WORST Home Brew Store experience ever!

Yakima 728
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Baron von BeeGee said:
Incidentally, one of the owners (not the clerk in question here, I don't believe) did respond over on the greenboard. Basically acknowledged/took responsibility for the problem and pledged to try and correct it.
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I think he said it was the/a owner, not a clerk, right?
This to me sounds like he's just trying to not lose customers, people that act like that only care/apologize when it hurts them and are usually not sincere. I'm all for giving people second chances that might deserve them, but if they're this brazen/rude I am inclined to think they don't -especially when others have similar stories. I'd like to see his business dry up, not just be annoyed with spam, etc.
 
LOL I went there before in Orlando and he was kind of an ******* when I asked what is a good recipe.
 
gonzoflick said:
Owner: "We are mostly mail order so we don't care about local business."

Me: "Are you saying you dont care about making your customers happy and helping them out"

Owner: "Our local ones, nope. Thats not the kind of business we're in."

Me: "Well buddy you just lost a local one."

Owner: "Ok see ya"
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I guess your buddy there learned a valuable lesson in all this....when you are doing business on the internet with all the forums, groups, chats, ect. that exist, everyone becomes essentially a "local" customer and word of poor service can travel wicked fast.
 
gonzoflick said:
Owner: "We are mostly mail order so we don't care about local business."
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If that's the case, why have a retail storefront at all? Idiot could probably cut his operating costs by 20-30% if he just ran the internet side out of a warehouse (cheaper real estate, no price labelling, shelf stocking, helpful employees walking the aisles...oh wait...)
 
well i have to say that i have had some bad experiences with them too. they really seem like walk in customers are a mere inconvenience for them.

i usually go in with a long laundry list of items and just have them run around and fill the list. usually ending in the same comment, you know if you email us the list or fax it in we can have it ready for you to pick up.

thats nice and all but i love the way that place smells. for a walk-in place we have no other option in orlando.

honestly i hate ordering stuff like this over the web.
 
Hmm I wonder if the LHBS chap realizes what's transpired on our forum. My guess is many of us buy from him. I'm smelling an apology to the Home Brew Community.
 
I am with OP on this one.. No more Hearts for me. It was hard for me to bite my tounge and not lash out at the guy today.

All I wanted was a pound of specialty grain that would add good color to an amber. He would not answer that question, and berrated me for not knowing what grain I really needed!

So pissed am I..

AVOID HEARTSHOMEBREW.com and their local store.
 
Email just sent--- Please feel free to copy and paste.


Greetings,
I have been in your store a lot lately. I have
purchased over $500 in the last month. Each time I
have been treated curtly and as if I was a nuisance.
That is your perogative.

Today I was treated rudely and as a result you
have lost my business and I will do everything I can
to make sure no new customers come to your store or
visit your website. As you know, your reputation
around town is horrible. And now I can truly
appreciate how nasty you guys are to in store
customers.

Y'all can treat customers any way you like. And as
customers we can spend money anywhere we like. It
won't be at your store any longer.

Respectfully,
Austin Hardy
 
I like my local brew store and they really tend to be great when I call on them. But I also have to drive about 45 minutes to get there. What I have done is started using Listermann.com which has free shipping with a a purchase of $35 or over to anywhere in the US east of the Mississippi river. I buy the grain in bulk from there and save my gas money. Because you live in FL you can also get this good deal.

Good luck and sorry to hear about that. I wonder how many noobs have been turned away from brewing because of that A@@
 
I have lived in 2 states since I started brewing (Florida and Alabama) and continue to use Austin Homebrew Supply due to their reasonable shipping rates. I have never had any trouble with any of the ingredients, including liquid yeast shipped UPS in the Hot summers in Florida.

Best of all, I can call them anytime for advice and they are always helpful. I am not trying to advertise for them, they just happen to be who I use and I am very happy with their service and the orders always ship promptly.
 
Why is this guy still in business? I have gone there several times with some attitude every time. :mad:
 
I know this is an old post, but I thought it was worth revisiting. I live in Orlando and have been to Hearts many times. Unfortunately, this is still the only option available in Orlando unless you want to order online. His prices make it fiscally unwise to order online elsewhere (at least for me). However, it wouldn't break my heart (no pun intended) if they didn't get any more new customers.

