Barley Crusher waits?

Can anyone confirm what the average wait time is on a Barley Crusher these days?

I ordered the smaller of the two Barley Crushers in late October and received confirmation from them on November 1st that the order was received.

Their website says: "Please note: Due to a recent and unexpected influx of orders, all new orders may be delayed up to 2 weeks before shipment."

I sent them an email on 12/1 looking for some form of status update and did not receive any response.

Has anyone ordered in November and received theirs yet?

It was just under two weeks for mine to arrive when I ordered it a few months back.

I don't know. Mine is malfunctioning and I emailed them over a week ago on how to return it for the warranty work, or how to fix it myself. I never even got a return email.

We have a thread or 2 discussing this.

And Biermuncher posted this on the fifth of this month.

BierMuncher said:

I contacted Randy at BC Products to get an update on the Barley Crusher. There’s been some speculation lately as to the status of his business. This is not an advertisement. This is not an endorsement. Just wanted to hear first hand from the guy who is building a product that so many homebrewers talk about, and pass it along.

FWIW -

Thank you for your email, We are very much still producing and making and selling the Barley Crushers. We are busier than ever. We are in the process of moving into a bigger shop at this time. At this time we haven't been making the Micro Brew Series Malt Mills which are the mill we make for Home Brew Shops and Micro Brewers for commercial use. We are hoping to start back on making them sometime early next year. But as for the Barley Crushers for the Home Brewers…we are still making them and shipping them out as fast as we can. We do have a slight back order at this time but we have been doing everything we can to keep up with the demands and to get them shipped out as soon as we possibly can especially with the holiday coming up.

Thank you for your email and if there is anything else I can do for you please email me
Thank you again
Randy
B C Products Enterprises Inc.

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Damn, I hate getting caught asking a question with existing threads.

Thank you for the info.

Seems like they are going through some basic growing pains. It's a good problem to have. I hope it doesn't affect their quality or customer service.

TopRowSeat said:

D

Seems like they are going through some basic growing pains. It's a good problem to have. I hope it doesn't affect their quality or customer service.

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Well, apparently it has. I mean, if they offer a "lifetime warranty" and don't even respond to my problems via email (from their own website) then I'm already concerned.

That's incredibly poor customer service, to not respond in over a week. I'll send another email, but at least a response like "we're too busy making more customers to respond to your frivolous emails about a non-working product of ours" would be better than no response at all!!!!!

I have a feeling the folks at barley crusher are their own worst enemy.seems a lot of the major online suppliers have or are developing their own knock off mill due to barley crushers inability to supply the demand.

Fat_Bastard said:

I have a feeling the folks at barley crusher are their own worst enemy.seems a lot of the major online suppliers have or are developing their own knock off mill due to barley crushers inability to supply the demand.

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Pretty much. I have a BC, but I'd probably look elsewhere if I was ordering anew just because of lag times and communication issues.

I just ordered one despite knowing the delay issues. I'm hoping they get the back log issue worked out. I like the reviews I've seen of them and the lifetime warranty (hoping yooper can confirm they honor it). The new cereal killer only had a six month warranty and is currently sold out on homebrewing.org. Some of the alternatives are more than I'd like to spend. Hopefully it arrives shortly after the first of the year!

As with many small businesses popularity is something they are not often prepared for.

You just moved up one spot in line.

I have politely requested today that they cancel my order and provide a refund.

It's kinda sad. They're citing growing pains...but during this period their reputation is tanking, I'm sure this isn't the only forum where folks are complaining. People are going to jump ship to the alternatives like Rebel Brewer Mill, or Cereal Crusher. And their expansion is going to be for nothing.

I ordered 11/17/11. I have emailed BC twice requesting an order status with no luck. Tomorrow will be 30 days with no crusher. I am thinking about a refund request, especially after reading this and the other BC thread... The rebel brewer crusher sure looks fancy! Very rigid hopper....

Fortunately I'm in the middle of upgrading to electric so I'm not being for at least another month so I can wait a little.

Sadly for them they have invited entrants of competitors that otherwise may not have jumped in. This is absolutely going to hurt their business assuming the competition can match or beat their price, service, and quality. Which from what I'm reading shouldn't be hard.

please keep this thread alive for you who are trying to order/repair yours.. i'm in the market for a mill now and this or a monster mill were on my christmas list.. i would like to know the outcome if i don't get either one for christmas as i will probably be purchasing one with christmas money for myself afterwards

I'll post when I get mine. Hopefully it is good news and a better experience than some of the others.

Dang, they're two plates two rollers and some scews and bearings. Makes me want to farm the parts out to local machine shops and sell a few...

Man, with all the threads on this going on I'm sure glad I decided to just pay the extra and get mine from Northern Brewer. They are out of stock on the 7 lb Hopper version now. Guess I got mine just in time. If not I would be just as happy with the one from Rebel Brewer. And it costs less too.

