Interesting BevNet Readers

[RootJack]

I would imagine other beverage companies who have been reviewed on BevNet have experienced this phenomenon, but since our review we have been getting a lot of "interesting" requests for information. It would seem like there are a lot of folks trolling this site in hopes of free product.

We get e-mail and calls from folks claiming to be distributors, but when you do a little research you find out that they are less than honest about their situation. You get residential "ship to" addresses and sometimes when you asked targeted questions about their distribution business, the answers get real hazy.

I'm curious if anyone else has been dealing with this? ...and if so, what are your methods for weeding through the mess?

Sadly, any real distributor may get put off by our new interrogation methods, but after having dealt with so many fakes, we don't seem to have a choice.

[Soda-MN-Good]

Why be so picky? Any business is good business, if they're willing to pay your prices and pay for shipping, let them call themselves whatever they want, just don't offer them sole source distribution until they can order a large enough supply to where you know their whole area can be covered.

In the meantime, you get to sell to all the "distributors" you want and let them compete against themselves until they prove themselves to be largest enough to become sole source.

[David]

I get a dozen or so requests a month. Since we are a Bag in a Box only manufacture, I just ask a few questions about their company and distribution of bibs.

If they request a syrup sample, I only send enough to mix with soda water to make an eight ounce sample.

I get a fair share of distributors that have tried American Rebel and Cool Blue in other markets. They think that they are going to skin a fat cat by ordering syrup samples and trying to reverse engineer the product.

It's a cruel cruel world and there are a lot of unscrupulous people out their.

I should post their company names so that the others on the site can see who they are.

[RootJack]

Why be so picky? Any business is good business, if they're willing to pay your prices and pay for shipping, let them call themselves whatever they want, just don't offer them sole source distribution until they can order a large enough supply to where you know their whole area can be covered.

Ah, but there is the rub. They don't want to pay. We get bombarded with people who claim to be a distributor and want free product. We also get a lot of requests from people who are "beverage review" sites. We love supporting real reviewers and real distributors. We just can't afford to send free product to everyone, especially when there is no sign that they are legit.