Group Buy in Chicago #7

Williams 728
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I'm ok with subs. I just hope we can arrange this for this weekend since I will be in OR the 6-9th.
 
bmason1623 said:
Probably not happening this weekend.
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I can hope! I've only spoken at two conferences and somehow both are likely to be during group buy pickup.
 
cadwallion said:
I can hope! I've only spoken at two conferences and somehow both are likely to be during group buy pickup.
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I told them to process the order. Once they do that they were supposed to get back to me regarding the wire transfer. Never heard back from them today. Will need to call again tomorrow. More than likely, Monday or Tuesday delivery.
 
bmason1623 said:
I told them to process the order. Once they do that they were supposed to get back to me regarding the wire transfer. Never heard back from them today. Will need to call again tomorrow. More than likely, Monday or Tuesday delivery.
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Doesn't exactly seem like the kind of customer service that a "sizable order" should deserve.

I sincerely hope they don't treat all of their customers like this, if for no other reason than the possibility that they're not likely to be in business much longer and we'd have to find a new distributor.
 
mvanwie said:
Doesn't exactly seem like the kind of customer service that a "sizable order" should deserve.

I sincerely hope they don't treat all of their customers like this, if for no other reason than the possibility that they're not likely to be in business much longer and we'd have to find a new distributor.
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The problem is they have control over the entire Chicago market, next closest distributor is Brewers Supply Group in Minnesota and they don't carry anything CMC carries since they mainly work with Rahr and Weyermann, and I personally prefer Briess and Best Malz. Also as homebrewers we haven't had as big of orders as other major brewers until recently.
 
TheBreweryUnderground said:
The problem is they have control over the entire Chicago market, next closest distributor is Brewers Supply Group in Minnesota and they don't carry anything CMC carries since they mainly work with Rahr and Weyermann, and I personally prefer Briess and Best Malz. Also as homebrewers we haven't had as big of orders as other major brewers until recently.
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I bet it wouldn't hurt if a conversation was had with the account rep. I am sure that the folks that handle the actual purchase must be busy, but that doesn't give them an excuse for sub par customer service. An order is an order, id it's $100 or $10,000. We are all participating in an exchange of goods and services and you should treat each customer with care and respect.
 
Gothic_Horror said:
I bet it wouldn't hurt if a conversation was had with the account rep. I am sure that the folks that handle the actual purchase must be busy, but that doesn't give them an excuse for sub par customer service. An order is an order, id it's $100 or $10,000. We are all participating in an exchange of goods and services and you should treat each customer with care and respect.
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Not only that, if they continue to drag their feet then we run the risk of getting more items come up "out of stock." Frankly, I am worried that they are filling regular customers orders ahead of ours because we aren't as important as the actual breweries.

Maybe I am just paranoid, but it sounds a little like they don't try too hard to please us. Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate that they will even sell to us at all, it just feels like they may not care quite as much as they would if Revolution Brewing were placing an order. But again, I don't deal with them directly. Bill does so much leg work on this that I can't even imagine how he has time.
 
Gothic_Horror said:
I bet it wouldn't hurt if a conversation was had with the account rep. I am sure that the folks that handle the actual purchase must be busy, but that doesn't give them an excuse for sub par customer service. An order is an order, id it's $100 or $10,000. We are all participating in an exchange of goods and services and you should treat each customer with care and respect.
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Guys, while our orders are sizable, let's not bite the hand that feeds us. Keep in mind that a few people on this board, even in this thread have tried to open up an account and were turned down. I am happy that we get to pool our purchases and save big because they sell to us.

By the way, I just talked to them. They will get us a final invoice this afternoon. I will call my bank to send them payment and we will be on our way. Delivery by tomorrow is not going to happen. Probably looking at Tuesday. The weather should be a little nicer by then too. Always the optimist!
 
bmason1623 said:
Keep in mind that a few people on this board, even in this thread have tried to open up an account and were turned down.
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This is the main reason I am even participating in this group buy and driving down from WISCONSIN... Our brew club tried to open up an account and they told us no. And that the only reason other brew clubs are able to buy from them is because they are grandfathered in... Lucky basturds..
 
johns said:
or 2 USD/pound for 2 row at my LHBS
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Ouch! I'm assuming you go to 2-brothers maybe? Chicago Brew Werks has 2-row at $1.23/lb and $1.99/lb all specialty grains.....they are located in Plainfield. Discount if you're a member of a club.
 
Neopol, what was the hop supplier that was charging insane prices (like $40/lb or something) for hops?
 
bmason1623 said:
Neopol, what was the hop supplier that was charging insane prices (like $40/lb or something) for hops?
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I have all my notes at home, the guy out of Northern Illinois? or are you talking about N*koBrew..< quite a gouger (my opinion.)

I communicated with about 20 or so vendors, some had OK pricing not as great as we got; however we might have to entertain some markup to get access to some varietals.

A few (Wisconsin and Michigan) farms directly for some fresh varieties..

Almost at #1000....we can do it....
 
Neopol said:
I have all my notes at home, the guy out of Northern Illinois? or are you talking about N*koBrew..< quite a gouger (my opinion.)

I communicated with about 20 or so vendors, some had OK pricing not as great as we got; however we might have to entertain some markup to get access to some varietals.

