How is your beverage alcohol buying experience?

[fishnbowljoe]

Some of the gas stations/convenience stores here in Illinois scan you drivers license when your purchase cigarettes. Joe

[Waiahi]

BIG BROTHER is watching us all.... :hot:

[OscarV]

All in all, I give The Empire State of the South solid marks in meeting my alcohol buying expectations.

How enlightening, I love to hear positives reviews.

But I have never heard GA referred to as the NY Of The South before this.

[ratcheer]

How enlightening, I love to hear positives reviews.

But I have never heard GA referred to as the NY Of The South before this.

I have heard it for many decades, Oscar.

Tim

[harshest]

Finally, I've noticed a new practice here in Hawaii...and I was curious if other people in the country have seen the same - big chain C-stores like 7-11 now electronically scan your Hawaii Driver's License when you attempt to purchase any alcohol.

Call me paranoid, but I absolutely despise the idea that all of my personal info found on my Driver's License is now in a scannable bar code in which a company like 7-11 now gathers at POS.

In MI we have the magnetic strip similar to a credit card that a few places use. According to the law the magnetic strip contains no personal information other than the holder’s license number, date of birth and license expiration date, but who knows...:skep:

[BourbonRob]

I haven't heard of the scanning licenses before...That would freak me out alot! In AL, they just ask for my DOB to buy tobacco or alcohol...even though I never give the right one....

Makes you wonder...Do I even remotely look under 21???? Infact I'm usually older than the clerk...

The 80+ yr old lady in front of me yesterday thought it was a joke when the clerk asked for her Birth Date....

She said "my birthday"...."no its not my birthday"....

[OscarV]

A few years ago people were using their driver's license in the credit card scanner at a gas station to get free gas.

It didn't last long because while they got free gas they also left the store with their name and address.

[ILLfarmboy]

I haven't heard of the scanning licenses before...That would freak me out alot! "....

My wife had claimed this was a new law here in Illinois. In fact, unless I'm ill-informed, it is store policy at wal Mart and a Target, and possibly other retailers as well. They began doing this earlier this year. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit. I avoid, when I can, buying alcohol at such places. (there's no magnetic strip on our driver's licenses, I guess it optically scans them)

With the way things are now-days, I don't trust that information on what I purchase won't be compiled. Retailers would naturally want to do so for advertising and marketing purposes and then Big Brother could get hold of that information. I can see some bureaucrat denying me treatment under ObamaCare, because records indicate I drink too much alcohol and eat too much junk food.

[cowdery]

Pennsylvania is experimenting with vending machines that sell wine. When you read about them you feel like you're reading a story in The Onion, but it's all true. The machines not only scan your ID, you also have to blow into a breathalyzer.

It started with the tobacco companies, when they would do promotions in bars where they gave away free cigarettes. They scanned IDs to document legal age but also to capture addresses so they could use direct mail advertising.

[BourbonJoe]

Pennsylvania is experimenting with vending machines that sell wine. When you read about them you feel like you're reading a story in The Onion, but it's all true. The machines not only scan your ID, you also have to blow into a breathalyzer.

It started with the tobacco companies, when they would do promotions in bars where they gave away free cigarettes. They scanned IDs to document legal age but also to capture addresses so they could use direct mail advertising.

[jburlowski]

I first ran into the scanning practice at liquor stores in Minneapolis about 9-10 years back. It started after some highly-publicized busts for selling to under-aged buyers. The stores claimed they were doing it to retain proof that they asked for and checked ID. (And to be sure that the clerks followed policy of checking everyone's ID)

[imbibehour]

live in DC, but have also lived in the nearby areas of Northern Virginia (NOVA) and Maryland (Montgomery County).

DC is a big market and filled with knowledgeable consumers, and also people who just want to sometimes spend money. So there are lots of options. However, many of the stores are small and you can run into varied prices, and selections that are small also. Then of course if you travel outside of downtown areas and other neighborhoods that haven't quite gentrified it's the typical... what can I get behind the bullet proof glass thing. But you can really get just about anything... If I really want I can buy wine online and have it shipped to my house (haven't done this yet) where as in most states they do not allow this.

