Today I stopped by Brewers Connection with my family to exchange/return a gift that I received for Christmas. After talking to several staff members, who were pleasant, I discovered that the shop didn't carry the piece I needed. Since they had originally directed my Father to purchase the product in question, and an associate named Andy assured him that he'd be taken care of if it didn't work out, we didn't think it would a big deal to get our money back. The staff even went as far as to look up the transaction and pull the receipt. However, once the owner was called for his authorization, everything went downhill. First, he told us that the package was in too poor a condition to take back. Apparently, the small portion of the label that was torn off by the scotch tape used to wrap the gift made it impossible to sell again. When we refuted his claims, he told us, 'if you didn't know what you were buying, you shouldn't have bought it.' We told him the way that he ran his shop was crummy. He then retreated to the back, but not before calling my Father a pr*ck, and telling us to get out of his store. In such economic times, one would think that it would be prudent to run your small business in such a manner as to create repeat customers. Especially when your business is such a specialized craft. Perhaps the owner is independently wealthy and doesn't need to worry about customer service. Perhaps he thought we didn't know anything about brewing, and felt we didn't deserve his respect. Or perhaps he had just spent all morning sampling his latest batch in the back. Whatever the case may be, I suggest you stay away. I feel as though the owner acted like a child, and had more interest in yelling, calling names, and running away to hide, then working the matter out like gentlemen. You've all been warned. read more