Rev.

Yeh, it received great reviews, but its not like there arn't other options out there. I decided to go with the cereal killer http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html I ordered earlier this week and got it in about three days with free shipping..... Nevermind, just looked at the website, its out of stock too. I guess im not the only one who asked SWMBO for a grain mill for christmas.

RivahBrew said:

Yeh, it received great reviews, but its not like there arn't other options out there. I decided to go with the cereal killer Cereal Killer Grain Mill I ordered earlier this week and got it in about three days with free shipping..... Nevermind, just looked at the website, its out of stock too. I guess im not the only one who asked SWMBO for a grain mill for christmas.

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Man, this whole situation sucks. I feel for all of you.
I'm glad I ordered earlier. I ordered a Cereal Killer from Adventures in Homebrewing on Sun 11-20 and it was shipped on Monday and received on Wed. the 23rd. Only used it once but got 78% eff. instead of the bend-me-over 68% I was getting from the LHBS.

Yeah my efficiency kicked up quite a bit with mine too. Guess a mill is hot on peoples Christmas lists for so many to be sold out at this time.

Rev.

I ordered the cereal killer on cybermonday and paid 83 dollars shipped.havent used it yet due to swmbo wrapping it up and putting it under the festivus pole.

Hey guys, I posted this in the other BC contact thread from BierMuncher, but wanted to put it here too. I had emailed threatening to put a stop pay on the order, due to a lack of contact from three separate emails.

Randy (Barley Crusher) responded to me last night. I wanted to stay somewhat miffed at the lack of response, but the poor bastard is working day and night right now to get orders out.

From him:
"I am sorry for the delays on replying to you too. We have been so busy that I haven't been sitting down answering emails lately. I know I need to but the more I'm typing the less I feel I'm getting done. I've been trying to get everyone's orders out because I know a lot of them are Christmas presents. All I want for Christmas is a couple days off. But I don't think I'll get what I want this year. But I can't *****. I'm working and staying busy."

He's been following up with me since then, and has completely and satisfactorily resolved my issue. I imagine that after the Christmas rush is over, he will be able to give more attention to current owner's problems.

I'm not defending him, just saying that I do understand how he feels. The fact that I know he is alive and well, not absconding with order money, and is working his butt off as best he can to get orders out there makes me feel better. I've got lots of patience in store for a small business with a good product when I know those things above.

I ordered my 7lb. hopper Barley Crusher on Nov. 25th (through Birdman Brewing Co.) and received it on December 11th. After reading these posts I can't believe I got it that quickly.

Just an update, I ordered on December 13th and I got my tracking number today, just over a week later. Seems like they are doing their best to get caught up for the holiday.

Yooper said:

I don't know. Mine is malfunctioning and I emailed them over a week ago on how to return it for the warranty work, or how to fix it myself. I never even got a return email.

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I know your a handy gal, but just on the off chance you haven't noticed this I thought I'd pass it on. From what I've seen 99% of the problems are with the dead roller. Have a close look at it and I'm positive you will see its just jammed with bits of grain at the ends of the roller. turning it by hand and a little compressed air fix it in a minute or two. Good Luck nobody wants to be without their crusher.

John

I received my BC today. Ordered on December 13th, shipped on the 21st, received today.

A very pleasant surprise and great experience. I hope everyone else is getting better service.

jspence1 said:

I know your a handy gal, but just on the off chance you haven't noticed this I thought I'd pass it on. From what I've seen 99% of the problems are with the dead roller. Have a close look at it and I'm positive you will see its just jammed with bits of grain at the ends of the roller. turning it by hand and a little compressed air fix it in a minute or two. Good Luck nobody wants to be without their crusher.

John

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Thanks John! That's exactly what I did the last time it quit working, but this time that didn't fix it. I ended up loosening the gap, so that the slave roller has less "work" to turn. It's not perfect and doesn't work nearly as well as it did when I first got it, but at least I can still crush some grain. I'm still waiting for a response from Barley Crusher, but I'm not holding my breath.

Yooper said:

Thanks John! That's exactly what I did the last time it quit working, but this time that didn't fix it. I ended up loosening the gap, so that the slave roller has less "work" to turn. It's not perfect and doesn't work nearly as well as it did when I first got it, but at least I can still crush some grain. I'm still waiting for a response from Barley Crusher, but I'm not holding my breath.

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It takes less than 5 minutes to completely disassemble a Barley Crusher and expose the roller bushings, where I suspect you have a buildup of malty bits...

Cheers!

