Strikes Family Entertainment

Review: Strikes restaurant, Half Time Bar & Grill, stated that for happy hour premium beers are $4.00. When the bill was received I was charged $6.00.

On 11/06/2013 I went to strikes with my wife and parents to bowl. They had an hour wait so my family and I decided to go to the bar and get a drink while we waited. Happy hour advertised $3.00 domestic beer and $4.00 premium beer. In our order we had two Lagunitas IPA's. I have ordered these before at other restaurants and understood it was a premium beer. Upon ordering these beers the bartender did not state that these were not included in happy hour. When I received the bill I was charged $6.00 for each Lagunitas Beer. When I questioned the charge the bar tender stated that "IPA's are not included in happy hour". I stated "no where does it state that on their posters, advertisements, or menu's". I asked for a drink list to see if it listed them differently and the employee stated they do not have a drink list. I explained that it is deceptive to not make it known that certain beers are exempt from happy hour. The bartender stated he would get a manager. I noticed him talking to a man, who I later found out was the owner as I waited for a manager to talk to. About 10 minutes later a manager came over to talk to me. About 30 seconds into the conversation the owner yelled from about 20 feet away to the manager in order to have the manager come talk to him. Again I was left waiting, shortly after the manager came back and said there was nothing he could do as the Owner did not consider IPA's as a premium beer. I asked if IPA's are not "premium" then what are they classified as since throughout the industry it is considered a premium beer. The manager did not have a response to my question. Desired Settlement: I believe this company should be fined for UDAAP violations and they should be required to disclose their pricing properly to the consumer. I also believe if possible they should perform restitution to other clients who were deceived with their false advertising. They have profited from their deceptive practices and should be held accountable in some way, preferably financially since they gained financially from unfair and deceptive practices. I look forward to your response and resolution.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Contact Name and Title: [redacted]-CEO/Preside

Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Contact Email: [redacted]@strikesrocklin.com

Please let me start our by saying that I am the owner of Strikes Unlimited/Halftime Bar & Grill and the consumer never had any contact with me personally to resolve this issue nor was I present on the day despite what the complaint indicates.

The customer ordered Lagunitas IPA which is classified as a "Craft Beer" and not a premium beer. The link to the brewers association top 50 craft breweries in the USA is http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/media/press-releases/show?title=brewers-...⇄ As you will see, Lagunitas is the 6th largest craft brewery in the USA.

We do not nor have we ever included IPAs in "happy hour" pricing and there has never been an issue or complaint in the entire time I have owned and operated Strikes Unlimited/Halftime Bar & Grill.

The consumer in this complaint was refunded $5.00 during their visit by my Night Shift Facilities Manager. The $5.00 refund equated to a $2.50 refund for each beer, which would mean they only ended up paying $3.50 per beer. As it stands, the consumer did not even pay the price we charge of $4.00 for premium beers during happy hour. We believe the refund was a satisfactory resolution to their complaint.

Thank you for allowing us to respond to this complaint.

Sincerely,

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

To address whether the owner was there or not, the manager went to talk to an individual within my view then came over and said it was the owner and they could not do anything. The manager may have misrepresented who the owner was but either way that is not the point. Later when that individual left the manager did refund me $4.00, which was the proper difference, not $5.00. To be exact he gave me a $5.00 bill and I gave him a $1.00 bill back. In my original complaint you can see that I was not requesting anything for myself in the resolution.

To call Lagunitas IPA a "craft beer", not a premium beer is a technicality and is avoiding the issue. Industry wide beers are classified as domestic and premium, "craft beers" included. I would still consider this a "bait and switch". I suggested when I was there that they could simply put "Select Premium Beers" to avoid what I consider false advertising.

I have been to multiple restaurants since this incident and all have had Lagunitas under the "Premium" section. I even went to a restaurant last night that had happy hour and it clearly stated "Select Premium Beers" on their happy hour menu, the very same suggestion I had given the manager. This tells me all premium beers are not included in happy hour.

I have pictures of Strikes advertising I can provide that I consider misrepresents the price. The business could charge $10.00 for a Lagunitas if they wanted, it is their right but they need to properly disclose the price so a consumer can make a decision of whether they want to pay that price or not. At the time of the incident and in my complaint I was never disputing how you want to classify each beer and what you charge for it, just how it was represented.

The owners response does not address fixing what I consider false advertising.