Ss Brewtek....

[Hammy71]

I never post complaints...but here is one. SS Brewtech's customer service is bull ****. Very ignorant....and proud their crap is made in China. All I wanted was a custom port added and all I got was grief. I'll go with Spike any day. At least the stuff is made here. If you want drop shipped **** from China then go with SS. They can perform phelachio.... I've spent alot of money with them... But no more. F em.

 

[wepeeler]

I've had good luck with their customer service. They usually respond pretty fast via email. My 2 complaints are the price of their stuff and no call center - all correspondence is via email. Everything costs more than it should, imo. But the quality is top notch.

 

[Vale71]

Am I understanding this wrong or are you really complaining because you asked for something that they're not offering (custom ports) and they dared to refuse your request? Sounds like a tantrum to me...
BTW Spike is made in China as well so unless you do live in China "Their stuff is made here" does not apply...

 

[Smellyglove]

Great products and great customer care is my experience with SS Brewtech.

 

[kevin58]

If you want custom ports order from someone that offers them. SS Brewtech has been great to me. I'm ordering a new Chronical soon.

 

[Hammy71]

Am I understanding this wrong or are you really complaining because you asked for something that they're not offering (custom ports) and they dared to refuse your request? Sounds like a tantrum to me...
BTW Spike is made in China as well so unless you do live in China "Their stuff is made here" does not apply...

Am I understanding this wrong or are you really complaining because you asked for something that they're not offering (custom ports) and they dared to refuse your request? Sounds like a tantrum to me...
BTW Spike is made in China as well so unless you do live in China "Their stuff is made here" does not apply...

Is it a tantrum....maybe. I guess my real issue is the tone of the emails I received from them and the pride they take in their production in China. Their equipment is very expensive. And to be honest, I make excuses for the failings of the equipment, exactly for that reason. I suspect others do the same. Sorta like a person with a Mercedes or BMW makes excuses for quality issues with their car. Are they alone in their outsourcing and attempt to perpetuate their "quality" persona? No. Just like most Mercedes and BMWs for sale in the US they are not made in the country everybody assumes. Most high end "German" cars are made in Mexico. Hence the "German Engineered" comments in the commercials you see on TV.

My major frustration is the cockiness of the email responses I received. More of an "our **** don't stink" attitude that has nothing to do with the request I made. If you love your SS stuff. More power to you. I, on the other hand, think my home made stuff....worked better. I guess that's why I'm bitter. I bought into the Cadillac image....and I got duped out of money and quality. I'll continue my search for something that fits my needs. I'll continue to look for something that is made locally (either made or modified in country), or at least tells me honesty up front what I'm buying. If that's Spike or somebody else, than OK. If not than I'll use my old stuff that's worked for a decade. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but trying to find something that is made with any type of quality is getting harder and harder. I'm willing to pay for quality. But the definition of quality has changed......

 

[pvpeacock]

I have gotten great customer service from SS for years. That's why I keep buying their products. I never felt like they had an attitude at all. Sorry to hear you had a different perception.

 

[Bilsch]

Bought from SS a couple times then switched to Spike. Very happy with that decision.

 

[mongoose33]

I'm very happy with my Spike stuff (kettle, 10-gallon unitank), but even they wouldn't add a second TC port to my lid. Said their engineers said it would make the lid unsound.

So I developed a workaround.

I really haven't heard or read much negative about SSBt. I've been carefully considering them as a second fermenter, but probably will go with Spike to maintain consistency, plus the feature mix moves me toward Spike. But I think SSbt has some pretty good stuff.

 

[Vale71]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with a service rep but in my experience you'll find people that are bad at their job in any company and in any role, so there's basically no avoiding them in the long run.

