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Orval_Al wrote:Anyone know the rhyme or reason behind why some beers can be ordered and others cannot? For instance, I can now have Paulaner delivered to my doorstep, but no dice on Mort Subite or Fullers ESB.
Also, the LCBO discontinued London Pride.
It appears that the lcbo may have come to their senses and dropped the Fullers 4packs and gone back to singles. I was in there today and there were cases of single ESB and London porter....no London Pride, but I'm assuming it's going to receive the same treatment. Personally I find myself buying these beers as single cans 10x more than I ever did in four packs. I almost always throw a can of London Pride or a couple ESB on top of whatever I'm buying, whereas I probably only bought one or two of the four packs in the two years or so that they did this format
Orval_Al wrote:Anyone know the rhyme or reason behind why some beers can be ordered and others cannot? For instance, I can now have Paulaner delivered to my doorstep, but no dice on Mort Subite or Fullers ESB.
Also, the LCBO discontinued London Pride.
It appears that the lcbo may have come to their senses and dropped the Fullers 4packs and gone back to singles. I was in there today and there were cases of single ESB and London porter....no London Pride, but I'm assuming it's going to receive the same treatment. Personally I find myself buying these beers as single cans 10x more than I ever did in four packs. I almost always throw a can of London Pride or a couple ESB on top of whatever I'm buying, whereas I probably only bought one or two of the four packs in the two years or so that they did this format
They were sold in singles while they were in the 4-pk as well. Just priced as 4...same thing with Duvel
Orval_Al wrote:Anyone know the rhyme or reason behind why some beers can be ordered and others cannot? For instance, I can now have Paulaner delivered to my doorstep, but no dice on Mort Subite or Fullers ESB.
Also, the LCBO discontinued London Pride.
It appears that the lcbo may have come to their senses and dropped the Fullers 4packs and gone back to singles. I was in there today and there were cases of single ESB and London porter....no London Pride, but I'm assuming it's going to receive the same treatment. Personally I find myself buying these beers as single cans 10x more than I ever did in four packs. I almost always throw a can of London Pride or a couple ESB on top of whatever I'm buying, whereas I probably only bought one or two of the four packs in the two years or so that they did this format
They were sold in singles while they were in the 4-pk as well. Just priced as 4...same thing with Duvel
Yep, I've seen the return of all the Fullers beers as singles now. Pretty awesome. I'm the same as you, hardly ever bought the four pack, would just tear off a couple from the plastic. This makes it more convenient though.
Yesterday I left 10 bottles of Even More Jesus off at Promenade LCBO (kind of ironic, considering the area). A nice, big beer with a perfect mouthfeel. A bit too pruney, at the expense of all the other notes, but still very nice to share.
Lukie wrote:Yesterday I left 10 bottles of Even More Jesus off at Promenade LCBO (kind of ironic, considering the area). A nice, big beer with a perfect mouthfeel. A bit too pruney, at the expense of all the other notes, but still very nice to share.
Thanks for the heads up!
Thought about ordering this one but I only want a bottle or two - so did not feel like returning 10/12 (I've bought using this new system but returned only half the bottles.)
I was at the King/Spadina LCBO yesterday and someone had also left about six bottles of the Oud Beersel Oude Kriek! I convinced my buddy to buy one, but I'm currently too poor to afford them. Ten bucks for a 375ml.
JerCraigs wrote:Possibly a stupid question - why are people returning beer they could probably sell/trade here? Not worth the effort?
Well there's this. It seems as though people posting their OE returns here is having an inside track on sharing them in this semi-private community. It has the added convenience of making the LCBO hold onto it for our drop-by convenience.
I bet you we share a ton more beers this way in addition to in-person trades. I'm tempted to grab a few mentioned!
JerCraigs wrote:Possibly a stupid question - why are people returning beer they could probably sell/trade here? Not worth the effort?
Yeah, selling here is not really worth the effort at all. For starters, not too many people would be keen to travel across the GTA for a $15/bottle beer and If I did sell it would need to be above cost for it to make any sense. Even then, I doubt I'd sell them all if any, really. The trade option is much more intriguing, I will consider it for sure, however, right now I don't have any room to cellar the bottles.
