conpewter
Well-Known Member
I once did not receive the wine kit I ordered (got the all the other stuff) they sent out another one that did arrive safely. So they do correct any shipping errors/issues. (AHS)
Whats the deal with Austin Homebrew Supply???
- Thread starter BullF-16
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wildwest450
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I too, will say that overall i've been pleased with their mail service. But, I have been treated rudely over the phone before. I had one guy laugh at me when I asked a n00bish question. It doesn't exactly inspire brewing confidence when some laughs in your face.
But with all the choices out there, AHS is still my first choice.
I've ordered from exactly four different mailorder vendors:
Austinhomebrew - 2 orders, no problems, moderate ship time to NJ. Will use again.
Morebeer -3 orders, one right, two had many things missing and/or broken, rude on the phone (drunk), slow shipping to NJ. Never again.
NorthernBrewer - 3 orders, no problems, fast ship to NJ. Will use again.
Brewbyu - Small place in NH, best pricing I've found, question the freshness of ingredients but will continue to use for any nonperrishibles/gadgets/better bottles/chemicals I need.
Austinhomebrew - 2 orders, no problems, moderate ship time to NJ. Will use again.
Morebeer -3 orders, one right, two had many things missing and/or broken, rude on the phone (drunk), slow shipping to NJ. Never again.
NorthernBrewer - 3 orders, no problems, fast ship to NJ. Will use again.
Brewbyu - Small place in NH, best pricing I've found, question the freshness of ingredients but will continue to use for any nonperrishibles/gadgets/better bottles/chemicals I need.
I'm fortuate enough to have a decent LHBS that is comparable/cheaper than orderining online. I encourage anyone who has problems with AustinHomebrewSupply to give Forrest a chance to fix them. I guarantee that when he is back from vacation he will see this thread. If you run into any issues with AustinHomebrewSupply definately document them, and if you don't get resolution via the normal channels then I'm sure it would be alright to contact Forrest via this forum.
At the company I work for, we ship tootsie rolls with our orders. A customer didn't recieve their tootsie rolls so they called, customer service dealt with shipping, and we sent them 6 little tootsie rolls. Over the top, maybe, but it makes the customer feel that they are important and in the end, that's what you want from a company.
I've only ordered once from Austin, and that was recently, and I was perfectly happy with my order and how it was processed / shipped.
Loup
Well-Known Member
I haven't ordered any brewing supplies online, but I do like midwest supplies, they're about 15 minutes from my house. There is another, smaller homebrew shop closer to me that I will go to if I need something small, but midwest is cheaper and has a much wider selection
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
Running a nationwide mailorder business in this age of interwebs must suck balls. You can have a 99% customer satisfaction rate and the 1% smear you all over the place. To the casual observer, the satisfaction rate appears to be 50% given that observer has had 100% satisfaction with them so far.
quixotic
Well-Known Member
I had once mold in my extract, on another occasion I had a screw in my extract (sent pics to AHS and response was just - sorry, will never happen again), got completely different ball val and other parts, etc. Every single time I have order something is wrong.
That's pretty bad. I think that if that was me, I'd never order from them again.
+1 on MoreBeer and MidWest
+1 on OakBarrel (if you're in the Bay Area)
flyangler18
Well-Known Member
You ain't kidding, dude. It is nearly impossible for even B&M stores with a strong web presence to really combat (or even rectify) the viral effect a handful of bad experiences can have on customer satisfaction when forums like HBT come into play.
I patronize my LHBS when I can (it's a little out of the way for my normal travels), but AHS has never let me down with shipping and value. I've ordered from NB and Midwest in the past, and I've been happy with their product and delivery for the most part. But the fact that Forrest contributes here regularly goes a long way in my book.
Anthony_Lopez
Well-Known Member
I haven't ordered from AHB, however I can tell you when I visited them last spring, they were awesome. I talked to them for about 15 minutes about this website, brewing in general, and the supposed "hops" crisis. When I told them that I couldn't buy more than 2 oz of hops at a time from my LHBS, an employee walked me over to their limited supply, and told me he'd cut me off at two pounds... Honestly, the place is great and I'd just about guarantee that Forrest will make it right.