The real question is how to prevent it from happening in the first place, I wonder if milling another 0.030" off the length would fix the problem or make it worse. I think it would be better the flour shouldn't bind it like the bits of grain do. I've only have it happen once and that was after lending it to people, I usually blow mine off with compressed air after every time I use it. I have next week off maybe I'll get a chance to look at it then.

TopRowSeat said:

I have politely requested today that they cancel my order and provide a refund.

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Another update to my story. After multiple attempts over the last month to contact them and request a refund I have today requested the assistance of the Better Business Bureau.

Hopefully the BBB will be able to get a response from them and secure my refund.

Sorry to hear your saga continues. My experience was great and I am very satisfied. While their email response generally took a few days I always got one.

I agree I think my experience is not typical from what I've seen elsewhere. I don't post here to blast them but rather just give an honest account of my experience.

I think it was just bad luck / bad timing that caused me to get lost in the shuffle.

While the lack of response is annoying I hold no ill will towards them. I just want to get my money back and move on.

DubBrew said:

Sorry to hear your saga continues. My experience was great and I am very satisfied. While their email response generally took a few days I always got one.

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I still haven't heard back from them. I have the same problems I had in November when I contacted them the first time.

I emailed about mine. I got an email back telling me to break it down, wire brush it and flip the slave roller. I had done all that before but I did it again. Mine still would not work. I emailed back and he replied to just send it to him. I'm afraid if I send it to him I'll be with out it for over a month.

I took a tire off a miniature bicycle one of my sons had broke and put it around one of the rollers. It works now but I can only get the gap to .040. The tire is too fat. It's stronger than a o-ring. It should last longer. I'm still getting my normal 85% anyway.

Malticulous said:

I emailed about mine. I got an email back telling me to break it down, wire brush it and flip the slave roller. I had done all that before but I did it again. Mine still would not work. I emailed back and he replied to just send it to him. I'm afraid if I send it to him I'll be with out it for over a month.

I took a tire off a miniature bicycle one of my sons had broke and put it around one of the rollers. It works now but I can only get the gap to .040. The tire is too fat. It's stronger than a o-ring. It should last longer. I'm still getting my normal 85% anyway.

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I broke it down and cleaned it (it's clean as a whistle, even before I did that) but I didn't think to flip over the slave roller. Maybe I'll do that before the next time I brew and maybe it'll save me some aggravation. I know they say you don't need that rubber o-ring to have the mill work, and it's just there for shipping. But ever since it broke, I've had issues. I've taken it apart at least 3-4 times, sent it in to them when the roller suddenly bent, and then taken it apart again twice more. I'm very disappointed, that's for sure!

At least when the roller was bent, they were quick to email me back and it was a fairly quick turnaround. But that was a long time ago- more than two years I think.

This thread made me jump on the Rebel Brewer grain crusher bandwagon. I am on the list for pre-orders, which will hopefully start sometime soon. The rebel brewer folks are great! They took the call from my wife a couple of months before Christmas and walked her through my brewstand purchase. She said that they were awesome, walked her through all the steps as to what I wanted. What do you know, on Christmas morning, I woke up to the best Christmas present I could ever ask for. Not only that, but the owner answers the phone when you call, and is a hell of a nice guy!

I acquired mine used from a local home brew store for $50. They were having the issue with the secondary roller binding up as well. So I tried it after I bought it without cleaning it just to see what it was doing, and obviously it did it to me as well.

I took it apart and cleaned everything. There was a very thick black "goo" packed into the bearings of the rollers, so I cleaned that all out and applied some olive oil to the bearings. I also heard about flipping over the secondary roller, so I decided to investigate it. It felt like the roller became worn only in one direction, so when you rub your fingers down the roller, it was more smooth in one direction compared to the other. So then I decided to check out the primary roller, and that too showed the same roughness in one direction and less-rough in the other. When I put it back together, I made sure everything was cleaned and lubricated, and flipped BOTH rollers, so both rollers were rough on the side pulling in the grain. The issue that I see, is now the primary roller has to be turned in the opposite direction as before. With a power drill it should work fine, but if the mill has been modified to be motorized, this may be difficult to do.

Take this with a grain of salt, because I have yet to test it out, but this may work better for some people.

I have also been thinking about getting some good-quality o-rings to put around the secondary roller, and modifying/building my own hopper to help to prevent the grain from getting sucked between the o-ring and ripping it apart.

^^ Just updating my previous post ^^

I tried out the barley crusher again after cleaning, lubricating, and flipping both rollers as I stated above.

It worked out MUCH better this time.

TopRowSeat said:

While the lack of response is annoying I hold no ill will towards them. I just want to get my money back and move on.

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Another couple of weeks have passed with no response of any type from the Barley Crusher folks.

Does anyone have an alternate method of contacting them? Email is not proving to be effective.

BC Products Enterprises Inc.
P.O. Box 110
Allenton, MI 48002