Does Modern Brewer read LJ?

[dent42.livejournal.com]

I noticed in Modern Brewer a new sign has been put up behind the register. It lists a number for the main (NY) store, and says if you ever have a problem with one of the staff members, to call it. If the owner is not available, it lists another number for the Western MA store. It goes on to say that rude or disrespectful behavior by staff is unacceptable, so I wonder if they read messages here about the problems other have had.

I have to say that I've only had good experiences there, occasionally I get a sense of "I know what's right, but if you MUST buy that malt instead of the other I guess so", but that's something you get from any hobby store. Just stick with "I really would like to use this", and they'll move on pretty quick. Of course, I also happen to have a penis, so YMMV.

Comments

[ron_newman]

I didn't even know they had stores besides our local one.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

The Modern Brewer was one-of-a-kind.

Then it was sold to the current owners, who have two other stores: The West Boylston Homebrew Emporium (near Worcester, MA) and the Hennessy Homebrew Emporium in Rensselaer, NY (near Albany, NY). Eventually they got around to changing the name from The Modern Brewer to Modern Homebrew Emporium.

Personally, I thought the staff were a little lacking in knowledge the first couple years after it was annexed into the Emporium Empire, but I think they're better now (or maybe I'm better at relaxing, not worrying, and having a homebrew).

[ron_newman]

The sign outside still says "Modern Brewer", so I also didn't know that the name of the store had changed.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

Most people I know still call it by the old name, and like you say, the sign out the front advertises the old name. However, there's an emporium sign inside behind the cash register, and the receipts all say "emporium" on them.

In much the same way, www.modernbrewer.com is still the website, but all the pages talk about "Modern Homebrew Emporium" and ignore the domain name.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

The store manager is a friend of mine (result of going in there a lot :) so I pointed him at that other entry. I also told him that they were welcome to come post here or if they don't want to create an account right now, I could post something on their behalf.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Although I haven't had any issues there myself, it's good to hear that they are willing to listen to customer complaints and act on them.

for the confused

[mattdm.livejournal.com]

Earlier thread: http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/2037576.html

[komos.livejournal.com]

I don't know who was at the counter when it has happened, but I've had several female friends come away from experiences there feeling as though the staff were deliberately unhelpful. One staffer went so far as to argue with one over the DME she attempted to purchase. She tried to pick up extra light because she was working on a Wit and was told repeatedly that she should just get the light since it would work just as well. It seems minor on the outset, but she felt like she was spoken to as though she didn't know what she was doing, and using the light resulted in a final product that was too dark for the style she was trying to reproduce.

It has been a while since any of us has used them, however, so I can't say whether this sort of thing still happens. Between these and the wonky availability of ingredients that plagued them for a while, we ended up moving to other suppliers.

[tamalinn.livejournal.com]

They might read LJ or they might not. A lot of Yelp reviews mention a staff member who's a bit of a dick to customers.

[masswich.livejournal.com]

That sign has been there a while. I don't quite understand why putting a sign up is easier than getting rid of the employee, but maybe there's a brew store workers union.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Putting a sign up is a hell of a lot easier than firing someone (a horrible thing to do, and an ridiculously extreme reaction to what is probably mostly internet trolls being trollish), and finding someone new to hire and retraining them. Putting up a sign takes a few minutes and makes it clear that if people have something to say they want to hear it directly, rather than by rumor and gossip on the internet.

[masswich.livejournal.com]

I agree that it is an extreme response and that the complaints might be overstated. But if its the person I dealt with there once, it might be worth considering. To be blunt, he seemed pretty drunk from the free samples. I wouldn't want my store being run by someone who wasn't in control of his senses.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I would think that most people would want the people selling a product to be enthusiastic about using said product. :-)

[masswich.livejournal.com]

Touche!

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

When a number of people report rude behaviour, it's not probably internet trolls.

[nathanjw]

Yeah, it's not new; sadly, the recent post here was only the latest of such complaints, mostly about one person (Who I never had problems with, leaving me puzzled by such complaints for a long time).

It is relatively recent (within the last year?) that the sign has gone up; I assume someone got a talking-to and is at least being watched more carefully.

[charlwoo.livejournal.com]

Great local homebrew shop. Yelp is a good resource for some pretty accurate reviews. I stop by there on a regular basis and have seen them change ownership; they had some staffing up challenges after new ownership but their current staff is really friendly, helpful and informative.
I'm sure they've read feedback from Yelp among other places.