ArcaneXor
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My experiences with AHS, Midwest and Northern Brewer have all been positive. However, had what happened to the OP happened to me, I would e-mail the owner and give him a chance to make things right. Otherwise, I'd move on to another store.
conpewter
Well-Known Member
They really do their best to fix any issues you have (especially Forrest). I appreciate them and almost always buy from them when I order online. I like that their ingredients seem really fresh. They also do a pretty darn good crush if you are ordering pre-crushed.
I'm going to be part of the 1% (though I think more) that Bobby talks about. Never never take a car to Wal-Mart service center to get it fixed. They stripped my oil plug, siliconed it in place, and when I changed the oil next time and found it (myself) they said that I couldn't prove that they did it. The plug could have fallen out at any time and ruined my engine.
I'm going to be part of the 1% (though I think more) that Bobby talks about. Never never take a car to Wal-Mart service center to get it fixed. They stripped my oil plug, siliconed it in place, and when I changed the oil next time and found it (myself) they said that I couldn't prove that they did it. The plug could have fallen out at any time and ruined my engine.
I've had great experiences with AHB. Excellent customer service, and Forrest was always quick to help with anything I needed. Northernbrewer, and midwestsupplies are both great ones too. If I order stuff online, it's always something from one of those 3 sites.
Kevin Dean
Well-Known Member
BullF-16 said:
Just to be clear, I'm not saying 'Go with them, they've always rocked for me' to you. I'm saying don't rule them out before they've been given a chance to fix it. If you make a demand and they refuse to fill it, I fully support you spending your money elsewhere. It's all about meeting your needs. Most of the time, it works out, sometimes it doesn't.
I gotta agree with the OP something is really wrong here.
I think they owe ya a free kit or something to make up for the runaround. I need to head over there in the next couple of days to pick up some stuff, I will print out the OP and ask JB to look into it.
I think they owe ya a free kit or something to make up for the runaround. I need to head over there in the next couple of days to pick up some stuff, I will print out the OP and ask JB to look into it.
TheSpoon
Member
Well I just dealt with AHS. I made my first ever homebrewing purchase. In the order was a funnel, which according to the website included a filter screen, however, one was not included. I emailed the address given on the website ([email protected]) and asked who I needed to contact to see about getting one sent. LESS THEN 5 MINUTES later, I had a response that a screen was going to be sent out. Mistakes can happen, I believe it should only be an issue though when company's won't work to correct them.
Now, I used to work at a retail store and the thing that irked me the most was when a mistake was made the customer would automatically expect something free. Now don't get me wrong, we would do everything we could to fix the mistake, and sometimes give them more then what was originally paid for. But the minute that customer "required" that we give them more, was the moment that we stopped being nice.
Now, I used to work at a retail store and the thing that irked me the most was when a mistake was made the customer would automatically expect something free. Now don't get me wrong, we would do everything we could to fix the mistake, and sometimes give them more then what was originally paid for. But the minute that customer "required" that we give them more, was the moment that we stopped being nice.
bsay
Well-Known Member
I'm getting a shipment from Austin Homebrew today. The previous order I got was excellent, even included an extra carboy bung. Called them up and they said they didn't want it back. I only use better bottles, so I have no idea what to do with it.
Edit with update:
I unpacked my order. Turns out I was missing 2 items (one of them was the funnel screen like TheSpoon posted about). Here's how the timeline went:
3:29pm Package delivered by UPS
4:15pm Unpacked order
4:56pm E-mail to [email protected] about missing items
5:14pm E-mail response about missing items
5:30pm Items sent UPS
Those times are all today. If that isn't great service, then I don't know what is. This is why AHS is still at the top of my list.
