Midwest Supplies

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I placed an order on 11/11 and received it on 11/18. 1 week with the cheapest shipping is definitely respectable. I'll keep doing business with them.
 
I ordered a 2 keg system from Midwest in October and it arrived quickly and was as described. I set it up easily and it is now dispensing delicious homebrewed ipa.
 
Update to last night post.....To my surprise the pump arrived today! They obviously recieved a shipment sooner than expected and sent the pump right out. Certainly cant complain about that!
 
Compared to MoreBeer I cannot order from Midwest Supplies ever again. Midwest always takes longer to ship my stuff; whereas MoreBeer consistently ships the very next day for me. I don't know about everyone else, but many times when I order something I need it for the weekend brew session. I don't think it is unreasonable to place an order on Monday, and have the item by Friday with 2 day mail. Now that my "We are so sorry we compromised your credit card information" $25 gift cert is used up I am happy to never order again.
 
I was in the Midwest shop last Saturday and was told that they've entered into some kind of business arrangement with Northern Brewer. Midwest is shipping from the NB fulfillment operation and they had a number of NB exclusive items for sale on the floor.
 
My local LHBS stopped carrying my favorite wine kit, so I went online and found it for a really great price at Midwest, lower than what I had been paying even including the shipping. Ordered it Saturday, shipped on Monday, received on Wednesday. Everything was great.
 
Ordered from Midwest Supply three days ago, as of this a.m. the order was still in processing.

Emailed them, they replied that some items were backordered and that they could go ahead and ship the in-stock items.

I replied that yes, I would like them to go ahead and ship the in-stock items. I also asked if there was a way to be informed next time of a backorder. Their reply was that their system is usually configured to do so but they've had some system maintenance issues, which I take to be somewhat of a non-answer.

I then went and checked the stock status of the backordered items on their website and all of them are currently showing as "In Stock". Sent a reply informing them of this.

Hopefully my stuff shows up soon. Midwest definitely has some issues. On the plus side, they did have a good Cyber Monday special (15% off) and have responded to my inquiries fairly quickly. As a side note, an order from MoreBeer placed within 10 or 15 minutes of the Midwest order showed up today, a day before they said it would.

Tl;dr: Midwest is slow and their stock status isn't necessarily accurate
 
I placed an order with Midwest for some gift certificates on 11/29 (yes I realize it's black friday). I was irritated because there was a $6 shipping and handling charge for gift certificates... Ridiculously expensive for gift certificates in my opinion... I went ahead and sent that sentiment to them via email... No response. It's now been over a week and the gift certificates are still in processing... Not even shipped yet... Ugh....

UPDATE: Was told the shipping charges were due to an error in the system. They refunded and shipped my gift cards out. Not sure why they didn't just pull up all order with those 'errors' and reverse the fees... Issue resolved for me though ;-)
 
I placed an order last Monday evening. Wednesday it was at my door step. Upon opening, I noticed the vial of White labs yeast I ordered had a "use by date" of the next day.
I called Midwest and talked to a rep. I had a replacement vial waiting at my door step on Friday...no extra charge.
Now that's service! That's why I stick with MW.
 
I've ordered from them a bunch. Had a few small issues but they have always taken care of them for me right away.
 
I recently ordered an equipment kit and an extract kit. It shipped within a few days and everything I got works well. The only issue was that I used a gift card and since the cost was more than the gift card, I also provided a credit card. But they charged everything to my credit card instead of using the gift card.

I called and they took care of it right away, crediting my Visa. I don't expect a company to never make mistakes, but I expect them to fix mistakes when they happen. Midwest did so I'm happy and will be using them again.
 
Its funny how almost every billing mistake is in Midworst favor, if you don't catch it and call them on it, Midworst gets FREE Money.

I can't order from a company that dose business that way.

Cheers :mug:
 
WileECoyote said:
Its funny how almost every billing mistake is in Midworst favor, if you don't catch it and call them on it, Midworst gets FREE Money.

I can't order from a company that dose business that way.

Cheers :mug:
Click to expand...

This logic is flawed. You're comparing human errors such as forgetting/missing items in an order to the automated system putting extra items on your order. The first is human error the second would have to be a software error. Apples and Oranges.

I suppose you could get extra items in your order if you order a multiple of a certain item and the packer miscounted. (I've experienced this from other vendors before) but it would be pretty hard for them to accidently put a fermenter in your order when you didn't order one...

I guess my point would be to think logically about why the mistakes always seem to be in their favor... It's just the way things are in the world.
 
mors said:
This logic is flawed. You're comparing human errors such as forgetting/missing items in an order to the automated system putting extra items on your order. The first is human error the second would have to be a software error. Apples and Oranges.

