I must be spoiled by Amazon, because Midwest is slow

I must be spoiled by the speed in which I receive my Amazon orders because I placed an order with Midwest on Monday, it is late Friday and I still have not yet even received an email stating that the shipment has been sent yet. I had hoped to brew this weekend...I guess that isn't going to happen. With 3-5 day shipping, I'll be lucky if I get anything by NEXT weekend. I guess there is definitely something to be said about your local brew shop for supplies.

I have had GREAT luck with MW sorry to hear you had problems

I placed an order from Midwest last Saturday and it still says processing. When I emailed them they said that their warehouse was down due to a physical inventory. Not sure what this means but in still waiting and pretty disappointed with this.

I've ordered 3x from Midwest, the last one placed on Sunday. The first two orders shipped relatively quickly, not Amazon quick but reasonable. I haven't heard anything about my order placed on Sunday, but it was a lot of odds and ends so I figured it might take longer to put together.

I have always used Midwest with great service and shipping times. This is the only real problem that I have had with them.

Nearly every retail company does a physical inventory at least once a year to correct all the errors made during the year.

It is disturbing though that Midwest is taking orders and not making this delay clear up front.

If only Amazon offered liquid yeast that is Prime eligible...

I normally go to my LHBS, but I had the 20% off my order deal so I figured why not try a kit from Midwest. So I ordered it on March 1st and got it March 8th then brewed it today. My plan was to brew it today, but still took a week to get it. For the same price I could have gone to my LHBS yesterday and still brewed today. If I didn't have the 20% off deal i wouldn't have tried the kit. No sense on paying more for something that took a week to get sent to me.

Let me get this straight as i am confused. When expecting 2 day shipping are you paying for that or just regular ground shipping? When I ordered from midwest I think I had options on how fast I wanted to receive my shipment. If I wanted 2 day or overnight, I could pay for it and get it. I don't understand why that option is not available to everyone?

I've used Midwest several times, have had orders ship same or next day and have had some take along time to ship.If I need it in a certain time frame I call whoever I am ordering from and see if it will ship be the time I need it to.They are a very good company to deal with if something does get messed up so I will order from them again.

thatjonguy said:

If only Amazon offered liquid yeast that is Prime eligible...

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Hah! This made me chuckle, then I thought about how much yeast I would buy if were prime.... that would be dangerous. <scoots over to amazon to search for homebrew deals>

lgilmore said:

Let me get this straight as i am confused. When expecting 2 day shipping are you paying for that or just regular ground shipping? When I ordered from midwest I think I had options on how fast I wanted to receive my shipment. If I wanted 2 day or overnight, I could pay for it and get it. I don't understand why that option is not available to everyone?

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For me it's not the shipping time that's the issue. My orders often sit for four days to a week before they're even shipped. So it sits for a week before it's picked and packaged, and then another three of four days for delivery. They have a great selection and fair pricing, but the unknown of when they might even get to my order makes me buy elsewhere for things I need on schedule.

I've gotten my stuff from them in as little as 1-2 days here in NE OH. But this last time I ordered last week Friday,& they said they were doing inventory this last weekend in the one on one chat thing. So it took till the middle of yesterday afternoon to get it. But all came in great shape. I have to wait for the 1st fermenter of light colored ale to finish anyway,since I have to wash the yeast to re-use it. Then I'll brew up an NZIPA with the WL029 yeast. Should be clean & crisp,interesting for an IPA.

Update: I just got an email this morning saying that my order from Sunday mentioned in the post above has shipped. Hopefully they are back on track.

It was about the same with mine,took a few days to get the e-mail after they did inventory all weekend.

kpr121 said:

Hah! This made me chuckle, then I thought about how much yeast I would buy if were prime.... that would be dangerous. <scoots over to amazon to search for homebrew deals>

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If they started carrying base grains and hops under prime, a lot of online shops would feel it.

Well just got the email saying it shipped and will receive it on Wednesday. Considering tomorrow is Sunday and I live in New Jersey that's not a bad time frame at all.

Keqwow said:

I must be spoiled by the speed in which I receive my Amazon orders because I placed an order with Midwest on Monday, it is late Friday and I still have not yet even received an email stating that the shipment has been sent yet. I had hoped to brew this weekend...I guess that isn't going to happen. With 3-5 day shipping, I'll be lucky if I get anything by NEXT weekend. I guess there is definitely something to be said about your local brew shop for supplies.

