Holy Bad Customer Service Batman! Stpats of Texas

Brewer's Friend 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
flyboy said:
You can get the type of customer service anywhere. I had a similar experience from Hombrewers Depot in Tempe, AZ. Tried Brewers Connection down the street and got FANTASTIC customer service. I was a Mr. Beer man trying to move up and in one visit Steve had me up to partial mash brewing with all the right equipment. Didn't mock me about getting the Mr. Beer and told me how I could use it to make cider for myself or root beer for the kids. My daughter, who's 13, and I brew together. She brews root beer and I brew ale. Web site looks crowded and a little cheesy but customer service is wonderful. They have all my business. I think their address is www.brewersconnection.com. You can google it if I have it wrong. Check them out and give them a call if you're looking for a new shop.
Click to expand...

Flyboy, I just saw this!

THANK YOU!!:mug:

It is my personal opinion, that customer service is the best way to improve any business, whether it is a customer who walks in, or one on the phone!

steve (Yes, the Steve he was talking about.)
 
Even if they're getting out of the business of catering to homebrewers they are still shooting themselves in the foot. Many of the people who are vintners and up-and-coming craft brewers started out as homebrewers and many are still active in the hobby. This place seems to be doing everything they can do to go out of business. I've never bought anything from this company and, thanks to the warnings provided by this thread, never will.
 
I have only had one order through them for 1.5" clover clamps. Everything went smooth, BUT I knew exactly what I wanted and didn't argue with shipping costs or anything like that. Imagine if I had, wow!!!!! I will definitely keep this in mind the next time I need something that they carry. I let homebrew shops know what I am thinking, I was in one once (no names, because I only got bad service there once) and was buying 2 50# bags and then 3 different weight specialties, and the guy had the audacity to answer the phone and talk to his GF/wife about nothing other than when he would be home. After 5 minutes of me waiting to finish I simply ask if this was a bad time or if I should come back my next trip to Richardson. The guy said he had to go, hung up, and finished my sale. Upon leaving I said, "Sorry if I made you mad, but I haven't seen a successful business you could receive calls like that and make paying customers wait. I bet your owner would agree." Then I left, and haven't seen this ****** ever again. Maybe it is divine providence and I get there on his days off, or maybe he got sh1tcanned for being a ******. Forums like this one are a powerful moderator for the caring business owner, but St. Pats seems to be more for the illegal distiller than the home brewer anyways. I am surprised they aren't being looked at by the revenuers. Who knows, maybe thats why she has a bug up her arse!.
 
I have a red ass for companies that treat customers this way. If they do not want home brewers as customers they should just state it on their website. (not in fine print)
 
Maybe we should all set a day aside to place an order and be "difficult". That would really make her pissed off. I sure hope she reads this and realizes all the $$$$ she could be losing. I personally haven't found a perfect online HBS yet, other than B3. I had to have the unions I ordered from Austin homebrew supply remachined due to their rough unfinished inside. However, they had excellent CS and apologized. They even offered to take them back, but for a couple of dollars I had them finished by a local machine shop for a nice, smooth, professionally finished look. If that were St.Pats and I were treated like that, I would have sent them back with instructions of where to stick them, and it what orifice.
 
orfy said:
:off:

WOW!



That's gotta be one of the worst web pages I've ever seen. If it wasn't for the reccomendation, I'd move one.

Sorry, back to the topic.....................
Click to expand...

Looking at that gave me a headache.

As for this St. Pats place, I don't care if homebrewers are your target customer or not, I've never heard of a business that wants to turn away a sale. Money is money, right? They must be rollin in the dough if the owner can afford to alienate an entire group of customers...
 
I have been to Austin Homebrew a few times as I live within driving distance of the Austin area. They are very helpful and very customer oriented. Class operation and a very nice store.
 
Like I said, Austin Homebrew is great. I only had one problem with something they didn't make they ordered from someone else. They were apologetic and I know to use them in the future, but be descriptive in my questions. Rudeness I would not tolerate and would never use them again. They are nice and I would recommend them to anyone.
 
orfy said:
:off:

WOW!



That's gotta be one of the worst web pages I've ever seen. If it wasn't for the reccomendation, I'd move one.

Sorry, back to the topic.....................
Click to expand...

HEY, BACK OFF, GUYS!!:D :mug: I didn't do the website, the owner did.:p

On the other hand, I agree, it DOES need to be modernized.

steve
 
wortmonger said:
...BUT I knew exactly what I wanted and didn't argue with shipping costs or anything like that. ....
Click to expand...

I want to be clear that I didn't intigate an arguement or show her any attitude whatsoever.

As close as I can remember:

Me: "Hi. I was about to place an order on your site and I noticed it didn't give me a shipping cost during checkout and I'm relunctant to order when I don't know what the cost will be."

her: Is this UPS or Freight?

me: "UPS, it's a really small order".

her: "We don't give out shipping quotes for UPS so if you need that you'll have to order elsewhere". (she delivered this line as if I just pissed on her leg).
 
