Local brewing stores?

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alex · #1 Post by **alex** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:21 pm

Hey- I did a search and couldn't find any help. I am looking form a homebrewing store in the Lawrence area.. sick of paying shipping fees.

Where do you all go locally? or are the rest of you plagued by mister UPS?

Bill · #2 Post by **Bill** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:51 am

alex wrote:Hey- I did a search and couldn't find any help. I am looking form a homebrewing store in the Lawrence area.. sick of paying shipping fees.

Where do you all go locally? or are the rest of you plagued by mister UPS?

There is no homebrew store in Lawrence. Your closest options would be:

Ale-n-Vino
925 N Kansas Avenue
Topeka, KS 66608-
Phone: (785) 232-1990
http://www.ale-n-vino.com/index.html

Homebrew Pro Shoppe, Inc.
2059 E. Santa Fe
Olathe, KS 66062
Phone: 913-768-1090
http://www.brewcat.com/

Bacchus and Barleycorn, Ltd.
6633 Nieman Rd., Shawnee, KS 66203
Voice (913) 962-2501 Fax (913) 962-0008
http://www.bacchus-barleycorn.com/

... and welcome to the board Alex!

alex · #3 Post by **alex** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:19 pm

thanks! I'm going to check out the one in topeka.

Bill · #4 Post by **Bill** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:28 pm

yeah, Doug (owner) and Paul at A&V are good guys. Check them out. I personally haven't been to the ones in K.C.

alex · #5 Post by **alex** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 3:32 pm

Just had my first experience with Ale n Vinos.. helped me out big time... I ordered a kit off the net and they forgot the specialy grains (

) so I had to book it over to Topeka... he stayed after close til I got there.

They will be getting my business from now on.

supersloth · #6 Post by **supersloth** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:29 pm

Was it Doug? If so He is like that.If you need anything he will do his best to get it for you.

Gordo

Swoosh · #7 Post by **Swoosh** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 4:07 pm

Anyone been here and had the same experience?

I forgot to use my brand spanking new Lawrence Brewer's guild card when I bought $120 worth of items from them the other weekend. I sent an email asking if I could come back in to get the discount. (probably would have spent another $120!) Charlie said no go. He said that he can only honor the discount at the time of purchase as it plays too much havoc with the bookeeping. Didn't sound like very good customer service....but what can you do?

Guess I will try out the other 2 stores next.

Just wanted to remind everyone to use their cards to get their discounts.

supersloth · #8 Post by **supersloth** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 7:45 pm

Give A&V A try. I dont think they would do that to you. Chances are if you just tell them you are a member they will take your word for it.

Gordo

Bill · #9 Post by **Bill** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:10 pm

Swoosh wrote:Anyone been here and had the same experience?

I forgot to use my brand spanking new Lawrence Brewer's guild card when I bought $120 worth of items from them the other weekend. I sent an email asking if I could come back in to get the discount. (probably would have spent another $120!) Charlie said no go. He said that he can only honor the discount at the time of purchase as it plays too much havoc with the bookeeping. Didn't sound like very good customer service....but what can you do?

Guess I will try out the other 2 stores next.

Just wanted to remind everyone to use their cards to get their discounts.

Are you talking about at Ale-n-Vino? Talk to Doug, he's the owner, I've never met anyone named Charlie there (but I only go there after 4pm), but you can't blame them for you forgetting to present your LBG member card at the time of purchase.
Doug is a great guy, he does things that are waaaaay beyond what he has to do and he's alway giving free items to the LBG as prizes for our events. Please don't look down on them due to this incident.
If you call past 4pm Monday through Friday, you will get a hold of Doug. If you explain what happened, and you have your receipt and LBG card, I'm sure he'll work something out.
The last thing I would have to say about Ale-n-Vino is bad customer service. Speak with Doug.

supersloth · #10 Post by **supersloth** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 10:55 pm

Bill:

Are you talking about at Ale-n-Vino?

I think he is talking about Homebrew Shoppe in Olathe. Look at his Post subject: Re.

Gordo

Bill · #11 Post by **Bill** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:46 am

supersloth wrote:Bill:
Are you talking about at Ale-n-Vino?
I think he is talking about Homebrew Shoppe in Olathe. Look at his Post subject: Re.

Gordo

Thanks Gordo... but I won?t recant anything I've said, A&V rocks!
(and I'll start looking harder at the 8pt font subject lines)

Swoosh,
sorry for the 'passive harsh words' (if there is such a thing), and I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience at any LBG recomended HBS, but I'm glad to have it brought to my attention that it wasn't A&V.

Since I don't venture anywhere but A&V, you may want to see if any other LBG memebers may be able to help you out w/ the Olathe store.

Swoosh · #12 Post by **Swoosh** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:56 pm

Yes, it was the Homebrew Shoppe in Olathe that I was speaking of originally.

A quick update on the situation...

I sent Charlie an email back advising that I thought that I was not getting good customer service for being a member of LBG and that I would not be returning to shop at his HBS. He had a fair comeback which I can respect. He is running a business and I did forget my card, which after this experience will probably not happen again.

Here is Charlie's response....

Andrew,

Sorry you feel that way, but we have been working with the club for several years and the agreement has always been that members must present their current membership card, at time of purchase to be considered for the club discount. We reached this agreement because it helps the club in getting members to pay their dues and helps us from having non-current ?ex-members? from attempting to benefit from the discount program while not participating in the club.

Not to say you would ever do this, but we have had experiences with such situations in the past, or people wanting to come back and get a discount on purchases before joining the club or paying their current dues. It is a system that has worked for us, and it is in the best interest of both the club and my business that we adhere to the agreement so that no one feels as if there are individuals that receive ?special? treatment, especially since we want to treat all our customers equally.

Charlie

Homebrew Pro Shoppe, Inc.

Greenblood · #13 Post by **Greenblood** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:11 pm

Please keep in mind that these discounts are not owed to the LBG. The brew shops around here choose to offer these mutually beneficial discounts to our members, and all of the shops have there own separate rules and agreements with LBG on the discounts they offer.

Homebrew Pro Shop has always requested that members present their membership cards at the time of purchase.

Doug at Ale&Vino is very relaxed about whether or not you have your card. I'm not sure about his partner, as I have not had dealings personally.

B&B also offers a discount to members on the certain days of the month when the moon is waxing and Orion is clear in the night sky, and they also require that you present your membership card. ( I can never remember what the actual days are)

As a general rule, it is a good idea to always cary your card when going to a HBS.

As for not offering a refund of the discount, I am sure that it probably would be confusing come book balancing time especially if it is not something that is done often.

Cheers!

Lawrence Brewers Guild

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