Gringo_Bandito
Active Member
They went ahead and made it official today.
Brewmasters Warehouse
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itsme_timd
Well-Known Member
RIP BMW. Best of luck in the future to Ed, Sam, Scott, and the rest of the crew.
broadbill
Well-Known Member
I agree its sad and messy and that is shouldn't be a moral issue. I'll let others decide for themselves if Ed/BMW's behavior is justified in this situation. I think I've made my opinion clear.
I will be contacting Ed Meyer/BMW one last time for a refund on the gift certificate. If he would like to settle this out, I will be more than happy to indicate as such on this thread.
If he doesn't make good, I'll consider it an unpaid debt and as such Ed will be on my s*it list. Should one of Ed's business ventures ever pop up again in the future I will be reminding everyone of my experience and urging them not to patronize him on "social media" sites like this one.
I think this is fair approach.
Gringo_Bandito
Active Member
What bothers me most right now is that the website is still up and accepting orders. People that don't know what is going on can still throw their money into Ed's pockets.
Yeah but at least I was able to print down all my recipes...
All kidding aside. The website is up but surely they won't continue to take orders that they have no intention to fill??
With the documented closure in HBT and other sources I'm sure, fraud would be pretty easy to prove in a civil case(s).
Gringo_Bandito
Active Member
I just went through right up to the point of putting in a credit card number. Nothing on the site has changed.
broadbill
Well-Known Member
If you go back in this thread, you will find a picture of bare shelves in the beginning of Feb2015 (post #2758 by shetc). There were reports of bare shelves before that point. I know I've been dealing with them since late January(ish) to get a shipments out of them. I absolutely think they've been taking orders they had no intention of filling (or could not fill).
I doubt you'll get anywhere with that. It would be very surprising if you did.
If the BW operation is not incorporated, Ed, the owner is personably liable for restitution. That doesn't mean you're going to get it. Hard to pluck a bare chicken.
To do that, you could file a small claim in the magistrate's office, if your city/county/state has such laws. I would definitely call the magistrate's office and see. There's a filing fee involved ($25-50 usually), he'll be served and there will be a hearing. You'll likely win, but he can be stubborn to pay, and without much recourse.
If he files for bankrupcy you can be placed on the creditors list.
We've had a few of his kind here being mentioned. Easy to forget who they are, though.
broadbill
Well-Known Member
I will be surprised too, but I figured I had to request it formally if I were to level the claim that they still owe me $100 for products/services not rendered. I have made that request and will consider a lack of response as refusal on his/their part.
I know that going the small claims route isn't viable, the best leverage I can apply is through social media. The fact that he is scrubbing his FB and twitter accounts, hasn't pulled down his website tells me he might think he still wants to make a go of this.
Ironically, if this was a just a credit card charge I'd probably just have them reverse it and I'd be on my way. No harm, no foul, I wouldn't be causing a stink.
motobrewer
I'm no atheist scientist, but...
RIP BMW. I did enjoy being a customer
Oh I'm quite aware of their empty shelves. They are... were my LHBS.
For the past 6 months, their shelves have been half empty. But they would always fill my grain order when I went in. They started running out of hops and then yeast After the holidays, their excuse was the Christmas rush.
I hope the guy does right by everybody but I certainly wouldn't count on it....
Not good...
Gringo_Bandito
Active Member
I was hoping that the website was hosted by a local company that I could call up and explain the situation to, but it appears to be hosted by Rackspace (AKA Satan in the cloud). I doubt I could talk to a real person there if I was a customer of theirs, much less a concerned former BMW customer.
Well yea they paid for the ad for x amount of time it won't pull automatically unfortunately
really hate to see BMW close their doors. They were my LHBS and always had what I needed to buy. The employees there were the best and they truly hated seeing the posts in this thread (and others) because there was nothing they could do. I hope Ed makes good on what he owes to customers that got screwed over and can at least close knowing he did the right thing.
I was driving an hour to get to BMW, guess now I'll start looking at the places a little closer.
I was driving an hour to get to BMW, guess now I'll start looking at the places a little closer.
Darwin18
Well-Known Member
That's pretty sad. When I first got into brewing in 2008 BMW was the online vendor that I chose to use the most. They had, when they first started out, excellent service and prices. It's sad to see a company go from one of the best to out of business.
It makes those of us that petitioned on behalf of BMW to allow them to sell in-state look pretty silly.
It's very sad, for all those involved.
From what I understand, Ed was involved in a tragedy that happened to someone close to him. I'm not jesting when saying this, perhaps PTSD has played a large role in how this all evolved. In the end we are all still human, and since business is run by humans, we should not be surprised to see the ups and downs too. Particularly where the principal decision maker is affected.
