Barley Crusher - How's This for Customer Service?

I finally bit the bullet and ordered the BC. I had a bit of a snag upon receiving the mill so rather than recount the entire episode, I'll simply let you read the email string between myself and Randy (Barley Crusher Head Dude).

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BM (alias of course),

Yes, Your mill was dropped off at the UPS store this morning. We have been very busy and were running a day or so behind.

You should recieve your mill in the next 3 or 4 days.

If there is anything else I can do for you please email me
Thank you
Randy

***

My Barley Crusher arrived yesterday. Thanks for the fast delivery.

The problem is that the handle is jammed on so hard it is impossible to get off. (Yes I removed the locking screw) I've tried using machine oil to loosen. I've tried gripping the rod with pliers and rotating but it is frozen solid. I've even used a blunt rod and a hammer to try and knock it off (and now I think it's slightly bent).

It's a beautiful looking piece, but totally unusable as I can't get the crank handle out to the end of the rod far enough to even use it as a hand crank.

Very frustrating.

Please advise.

****

I am sorry about the handle, I have had that happen to myself once, I will have a new mill shipped out to you with a pre paid return slip if you could repack the mill you have and mail it back to me using the box that the new mill comes in I would apreciate that very much.

Once again I am sorry that you had this problem with your mill.

If there is anything else I can do for you please email me
Thank you
Randy

***

Well that is awesome service, thanks. One "small" issue. I did end up getting the handle off, but not without pounding the snot out of it with a hammer and screw driver. The handle itself is pretty marred and the axle rod is slightly bent. Does this void your offer. Aside from the cosmetics of the handle, the thing seems to work, except the bent rod makes using a power drill very difficult. I decided hand cranking was not reasonable since I do 10 gallon batches. Just let me know....

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BM,

No I have no problem shipping you a new mill as I said before. I will see if I can get a new mill out tomarrow but it may be Monday before I will be able to get the mill shipped out. UPS doesn't pick up from the stores on Saturday ,Thats why it would be Monday if not tomarrow.

But feel free to use that one until you recieve the new one.

If there is anything else we can do for you just email me
Thank you
Randy
B C Products Enterprises Inc.

***

End quotes::::

So there you have it. If anyone is contemplating ordering the Barley Crusher, I can way without hesitation that they stand behind their name and product.

Oh...and I've crushed up my next two 10-gallon batches and the thing works like a charm.

A beautiful crush.

FYI

Randy is a great guy. I drove over to his house and bought mine, saved on the shipping. I love mine and it is a quailty mill.

Customer service at it's best. I planned on a Barley Crusher for my first mill, and this will definately sell me on one.

Now that is customer service!!! I am impressed. I don't even know the guy, but I like him.

Right on, Randy!:rockin:

Wow -- now that's great customer service! I nominate Randy for the HBT Homebrew Retailer of the year award!

Please give me Randy's link. This is the guy I want to buy from.

I bought the Barley Crusher and found the service to be exceptional.


Oh yea, the mill is great too.

Brew-boy said:

Randy is a great guy. I drove over to his house and bought mine, saved on the shipping. I love mine and it is a quailty mill.

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Where abouts does he live (town)? This maybe something I could do also, depending on how far it is.

rohanski said:

Please give me Randy's link. This is the guy I want to buy from.

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Here you go...

You'll need to set up a Paypal account. Randy will know exaclty what you ordered based on the amount you send through Paypal.

FSR402 said:

Where abouts does he live (town)? This maybe something I could do also, depending on how far it is.

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From the website, it appears to be in the thumb area of Michigan - Allenton, 48002.

Welcome to the club Biermuncher, The Barley Crusher Club!

Congrates dude! I can see a bulk buy in your future.

I bought a bc from nb last week and had the same problem with the handle. I installed the handle then wanted to try a drill, but couldn't get the thing off for the life of me. I guess I'll cal nb and see what they can do.
By the way, I was having 60% efficiency before I used this thing. The only thing I changed with my brewing was the bc and it went up to 75% with batch sparging and flyguys mlt braid. This thing rocks!

BC's likely in my future, as well. Got a birthday coming up!

What Brewtopia said. My experience was excellent and I didn't have any problems.

EdWort said:

Welcome to the club Biermuncher, The Barley Crusher Club!

Congrates dude! I can see a bulk buy in your future.

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Thanks man. I've already crushed for two seperate 10-gallon batches I have coming up. Course, I hooked up the 18 volt drill and because the shaft on my current piece is slightly bent, it made my man-boobs shake a little.

I kinda liked it though....

the_bird said:

BC's likely in my future, as well. Got a birthday coming up!

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No wonder you're getting crappy efficiency!!!

Yeah, a mill is the way to go. I'm getting 70's and 80's now that I've gone mill.

Wow, that really is exceptional customer service. And it sounds like it's a one-man operation (or at least a very small business.) Gotta love to support those. I'm trying my first all-grain tomorrow, so in all likelihood I'll be in the market for a grain mill before too long. may just have to go the BC route, with these kinds of testimonials. Might make a nice drive up from Ann Arbor, too...