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I placed my order on Tuesday and haven't heard anything yet. Have contacted them. Will not be placing orders w/ MWS anymore.

I have always had good luck with Midwest, but I also have an order "processing" and hoped to brew this weekend. I still have not received any kind of email or update. They are a great bunch of folks over there and a fantastic company, but I sure wish they had made their delay issue public knowledge.

I'm in the same boat. Ordered last weekend from Midwest and it is still processing. Haven't heard squat either.

I'm not a big fan of Amazon, maybe the fact that I work for them has something to do with it.

pb

I often receive my shipments from Northern Brewer and Midwest before I get an E-mail from them.

Keep in mind that Amazon has many fulfillment centers across the country, plus individual sellers that go through them.

Midwest is one warehouse. They are small a business compared to Amazon.

I support small business when ever possible. Small business is what started this country from what I've learned, and it powers most of the economy. I could be wrong tho, I'm off work and drinking homebrews.

pb--- Almost bed time too...

I live in San Diego, CA and it takes Midwest about 11 working days to get my order to my door. FedEx is quick, Midwest is slow. I did call in my order via phone and the rep told me they are really backed up at the moment. I don't think I'm going to be buying from them anymore because I have about 3 Home brew shops within 20mins. I just bought an 8oz Star San for $9.99 and 2-row is $1.10 a pound.

uxo said:

I live in San Diego, CA and it takes Midwest about 11 working days to get my order to my door. FedEx is quick, Midwest is slow. I did call in my order via phone and the rep told me they are really backed up at the moment. I don't think I'm going to be buying from them anymore because I have about 3 Home brew shops within 20mins. I just bought an 8oz Star San for $9.99 and 2-row is $1.10 a pound.

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The closest LHBS in my area sucks! And the good ones cost too much in gas to get to. Plus compared to the online selections I have,... I can't beat ordering online.

With that said I would rather buy local, just too much running and checking.

I guess the internet has spoiled me, plus it saves me gas $$$. A sad dilemma I admit.

pb

Fedex just dropped my order at my door and this is what i found. Everything else came in fine but the hop bag wasn't sealed properly. No biggie but there you go.

The nice thing is nobody has a monopoly on homebrew supplies. One of the best features of this forum is actually the ads that pop up. I have found more "new" vendors this way, that price and ship the way I like. New ones seem to come in every month. I've spread my home brewing dollars around to several vendors that meet my needs.

Sometimes I do admit difficulty in understanding complaints about vendors because if one makes you unhappy, usually there is at least 5 that will make you happy. I for one, really like midwest as they meet my expectations. That doesn't mean I don't compare or continue to look for new sources of brewing happiness. They have to compete for my business. Sometimes they win, sometimes they don't. For me, Lowest possible shipping costs means sometimes waiting a bit longer for delivery, but at a low cost. I am given options to have my orders rushed and I can pay extra for speed in delivery.

I understand when I call or place an order with anybody, I'm in the que. No one is purposely waiting two or three days to fill an order. They're filling orders that came in before mine. A busy company usually means fresher product because nothing is sitting around getting stale.

I think this forum is an excellent source for new sources. I find it odd that paid membership offers to turn off the ads as personally those ads have lead me to new vendors, great pricing, good shipping and options. It's been an added perk of visiting this site. I don't understand why paying to join would remove them as an option. I've bought from about 5 or 6 places I've found here on this site. They're benefical. Especially when someone is unhappy with someone else or you're looking for the best possible price.

and cheers to all. this isn't meant as an attack at anyone but I always seem to draw the mods attention when I suggest if someone makes you unhappy, try elsewhere. There are a ton of vendors who advertise here that might make you happy. Take a look.

Gotta agree with you gill. If one doesn't serve you well,try another. I like midwest,since it's only 2 states away. Fed-Ex home delivery has gotten here in as little as 2 days! But last weekend was inventory time for them,so orders backed up. I ordered mine last week friday,& got it yesterday. This one time,it took longer for them to get down to processing mine than Fed-Ex took to deliver it. So Fed-Ex kinda makes up some of the time. And they're midwests' 2nf cheapest delivery option as well.
And since they move so much product,it's always fresh. I too have gotten the occasional bad hop packet seal,but they go straight into a zip lock freezer bag & into the freezer when delivered. They still worked out fine. I have to say though,that I like it when they sell me hops from hop union. They package them fresh out of the drier at their business,rather then selling them bulk to the retailer.

+1 to Hop Union hops!