A few (Wisconsin and Michigan) farms directly for some fresh varieties..
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I was referring to Nik*br*w. Even if we have to wait a few days extra to get delivery, it's still better than getting gouged.
 
bmason1623 said:
Guys, while our orders are sizable, let's not bite the hand that feeds us. Keep in mind that a few people on this board, even in this thread have tried to open up an account and were turned down. I am happy that we get to pool our purchases and save big because they sell to us.

By the way, I just talked to them. They will get us a final invoice this afternoon. I will call my bank to send them payment and we will be on our way. Delivery by tomorrow is not going to happen. Probably looking at Tuesday. The weather should be a little nicer by then too. Always the optimist!
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By no means was I complaining. I am happy to be a participant in these and all of Bill's group buys. Mostly musing and generalizing about customer service. I was one of those that tried to open an account and was told by the account rep that he would love to take my business but that the LHBS wouldn't be very happy if all of us opened up accounts and cut them out of the loop. So, thanks Bill for setting these up for all of us to benefit.
 
two brothers is not that expensive. The brothers dont have a good variety in thier inventory. Its a small portion of thier overall busness. There are hbs out there that are that expensive. Aint naming names, because they are freinly ownerers and I appricate there business.
 
ok, it looks like this will be processed tomorrow since nothing came in today. They did reply to my email and I did get to talk to them so I know they are working on it. Patience, my dear brewing friends...patience.
 
UPDATE

Here's the latest reply from MCM:

" Bill - okay so i have converted the quote to an order, we are short 7 - 32oz of Star San, we have no US Saaz for sale, and we are out of stock on Heather Tips, and Toasted Oak Chips. *Please advise on what you want to do about the out of stocks."

I asked if they can substitute Czech saaz for US saaz to do so. Wishful thinking on my part. Otherwise, they will ship everything else. Keep in mind that I gave them the ok to make appropriate substitutions for any out of stock grains. We are moving forward.

EDIT: no Czech saaz either so I told them no substitutions either. Sorry guys.
 
bmason1623 said:
UPDATE

Here's the latest reply from MCM:

" Bill - okay so i have converted the quote to an order, we are short 7 - 32oz of Star San, we have no US Saaz for sale, and we are out of stock on Heather Tips, and Toasted Oak Chips. *Please advise on what you want to do about the out of stocks."

I asked if they can substitute Czech saaz for US saaz to do so. Wishful thinking on my part. Otherwise, they will ship everything else. Keep in mind that I gave them the ok to make appropriate substitutions for any out of stock grains. We are moving forward.

EDIT: no Czech saaz either so I told them no substitutions either. Sorry guys.
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I'd be willing to upgrade to a gallon of star san if there are three more takers.

 
Whatever happened to the pbw? There was talk of splitting buckets at one point since they were out of the 8lb containers or did they just get dropped?
 
who ever picks up their starsan first gets it; everybody else will get a refund. this also applies to everything else. with an order this large, inevitably there will be some out of stock items.
 
No...my heather tips...I love heathers tips. Bye bye Froach.. Don't refund me tho, I owe you a few bucks for the Barrel shipping adder.
 
brewingmeister said:
Whatever happened to the pbw? There was talk of splitting buckets at one point since they were out of the 8lb containers or did they just get dropped?
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I just read a thread on hbt that boiled PBW down to red devil T-90(tsp safe replacement - sodium metasilicate) and Oxyclean at 70/30 ratio.. Interesting thread..
 
ylpaul2000 said:
The small chest freezers that hold two kegs are on sale at Jewel grocery stores currently. They are off brand freezers but I've been running mine for over two years with no problems. Plus you get a coupon book that has $170ish worth of free food coupons for various items in the store. Last time I did this the food items were mostly things I eat anyway so it was a deal for me.
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Thanks for the info on this ylpaul. I picked one up today much to the dismay of the wife, until I reminded her that she spent 3X as much on a laptop last week. I think at least $125 of the coupons are worth using so its a win by my standards. Fits 2 cornies even without a collar so I will run picnic taps for now until I modify or buy a bigger one and use this for food in the future.


image-3060052067.jpg
 
looks like you could fit 4 corneys and a 20 lb tank in that thing. Am I right?
 
johns said:
looks like you could fit 4 corneys and a 20 lb tank in that thing. Am I right?
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It will only fit 2 of the 5 gallon tall kegs plus my 5 lb tank but a bigger tank would fit. The compressor hump is on the right side so another tall keg won't fit. Maybe a 3 gallon or a shorter keg would fit in there.
 
Neopol said:
I just read a thread on hbt that boiled PBW down to red devil T-90(tsp safe replacement - sodium metasilicate) and Oxyclean at 70/30 ratio.. Interesting thread..
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Been doing this for a couple years, myself. Will never buy PBW again. The only downside is that real PBW doesn't foam as much as the "homemade" stuff.
 
forstmeister said:
Thanks for the info on this ylpaul. I picked one up today much to the dismay of the wife, until I reminded her that she spent 3X as much on a laptop last week. I think at least $125 of the coupons are worth using so its a win by my standards. Fits 2 cornies even without a collar so I will run picnic taps for now until I modify or buy a bigger one and use this for food in the future.
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No problem, I figured it had to be a good deal for someone.
 
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