LCBO — Local services in Ontario

I attended this location this morning June 23, 2025, for the release of Mister Sam Tribute whiskey.

I arrived nearly an hour earlier than the store opening, to ensure I could get this bottle. Another older gentlemen also arrived fairly early and we both stood around and waited.

A third man arrived about 5 min before opening and his friend about 1 min before opening.

The four of us entered the store at open, all here for this Mister Sam Tribute.

Upon entering, we were all directed to the front cash register if we were here to purchase the Mister Sam.

Myself being first in line followed by the older gentleman who also waited nearly an hour and then finally the 3rd and 4th men.

We were advised to wait in line and the bottles would be carried up by staff to the cash register, where we could then purchase them. (This rule LCBO has always had in place especially for high end releases, bottle are not allow to be touched by customers until they’re purchased. )

I along with this older gentleman, patiently waited for the bottles to be brought up to the cash as indicated by the employees.

While waiting, a second cashier open up their register to assist the, more frequent customers. At this point, the two men that arrived, 3rd and 4th, decided they would make their way to the other cashier. In doing so, they observed the bottles being pushed out on a cart by staff members.

These arrogant men approached the employees and took the remaining 4 bottles of Mister Sam from them and proceeded to the open cash register.

I along with the older gentleman, who were patiently waiting for these bottle to arrive were in disgust. We voiced our opinion and frustrations that we were first in line and waiting for these. The store manager attempted to confront the other customers who refused to give the bottles back to the employees. The manger then approached myself and the older gentleman and kindly said “I’m sorry”…

you’re sorry? You have a store policy for a reason, this was completely avoidable and easily rectified, but you as the store manager, failed to enforce your own policy and allowed these customers to do whatever they pleased within your store.

You’re welcome that myself and the gentleman who patiently waited and followed your rules, for not creating a scene.

We appreciate you wasting our morning, It’s noted, that your policy/ guidelines are not at all enforceable.

To anyone else who may be attending one day for a limited release, keep this in mind and just go help yourself as that appears to be the only way you can guarantee yourself the product you’d like.

On a last note. Thank you to the cashier who was attempting to assist myself and appeared to be in disbelief, as there appeared to be a structured plan before the store manager allowed lawlessness. And to the customers who made sure they got their 2 bottle Max limit, and refused to only purchase 1 instead so other customers could as well, Class act...

I live in Kingston and have no complaints about any of the LCBO locations EXCEPT this one. My most recent visit to this store was a disaster. I came on bicycle to discover that there isnt a bicycle rack outside and at this particular moment there was a man pan handling out front. So I quickly went into the store and was going to grab one item and leave. As I was passing an aisle, a tall blonde male employee was talking to another customer when he looked up and saw me, and then proceeded to point directly at me and yell, "HEY! You're not allowed to have bikes in here!", in front of many customers. So I proceeded to head towards the check out with my item. He followed me and harassed me in the line, again telling me that I was not allowed to have bikes in the store and told me that they would not serve me. I felt extremely embarrassed and offended that this employee was not offering to help me and I told him that the only reason my bike was with me was because there isnt a rack. He instead told me he would get his manager, who quickly came over. I told his manager that his employee was rude and not offering to help me, rather was kicking me out of the store. The manager also offered no solutions and continued to repeat that they would not serve me because it was a safety issue. I now am in question about whether this applies to all wheels, and whether they would allow someone in a wheelchair to come into their location either. By not having a bike rack they are loosing a great deal of clients that cycle in the downtown area... and regardless, due to how I was treated, I will not be coming back...

The collection offered is great BUT the staff is shockingly rude. My husband and I were there yesterday to pick up wine. A minute into the store, we stopped at a shelf to view which sparkling wine we'd like to get, a woman (staff) strutted by, yelling at us rudely "5 minutes! That's all you get." and vanished behind a storage room door. We were quite shocked at the way this woman spoke to us, issuing an order as she walked past us as if we were some homeless troublemakers instead of respectable taxpayers. Everyone knows that times are tough, and no one in their right mind is hanging around out of their home unless they have.. To that effect, this staff woman could have been a little less condescending, if being polite to customers is so hard for her. So much for LCBO spending millions of $ in advertising their 'helpful staff'....