You're just as well off by not ordering. i got my 2 thermometers (@$15.00 ea) and they billed me $12.00 shipping and handling to take a week to get to me. I paid half that from Northern Brewer for twice as much stuff(2 site tubes, 2 glasses and 2 lbs of hop pellets) and it got here in 2 days.
 
boo boo said:
Shoot, if you think that's bad look at how this guy got arrested.
http://newsite.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/01/arrested-at-circuit-city/
Click to expand...
I don't quite follow how this applies, but WOW! That dude's got some brass balls to pull something like that. He's probably in the right, but I can't see being cocky like that for something so trivial - especially to a cop, knowing it'll get you arrested and for what?
 
skou said:
HEY, BACK OFF, GUYS!!:D :mug: I didn't do the website, the owner did.:p

On the other hand, I agree, it DOES need to be modernized.
Click to expand...

Steve, I hate to pile on but Orfy has a point. I can appreciate a simple website style, so long as it's functional. Such a site is even appropriate for a Mom & Pop homebrew shop. But yours is extremely hard to read...it gives me eyestrain just looking at it. Not giving your potential customers a headache is web design 101.

Simply removing the background images would be a huge help. Take out the <body background="../images/storebg.gif"> tags, and you're there.
 
If I was spoken to like that I would purchase a prepaid telephone SIM and then continue to phone non-stop. Register them for junk mail. Send them a turd in the mail... German gay porn is an option also but you never know with some people!
 
LOL, German Gay Porn, lol. I can hear the music in my head as they open it and go wild, lol.

BobbyM, I wasn't saying you did anything wrong or instigated anything. I was just speaking about when I ordered from them. I just didn't want you to think I thought you did anything wrong. I saw you quote me and that statement definitely wasn't directed at you in anyway, so I just wanted to say this. :D

Love, Peace, and Hair grease!!:fro:
 
I'm beginning to think I have a case of bad karma or something. First this crappy St Pats experience. Next, I get a sack of expired grain from the HBS an hour away and don't realize it until I get home. Finally, I get a voicemail from a local business I was having some custom fabrication work done at (totally irrelavent what it is) and he THOUGHT he hung up. While still recording on my machine, he reads the text I put on the tech drawing and calls me c@cksucker and says F&ck you about 10 times in between. Really nice.

Needless to say I cancelled the work order immediately and the guy didn't even apologize.
 
Have you taken a vacation lately? ;)

Of course, I guess it could end up like one of the Nat'l Lampoons vacations if karma has truly turned against you. :D
 
skou said:
HEY, BACK OFF, GUYS!!:D :mug: I didn't do the website, the owner did.:p

On the other hand, I agree, it DOES need to be modernized.

steve
Click to expand...

Guys, you want to have a "StPats" experience, go to Brewer's Connection, when the owner is working by himself. I have seen him physically throw a customer out, just for asking a question! Had Flyguy show up, when Jeffrey was there, he'd get yelled at, and I would have been threatened with termination, for spending too much time with a customer. (As a matter of fact, that is one of the reasons I quit!)

I think that Amie is still there, which shows her tolerance level. I have seen him bring her to tears, numerous times, just by running his mouth. (I haven't even been in the store since I quit, back in September 2007.)

steve
 
In the two week I’ve placed two separate orders totally over $1.5k of parts from St.Pats. I’ve received one so far and until reading this forum I didn't think anything negative of them, except for the fact that the box in which my parts was shipped in was practically falling apart when the UPS lady delivered it. Good thing they wrapped everything in bubble wrap

I didn't go through any person, just their web site and I didn't question shipping when I placed the order (it ended up being about $21 for everything. In the past, I’ve sent several emails inquiring information but haven’t gotten replies to all of them. After hearings BobbyM’s story it makes more sense.

After hearing this, all I can say is…do you guys know of another internet order web site that has comparable prices on sanitary fittings etc as St.Pats. The truth is I’ve searched around for these types of parts, and these guys have some of the best prices I’ve seen. The bottom line is that I’m not going to pay substantially more for parts just because one employee seems to have no clue what customer service is. The way I see it, if I pay more the biaaaach wins.

Again, so you do you guys know of another internet order web site that has comparable prices on sanitary fittings etc as St.Pats. I would be more than happy to switch.

Thanks
 
It's not a clueless employee. It's the OWNER of the business. I'm sure plenty of orders go through without a hitch, but dog help you if there's a mistake in the packing or billing.
 
I live in Austin and have NO REASON to go to St. Pats. They really got out of the homebrew business a while back.
 

Similar threads

T
Shout out to Morebeer
Replies
17
Views
1K
Slim M
S
Brooothru
Glycol chiller controller replacement
Replies
10
Views
1K
Brooothru
Brooothru
PashMaddle
Simple syrup in witbier?
Replies
11
Views
532
hottpeper13
H
P
Bar Gun equipment guidance.
Replies
3
Views
284
whoaru99
W
NobleNewt
Northern Brewer - Buyer Beware
4 5 6
Replies
222
Views
17K
whoaru99
W
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top