I suppose you could get extra items in your order if you order a multiple of a certain item and the packer miscounted. (I've experienced this from other vendors before) but it would be pretty hard for them to accidently put a fermenter in your order when you didn't order one...

I guess my point would be to think logically about why the mistakes always seem to be in their favor... It's just the way things are in the world.
Click to expand...

No I wasn't comparing human errors such as forgetting items in a order.

Please don't put words I'm my mouth, maybe you should read what I said again.

Almost every billing mistake is in their favor, that is what I said, and that includes both forgotten items and their automated billing too.

Cheers :mug:
 
I can't order from Midwest again. Too many issues with shipping, they have lost my business.
Last two orders from them (both containing liquid yeast) have ended up on a USPS boat coming out here to Hawaii. That takes 4-6 weeks to get here. I called and wrote emails to midwest. They basically told me too bad, nothing we can do about it. Funny because I paid for shipping that was supposed to take 3-5 days.
I'm still waiting for an order I placed in early January. Guess I'll spend my money on another brew site.
 
I ordered this morning, got a shipping notice this afternoon. Someone got their business back on point. I love it.
 
I ordered a white wine kit from Midwest during a special they were running a few weeks ago, took the least expensive shipping option and received it seven days later. The order went smoothly, no problems, I was pleased.
 
I have been ordering from Midwest for about 6 years now (probably at least 100 orders) and have never had an order or billing problem. I almost always get my order within 3-5 days. I don't even ever recall having a single item backordered.
 
Horrible experience with Midwest, this is the second time I've ordered from them. First order was better, but not great.

I placed an order on the 9th, received a call that day saying part of my order wasn't available so the refunded it for me. Refund went through no issues, so I sat patiently expecting to receive my kettle within 5 days ( I'm three business days away via ups). Monday night, 12 days after my order was placed it was still marked as processing. When I received an email asking about my experience I gave them a poor score and explained I hadn't received my order almost 2 weeks later. The next morning I received a call and email explaining after the refund my order just sat because of a shipping error.

Good part, they refunded my shipping cost and shipped that day (22nd) and guaranteed me I would have it by Thursday the 24th and that it would be sent at a faster shipping speed than why I originally paid for.

Based on the tracking info they completely lied. It's scheduled for delivery tomorrow and was shipped ups ground like I had originally paid for.

I give them credit for quick follow up after my complaint and the refund of my shipping cost, however they have lost my business. If a business tells me they will do something they better damn well follow through on that, especially if they've already screwed up once.
 
Love the free shipping with Midwest when ordering enough product. I always find more to buy. So far so good Midwest!
 
Been ordering from Midwest for 2 years. Easily 30 orders. Never had a problem. Excellent customer service. Good clear directions.

Free shipping on orders also really helps.
 
Glad you have had good luck. I doubt I'll ever order from them again, unless it's a super deal that overcomes my dislike for their order handling capabilities in the past.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
trumpetbrew said:
Love the free shipping with Midwest when ordering enough product. I always find more to buy. So far so good Midwest!
Click to expand...

This is a limited free shipping offer. I tried to over 25 lbs of misc grains (mostly 5 lbs of different ones) and was denied free shipping. They weren't doing this before.

MC
 
I just went to place an order at Midwest and got to the checkout and there was no free shipping over $59 anymore. Didn't place order and looks like i will be shopping elsewhere. They wanted almost $25t o ship $80 worth of supplies.
Didn't notice it was a limited time offer previously but guess it was. Oh well.......
 
I have never seen a time when there were so many of the White Labs yeasts that were out of stock at Midwest. There doesn't seem to be an overall shortage as my LHBS has a bigger supply than normal right now. Anyone know why Midwest is out of stock on so many?
 
I did my last piece of business with Midwest yesterday. Emptied the cart before I left and told them I would be gone FOREVER. They had changed the price on an item after it went in the cart. I like More Beer better and will stick with them.
 
Just tried to order supplies for Three Floyds Zombie Dust clone. Searched Pale malt - out of stock, next item was munich 10L - out of stock. 0 for 2 so far, I gave up.
 
I ordered from Midwest for the first time 9 April for my 19 April brew (Bush de Noël). I had cart set up at Northern Brewer for weeks, but on the 9th the WLP570 in my cart became out of stock (and so was Wyeast 1388). I also had a cart set up at Midwest because they had both East Kent Goldings and Kent Goldings and very importantly, organic LME (Maillard Organic Light Syrup). Midwest had WLP570 in stock. So even with the $18.06 shipping, I ordered from Midwest. But ignore the "so even". Midwest was running a free shipping promotion. There was a glitch in getting credit for free shipping, which was promptly handled with a very tactful Midwest reply (tactful on my "I am not sure what I am talking about" EKG/Kent rant*).
Because of shipping, I'll probably use Northern Brewer more often, but by using the same Maillard repackaged organic items, Midwest is a rational backup if I am using light LME and NB is out of stock of something.