Every time I go in, he does act like I'm an inconvenience. He gives me the same "if you order online we could have this ready..." spiel.

As another poster noted, he does have tons of ribbons and trophies on the wall. This is ironic, as he doesn't seem very well informed on brewing. During one of my visits, he informed me that he didn't have toasted malt, but smoked malt was pretty much the same thing. On another visit, I asked what had happened to his dry T-58 Belgian yeast. He "assured" me there was no such thing as a dry Belgian yeast and that safale didn't offer anything like that, even though it was at his store the prior month that I first saw it.

Talking tithe local homebrew club (Central Florida Homebrew Guild) won't do much good because as I understand it, he is an active member and the store sponsors most of the homebrew events in the area. In fact, he was once a head judge at many competitions.

To be fair, he does have his good days. I once talked to him for a good half hour talking about the upcoming competition and how to enter and the best ways to get a beer noticed. Unfortunately, this isn't the norm. I often see him frustrated and snippy with people who don't have his level of experience and who ask simple questions.

Basically, this was a long way of saying if you live in Orlando and need to buy grain and don't need any advice, go there. It IS a good deal. If however, you need any advice, come here or go to the guild. THEY are a great resource.
 
Yeah that guy sounds like a dick. I haven't had any really bad experiences, but one that kind of pissed me off was when I asked the owner of my LHBS if I could use their grain mill on some malt I had in my car. He asked me if I bought there and I told him no, and he looked at me like I was trying to scam him and said in a dickish voice "Well, there you go."

I said "A simple 'no' would have been fine, but thanks."

Not a big deal, but his attitude pissed me off.
 
gonzoflick said:
I've just returned home from the worst LHBS experience of my life. I am so upset I had to calm myself down for 10 minutes before writing this. NEVER in my life have I been treated so callously by any store owner. I will give a brief description now of what happened.

I live in Orlando and Heartshomebrew.com (my LHBS) is the only LHBS one I know of around here. I've been in there about 10 times and the man knows my face I'm sure of it. Today I walked into the store and here went my conversation with the owner.

Me: "Hey buddy I'd like to talk to you about your Brown Ale recipe"

Owner: "OK"

Me: "I wanted to kick it up a notch and add a pound of honey. What do you
think?"

Owner: "I think it will be too sweet"

Me: "Yea I thought I would add some more hops to balance this out. Do you think that would work?"

Owner: "You have to look that kind of stuff up on your own. We dont give recipe advice here."

---------------------------BREAK-----------------------------------

This was their own recipe BTW and on the wall they have nothing but awards, ribbons, and trophies for their brews. The guy knows how to give recipe advice.

--------------------------BACK TO CONVERSATION--------------

Me: "Isn't that what these stores are supposed to be all about, helping your customers brew beer?"

Owner: "We are mostly mail order so we don't care about local business."

Me: "Are you saying you dont care about making your customers happy and helping them out"

Owner: "Our local ones, nope. Thats not the kind of business we're in."

Me: "Well buddy you just lost a local one."

Owner: "Ok see ya"

I will stop here because anyone reading this should at this point be as flabbergasted as I am. I've never once in my LIFE heard a store owner say he didnt care about his local customers. This place is set up for retail for sure. Its not like I was walking into a garage were he just ships his supplies out from.

To speak to someone like that, especially someone who you know is a beginner in the awesome hobby of homebrewing, is just downright evil and cruel. If it was might first time in there I would probably be pretty heart broken and not even try to make beer. As it is now I know I can order supplies from online stores and continue my hobby.

This is a vent post but also one to get you'alls thoughts.


Has anyone had experiences like this at their LHBS?

