Is it just me, or is B3 backordered on everything?

What is the deal? More-Beer does not have a single item I need in stock, they are all back ordered. Does this seem odd to anyone else? Are they struggling? Do they have way to many orders and can't keep up? Just wondering if anyone else was having the same problems.

They almost never have everything I want in stock. The multitude of backordered items plus one rather crappy customer service experience puts them last on my list of mail order suppliers.

The last two times I mail ordered they did not have several things i wanted. I think Im done with them.

My main desire from them are the 1/2" stainless Q-D's and I have not been able to find them anywhere else that cheap. Does anyone have a source? McMaster is just so pricey. I am waiting on Ebay, but that could take years to get the 10 sets I need.

:frustrated:

:EDIT: they have the Q-D's just not the other things I wanted from them.

Something changed with them about a year or so ago... I used them all the time for years and they were great. But now, it does seem like everything is backordered.

I recently tried to order some sanitizer, and it was backordered! WTF?

My current favorite is Midwest.

SavageSteve said:

I recently tried to order some sanitizer, and it was backordered! WTF?

My current favorite is Midwest.

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I haven't had anything B/O from B3, but I have only ordered from Midwest 1x; I hate how their site/cart work. The cart is clunky and the "let's whip the text size around" whizzbang crap, which I assume is a poorly thought out css function, so I spend my $ elsewhere.

AHB is in Tx with me which means I incur sales tax. I did try AHB to see if I could get liquid yeasts shipped from Austin/Dallas without baking but even the icepack stuff was hot by time it got to me.

So NorthernBrewer for me, with liquid yeasts coming from the LHBS.

fratermus said:

AHB is in Tx with me which means I incur sales tax. I did try AHB to see if I could get liquid yeasts shipped from Austin/Dallas without baking but even the icepack stuff was hot by time it got to me.

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I consider the sales tax simply a tax of convenience since everything I order from AHS gets here overnight or in 2 days, max.

Boerderij Kabouter said:

My main desire from them are the 1/2" stainless Q-D's and I have not been able to find them anywhere else that cheap. Does anyone have a source? McMaster is just so pricey. I am waiting on Ebay, but that could take years to get the 10 sets I need.

:frustrated:

:EDIT: they have the Q-D's just not the other things I wanted from them.

Click to expand...

Send me a link and I will see what I can do.

Forrest

fratermus said:

I haven't had anything B/O from B3, but I have only ordered from Midwest 1x; I hate how their site/cart work. The cart is clunky and the "let's whip the text size around" whizzbang crap, which I assume is a poorly thought out css function, so I spend my $ elsewhere.

AHB is in Tx with me which means I incur sales tax. I did try AHB to see if I could get liquid yeasts shipped from Austin/Dallas without baking but even the icepack stuff was hot by time it got to me.

So NorthernBrewer for me, with liquid yeasts coming from the LHBS.

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If there is something you are buying from Northern Brewer because of the tax, let me know. Let me see what I can do to earn your business.

Forrest

Thanks Forrest! I didn't even think about asking about a special order. I just made an Ebay purchase so my build budget is back to zero. I will let you know when I am ready to purchase and see if you can come up with something.

Thanks!

I've never ordered from b3 before, but they're the only place I've found that has the 750ml Belgian bottles. Of course they're currently on backorder.

Hopefully Forrest can work on getting some stock in of those, too.

I just bought 5 of B3's SS QD's a few weeks ago, and am looking for more. I have noticed that more recently they have been back ordered on a lot of stuff. It has been tough to make complete brews through them.

Forest- AHB
If you find any deals on SS QD's please let me know too! I am willing to buy a few to start and more in the future.. ( starting to set up a ful brew rig / stand)

-DIG

Morebeer was backorder on bottlecaps last time I ordered, and my order ended up in perma-backorder. They are very nice and helpful when you get personal contact with them, but something is amiss.

I tried to share my business between AHS and Morebeer, but now I believe the balance is shifting to AHS.

It's easy to have the cheapest price when you don't have product to ship. I would spend the little extra to get an item I wanted when I wanted it.

digunderground said:

I just bought 5 of B3's SS QD's a few weeks ago, and am looking for more. I have noticed that more recently they have been back ordered on a lot of stuff. It has been tough to make complete brews through them.

Forest- AHB
If you find any deals on SS QD's please let me know too! I am willing to buy a few to start and more in the future.. ( starting to set up a ful brew rig / stand)

-DIG

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Send me a link so we are both talking about the same product and I will do my best.

Please refer to my store as Austin Homebrew instead of AHB or AHS. A Newbie won't know what the abbreviation means and either will Google. Also, I seach for posts that mention my store so I can help. This forum won't let me search for 3 letter abbreviations.

Forrest

Thanks.

Bill1968 said:

It's easy to have the cheapest price when you don't have product to ship. I would spend the little extra to get an item I wanted when I wanted it.

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Ours are free when we are out of stock. The price goes back to regular price as soon as they come back in.

Forrest

ive stopped ordering from B3 for this reason alone.

Forrest, here is the link to the SS Q-Ds from B3.

http://morebeer.com/view_product/76...PT?PHPSESSID=b5823aa18187e04311b84a9e3819d1c1

It would be awesome if you could carry something comparable! :rockin:

I'd like to order from Austin Homebrew, but unfortunately B3 is about the only remaining military-friendly online homebrew shop left. Midwest is OK, but their site is crap and shipping charges are high.

I dunno why AHS cops out on APO shipping - I've never had issues with ordering *anything* from shops that do ship APO and having it shipped here, and that includes things like StarSan, grain, and multiple boxes of 5-gallon kegs.