They are definitely the freshest hops I've found online. Unfortunately, most online retailers don't tell you where your hops are coming from when you order them so its a bit of a crap shoot.

Yeah,you just have to learn who's selling what from whom. My lhbs carries a lot of hop union this past couple years. bot pellet & raw (same as ones called whole leaf). Very fresh hops,i love'em! And the hops from New Zealand (I usually call NZ) are way different with all the tropical fruit flavors & such. Midwest carries hops from all over the world,& they seem to be getting a few more here & there. And since they're high volume,I know they're good.

Well I ordered catalogs from Midwest and Northern Brewer online at the same time and I figured the first catalog that arrived would get my business. I got a Midwest catalog about a week after I ordered it and so I placed my order on Monday. Still no box or email from them though regarding my order. I never received a catalog from Northern Brewer so who knows whats up with that. I stopped by my local brew supply shop today just to see what my options might be. They have the yeast I'd need, but they don't have the wheat I would need. So I guess I'm SOL until Midwest comes through with my order.

I think Midwest put on their Facebook page that their warehouse will be down. This could be the reason why your order was delayed.

I ordered from mid west last Saturday. It was just shipped today. I was hoping to brew this weekend before I go on a cruise.

On the other hand, they couldn't fulfill my last order fully, so they sent what they had; then sent the rest plus some freebies. Nice gesture.

Hey guys,

We are sorry for the delay. We have been backed up due to a physical inventory. Counting a warehouse full of items like airlocks and stoppers takes a while, and unfortunately it took a little longer than we thought it would. We are still backed up, but everyone including our company president will be working late this week to catch up. Again, we are sorry for the trouble. We should hopefully get caught back up very soon.

Cheers,

~Nick

midwestsupplies said:

Hey guys,

We are sorry for the delay. We have been backed up due to a physical inventory. Counting a warehouse full of items like airlocks and stoppers takes a while, and unfortunately it took a little longer than we thought it would. We are still backed up, but everyone including our company president will be working late this week to catch up. Again, we are sorry for the trouble. We should hopefully get caught back up very soon.

Cheers,

~Nick

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I'm glad for a response. Thanks.
The delay in the arrival of the order I placed may delay my next brew day some, but as a person who works maintenance at a large distribution center, ( Amazon), I can relate to what ya'll are going through.

pb

I see the response by Midwest and I appreciate that they continue to pay attention to us. Their customer service is, and always has been, top notch.
That said, over the past year, I've also noticed that my orders routinely ship 3-4 days or more after I place an order. Three years ago, if I placed the order before noon, I used to get the order shipped that day or at least the next. This doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Just thinking out loud but with the number of home or craft brewers increasing dramatically every year for the past 5 -10 years, could the problem be us?

I look at the supply side of this hobby and only see growth, lots of growth. This seems to be a very healthy industry compared to a lot of others out there. I can't think of any vendor that purposely holds an order to fill later. I think most of us when ordering are falling into a much bigger que than in years past, because there is more of us out there than before.

That is why we have so many options to choose from. For example I have purchased from probably 4 new vendors I never knew about till I found them here on this forum. As frustrating as this can be, this is a good problem to have. The industry is having growning pains.

That's exactly it! and I still think midwest does a great job with our orders,concidering there are now 1 million of us & counting atm. They can't stop the home brew machine,stop the machine...machinemachinemachinemachine...more of us than there is of them!...no heart or soul,but at least we're machines!
Lil Godz for y'all. It's a pretty apt description of how home brewing is growing by leaps & bounds. So all things concidered,they're all doing a great job with so much growth. And midwests' customer sevice is always top notch every time. They def got my business!!

Again...perhaps I am spoiled...but so far I am not impressed. This is my first order from Midwest. I ordered last Monday. I FINALLY got an email yesterday (Tuesday) that the order was shipped and should arrive tomorrow (Thursday). That is a week and a half from order to ship. I just got an email from them tonight telling me that several items were "out of stock" and will be shipped once they get them back in stock. Thanks a lot for that. Not only am I behind on when I planned to brew, but several items are also not even in this long awaited shipment and who knows when they will arrive? I can appreciate everyone's comments...but as a first purchase from this place, I am not impressed....at all.

My order came today. Shipped 3 days ago.
Ordered well over a week ago,... almost 2.

But if this just happens once a year,... I'm cool with it.

pb

yep that definitely isnt the norm. theyve always been insanely fast for me. even during the holidays.