Whats the deal with Austin Homebrew Supply???

I am a complete newb to this hobby and now have 4 batches in fermenters. i have ordered 3 times from AHS since i live in Texas and want to support them. Out of the 3 orders, they have screwed up 2. On the first they left out the carboy stopper and airlock i ordered with my new class carboy. on the most current order, i ordered a belgian pale ale mini mash kit and they left out the Hops and i wanted some dry yeast as a back up and they left that out. I called them both times and they said "sorry were busy, take it up with the shipping department. No thanks, i will move on. Any recommendations for a new mail order HBS? Dont want to air dirty laundry, but WTFO.

Wow that is unusual I have had nothing but good luck with them. Maybe you should e-mail Forest and tell him the problems you have had. I do remember reading he was a little under staffed and was adding more people to help out. They are a good company who cares about customers satisfaction.

That is very unusual for them. Forrest from Austin Homebrew is an active member of these forums and I'm sure he'll chime in and set things right for you.

I am sure Forrest is a good guy. It is just the attention to detail that screws you. A carboy without a stopper and airlock is no good. and a Belgian mini mash kit without hops is no good. i was hoping to expand my home brew experience this Friday with a mini mash kit. After unloading the box, and carefully searching the styrofaom peanuts for my dry yeast back up and any hops whatsoever, there was none. maybe i can use the mold from some old bread in my pantry for the hops?????

Just to piggy back on the above. What really sucks is that in a hundred dollar or so order, the oversight of 2 or 3 dollars worth of ingredients spoils a whole weekends plans. I dont have the luxury of a LHBS to correct these oversights. Sorry to vent, just a frustrated newb. i know.....RDWHAHB. The only problem is the rate i'm going i will never have a HB.

Maybe I'll go get a Bud Light!

BullF-16 said:

Any recommendations for a new mail order HBS?

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Austin Home Brew is one of the best there is, honestly. Let Forrest respond here before making a decision to spend your money elsewhere, he really does go out of his way to make things right and provide a good experience in general.

I've always had good experiences there, even the one time I've been there in person. Sorry to hear of your bad experience, but I'm sure they'll rectify the situation. Sometimes you can find better prices elsewhere, but their clone kits are great and shipping there is rockin. Most of the time buying elsewhere isn't worth it, since what you save on products you will pay in shipping.

Thanks KD, i will continue to support AHS. They ship quick to me. It just is frustrating that when a company grows....the care for the customer seems to wain! Micro managing is not the answer, but company leadership and pride usually mitigate this problem. Hate to be a Newb with these posts, but.......if no one knows, the problem persists.

Shouldn't my posts be more along the lines of "why is my airlock not bubbling?" or did i just ruin my new batch by.......?

Seriously guys and gals....this sight is great. Us newbs appreciate your time and effort in bringing the art of homebrewing to the common person. I love this new hobby, cant wait till my first bottles are ready for consumption. Then i can truly RDWHAHB.

Jim

I don't have much to contribute that hasn't already been stated (so then why the hell am I posting?? ), but I'll jump to the defense of austinhomebrew.com as well. I order from them when I can, and I've never had a problem with an order. My only issue with them is the time it takes to get an order, but if I plan ahead even that is not much of an issue.

Just a heads up, Forrest is on vacation right now...which would probably why he hasn't jumped to the aid of his own store. I really will say that the processing/shipping time is a bit of a downside, but having Forrest on this site actively participating in conversations is the reason they get my business. He will make things right.

I had been using Northern Brewer, but there was a discussion here about AHB's BrewVint yeast fuel, and Forrest sent me a sample at no charge, which kind of won me over. I ordered ingredients for two all-grain batches from them a few weeks ago and everything was great. Between the customer service, good prices, cheap shipping, and occasional HBT discounts, they've got me as a permanent customer.

I've used SEVERAL online stores as I don't have a LHBS either. By far the best experience i've had is Austin Home Brew. I've always had my orders filled right. Do what everyone else says and contact the guy. They seem like a sound company that pride themselves in their work. I'm sure it'd be no problem to send you 2-3 dollars worth of items they forgot. The guy packing the order is bound to get one wrong out of all that he does.

Frost said:

I've used SEVERAL online stores as I don't have a LHBS either. By far the best experience i've had is Austin Home Brew. I've always had my orders filled right. Do what everyone else says and contact the guy. They seem like a sound company that pride themselves in their work. I'm sure it'd be no problem to send you 2-3 dollars worth of items they forgot. The guy packing the order is bound to get one wrong out of all that he does.