*Many (particularly those in East Kent) think there's a significant terroir difference (limestone versus clay) with EKG. Most, including NB and MW think they are interchangeable and that the suppliers are sloppy with their labeling anyway. I was worked up about it because the recipe called for both, therefore they must be different, even if my palette is probably not good enough to tell. That said, I tasted both directly to tongue, and I think the EKG came across a bit brighter; but then it was very much not a blind test.
 
Yes, I have been aware that Northern Brewer has owned Midwest since 2013. I deliberately went to the Midwest site as a NB backup because they carry the Maillard repackaging of Organic Light Syrup. I made the "I am not sure what I am talking about" EKG/Kent rant partly in hope that it would be cc'd up to NB.

I am under that impression that Midwest and Northern Brewer are currently operated separately, and are not different names and locations for the same store.

At least to me, Midwest and Northern Brewer have quite different kits, different shipping (weight versus flat rate), different style of boxing (bubble wrap versus wadded butcher paper), different customer service styles (grizzled veteran versus hipster) and very slightly different view of EKG. I presume their are other difference. NW offers Paypal, does NB?

And a little bit frustrating, Northern Brewer doesn't seem to consider Midwest's inventory when declaring "of of stock" items even though they are are both in the Twin City metropolitan area, and presumably often have transport from one to another for Maillard and Hoptimus Rex.

I wouldn't expect to get the same food at Arby's as at Wendy's
Although, I would expect to get the same food at Carl's Jr. as at Hardees.
[Though truthfully, it's been over a decade that I've been to any of those four.]

I would be surprised if I went to a game at Fenway and the Red Sox were playing football. As I would be surprised if I went to a game at Fenway in July and Liverpool was using bats and Mignolet wore Hanigan's helmet while blocking a score attempt at home plate. (I saw the Sting host a playoff game at Wrigley when Soldier Field was already booked for an auto show. The keepers kept punting to each other. Wrigley is an awful place to play football. I presume Fenway is as bad.)
 
I wrote a 3 star review for the 10 gallon MegaPot saying that the stainless steel rusts easily, and it may not be a pure an alloy as is claimed by the manufacturer. Surprise, they did not publish this critical review. In fact, the only critical reviews on their site are masked behind 4-5 star rating.

Should we continue shopping at retailers that clearly misrepresent their products?
 
I have noticed that midwest must be bogged down with orders. Seven years ago I would order Sunday night and get it Wednesday. It was awesome.

Now the last few times takes 3 days before the items are packed and maybe shipped.

I have also noticed they now have a standard shipping and saver shipping, of course the saver shipping is cheaper and takes longer. It seems to me if you spend more for the standard shipping your order goes higher on the list. Which irks me because shipping rates should be the same for standard and saver shipping as the carrier would be handling the package the same.

I might try northern brewer even though they are basically the same company.
 
OleBrewing said:
I have noticed that midwest must be bogged down with orders. Seven years ago I would order Sunday night and get it Wednesday. It was awesome.

Now the last few times takes 3 days before the items are packed and maybe shipped.

I have also noticed they now have a standard shipping and saver shipping, of course the saver shipping is cheaper and takes longer. It seems to me if you spend more for the standard shipping your order goes higher on the list. Which irks me because shipping rates should be the same for standard and saver shipping as the carrier would be handling the package the same.

I might try northern brewer even though they are basically the same company.
Click to expand...

I no longer do any business with Midwest. I had the same slow turn around on multiple orders as well as other issues. For whatever reason (since they are the "same" company) I have NONE of those issues with Northern Brewer. Just ordered some yeast from them on Monday, at my door on Wednesday morning. I have always had great service and turnaround from NB. I would not hesitate to use NB because of their relationship with Midwest..... when it comes to speed and service, they seem to be very much different companies for whatever reason.
 
Braufessor said:
I no longer do any business with Midwest. I had the same slow turn around on multiple orders as well as other issues. For whatever reason (since they are the "same" company) I have NONE of those issues with Northern Brewer. Just ordered some yeast from them on Monday, at my door on Wednesday morning. I have always had great service and turnaround from NB. I would not hesitate to use NB because of their relationship with Midwest..... when it comes to speed and service, they seem to be very much different companies for whatever reason.
Click to expand...

Good to know thanks will be making an account today.
 

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