I hope he makes right on this to those who trusted him with their money, and wish him well (and hopefully better) for the future.
Not so. When they first started, they were excellent...I was using them a lot. There were a couple times where something went out of stock and I would get a phone call asking if I wanted to wait or substitute. And I usually got my orders within a few days.
It seems odd to see something homebrew or craft beer related shutdown with the growth the industries have seen.
When they first started, those of us in Georgia couldn't buy from them.
jvlpdillon
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Sorry was going to repost old info.
conpewter
Well-Known Member
I've had good experiences so far. Their prices are really good and when I needed to return an item (I accidentally chose MFL instead of barbs for a gas distributor) it was very simple and straightforward.
On the other hand, I'm amazed when any retail store thrives. Margins are low, competition high. It seems very tough to me.
I agree with you in theory cause for the most part that is pretty accurate. I know they were doing homebrew classes multiple times a week where they were full. IIRC it was around 20 people per class at $25 each from what an employee told me one time. Which is a huge profit margin. Their cost is labor for one employee to educate for a couple hours and the cost for ingredients for an extract brew. If done properly this could offset a lot of issues.
I understand where you're coming from as well. Though in a hot market, such as HB'ing, higher volumes can offset low margins. The kicker is, with low margins, the margin for error is also low when it comes to running a business. So any mismanagement is magnified and can make the difference between a thriving business and a failing one.
I highly recommend them (him)! I've purchased a number of things from Ritebrew over the last two years. I've picked up grain in person, and had some items shipped, and I'm very satisfied with the prices and the service. Plus, I picked up some grain when Neil was there, and he helped haul out my sacks of grain. He must have felt sorry for this small little old lady, but I did appreciate it!
I purchased often from BMW in the past, and was pleased with the speed and price from them back then, and am saddened to see it end. I wish the employees (and Ed) well in the future.
broadbill
Well-Known Member
No and the voicemail box is full also. Its been like that for awhile now.
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I was advised by my bank that using a visa debit/check card you have 60 days to dispute charges. It's been nearly 3 months; I'm out the money I sent him so this sucks that much more.
DeadDoc
Well-Known Member
I highly recommend them (him)! I've purchased a number of things from Ritebrew over the last two years. I've picked up grain in person, and had some items shipped, and I'm very satisfied with the prices and the service. Plus, I picked up some grain when Neil was there, and he helped haul out my sacks of grain. He must have felt sorry for this small little old lady, but I did appreciate it!
I purchased often from BMW in the past, and was pleased with the speed and price from them back then, and am saddened to see it end. I wish the employees (and Ed) well in the future.
I can't really speak for everyone as I left back in early march to take on a new career path but have been in communication with those who were left. I can however verify the note which was posted back on Friday did come from an employee and no one has been in within a few hours after the posting of that. It is sad to see a business like this die in such a thriving industry but sadly it has.
I can say that a huge chunk of profit does get eating up by the flat rate shipping which is why lots of companies have installed tiers or other methods to help alleviate the pains from that issue, e.g. glass/bulky items do not count in flat rate.
As far as the website goes, no idea what, when, if anything will go on with it.
Gringo_Bandito
Active Member
The phone rings in an empty building. Who would pick it up? Even if Ed stopped in to grab some things, he has no incentive to answer the phone.
I thought this was going to be a; if a tree fell in the forest, kind of thing... LOL
I put in an order two weeks ago and cancelled a few days later - when two emails went unanswered and the order still showed as pending, I just went ahead and disputed the charge. I should have seen the writing on the wall a lot earlier... you'd walk into the place and there's nobody around to help, the yeast fridge was practically empty (used to be stocked full with really fresh vials etc.) and the only things on the shelves seemed to be kegging parts, a jar or two of PBW and a few refractometers. Sad to see them go, but madder at the way they've handled things and the fact that the website appears to still take orders is an absolute disgrace.
Gringo_Bandito
Active Member
The website still being up is kind of pissing me off. I looked up the WHOIS info for the domain and emailed Ed at the address listed there asking him to take it down. Unsurprisingly, I have had no response.
Well, looks like the website won't allow you to add anything to your cart anymore - trying to do so simply does nothing. You can still add recipes from the BrewBuilder app to your cart though which is probably an oversight. So that's at least a step in the right direction - it would be better if he posted something on the home page indicating that BMW was out of business though.
In the end, it's a real shame - BMW used to be a great place.
In the end, it's a real shame - BMW used to be a great place.
Baja_Brewer
Well-Known Member
I went into my account today And could still access my old orders which had a brew builder breakdown of my old recipes.
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