Bad Packaging

I just excitedly received a shipment from a HBS for my first AG BIAB batch.. As I was carrying the box into my house I could hear the grains dumping around loosely in the box. Then I notice grains were falling out of the seams of the box flaps.. That's when my frustration began. I opened the box and sure enough...... the grains were all loose in the box. They got all mixed around with the other contents of the box and were scattered everywhere (including my living room and kitchen floor at this point). I am lucky they didn't pack with popcorn or other types of poly padding. I was able to pick all of the other items that I ordered out of the grains and dumped the grains into a bucket. It was very obvious that the packer just jammed everything in without any care. My 8# order of pale 2 row was packed right on top of another item that ripped the bag open.. I weighed the grain and found that I've lost very little (1/4 lb ) which is good. My worries are:

1) Since the grain is ground up I know a small fraction of it gets powdered up very fine. I'm sure that's what I lost the most of out of the box flaps. Should I throw a handful or two in my food processor to add some fine grind back in? Or, does that even matter?

2) Should I be worried that dust, cardboard fibers, dirt, mites, or any other type of unwanted junk might have compromised the quality of these grains?

i wouldn't sweat it but it might be good to drop them a friendly email about the condition of your package.

MrManifesto said:

i wouldn't sweat it but it might be good to drop them a friendly email about the condition of your package.

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That friendly email went out just before this post It's actually the second time I've had issues with packaging with this company.. The first time I just blew it off, because it wasn't as damaging..

1, you're losing about 0.002 at 70%, don't grind up your husks to try to make up for it.
2, you're going to boil it. Dirt, bugs, other nasty **** touch your grains long before it hits the HBS.

if it's the 2nd time, that'd be the last time i ordered from that company. there's enough online places to order from that that doesn't need to be tolerated.

MrManifesto said:

if it's the 2nd time, that'd be the last time i ordered from that company. there's enough online places to order from that that doesn't need to be tolerated.

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I agree. I've had good experience with another company that I will use exclusively for now..

They responded to my email. They're replacing the 8lbs of 2 row..

"Replacing"? As in, sending you new grain in exchange for you sending back the old? Or are you getting bonus grain in addition to what you got?

Definitely brew up what you have and do another batch with what's coming. Nothing wrong with it. Like said before, nothing got into it that would be any worse than what's already in it to start with.

Yup.. It's bonus grains! I brewed the original grains today. I'll be doing another batch next week with the bonus grains.. I'm going to do a coffee stout

what company was it it so i don't order from them...

Sounds like they made good on the problem. And now that you've made them aware of it they might correct the problem. I'd say it's worth giving them another try. Sure this happened twice, but they weren't told about the first time.

ChshreCat said:

Sounds like they made good on the problem. And now that you've made them aware of it they might correct the problem. I'd say it's worth giving them another try. Sure this happened twice, but they weren't told about the first time.

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I agree. Not only did they replace the grains for free, but they also over-nighted them. They arrived this morning.. And they were packed much better! I will indeed give them the benefit of the doubt..

Sometimes there is just one idiot packing these things who is a poor representation of the companies attitudes towards customer service. Online HBS owners KNOW there's a ton of competition out there, with more coming every day, so it is rare to find one that doesn't really try to make things right when this stuff happens. And it does happen, even with the best shops. I wouldn't focus so much on what happened with your original parcel, but what they were willing to do to make it right. I sounds like they were on top of things, and I personally would be thrilled to get the xtra grain.

They also may have hired seasonal help this time of year that doesn't have as much experience as their normal employees.