Thoughts please, to make me feel better and not go hurt somebody...
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Really?????
 
wow, if my LHBS treated me like that, I probably wouldn't be here now. Luckily the owners of ALABREW are very kind, helpful, and respectful of their customers' needs. Every time I have gone in there they seem so happy to see me (as they are with every customer) and seem to take joy in helping me find exactly what I need to make sure that, as a new brewer, I get the best product and service available. Example, I was purchasing ingredients for my weizen and they didnt have a specialty grain I wanted, but he took the time to try to find the closest thing to it as to not offset my recipe too bad. In fact, he joked around with me for a while and commended my idea of adding caramel wheat to a weizen! I have a personal thing against ordering anything off the internet, so I am really lucky to have as great a LHBS as I do.
 
gonzoflick said:
Has anyone had experiences like this at their LHBS?
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Not at a true local one, but I've been at a few like that outside San Diego.

But even down here some are better than others. There are some places you go if you want to talk, try a beer they made or get advice; there are other places that are best if you just need ten pounds of two-row and some yeast quickly.
 
billvon said:
Not at a true local one, but I've been at a few like that outside San Diego.

But even down here some are better than others. There are some places you go if you want to talk, try a beer they made or get advice; there are other places that are best if you just need ten pounds of two-row and some yeast quickly.
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Then there's ones like Hydrobrew that kick every kind of ass imaginable, and the guys that work there are absolute crackups.
 
Same here in Chicago @ the Brew and Grow on Kedzie and Addison. I even trade beers and recipes with some of the awesome guys and girls that work there. Absurdly knowledgeable and more than happy to special order something that you need. I pity the fool that has to go to a ****ty homebrew shop because nothing decent is local.
 
Exact opposite of the LHBS when I started brewing. They were extremely friendly, and helped out explaining recipes, what equipment to get and methods to use. This was before there was so much information on the internet about homebrewing. If it wasn't for them I doubt my hobby would have progressed very far. Now they have moved to a larger location, with a much nicer store (but unfortunately just focusing on beer and wine, no homebrewing supplies)
 
jfulton said:
Exact opposite of the LHBS when I started brewing. They were extremely friendly, and helped out explaining recipes, what equipment to get and methods to use. This was before there was so much information on the internet about homebrewing. If it wasn't for them I doubt my hobby would have progressed very far. Now they have moved to a larger location, with a much nicer store (but unfortunately just focusing on beer and wine, no homebrewing supplies)
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Same here! mine even gave me a 4-page book for free because I was just starting out and didn't have a clue. I purposely won't shop at places like Wilko's for home brew stuff now purely because I want to support a local business!

There's a few who work in the store, every one of them's warm, happy and helpful. I went in for advice once and didn't buy anything and they still helped, hahah.
 
Just to play devils advocate...You can see why this store owner got angry...He has ribbons and awards for his recipes on the wall...and in walks some dude saying pretty much..."hey..your recipe is weak...I want to kick it up a notch"...do I agree with the way the store owner treated the OP??? NO!!!. But, you can see where he is coming from...there are always 2 veiws in life. Like many who have posted before me...I am gratefule for my LHBS ...they are always willing to help and answer any questions that I may have....which is seldom (sarcasim)!!!:D
 
To add to this well aged thread -
We had a similar shop called Marietta Home Brew Supply a few years ago. Every time I went in there, I felt like I was an intruder. I finally started ordering online and paying more for shipping than I would have paid in state taxes just because I didn't like feeling like I was inconveniencing them. Evidently, their other customers got the same vibes and quit patronizing them. The store folded, and everyone is happy about it.
 
hahah. in that sense, maybe there's pride and then there's arrogance. home brewing is all about experimenting, but maybe he didn't like his recipe being messed with ;)
 
You should go back and act like nothing happened. Come in with a list of a bunch of things you need to make a couple of very big batches of beer. Try to take up as much of his time as possible.

Then when it comes time to check out. Tell him you changed your mind and walk out.
 
I noticed something about these LHBS . All of them think that the way THEY do things is the only way to do it. I wrote a post similar to this a few months ago. I like the owner of my LHBS hes a nice guy not really nice but hes a little snobby with the way he brews. I think its because hes real old school. He doesn't believe in a long primary and no secondary and we all know that that secondary thing has been debunked.

The problem was when I asked him if I can just leave it in primary a little longer he looked at me like I was crazy and shook his head.