 

[Beardless]

Never had any issue with SS. Used their customer support a few times, and never seemed to have any issues. But...... I decided for my conical/unitank to go with spike. Everything showed up awesome, with great quality. Ended up needing a couple other odds/ends accessories and again went through spike. Had a question on assembly with an item and they (you could tell by the quality of the video) recorded a quick 30second video on how to do what I wanted and sent it to me. Customer service I would not ever expect to see. Spike won me over, and I wasn’t even looking to be loyal to only one company.

 

[Jtvann]

Just self deleted the long typed rant I had in response to the original post. The entitlement of some people never ceases to amaze me.

Ss brewtech makes amazing products and their customer service has always been top notch. I feel like I'm getting an accurate answer to the question I ask every time, not just sales lip service telling me what I want to hear.

 

[cswant88]

A spike+ system and a one of their conicals is my dream. The ss brewtech 1bbl system on their website is sexy as hell. I’ve never bought anything from ss, but I’ve had my eye on their corny keg washer. It’s the nicest one out there that I’ve seen. I’m still trying to decide if it’s $200 nice.

 

[couchsending]

I’ve got 4 7g Chronicals, a 7g Brewbucket, and a 3g Brewbucket, along with 4 FTSS setups and numerous other random SS Brewtech parts. Some of which I bought directly from them and some stuff I purchased used. I’ve had some issues with a few things and Customer Service has always been top notch. Always get an email response in a timely manner with solutions and/or advice.

Still debating on what company to go with for a Unitank or two but leaning towards SS.

 

[Jtvann]

Absolutely love my unitank. I just bought a 14 gallon one about a month ago. I weighed the pros and cons of each, and am glad I went the way I did. To me, the tc lid is superior to the band style of spike. I regularly exceed 15 psi, so being rated to 30 is really nice. CIP is the way to go and worked flawlessly.

Spike is cheaper up front, but by the time you add everything that's standard with ss brewtech, the price is roughly the same. I already had the ftss system. Either way you go it's an investment, but trub dump, yeast harvest and carbonate in vessel is awesome.

I made an IPA that was actually good to drink grain to glass in under 2 weeks. Bottled 5 gallons and kegged the other 5.

 

[rmchair]

I've ordered a few odds and ends from them. I don't order more because their website is more about hype than product explanation. This is a common issue with online stores and not unique to them.

These websites have unlimited space to describe their product with text, yet their comunications bevy brainstorm that you only need a few bullets stating the obvious. I attempted to email about this issue to a few places but couldn't send the message without giving my blood type, so their loss. No big whoop.

If I sold expensive brewing gear that was supposedly cutting edge online to a mostly male audience, I'd skip the " imagine how cool you'll be.." stuff and go with hard facts. Lots of facts. I'd also limit my use of acronyms, like FTS, TC, PBW, instead of scatter shooting them at my intended customer who may be new to brewing, or at least new to tri clamps.

But, I didn't get a marketing degree at a fancy NE or West coast school, so what do I know?

 

[mongoose33]

I've ordered a few odds and ends from them. I don't order more because their website is more about hype than product explanation. This is a common issue with online stores and not unique to them.

These websites have unlimited space to describe their product with text, yet their comunications bevy brainstorm that you only need a few bullets stating the obvious. I attempted to email about this issue to a few places but couldn't send the message without giving my blood type, so their loss. No big whoop.

If I sold expensive brewing gear that was supposedly cutting edge online to a mostly male audience, I'd skip the " imagine how cool you'll be.." stuff and go with hard facts. Lots of facts. I'd also limit my use of acronyms, like FTS, TC, PBW, instead of scatter shooting them at my intended customer who may be new to brewing, or at least new to tri clamps.

But, I didn't get a marketing degree at a fancy NE or West coast school, so what do I know?

In all fairness, virtually nobody new to brewing is buying any of this stuff. It's for advanced brewers, mostly, and for those with the resources to buy it.

And if they explained every small thing that a new brewer might not understand, they'd turn off the experienced brewers who want the basic facts on features, etc.

