condescending LHBS

[Godsdog]

just want to have a general gripe about my go to LHBS,went in yesterday at the great barr one near Birmingham off the newton road,some of you will know it but all I wanted was some crystal malt to do a kind of mini mash with my kit and got a lecture off them telling me you cant do that and when I pointed out that I follow a very good homebrew forum their reply was astonishing,dont take any notice of them they don't know what theyre doing and we have been supplying brewerys for over 30 years.i always find them to be aloof and I know better than you smugness,glad I got that off my chest,yes they have a good selection of homebrew stuff but the whole shopping experience is not good,friendly advice yes but not their way

 

[Brew_DD2]

Get yourself buying your ingredients online. Plenty of great places with very nice service. Local doesn't always equal better.

They sound like either they don't know the various ways of brewing or are closed-minded. Either way you'll do well to shop at somewhere like Geterbrewed. Save money too.

 

[Slid]

just want to have a general gripe about my go to LHBS,went in yesterday at the great barr one near Birmingham off the newton road,some of you will know it but all I wanted was some crystal malt to do a kind of mini mash with my kit and got a lecture off them telling me you cant do that and when I pointed out that I follow a very good homebrew forum their reply was astonishing,dont take any notice of them they don't know what theyre doing and we have been supplying brewerys for over 30 years.i always find them to be aloof and I know better than you smugness,glad I got that off my chest,yes they have a good selection of homebrew stuff but the whole shopping experience is not good,friendly advice yes but not their way

Brilliant. I remember as a kid in Glossop, the Music shop got so fed up of their idiotic customers going in to ask for Sheet Music that they put up a sign in the window "We do not sell Sheet Music". I don't think they sold guitar strings either and had to tell this to endless chancers coming into the shop to ask for them.

Shop closed ages ago.

 

[geetee]

Brilliant. I remember as a kid in Glossop, the Music shop got so fed up of their idiotic customers going in to ask for Sheet Music that they put up a sign in the window "We do not sell Sheet Music". I don't think they sold guitar strings either and had to tell this to endless chancers coming into the shop to ask for them.

Shop closed ages ago.

When I was at work they used to make paninis with cheese in them but only ever had 2 or three. When I asked them why they said I don't know but everyone keeps asking for them, so why not buy some more in then?
Some people just never learn and I tend to avoid those that cannot be bothered to put themselves out for you, a woman checkout operator once was moaning and grumbling when I went through so I just stopped and said " If it's too much bother for you I can ask the manager to recommend a different checkout. Her demeanour changed immediately and she was always friendly after that!.

If you are paying DO NOT put up with being ignored or an annoyance, just let them know that you will go elsewhere and mean it.

 

[KeithW]

Just because it's not their way of doing things, doesn't mean it can't be done. They may not be prepared to experiment or move away from the 'norm'. their loss!
I have an allotment and, apparently, you can not transplant parsnips. I do, and most of them grow on perfectly well.
It's certainly not good customer relations from a retail outlet. Even if they don't agree with your plans, they should still encourage you to try it, and ask you to report back with your results. After all, it's money in the till that counts, happy customers are repeat customers, and repeat customers pass the word on, the best free advertising you can get! A shop with this attitude will lose customers, especially in a world where buying online is easy!

Keith

 

[JFB]

I went into a LHBS to buy a pot to do BIAB and was told that it was not a good technique and I should only use a three tier system.
I bet if I was after a grainfather they wouldn't of given that advise.

 

[Doglaner]

I know that shop, and concur. I still use them, mind, but just ignore the nonsense. To be fair they helped a lot at the outset, however it is their way or no way. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Personally, I use a strimmer.

Get advice on here, and from books, get ingredients from them.

Can you imagine if your local supermarket started telling you how to cook, at the checkout?

 

[MickDundee]

I went into a LHBS to buy a pot to do BIAB and was told that it was not a good technique and I should only use a three tier system.
I bet if I was after a grainfather they wouldn't of given that advise.

I fear I might get the same "advice" from my mate's grandad, who was a "big name" in home brew in the 70s and was recently passed a bottle of my beer. He really liked it and has been asking my mate all sorts of questions about my set up. I found out today he wants to meet me to talk about brewing.

On one hand I think it'll be really useful, he's published books (the last one was 1986 though) and he helped the owners of a local microbrewery set up. But on the other hand it sounds like he believes his way is best and nobody else can change his mind so I'm dreading telling him I BIAB. He was quite forward thinking at the time though so I might be wrong, I might reignite his brewing passion as he gave up a few years ago (due to age).

 

[Brew_DD2]

Bugger what people think. You brew in the way that's right for you. If I had my way I'd have a garden full of conicals and brite tanks but you do what you can with the time and equipment you have.

