Ever since it came out, I have been a big fan of Bud Light Lime. I know there are some on this forum who don't like it, but obviously there are a lot of people out there who do as it's become one of the most popular beers in the world. With that being said, it seems every few cases, I seem to get a bottle that is just a little off. Might be the end of the batch, don't know, but that one bottle has a very malt like, syrup taste to it. Basically it's pretty much undrinkable.
After getting about 5 or 6 of these bottles over the span of about 6 months, I decided to shoot an email to the company so I went online to Budweiser and used their feedback form. They got back to me pretty quick and opened a case for the issue. They gave me a case number and asked me to call their toll free line. I did and spoke to a really nice guy there, explained what was what and confirmed that I didn't have any of the product left to provide as a sample. They told me that unfortunately since I was in Canada, there wasn't much they could do for me because Labatt is the distributor of Bud Light Lime here in Canada. Otherwise he said he would send me some free product, some merchandise like a jacket, t-shirt, etc.
So they passed my case on to Labatt and I received another email about a week later from Labatt asking me to contact them and they issued a new case number and provided me with their phone number. I called and spoke with someone at Labatt. It was a very different experience for sure. It almost seemed like I was being bothersome to them and they really didn't want to deal with it. I don't want to make this about Labatt, but the fact of the matter is, the American company was amazingly respectful to my issue and was very polite and extremely helpful, while the Canadian company could not seem to care any less and basically just wanted to get rid of me.
After explaining the situation again to Labatt and telling them again I didn't have any of the product to pass along, then asked me about how many bottles I may have encountered. I said about 5 or 6. At this point I would like to point out we buy a LOT of Bud Light Lime. At least a case a week if not more, as both the wife and I enjoy it. Both companies were made aware of this of course. I told them that we had been buying at least a case a week since the product came out. Labatt explained that they would send me a cheque for the defective product. No merchandise, no sorry about this, no nothing. I simply got a cheque from them about two weeks later for $12.85.
I was not impressed. I really thought that they might at least have sent a coupon for a free case and maybe a t-shirt or something. But nope, a simple cheque for a 6 pack. After receiving this I called the main Budweiser office back that I talked to in the first place and explained about not receiving a very welcome response from Labatt, not to mention that Labatt made it sound like Anheuser-Busch was their sister company and Labatt was the main company. I was pretty shocked by Labatt's attitude overall. I ensured that I told the main office this.
So yesterday when I got home from work there was a letter from Anheuser-Busch in my mailbox. I thought, ah yes, they most likely sent me a coupon or cheque for a case of beer after my calling back and letting them know about how I was treated by Labatt. I knew there wouldn't be any merchandise or anything because they said they couldn't send me anything since they were in the U.S. and I was in Canada.
Well, I opened the letter and of course it was a very polite apology letter for my issues with their product and asking me to ensure I contact them should I encounter the same issue as they want to get a hold of some of the product in question. Inside the letter was a cheque.
As close as I can tell, the cheque is pretty much the value of what I had told them as to how much Bud Light Lime I have bought since it came out. The cheque was for $1071.00
Unbelievable is all I can say. If anyone ever says anything bad about Anheuser-Busch, I am living proof that this is an AMAZING company. I just don't know what to say. What an incredible New Year's Eve surprise to come home to in the mail. This is how you run a company and this is how you treat your customers.
So Anheuser-Busch, I salute you.
Anheuser-Busch
