any brew master) and i think i'm done shopping there, unless i'm having a brew day emergency and i must have something right away. i've never had a business make it so hard for me to give them my money!!

comments/experiences appreciated.

Dude, that blows. Where is this place located? I'm having similar issues with my LHBS but mainly because of the hours they're open, and the occasional overpriced item. Still, I like the couple that runs it and they're usually helpful so I can overlook those things for the most part... Sounds like you might have a harder time though...

Look at it this way, many of the online stores are someones LHBS. http://www.cellar-homebrew.com/ is mine and they are all kinds of cool, and deserving of your monies.

This seems kinda spammy, but I don't have any connection to them other than living nearby.

What in the hell is up with problems with LHBS lately, seems like a bunch of aholes that treat new brewers with no respect. So far mine seems decent, but I feel for all of you that are getting crappy service.

I concur with the OP. I have a local place that I love to drink at and all the guys (and gals!) in there are great. Sometimes they have some really neat beer, sometimes the styles are a miss but hey none of us are perfect (OK well I am but thats not the point). The store..... thats a whole different story. Never have what I'm looking for and when they do it is usually over priced. A lot of the advice is bogus as well. Not knowing the difference between pin and ball lock kegs when you're a brewer.... seems odd to me. I'll stick to drinking there or buying stuff when I know they have the best price.

It's likely a vicious circle of poor attitude/service leading to customers turning to on-line suppliers, leading to no sales or profit for the LHBS which leads to poor attitude/service...etc...etc.

I gave up on my LHBS because of the limited hit-or-miss supplies, generally higher prices (even after shipping costs) and the convenience of having my supplies dropped at my front door step.

I get there every now and again, because they are great people. But time, convenience and cost savings prevail.

sounds a lot like my lhbs...

Haha yup the "Largest supplier of Home Brew supplies in Corpus Christi" is nothing more than a sh*tty liquor store that has some old LME and NO YEAST

Plus no one there brews so no one knows ANYTHING....really sucks


So to answer you're question: give up the first time you realize they SUCK!

sounds like a good operation to me.

So im not the only one thatis having this problem. The first brew shop I went to was great. The guy was friendly and helpful. But it all the way on the other side of town. So I found 2 that are near me, one is inside a liquor but hey at least they have yeast. BUT sometime it's expired. The other one is unfriendly and unhelpful half the time. And BOTH seem over priced. I might give online a try.

I have to say that I love my LHBS.

In fact, it's one of the RARE times when I'd rather walk in to the store than buy online. Bob is always helpful, encouraging and friendly.

I can certainly say that the hours are sometimes problematic, it's open from 10 am to 7 pm three days, and 10 to 4 on others. No matter what, I'm not able to pop in since I commute almost a hundred miles a day.

A quick e-mail to him and he responded that he'd drop supplies off at my house, or at the business next door if it would help.

In MOST, but not all, cases, he's cheaper than buying and shipping from Midwest, and he's certainly faster.

As to when to dump your LHBS... Simply ask yourself if supporting this guy is actually helping your brew or not. If you're chatting with the guy about brewing, or getting advice, perhaps the higher prices are worth it. But if you can get BETTER service and better prices with an online seller you shouldn't question that... They're more deserving of your money.

I've dealt with both good and bad LHBS. I know everyone says to support their local store but they owe it to their customers to provide good products and service. I will never understand the attitude of some folks who work in home brew stores that act like they are superior to you and don't have time to answer your questions.
I'm glad I have a great store that is just down the street from me.

Kevin Dean said:

I have to say that I love my LHBS.

In fact, it's one of the RARE times when I'd rather walk in to the store than buy online. Bob is always helpful, encouraging and friendly.

I can certainly say that the hours are sometimes problematic, it's open from 10 am to 7 pm three days, and 10 to 4 on others. No matter what, I'm not able to pop in since I commute almost a hundred miles a day.

A quick e-mail to him and he responded that he'd drop supplies off at my house, or at the business next door if it would help.

In MOST, but not all, cases, he's cheaper than buying and shipping from Midwest, and he's certainly faster.

As to when to dump your LHBS... Simply ask yourself if supporting this guy is actually helping your brew or not. If you're chatting with the guy about brewing, or getting advice, perhaps the higher prices are worth it. But if you can get BETTER service and better prices with an online seller you shouldn't question that... They're more deserving of your money.

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This is hilarious, to me anyway, I was reading this and thinking, "That sounds like how I feel about Flying Barrel...funny this guys name is Bob too...wait a minute!" Then I put 2 and 2 together and saw you were from Frederick. Small world. I live near Hagerstown and split my business between Flying Barrel( Frederick about 40min away) and my more local Cracked Cork HBS. I go with Cracked Cork out of loyalty and wanting to support my local HBS, but I really love going to Flying Barrel b/c it is such a better store and Bob is so great( more often I find myself @ flying barrel b/c I need more specialty ingredients than cracked cork offers).

When they tell you:

Dude, we're a hydro store. We're getting rid of all the beer crap. We just grow now.....

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talleymonster said:

When they tell you:

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or when you feel the cops follow you after ya leave

There is a shop in Tassie called :
The Hydroponic Company. The intials say it all. The police do sit outside there!

ColoradoXJ13 said:

sounds a lot like my lhbs...

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SHHHHH!!!!

you found me ; )

eriktlupus said:

or when you feel the cops follow you after ya leave

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Midwest has hydroponic stuff too, but the cops around it seem happier to bust people for speeding than for pot.

:fro:

Just my initial impression, but I've had nothing but A+++ help from midwest. I'm sure they've answered over a 100 of my questions this week. And they still seem happy to help when they see me.