 

[Robin54]

Brilliant. I remember as a kid in Glossop, the Music shop got so fed up of their idiotic customers going in to ask for Sheet Music that they put up a sign in the window "We do not sell Sheet Music". I don't think they sold guitar strings either and had to tell this to endless chancers coming into the shop to ask for them.

Shop closed ages ago.

LIKE THE GUY WHO GOES INTO A MUSIC SHOP AND ASKS FOR TWO STEAKS AND A POUND OF MINCE.....
The owner said...........

Your a drummer aren't you!!!:mrgreen:

 

[Gerryjo]

I fear I might get the same "advice" from my mate's grandad, who was a "big name" in home brew in the 70s and was recently passed a bottle of my beer. He really liked it and has been asking my mate all sorts of questions about my set up. I found out today he wants to meet me to talk about brewing.

On one hand I think it'll be really useful, he's published books (the last one was 1986 though) and he helped the owners of a local microbrewery set up. But on the other hand it sounds like he believes his way is best and nobody else can change his mind so I'm dreading telling him I BIAB. He was quite forward thinking at the time though so I might be wrong, I might reignite his brewing passion as he gave up a few years ago (due to age).

The fact that he liked your beer and is forward thinking means that he is probably quite intrigued as to how you were able to produce something that he liked and was not brewed the way he would have done so.He has obviously had too experiment a lot to get the knowledge he has gained and attributed to his staus.
Embrace him but stand firm in your own ideas as its obvious your doing something right that you have ignited a spark in his mind :thumb:

 

[Graz]

Offer a bit of friendly advice for sure but if I was running a shop these days I'd be going out of my way to keep customers happy as the competition from Internet retailers is so great now. If you piss off you customers then the writing is probably on the wall for your business.

As it happens being near a physical homebrew shop at the moment would be quite useful to me mainly because I'm using Hambleton Bard CO2 cylinders and it's not really practical to get refills from online suppliers. Luckily a new one has opened up nearby and therefore to keep it going I don't mind buying the odd kit or other supplies even if the prices are slightly greater than online. Do buy most of my stuff mail order though, just so much more convenient.

 

[Dutto]

Reminds me of a mate of mine who was at the Edinburgh Agricultural Show about fifteen years ago. He went there to look over and buy three John Deere tractors for his farm.

I admit that the tailor that dressed James Bond couldn't make him look good, but dressed in his usual ill-fitting trousers, hob-nailed boots, lambswool jerkin and a Beany hat he walked into one of the stalls fully intent on giving them his business.

A young man walked over to him, asked him to leave on the basis that they were there only for "serious buyers" and promptly lost his firm nearly half-a-million pounds worth of business!

One for the good guys! :thumb:

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
It's like my local DIY shop. Every time I asked for something the guy would say, "What do you want it for?", which usualy led to him telling me why that was the wrong way to do it.
Perhaps we should say to guys like these, "Just sell me the stuff and shut the *%@$ up!"

 

[Dutto]

Building a house, I often sent SWMBO the 37 miles into Aberdeen to get stuff from B&Q.

She would return with "The man said .... " and produce something that I didn't want.

My favourite was when I sent her in to pick up four metres of 10mm studding and she came back with four metres of 8mm studding and the words "The man said that this was a more suitable size."

"The man" was right of course, but what he didn't know was that I had about two hundred spare 10mm nuts.

"The man said ..." (and on one notable occasion "The woman said ....") cost me a lot of money before the house was completed.

 

[The Idiot]

You should have replied, "What? You only sell that inferior crystal malt that can't be mini-mashed? I thought no one would be stupid enough to stock that. Oh well, I'd better go and spend my money at a shop where they're not idiotic enough to stock a load of old crap."

If I'm never going back somewhere because they're bell-ends, I like to tell them as much!

 

[strange-steve]

I asked once in my lhbs for calcium chloride and the owner looked at me like I had two heads. When I explained what it was she started googling then said nah, that's used for building roads I wouldn't put it in beer
I did buy some gypsum off her though which I discovered later to be over a year past its sell by date.
Needless to say I haven't been back.

 

[Razor]

I asked once in my lhbs for calcium chloride and the owner looked at me like I had two heads. When I explained what it was she started googling then said nah, that's used for building roads I wouldn't put it in beer

I did buy some gypsum off her though which I discovered later to be over a year past its sell by date.

Needless to say I haven't been back.

Which shop was that Steve?


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[strange-steve]

Which shop was that Steve?


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Nature's way, newtownards rd. Not terribly local but the closest I have. Now I have a couple of friends who use it all the time, but I'm not a fan.

 

[Razor]

Nature's way, newtownards rd. Not terribly local but the closest I have. Now I have a couple of friends who use it all the time, but I'm not a fan.

That's my closest too. I've never really had any problems. They do stock more water treatment stuff now though.


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