Edit with update:
I unpacked my order. Turns out I was missing 2 items (one of them was the funnel screen like TheSpoon posted about). Here's how the timeline went:
3:29pm Package delivered by UPS
4:15pm Unpacked order
4:56pm E-mail to [email protected] about missing items
5:14pm E-mail response about missing items
5:30pm Items sent UPS
Those times are all today. If that isn't great service, then I don't know what is. This is why AHS is still at the top of my list.
Jamo99
Well-Known Member
One time shipping department left a voicemail and told me that my city didn't match my zip code (was getting delivered to work which borders two locations, so they like to use the more popular one). Called up, asked for shipping which I was transferred to, and cleared everything up. Only times my order is delayed is when I get in on the tail end of a sale. Can't complain much about that though.
So, I guess as Frank Costanza would say, "Million to one shot, doc! Million to one!" Two orders messed up in two weeks has to be a fluke.
So, I guess as Frank Costanza would say, "Million to one shot, doc! Million to one!" Two orders messed up in two weeks has to be a fluke.
I emailed them yesterday and this morning i had a reply. They said they would refer this to the shipping dept. I got s UPS shipping notification that the missing items are on the big brown truck....should be here tomorrow PM.
This is exactly how my first order turned out, they forgot the stopper and airlock for the carboy i ordered. It was also sent out the next day. Out of 3 orders, i have had miniscule items missing on 2. They seem to make it right though. Just kind of an inconveniece since i am trying to stock up on all the small items.
What i really like is the fact that i have received my order the next day on all 3 purchaces.
This is exactly how my first order turned out, they forgot the stopper and airlock for the carboy i ordered. It was also sent out the next day. Out of 3 orders, i have had miniscule items missing on 2. They seem to make it right though. Just kind of an inconveniece since i am trying to stock up on all the small items.
What i really like is the fact that i have received my order the next day on all 3 purchaces.
Austinhomebrew
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Yes, I am on vacation but I will be back tomorrow. Sorry for the problems. We have had half of the shipping department leave in the last month. We are still training new people and we still need to hire another person.
Private message me your name and I will hook you up for all of the mistakes.
I really want to be the best homebrew store there is and you guys make it all worth while. If there is ever a problem let me know so I can fix it.
Forrest
Private message me your name and I will hook you up for all of the mistakes.
I really want to be the best homebrew store there is and you guys make it all worth while. If there is ever a problem let me know so I can fix it.
Forrest
Austinhomebrew
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In my defense about mold on extract, we ship out 136,500 pounds (67 tons)of liquid malt extract a year. We do not send extract with mold on it. The extract in question was at least 3 months old. As far as the bolt that ended up in the extract, it was the bolt from the metal gate used to pour the extract. That was the first time anything like that has happened. It fell into the extract and shot straight to the bottom so it was not noticed. Sorry about that.
Forrest
Forrest
Austinhomebrew
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Can this thread be closed since the issue has been resolved. Thanks for your support.
Forrest
Forrest
I'm going to close this for now. If the OP or anyone has a compelling reason to open it, send me a PM.
Forrest, I'm going to allow the OP to post when this is completely resolved so that we can all learn the outcome.
Forrest, I'm going to allow the OP to post when this is completely resolved so that we can all learn the outcome.
The question has been asked:
If anyone asks to close a thread that is directed at them, then it is given consideration.
In this case all, of the focus is on what Austin Home Brew is going to do to fix the problem with the original poster.
As a courtesy, I am allowing the two parties to work this out and later post the results.
As an example, if there was a dispute between two individuals about shipped beer in a trade, I would close he thread and ask that they resolve the issue via PM and not on the public forum.
I get no favors from Forrest, any of the sponsors or any of the individual members on this site.
If anyone asks to close a thread that is directed at them, then it is given consideration.
In this case all, of the focus is on what Austin Home Brew is going to do to fix the problem with the original poster.
As a courtesy, I am allowing the two parties to work this out and later post the results.
As an example, if there was a dispute between two individuals about shipped beer in a trade, I would close he thread and ask that they resolve the issue via PM and not on the public forum.
I get no favors from Forrest, any of the sponsors or any of the individual members on this site.
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