Biased review but a review none the less I actually work at a Bevmo. And to reply to Timothy's review and any other future reviewers about Bevmo and them being out of stock on a specific item before New Years etc. Tim you're an adult most adults know when to plan ahead for big events or when they know they need to get something. You sit here and complain that the shelves are empty when there are probably about 500k people in Fresno plus out of towners and do all of them buy alcohol in Fresno? No, probably not, but you have to factor in a good percentage of that number will probably buy an alcohol related product come New Years or Christmas. But please don't blame the store for your laziness. You don't help your chances of getting said item when you do last minute shopping which you should have planned ahead for..
Please call ahead next time, we can save you cost of gas, time and hassle by telling you if we have that item in stock and can hold it for you, or if we need to place an order for it. Also if you are returning alcohol to get cash or money put back on your debit/cc. It is actually ILLEGAL TO RETURN UNUSED ALCOHOL IN CALIFORNIA UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE ITS UNFIT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. So if you are planning for a wedding don't be surprised if you hear the manager tell you no on that refund of stuff you have left over. At managers discretion you may exchange an item/s though, call your local Alcohol beverage control branch and they will provide you with more detail if needed, or check their website as well. Back to the main topic Most vendor orders come in once a week if that some take longer especially if it is an aged item. It also depends on the vendor as well. Some are faster than others. Yes, Bevmo does sell alcohol and flaunts it with a saying of one stop shop for alcoholic beverages etc. But it's a way of life stores do run out of product it's just a fact. And if you fail to accept that I don't know what to tell you.
That's like going to the mall on Christmas eve and them being out of what you were looking for and blaming the mall, big shocker right..? As far as employee knowledge goes, we have one wine tasting class before we start, also we are given a mini book for quick alcohol related fact references that's it. There's occasionally a wine or beer tasting we can try out if we are not busy. There's no extensive twelve week course in France, where we sip wine and eat cheese and crackers and pontificate on good quality grapes from a specific region all day and the struggling economy. No, just a class and a mini pocket book...
Also yes, customer service could be better. It can be better in most stores in general as well. Keep in mind we get paid $8.25 an hour (Associate Pay). And we get between six and twelve hours a week normally excluding holiday hours. Is that an excuse for bad service? Absolutely not, I just wanted to clear up any misconception of employees getting paid well, and being elitist snobs. I think we provide great service most of the time, provided usually we only get one register out maybe two if busy and a manager register. If it were up to me I'd have all registers out and ten people out on the floor but its not..
The the store is a business and has to make money as well. If you have 15 people working for you during the day including managers and your making $100 in sales an hour that is definitely an issue if the store is not making a big enough profit guess what? Less hours which means less employees which means slower lines less stuff getting stocked from replenishment from vendors. Slower everything and less of everything in general. As you can see I rated my experience 4/5 stars because I think it's a great place to shop and also to work if you like alcohol and other specialty items. But there is always room for improvement at Bevmo there is a lot in fact, the same goes for every other company on the planet. read more