Missing Expectations Jason Moore

I am a huge of Samuel Adams Brewery.  Not just their beer, but the whole culture that the company portrays.  And, from as far as I can tell, their passion for the product is real.  Because of this, I have gone as far as subscribing to their newsletter.  This is an oddity for me, so they are doing something correctly.

But the newsletter they sent out today about the possibility of dangerous bottles being in circulation was a complete and utter disappointment.  My disappointment does not lie in the fact that there is a possibility of the bottles getting through their quality assurance measures.  My disappointment lays squarely on the fact that the tone of their email was focused on passing the buck.

This is a very small snippet of the full email, but it underlines the overall tone.

We are disappointed that because of these bottles supplied to us, we didn't live up to your expectations as a loyal Sam Adams drinker.

I may be over-analyzing, but a defective product did not get to the consumer because of a supplier.  100% of the blame should be hoisted on your company's shoulders when mistakes happen.  As in this case, if you have provided a great product that people enjoy being a consumer of, they will forgive you.  But this email does not convince me that they recognize where they made a mistake.