I have had one for a little over a year now and apart from the o ring belt burning off the first time we used it ( that damn thing isent even needed ) I without changing anything in my process went from 70 to 85% effecient. Ya my first brew was WAY stronger than expected:rockin: like there is any thing wrong with that. The BC is the bomb I am glad to hear they stand behind there product.
Cheers
JJ

BrianP said:

From the website, it appears to be in the thumb area of Michigan - Allenton, 48002.

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That's to far, shipping would be cheapr.

I used my BC for the first time yesterday. The thing is awesome! The only snag I hit was my drill couldn't quite handle it, so I had to hand crank about 80% of a 15 lb. grain bill.

I had some pre-crushed left over from Northern Brewer and my BC definitely crushes finer than the NB stuff.

Now time to find a good deal on a drill!

So tell me Orph (and everyone), why'd you pick the BarleyCrusher over the Crankenstein or any of the other grain mills?

EDIT: Actually, I'm going to make this a separate thread...

I'm going to add my experience to this thread too.. I bought my Barley Crusher in December from Northern Brewer. I decided that i wanted to mess with the rollers and see if I could get a little better efficiency than 75% so I went to losen the screws and adjusted the rollers. When I went to tighten them up one of the screws snapped off right behind the head. I was devastated as this meant that I couldn't adjust my rollers anymore. I tried to get that screw out with an extractor bit and yep you guessed it the bit broke off in the shaft of the screw! i was crushed so I emailed the company. I'm guessing that the same guy that BM chatted with emailed me back and offered to send me a new end piece to my barley crusher along with the bushing for the roller and of course new screws. I was amazed at a company like this that would stand behind their product in today's times! I highly recommend that anyone interested in a mill consider this product!! With service like that it is easy to recommend the product to all my friends!

I had orderd one in December and two days later found out I was on the list to go to Iraq. I emailed Randy to cancel my order, he said no problem and refunded my pay pal. Two weeks later my name came off the list to go and that evining orderd another BC. Got it in 5 days and used it that weekend. Great product, great service and a great guy.

After unsuccessfully trying to build my own mill ( the lathe we have at work is a POS) I have been debating on buying a mill. This thread made my decision easy. One Barley Crusher is on the way to me. With customer service like this how can I go wrong?

I cant say anything about the customer service, but my barley crusher arrived in great shape and after reducing the gap to .031" my efficiency went from a very stable 70% with the HBS crush to a so far stable (3 batches) 90%. If your barley crusher arrives with a stuck on handle like in the original post you maybe able to unbolt and reverse the wooden part of the handle with out the need to remove the aluminum piece, of course the thing will still be stuck on and that might cause problems later on.

I guess that's the only "problem" with the barley crusher, the handel should be drilled a little bigger. I haven't had any problems getting my off but it is definatley a tight fit. And with it having a flat part on the shaft for the set screw, I don't understand why it needs to fit on there that tightly (and besides, most of us use a drill anyway). Other than that, a great product that I'd recomend to anyone.

I can say with certainty that I will be ordering a BC in the next couple of months.

Never had probs with my handle. I love the BC. I'm in the BC club!!!!

eschatz said:

Never had probs with my handle. I love the BC. I'm in the BC club!!!!

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+1 on love the BC

Never had a problem with the handle, but after about 2 minutes of hand cranking it came off and the drill went on. I'm not even sure where the handle is. Might be a good idea if he just shipped with it off.

Woo Hoo for the BC......It even makes my beer taste better!!!

Mine is already on the way, due arrive Thursday. Very quick service. I guess I'll be doing my first all grain this weekend.

+1 for the BC, great mill and excellent service, had a small problem with one of the rollers and had new ones in the mail within days. Great guy that Randy.

I have been looking into a BC and want to get one, but Adventures in Homebrewing crushes it for free. That is a great HBS.

If anyone is having trouble getting the handle off, try giving it a little heat. The aluminum handle will expand more than the SS shaft and it should pop right off. A propane torch used for copper soldering would work great. Regardless, my BC is in the mail. Got to stick with good customer service when one can find it.

Good to hear. I like the idea of supporting a company that believes in good customer service. It would have been easy for him to not allow the return of the item due to the damage you inflicted upon it. I'll buy one of these in the next couple of months for sure.

I couldnt be happier with my BC. Great product, great service.

I ordered one on their website over the weekend and had a tracking number Monday afternoon. The best part was that it was NOT the regular UPS quantum view notification, but rather a real e-mail from Randy. Even if it was a standard copy and paste e-mail, I couldn't be happier! I've been mooching a friend's mill long enough and am very excited to get my own!!

*EDIT* 100th post

mines on the way too!!!!!!! Wooohooo!!!!!!

Glad to read all these comments. I had pretty much already decided to order to BC, but reading comment like these just make me feel better about my decision. I am waiting until I read Designing Great Beers though...want to work up a whopper recipe before then order it all up. Hopefully I will do better than the 61% I got from my badly crushed HBS order.

I am totally buying a Barley Crusher now. As someone who is a magnet for poor customer service, I will gladly support companies that give good customer service. That and a good crush.