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I fully understand that. But 2 out of 3 orders in 2 weeks? I did call on both occasions and the answer i got is "sorry, we are sales and dont deal with that, call shipping, maybe they can help you out.

I am sure AHS is great, i just have yet to have the luck you all have had. hope it will change because its nice to receive my order 2 days after i place it for only $6.99. I would gladly wait 2 more days to make sure everything i needed was included.

midwestsupplies.com is also a good choice.

I have ordered from several different suppliers. My experience with AHB has been very positive. More than that, they were extremely helpful in answering questions and are active on this forum. In addition, they recently donated 10% of all orders to a sick relative of an employee. I have not seen other suppliers demonstrate such commitment to the hobby as well as giving back whenever possible. On top of that, their selection is superior to any other supplier, their shipping rates are among the best and they are closer to you than any other large supplier. I truly believe you experienced an anomaly and should give it another shot.

the one bad experiance i had with austinhomebrew.com wasn't even their falt. ups shipped my package to a neighbor. i called ahs and they reshipped my order at their cost! in the end i got the same order twice and one was free!

what more can you say?

eljefe said:

I have ordered from several different suppliers. My experience with AHB has been very positive. More than that, they were extremely helpful in answering questions and are active on this forum. In addition, they recently donated 10% of all orders to a sick relative of an employee. I have not seen other suppliers demonstrate such commitment to the hobby as well as giving back whenever possible. On top of that, their selection is superior to any other supplier, their shipping rates are among the best and they are closer to you than any other large supplier. I truly believe you experienced an anomaly and should give it another shot.

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All here on this site have convinced me. I will keep using them and hope i just had a stint of bad luck. sounds like they have the support of all here. that tells me that it can only get better. thanks for the replys.

that tells me that it can only get better

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You betcha! :rockin:

There are other sites like northernbrewer.com and morebeer.com that in my opinion are just as good.

Email the let them know what happened in detail. Ive never had an issue and they have been great to me.

stever said:

midwestsupplies.com is also a good choice.

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+1. Midwestsupplies is an excellent brewing site.

I support AHS, Midwestsupplies, and Morebeer. I try to divide up my business between the three, in the interest of fairness. Each of them has pros and cons and between all three, I'm a pretty happy camper.

I bought $100 bux worth of stuff today at AHS. I accidentally clicked "place order" twice on Paypal so AHS has an extra $100 right now that I'm waiting to get back. I hope they refund it soon...

I know a lot of people here LOVE AHS!! I for 1 have only ever ordered from Morebeer.com and @ free shipping over $59 I cant beat them. I live in an area that I am next day shipping for free, and I dont think they have EVER messed up an order to me. If they did it was such a small deal and I can't remember it.
Cheers
JJ

Brew-boy said:

Wow that is unusual

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Not really ... I had once mold in my extract, on another occasion I had a screw in my extract (sent pics to AHS and response was just - sorry, will never happen again), got completely different ball val and other parts, etc. Every single time I have order something is wrong. The overall quality of the stuff you receive is good IMO, relativly fast, prices are decent, ... but something wrong with every order still bugs me a little bit

its02003 said:

Just a heads up, Forrest is on vacation right now...which would probably why he hasn't jumped to the aid of his own store. I really will say that the processing/shipping time is a bit of a downside, but having Forrest on this site actively participating in conversations is the reason they get my business. He will make things right.

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I've had a few similar issues as the OP in the past and Forrest took care of business when my emails seemed to be getting me no results.

It is a shame especially because you are still acquiring supplies. Once you are well stocked, always keep a few things on hand so you can brew regardless. I ALWAYS have extra hops, yeast and malt just in case an order is wrong. Also order well in advance. Many people between the order placement and your doorstep, **** happens. Charlie

BullF-16 said:

I called them both times and they said "sorry were busy, take it up with the shipping department. No thanks, i will move on. Any recommendations for a new mail order HBS?

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Have you tried talking to someone in the shipping dept.? I would at least talk to them to give them the chance to fix the problem before you write them off completely.

Also, post your location maybe a friendly HBTer in your area could spot you the supplies you need to brew this weekend.

Maybe you should have asked for the shipping departments number? Granted, as you describe it, things were not handled properly, but did you follow up with what they told you on the phone?

