Bluelinebrewer
Well-Known Member
Oh, and yeah, my wife's CC was affected as well. She just received her replacement card "Due to fraudulent activity" yesterday. She placed an order there in April for a gift card for me.
Looks like the business registrations for Northern Brewer, LLC (Foreign) are inactive after being revoked in Feb 2013, according to the MN Sec of State office. Their state of organization is Delaware. There are no active business registrations for Northern Brewer in MN.
Midwest Supplies, LLC has a filing in March 2013 for a Foreign LLC organized in Delaware.
Something is going on here...
I should add that I was not affected by this but they screwed up my grain. One more chance to fix it and then I am done.
That post was on 07/09, and that's the last we hear from Midwest until 09/02. However, in their notice to the NH AG's Office, they acknowledge that they knew about the compromise "for sure" on 08/22, and state that they received preliminary information about a possible compromise on 07/19... But wait, they posted on 07/09 that they "didn't think" it was them...
I think everyone's pissed at MWS because instead of just coming right out and saying, "Oh $hit, we might have a problem here" they blew smoke up everyone's kilts and said they didn't think it was them. Just my 2 cents though.
Sorry about the mistake on your order - PM me, or refer to the PM I sent you and we'll get the error taken care of.
I want to make it completely clear that I'm not leaving Midwest because they were hacked or even that the hackers got my cc info. I'm leaving midwest because they lied to us. They said it wasn't them flat out. They should have said we're investigating it, but they didn't. I just think they have handled this whole thing wrong from the start, and this $25 gc is like salt on the wound.
With the connection between Midwest and Northern Brewer being shown in earlier posts, has anyone had the same issues with credit card info being stolen when ordering through Northern Brewer? I'm asking only because I placed an order through Northern Brewer prior to reading about this.
With the connection between Midwest and Northern Brewer being shown in earlier posts, has anyone had the same issues with credit card info being stolen when ordering through Northern Brewer? I'm asking only because I placed an order through Northern Brewer prior to reading about this.
This entire thread is why the people that pay a bit more with cash at the LHBS are happy.
My closest LHBS is a 3.5 hour drive away...
My closest LHBS is a 3.5 hour drive away...
Ouch. If I had to buy online, I'd get a cash card like paypal or some other collateral card. I'd think there are a bunch of them.
You lucky dog! I can go to Minneapolis (6-7 hours away) or Milwaukee (5 hours) so when I buy grain I really load up! Otherwise, I have to buy online.
You lucky dog! I can go to Minneapolis (6-7 hours away) or Milwaukee (5 hours) so when I buy grain I really load up! Otherwise, I have to buy online.
Pfft... You could also go to
Green Bay - http://www.houseofhomebrew.com/
Appleton - http://homebrewmarket.com/
Little Chute - http://www.ritebrew.com/
(Manitowoc, Plover, Oshkosh, etc...)
NE Wisconsin has an abundance of homebrew stores.
So no matter what a merchant may do to compromise your account information you would never stop shopping with them because other merchants also have the potential to do the same?
Do you not see the difference? One place, Midwest, obviously did not take security seriously. There is no evidence that someone like Rebel Brewer isn't taking it seriously. Lack of evidence is not evidence.
And again, if Rebel isn't taking security seriously, I will leave them as well.
There is no difference to the point. Up until the compromise you'd have said exactly the same thing about MWS, without any inkling otherwise.
The point is, one needs to take steps for themselves beyond just taking your marbles and playing elsewhere because clearly a history of no breach doesn't mean there can't or won't be one tomorrow.
There is no difference to the point. Up until the compromise you'd have said exactly the same thing about MWS, without any inkling otherwise.
The point is, one needs to take steps for themselves beyond just taking your marbles and playing elsewhere because clearly a history of no breach doesn't mean there can't or won't be one tomorrow.
Can't buy grain by the sack in Green Bay, or Appleton. It's be pointless, as I buy hundreds of pounds of grain per year. I'm not going to drive 400 miles round trip to buy grain at $1.50+ per pound!
I am going to Appleton on Friday for some small items, but they are a very small store and I doubt I'll get 50% of what is on my list. Maybe some wine yeast, and that's about it. They have liquid extract and things, but I don't buy those.
At Northern Brewer, I can buy Weyermann, Briess, Rahr, Crisp, and Castle malts by the sack. The places you mentioned will not do that, even if they did sell by the sack.
I also buy wine kits. The last time I stopped in House of HomeBrew, the few kits they had were lesser quality, and they had dust on them. I don't recall if I've seen wine kits in HomeBrew Market or not, so that's a possibility.
There is no difference to the point. Up until the compromise you'd have said exactly the same thing about MWS, without any inkling otherwise.
The point is, one needs to take steps for themselves beyond just taking your marbles and playing elsewhere because clearly a history of no breach doesn't mean there can't or won't be one tomorrow.
Bobby,
Not to sound like a dick, but would you be willing to share which credit card company or bank you're using? That's a little ridiculous and they should be called out for it.
...Paypal payments even though they're almost as big of a joke as Midwest, but at least their security is top-notch.
I don't understand the uproar.
I've have my credit card number compromised probably 1-2 times per year and while it's an inconvenience (especially while traveling), you have pretty much zero liability these days. If you're using a bank debit / EBT card, well that's just not very smart; stop doing that.
As a consultant in the industry, you'd be surprised how little is done to protect your privacy as a consumer. PCI, SOX, pretty much anything around PII, it's all a joke. I can't tell you how many large companies, financial companies, that I've worked with that don't put even minimal controls in place to protect your data. Not just with electronic storage but with paper copies. While it's easy enough to log when someone accesses an electronic document (although often it's not done), there's little that can be done when paper documents are handled without care and are easily obtained and copied.
SSNs and credit card numbers? They're everywhere. The breaches of concern are the ones that go unnoticed. Watch your credit card statements and move on with life...
I got this from Williams Brewing today. Looks like they are lining up for the lost customers.
__________________________________
Integrity & Service?
There has been a lot of talk online recently about integrity, customer service, and investor buyouts in the home brewing business. This has led me to think back over the years about William's Brewing and the job we have done. Have you ever been dissappointed by us, and why? Conversely, if love what we are doing, I am not ashamed to say I love praise. As the founder of William's Brewing, I feel personally responsible for everything we do.
My email address is [email protected] and I will read and respond to all your responses regarding William's Brewing and its reputation and integrity (they will be kept private and not published). Thanks in advance for your complaints and praise.
As always, we thank you for your business over the last 34 years.
It seems Williams Brewing sees an opportunity here to capitalize on Midwest's poor handling of this.
Seems very distasteful and predatory to me.
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