OK........it's time. Gotta' rant!

On April 1 the BCLDB released it's new pricing strategy. It may have looked like prices in BCLDB stores decreased at this time because they deleted the 5% GST and 10% PST from the shelf price so things looked good until you got up to the till and all the taxes were added back on. It was then you could see that the majority of prices actually increased.

These retail prices lasted about a month then the BCLDB raised quite a few prices (24% of my portfolio) not only on products sold in their stores but on products sold to the hospitality industry who now must pay full retail for every alcoholic beverage they purchase for resale. Why should prices be increased on products not even sold in BCLDB stores? This says nothing but money grab to me.

Now, I see on the BCLDB retail price list for the next period (June 28), they have raised the retail price of another 57% of the products in my portfolio. Only .05% of my portfolio is sold through BCLDB stores and yet they've increased price on 81% of my products since April 1.

As the agent, my selling price to the BCLDB has not increased so that the BCLDB must raise the price to compensate (as stated by Minister Suzanne Anton) but prices have increased each month since the new system has been in place.

It looks as though I will now have to check the BCLDB retail price list weekly (as I've been told they update it weekly) to see if the retail prices remain the same or if they've been changed. No sense in me getting price sheets printed for my hospitality customers as they could all be out of date by they time they are printed.

As with the majority of changes that came about with the updating of BC's antiquated liquor laws, they've managed to bungle another one and the final consumer is the one who pays the price.

A very abbreviated version of my rant as I have to go check and see if retail prices have changed since I started this rant.