I've ordered from Northern Brewer and AHS. I stuck with Northern Brewer because the items get here faster using the budget shipping than AHS. I suppose that has to do with them being closer physically, but *shrug* items get here faster.

I also have been quite pleased with the service I've gotten from Austin Homebrew Supply. But it's b.s. when you call, and someone tells you to take it up with shipping. That's not how you do good business, and it would never fly at my company.

I once did not receive the wine kit I ordered (got the all the other stuff) they sent out another one that did arrive safely. So they do correct any shipping errors/issues. (AHS)

BullF-16 said:

I called them both times and they said "sorry were busy, take it up with the shipping department. No thanks, i will move on. Any recommendations for a new mail order HBS?

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I too, will say that overall i've been pleased with their mail service. But, I have been treated rudely over the phone before. I had one guy laugh at me when I asked a n00bish question. It doesn't exactly inspire brewing confidence when some laughs in your face. But with all the choices out there, AHS is still my first choice.

I've ordered from exactly four different mailorder vendors:

Austinhomebrew - 2 orders, no problems, moderate ship time to NJ. Will use again.
Morebeer -3 orders, one right, two had many things missing and/or broken, rude on the phone (drunk), slow shipping to NJ. Never again.
NorthernBrewer - 3 orders, no problems, fast ship to NJ. Will use again.
Brewbyu - Small place in NH, best pricing I've found, question the freshness of ingredients but will continue to use for any nonperrishibles/gadgets/better bottles/chemicals I need.

I'm fortuate enough to have a decent LHBS that is comparable/cheaper than orderining online. I encourage anyone who has problems with AustinHomebrewSupply to give Forrest a chance to fix them. I guarantee that when he is back from vacation he will see this thread. If you run into any issues with AustinHomebrewSupply definately document them, and if you don't get resolution via the normal channels then I'm sure it would be alright to contact Forrest via this forum.

pahiker6 said:

I also have been quite pleased with the service I've gotten from Austin Homebrew Supply. But it's b.s. when you call, and someone tells you to take it up with shipping. That's not how you do good business, and it would never fly at my company.

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At the company I work for, we ship tootsie rolls with our orders. A customer didn't recieve their tootsie rolls so they called, customer service dealt with shipping, and we sent them 6 little tootsie rolls. Over the top, maybe, but it makes the customer feel that they are important and in the end, that's what you want from a company.

I've only ordered once from Austin, and that was recently, and I was perfectly happy with my order and how it was processed / shipped.

I haven't ordered any brewing supplies online, but I do like midwest supplies, they're about 15 minutes from my house. There is another, smaller homebrew shop closer to me that I will go to if I need something small, but midwest is cheaper and has a much wider selection

Running a nationwide mailorder business in this age of interwebs must suck balls. You can have a 99% customer satisfaction rate and the 1% smear you all over the place. To the casual observer, the satisfaction rate appears to be 50% given that observer has had 100% satisfaction with them so far.

-Dan- said:

I had once mold in my extract, on another occasion I had a screw in my extract (sent pics to AHS and response was just - sorry, will never happen again), got completely different ball val and other parts, etc. Every single time I have order something is wrong.

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That's pretty bad. I think that if that was me, I'd never order from them again.

+1 on MoreBeer and MidWest
+1 on OakBarrel (if you're in the Bay Area)

Running a nationwide mailorder business in this age of interwebs must suck balls. You can have a 99% customer satisfaction rate and the 1% smear you all over the place. To the casual observer, the satisfaction rate appears to be 50% given that observer has had 100% satisfaction with them so far.

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You ain't kidding, dude. It is nearly impossible for even B&M stores with a strong web presence to really combat (or even rectify) the viral effect a handful of bad experiences can have on customer satisfaction when forums like HBT come into play.

I patronize my LHBS when I can (it's a little out of the way for my normal travels), but AHS has never let me down with shipping and value. I've ordered from NB and Midwest in the past, and I've been happy with their product and delivery for the most part. But the fact that Forrest contributes here regularly goes a long way in my book.

I haven't ordered from AHB, however I can tell you when I visited them last spring, they were awesome. I talked to them for about 15 minutes about this website, brewing in general, and the supposed "hops" crisis. When I told them that I couldn't buy more than 2 oz of hops at a time from my LHBS, an employee walked me over to their limited supply, and told me he'd cut me off at two pounds... Honestly, the place is great and I'd just about guarantee that Forrest will make it right.