Tax on sales in DC seem to be 9%. NOVA has the ABC stores for spirits but I can't say I bought many spirits when I lived in VA, but there's plenty of places to get fine wines and lots of micro-brew beer. Montgomery County Maryland I discovered has the state run spirits stores, some of them are stacked fairly well and their prices seem to be the best and have only 6% sales tax.

Interestingly enough the new VA governor is trying to get out of the state liquor business

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews

trends: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sp ... id=topnews

So my buying experience is pretty good, but I have to run around a lot sometimes. I don't have really good beer near me, or wine, but down near areas or work or places I pass through it does the trick. I haven't really had to get involved with proprietors to desperately get something that I want (yet!).

Alcohol is available in grocery stores in NOVA, in a few places in DC, and is not at all available in grocery stores in Maryland.

As for changes or how I think things SHOULD be... There isn't anything that really gets me or upsets me that I would want something done differently currently except perhaps if people want things online from other states shipped to them they should be allowed.

[fishnbowljoe]

I already posted on this subject, but had to add a little something. I have told many people here in chat and in person, that the stores near me know nothing about bourbon. They know me now, but when I first started on my bourbon "thing", all I got was, "If you buy case, 10% discount." I now have the pics to prove my story. Here's a couple of pics of a liquor store close to my house. I laughed out loud when I saw the sign out front. I just had to take a couple of pics. Joe

[OscarV]

"If you buy case, 10% discount."

Do they realize that 3 bottles makes a case for Stagg and Larue, tell them to get them ordered.

[p_elliott]

I already posted on this subject, but had to add a little something. I have told many people here in chat and in person, that the stores near me know nothing about bourbon. They know me now, but when I first started on my bourbon "thing", all I got was, "If you buy case, 10% discount." I now have the pics to prove my story. Here's a couple of pics of a liquor store close to my house. I laughed out loud when I saw the sign out front. I just had to take a couple of pics. Joe

I wasn't humorous when you described it but the picture is.

[Luna56]

Chuck, my experience here in NH is much like what you'd expect in a control state (which NH is). Because we have no sales tax here, some liquor stores are positioned right on the state border with Massachussetts and the parking lots are always full. While I've mentioned here before that our bourbon selection is fairly scant though our prices are excellent, one is dealing with a staff that knows little besides which aisle bourbon can be found in, and can on occasion work a cash register properly. And, as I've said before, the only dusties you'll find in NH are the creepy, tattooed, tobacco wheezing old ladies at the registers.

NH has a good selection of SMS and the prices are very good. But our very own Great American Whiskey is under represented. A few years back I undertook an email campaign to convince the powers that be at the NH Liquor Commission that they NEEDED to carry Four Roses bourbons. Two years later FR1B appeared on some of the shelves (you're welcome, ingrates! ) Of course, I can't claim all the credit. But I sure do deserve it!

In truth, I can always find something excellent here at an attractive price. I figure what I save on my everydays I can splurge with on an "exotic" found somewhere else (Julio's, Binny's, etc).

Cheers!

[RedVette]

A few more fun facts about Oklahoma.

The liquor stores cannot chill the beer or wine, it must be sold warm. Which also means it is stored warm, and you know how that helps the shelflife.

Besides, holidays and sundays, liquor stores are also closed on voting days, and we seem to have 5 or 6 of those a year.

Since grocery stores and gas stations can only sell 3.2 beer, (also in our county, restaurants can only serve 3.2 beer on sundays, no wine or spirits) and most beer is sold in grocery stores, the local distributors of mainstream beers choose to only distribute the 3.2 product, therefore you cannot find full strength Bud, Coors, Corona etc anywhere in the state.

Liquor stores can only sell products that have alcohol in them. Want a cigar? Gotta go someplace else. Tonic water, ditto. Bag of ice? Forgetaboutit.