I'm comming back to Texas someday :rockin:, and I'd like to support a place that's closer to where I want to be. And having my Dad be a proxy shipper is neither practical nor fair given the volume of ordering I do.

So, I'm pretty much a heavy repeat customer of B3, backorders and all.
-keith

I think I second almost all opinions in this thread.

B3 - Terrible availability. Id also add their site is OVER organized. You have to know exactly where THEY put it to find it.
MidWest - Outdated, cumbersome site. A shame too cause they usually have decent prices and I would order from them being in MN.
Northern Brewery - I order almost exclusively there because I can get stuff next day with just normal UPS shipping in MN. Their Hop prices are high and they don't have a very good availability of hops, but they are trying to keep them available at least by having a little higher prices. Good guys there too.

Austin - Sorry to say, I sorta forget about Austin and dont think I have ever ordered from Austin. No good reason..just dont think to order from TX when I can get my stuff next day for $8 shipping.

However, if you have those SS Quick connects, I'd order a couple sets. I too have been looking for those and cant find them reasonably priced.

Customer service and product availability/cost are the most important for me. While I agree that Midwest's website is a little clunky, is that really driving people to other sites? Are you using the Java instead of HTML version?

I've purchased from Midwest, NB and Austin Homebrew repeatedly- but hit up Austin Homebrew at a ratio of at least 4:1.

keithd said:

I'd like to order from Austin Homebrew, but unfortunately B3 is about the only remaining military-friendly online homebrew shop left. Midwest is OK, but their site is crap and shipping charges are high.

I dunno why AHS cops out on APO shipping - I've never had issues with ordering *anything* from shops that do ship APO and having it shipped here, and that includes things like StarSan, grain, and multiple boxes of 5-gallon kegs.

I'm comming back to Texas someday :rockin:, and I'd like to support a place that's closer to where I want to be. And having my Dad be a proxy shipper is neither practical nor fair given the volume of ordering I do.

So, I'm pretty much a heavy repeat customer of B3, backorders and all.
-keith

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We will ship to a relative or friend for $6.99 (far less than what we are paying for the shipping) and they can ship it to you. We use UPS for shipping and UPS does not ship to APO/FPO addresses.

Forrest

Boerderij Kabouter said:

Forrest, here is the link to the SS Q-Ds from B3.

http://morebeer.com/view_product/76...PT?PHPSESSID=b5823aa18187e04311b84a9e3819d1c1

It would be awesome if you could carry something comparable! :rockin:

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If you're OK with 3/8" most pressure washing places carry them for about $7 for the pair.

http://www.pressuretek.com/bustcopl.html
http://sunbrite.stores.yahoo.net/hpcstqu.html

Forrest;

Because you'll never get 100% compliance on the AHS, AHB thing... try this as well.

[ame]http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&hl=en&q=AHB+AHS+site%3Ahomebrewtalk.com&btnG=Search[/ame]

olllllo said:

Forrest;

Because you'll never get 100% compliance on the AHS, AHB thing... try this as well.

http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&hl=en&q=AHB+AHS+site:homebrewtalk.com&btnG=Search

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Thanks for the tip. The point was that on this forum search I can't search for "AHS" or "AHB".

Austinhomebrew said:

Thanks for the tip. The point was that on this forum search I can't search for "AHS" or "AHB".

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Thanks for shipping all my bottles and carboys to me for so cheap Forrest. You are the first place I look when I need brewing stuff.

keithd said:

I dunno why AHS cops out on APO shipping - I've never had issues with ordering *anything* from shops that do ship APO and having it shipped here, and that includes things like StarSan, grain, and multiple boxes of 5-gallon kegs.

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APO is a US Mail thing, IIRC.

When I started brewing in the 80s I was stationed in Germany. At that time the only mailorder HBS I could find that would ship APO was Williams Brewing.

flyangler18 said:

Customer service and product availability/cost are the most important for me. While I agree that Midwest's website is a little clunky, is that really driving people to other sites?

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Yes (speaking for myself).

flyangler18 said:

Are you using the Java instead of HTML version?

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I've used both. Well, I think they mean Javascript.

Boerderij Kabouter said:

Forrest, here is the link to the SS Q-Ds from B3.

http://morebeer.com/view_product/76...PT?PHPSESSID=b5823aa18187e04311b84a9e3819d1c1

It would be awesome if you could carry something comparable! :rockin:

Click to expand...

Hey Forrest,

Did you ever look into these type of fittings?

Thanks,
Justin

It sucks that Morebeer and others don't ship to Canada, and I have issues with items shipped UPS vs USPS. I prefer USPS because they don't charge brokerage fees in addition to taxes and customs.

Morebeer had everything I wanted in stock and the shipping, not only free, gets here in 2 days. I'm still buying my yeast from my NSLHBS (Not So Local HomeBrew Store) because on average, the yeast I buy is less than 2 weeks old from the factory.

I've been looking into Austin Homebrew, and fully intend to send some business that way. I like to spread the love around before I settle on a "favorite". I probably won't order yeast online any more, especially from out of state suppliers, because Texas to California is a long time for the poor yeast to cook.

It's kind of hard to beat my NSLHBS though, as they are the home of the Maltose Falcons and have a *lot* to choose from thusly. Still, it's a 45 minute drive one way to see them, so ordering online is very, very nice.

TheFlatline said:

It's kind of hard to beat my NSLHBS though, as they are the home of the Maltose Falcons and have a *lot* to choose from thusly. Still, it's a 45 minute drive one way to see them, so ordering online is very, very nice.

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You must be in the nard, or the east end of Simi.