I went back to get somethings to brew a hefeweizen. I read on here about puting fruit in beer. When I asked him if I can put fruit in beer then he was like "No WAY! thats disgusting!" I know its the yeast that does all the bannana and clove flavor but I read that its ok to put fruit in beer. Then there is the plastic carboy thing. He said I can never use plastic to ferment in because it can possibly melt the plastic and your beer will taste like crap etc. Then he tried to sell me his glass carboys...

I understand everyone has there own opinions but don't treat me like im crazy because I have some ideas and don't brew the "old school" way. He's a nice guy just not very welcoming to new brewers. I think its because he thinks hes more elite then everone else. Not to mention his shop is really dusty and dirty and there is crap everywhere... kinda looks like my basement.

All in all I came to the conclussion these guys think they are better then everyone else because they have been doing it for such a long time. I goto him for specific things I don't want to order online and thats it.
 
jonbomb said:
All in all I came to the conclussion these guys think they are better then everyone else because they have been doing it for such a long time. I goto him for specific things I don't want to order online and thats it.
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One guy in my local is the total opposite. He must be 30 or so, and I told him about the wine from tinned fruit thing, explaining that it's not exactly a fine vintage but it's a good laugh, great on the cash and i'm learning a lot doing it anyway. His reply "Well, as long as it gets you pissed, who cares?" Legend!

I just don't see why you'd badmouth equipment if you worked in a home brew place - surely it's better to sell you cheap starting equipment in the hope that you'll have to upgrade one day, from a business point of view.
 
There are two gentlemen that works there, one seems to be in a slightly better mood than the other, but it’s a close call. I’m not sure how long they have been around, but however long, it’s taken a toll on them. Let’s just say, they’ve lost that sparkle in their eye.
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This made me laugh. :mug:
 
Special Hops said:
Surprised places like this stay in business!
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The only reason they stay in business is people like you learned that he's a tool. Now you get what you need strictly as a commodity. The idea that he has any services to offer has long been dismissed.

If Wal-Mart had homebrew supplies you'd probably shop there for them.

F'em :D
 
...you guys must not live in NY....

...you will probably need to go there on an emergency basis from time-to-time, so I would ignor the owners and just get in and out as fast as possible. In the mean time, try to plan things out so you order what you need from the Net and don't have to go to their store and get abused by them often.

The folks here are an excellent source of opinions on receipes, brew methods, etc, so getting their so-called expert advice at this retail store is not critical, anyway; right?
 
Wow, I can't believe the way this guy is treating his walk-ins. My LHBS is fantastic and the owner is always interested in helping to configure/tweek recipes. I started brewing about two years ago and I've made so many upgrades going from beginner to all grain. The owner has always looked at my recipes and made suggestions...and not just suggestions for him to make a bigger profit. I'm sorry your shop is so horrible.
 
Oh, yeh ....my typical experience at my retail outlook in NY is a blank stare into space by folks who don't speak English. Sometimes, I get this:

....."Daaa we are not brewers, we just sell this stuff and the owners make a big profit...."
 
robertbartsch said:
Oh, yeh ....my typical experience at my retail outlook in NY is a blank stare into space by folks who don't speak English. Sometimes, I get this:
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Seriously?

If that's the case I gotta give a HUGE shout out to my Brew Shop. Brew and Grow in Boilingbrook IL. They are STOCKED with extracts, full grain selection, tons of hops, better bottles, carboys and accessories. I think there are only three people that work there. You walk in the door and all three people greet you with a hello. There is a taller guy that always comes around the counter to ask if I need help finding anything. He is super friendly. There is guy that seems to really know his **** (not that the others don't - but he spotted my grain bill from 15 feet away and started asking me about the Pale Ale I was going to brew) he usually stays behind the counter and asks me which FREE beer sample I would like to try. On top of that there is an attractive lady that works behind the counter that wanted to hold my newborn son for me while I shopped. All three of them are great. So great that I honestly don't look at the prices (and I'm not rollin in the dough).

I just assumed that all brewshops were like this. Now I know how lucky I am.
 

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