Returning the merch is so easy, you can do it the same day as you pick up the shipment. The second time I tried to return the shipment, this time 10 out of 12 bottles, I got some evil eye action and a pointed question from the store manager and his other annoyed comrade - I suspect mostly because returning for them is a tedious, senseless process where they have to input all your personal info into their cash register, plus they have to put up the remainder of the bottles on shelves which means more computer work - but hey, that's their job and their store policy so it doesn't bother my sleep.
Lukie wrote:Returning the merch is so easy, you can do it the same day as you pick up the shipment. The second time I tried to return the shipment, this time 10 out of 12 bottles, I got some evil eye action and a pointed question from the store manager and his other annoyed comrade - I suspect mostly because returning for them is a tedious, senseless process where they have to input all your personal info into their cash register, plus they have to put up the remainder of the bottles on shelves which means more computer work - but hey, that's their job and their store policy so it doesn't bother my sleep.
Don't lose sleep, store staff have ENCOURAGED me to privately order listed by-the-case stock and then 'change one's mind' and refund the unwanted balance of the stock immediately for others to buy at the store.
Shouldn't make any difference, this is how the LCBO-imposed system was designed. It allows them to streamline 99% of their store shelf inventory while not completely imposing a Soviet-style ban of everything else they don't normally sell. It's a way of skating around the weak justifications of monopolizing a large province's liquor selection.
Mark my words, in a year or three some of the more bitchy LC store managers will have head office impose more limitations on private order returns, just to further limit the rights they should fully honor for us politically as captive market consumers. Use the opportunity now I guess.
Lukie wrote:Returning the merch is so easy, you can do it the same day as you pick up the shipment. The second time I tried to return the shipment, this time 10 out of 12 bottles, I got some evil eye action and a pointed question from the store manager and his other annoyed comrade - I suspect mostly because returning for them is a tedious, senseless process where they have to input all your personal info into their cash register, plus they have to put up the remainder of the bottles on shelves which means more computer work - but hey, that's their job and their store policy so it doesn't bother my sleep.
Don't lose sleep, store staff have ENCOURAGED me to privately order listed by-the-case stock and then 'change one's mind' and refund the unwanted balance of the stock immediately for others to buy at the store.
Shouldn't make any difference, this is how the LCBO-imposed system was designed. It allows them to streamline 99% of their store shelf inventory while not completely imposing a Soviet-style ban of everything else they don't normally sell. It's a way of skating around the weak justifications of monopolizing a large province's liquor selection.
Mark my words, in a year or three some of the more bitchy LC store managers will have head office impose more limitations on private order returns, just to further limit the rights they should fully honor for us politically as captive market consumers. Use the opportunity now I guess.
I was thinking the same thing, but they would need to alter their return policy, somehow, to exclude online orders. It would be tricky, considering their social responsibility motto behind a good chunk of that return policy.
They really ought to exclude partial returns of online orders. Although it's not as open to abuse as some other stuff. What's to stop someone from buying an expensive bottle of whiskey, trying a glass, then returning the bottle?
Lukie wrote:I was thinking the same thing, but they would need to alter their return policy, somehow, to exclude online orders. It would be tricky, considering their social responsibility motto behind a good chunk of that return policy.
Right Lukie, except let's not be completely dystopian about it because I think better store managers I've met will encourage MORE private ordering & make returns easy, no gestapo-style questioning or stink-eye attitude.
Some of these nice folks actually resent the slowness of the return process (they mention antiquated software system) and they don't resent you at all - there are some very good apples working there. We have to admit even the LCBO is slowly changing, despite not long ago really digging in its heels against innovating to serve an ever-changing market that was way ahead of what it sold.
I think also with staff turnover and more younger customers supporting broad selection it will over a number of years become more 'normal' for LCBO stores to manifest great service. The curmudgeonly post-prohibition attitude of some staff (they gotta retire sometime) will give way to sparky young adults working with a passion to secure your stash and even make recommendations when they see you come in the store.
And many of us will still drink responsibly in spite of all this improvement of products and services. Mark my words five years on...