There's a learning curve to brewing, I'd say a significant one. New brewers need to take their time with it. Further, if you're going to drop hundreds or thousands of dollars on brewing equipment, it's incumbent on you as the purchaser to do your due diligence and research. If a website doesn't include enough pertinent info, buyers will go elsewhere.

My 2 cents.

 

[rmchair]

So I should go somewhere else to understand some new proprietary feature that they've added? It seems to me, they'd want to explain why their product is better. But they choose to gloss over and provide awkward photos. Their choice. I'm just saying they've turned off at least one potential customer by their marketing.
But apparently enough people are turned on by the cool vibe captured in their awesome pics and descriptions that their spreadsheets point in the right direction.

 

[matt_m]

They clearly state this is not a service they offer.

https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/e...-TC-fittings-or-punch-locations-to-my-kettle-

 

[Jtvann]

So I should go somewhere else to understand some new proprietary feature that they've added? It seems to me, they'd want to explain why their product is better. But they choose to gloss over and provide awkward photos. Their choice. I'm just saying they've turned off at least one potential customer by their marketing.
But apparently enough people are turned on by the cool vibe captured in their awesome pics and descriptions that their spreadsheets point in the right direction.

What's new or proprietary? Their equipment is pretty universal and uses standard language I think. I agree with mongoose, that anybody looking to spend a premium for top shelf equipment is already versed in the language they use.

 

[mongoose33]

So I should go somewhere else to understand some new proprietary feature that they've added? It seems to me, they'd want to explain why their product is better. But they choose to gloss over and provide awkward photos. Their choice. I'm just saying they've turned off at least one potential customer by their marketing.
But apparently enough people are turned on by the cool vibe captured in their awesome pics and descriptions that their spreadsheets point in the right direction.

With what proprietary feature are you having difficulty?

I'm guessing you missed the FAQs? While that may not cover every question you have, it certainly indicates an attempt on their part to provide answers. There's a ton of stuff there.

https://ssbrewtech.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

 

[matt_m]

Lots of facts.

As evidenced by the OP, people don't even read the facts that are already on their site.

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

The entitlement of some people never ceases to amaze me.

This is it. Essentially, OP is salty because customer service didn't fawn all over him. If OP was female she'd most likely be called Karen and would demand to speak to a manager.

Don't be like OP.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

So I should go somewhere else to understand some new proprietary feature that they've added? It seems to me, they'd want to explain why their product is better. But they choose to gloss over and provide awkward photos. Their choice. I'm just saying they've turned off at least one potential customer by their marketing.
But apparently enough people are turned on by the cool vibe captured in their awesome pics and descriptions that their spreadsheets point in the right direction.

Wait...do they have "awesome pics" or "awkward photos"? I'm so confused....

 

[Hammy71]

This is it. Essentially, OP is salty because customer service didn't fawn all over him. If OP was female she'd most likely be called Karen and would demand to speak to a manager.

Don't be like OP.

I'll repeat. I'm not salty because they would not meet my request. I'm salty because of the attitude I got in the email. In fact several emails. Maybe it was an anomaly. Don't care. Went with Spike and couldn't be happier. I don't mind spending cash and .....I have money to spend. So that one employee lost them future sales. I'm a big boy. I'll be fine. But I'll voice my opinion with my dollars.

 

[Horseflesh]

I didn't see any of the emails, but if any rep of the company is ... transmitting an attitude ... that's not cool. Hopefully it's an issue with one staffer and not the company itself, and that is what I'd assume until I had more information.

I have run my own small company in the past and learned the hard way that you need to be really, really careful what you say to people. You think you're being cute, but the customer may not feel the same way!

FWIW I have a few Ss items, and like them, but have never had to contact customer service. (I also was a Spike customer back when they still used the dog logo... got my first big boy kettle from them... thanks guys!)

 

[Vale71]

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

I'll repeat. I'm not salty because they would not meet my request. I'm salty because of the attitude I got in the email.

That's what I said