BrewNanny - What do you think?

[bondra76]

is it just me or does this seem like a product that's a great concept but probably running into all kinds of issues now that it's been "kickstarted"

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

is it just me or does this seem like a product that's a great concept but probably running into all kinds of issues now that it's been "kickstarted"

At this point it's getting more and more likely. Still no further information from Brewnanny... Also no one has come forward indicating that they have either received or has used one yet.

 

[unionrdr]

Maybe it's time to call them out on it. Seems to me they'd have a certain amount of time to ship after taking your money?...

 

[Sailingeric]

My $12 digital fish tank thermometer and $12 hydrometer will work just fine.

 

[geoffey]

Gary Lyon, the inventor and founder of BrewNanny, has been pretty forthright. We aren't getting weekly updates, but he has made it clear they are purposely spending their efforts working on the product rather than answering hundreds of emails per day.

Still, any backer frustration is pretty well warranted at this point. It's either a complete scam OR we will eventually get the killer product we hoped for when we backed them.

 

[geoffey]

My $12 digital fish tank thermometer and $12 hydrometer will work just fine.

Thank you for your helpful, thoughtful feedback on this product.

 

[aprichman]

Gary Lyon, the inventor and founder of BrewNanny, has been pretty forthright. We aren't getting weekly updates, but he has made it clear they are purposely spending their efforts working on the product rather than answering hundreds of emails per day.

Still, any backer frustration is pretty well warranted at this point. It's either a complete scam OR we will eventually get the killer product we hoped for when we backed them.

If they were claiming they would ship Dec 1st it should be LONG past the point where they are "working on the product".

 

[geoffey]

If they were claiming they would ship Dec 1st it should be LONG past the point where they are "working on the product".

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I meant to say they are assembling product and shipping. His last update (just a couple weeks ago) indicated the whole staff was working on this rather than replying to email inquiries.

 

[dnitty]

I'm starting to think it's a scam.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

I'm starting to think it's a scam.

Brewnanny did do full page advertisements in BYO & Zumurgy an issue or two ago. Although it does feel like a scam - I keep telling myself that I had to wait 14 months for my Beer Bugs (thru their kickstarter campaign) to arrive - past their original ship date. The Beer Bug dudes did what Brewnanny is doing... dragging it out with promising emails.

 

[bondra76]

the thing that scares me is that they cannot fill any of their original customers orders yet they are going out and advertising for future orders. I've seen their ads everywhere now. Are they just burning cash? This isn't just a $5 part either.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

It's amazing when you back ($$$) a Kickstarter project and then when people are trying to get info on the project, you get a response like the one below:

-- 01/23/15 via Kickstarter Updates ---
Hi all, Things are progressing at BrewNanny HQ all be it slowly. We continue to make progress and are feeling our way through the hurdles of moving from a prototype to a production process. This progress is both rewarding and frustrating because we just want to get up to full speed. But as I have said before, we are interested in producing a high quality product and nothing goes out the door that does not meet our standards.

Unfortunately I need to take this time to address some disturbing issues. A small number of backers have decided that a daily attack on the project is the best use of their time. I welcome criticism as long as it is constructive and fair. Some of you are very frustrated and if venting in social media helps then please have at it. I deserve it. But a few folks have crossed a very important line. My company and I have been accused of promoting a hoax. This idea is hurtful to all of the hard working people here and it is wrong. Firstly, Kickstarter vets all applicants, we have to prove that we are a real company and provide information to that end. We went through the same process with Amazon, who processed our online payments for backers. Lyons Labs LLC is a registered corporation in the State of Massachusetts. We have offices at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCA) in North Adams Massachusetts. So there is no smoking gun here.

The majority of backers, however, are very supportive. I have messages from many of you asking how you could help. Some have asked that we delay their shipments if it will take the pressure off and allow us to concentrate on quality instead. These messages are heartwarming. They acknowledge the passion that we have as a company and that I have as an individual. They propel us forward with new energy. The other crew, however, is a major distraction and does nothing but hurt the project. As to the motivation of these attacks, I have no real idea. But being disruptive seems to be the central theme. So in the end we have to take time to monitor and refute these claims, which takes time away from getting products out the door.

Some have said to me to put them in line first, get them their rewards so it will stop. Well I don’t think that is fair to the majority of backers who are waiting patiently and offering to help in any way that they can. So I guess the attacks will continue.

So I will say this only once. We are a real company, I am a real person and BrewNanny is a real product, a really fantastic product. We are not perfect and we are experiencing learning curves and growing pains and as a result are not delivering as we would like. But we are getting better. Everyone will get their BrewNanny and everyone will get a product that was manufactured by hand, here in the US with an unrivaled passion for quality.
---

 

[geoffey]

Clearly the response Gary has been getting go way beyond "trying to get info". I find nothing at all strange about his response. He's defending his company from false accusations.

I don't know much about Kickstarter, but I know enough to understand you're taking a risk and that you're unlikely to get any rewards within the stated time frame.

 

[cryhav0c]

I got a similar message but not one addressed to Kickstarter participants. I ordered mine in October and would much prefer to wait until all is well before receiving mine, as he stated above. I can still brew and am in no hurry. There's anticipation, yes, but it would appear that they're paying attention to detail and wanting to ship a "top notch" product. I'm looking forward to seeing what finally goes out the door. I have a hunch it could be impressive.

 

[unionrdr]

I like your avatar^. It reminds me of a bar of the same name off the end of the boardwalk on Cape Fear. Might still have the tee shirt. I'm still curious to see how well the thing actually works?

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

I got a similar message but not one addressed to Kickstarter participants. I ordered mine in October and would much prefer to wait until all is well before receiving mine, as he stated above. I can still brew and am in no hurry. There's anticipation, yes, but it would appear that they're paying attention to detail and wanting to ship a "top notch" product. I'm looking forward to seeing what finally goes out the door. I have a hunch it could be impressive.

No one wants a defective device no matter the cost, but the thing is prior to the latest update they've been sending updates talking about shipping...

Dec 23rd - "Hi all. We are shipping daily! That is the good news. However, things are moving slower than expected. We are having some issues due to the time of year, our carriers are not picking up on schedule and are not taking as many shipments as we have, so we are backed up with orders ready to go but unable to get them out the door."

Dec 4th - "There have been a few posts recently about backers not getting information regarding status of shipments. I just wanted to address this issue and ad a few things that need to be clarified. First we are right in the middle of shipping all rewards..."

Nov.14th - "Shipping of all rewards has been scheduled and is underway...."

 

[cryhav0c]

I agree. The continual "shipping" messages have me puzzled when you take into account that nobody's posted any info or a review. I received each of those. It's like not knowing what your SWMBO is thinking. Left to my own I'll make it up as I go. Got a hellova imagination...LOL. Just no solid info and good interactive communication is a priority in this day and age. Things just run smoother and everybody stays updated. Looking forward to a report of someone receiving one. Still don't feel duped yet. Just a little misled.

 

[barrettf]

Did anybody else order from brewnanny.com? I did and I went today to check on my shipping or order status and I can't log in to my account. It doesn't have my email address or my user name on file. I also sent an email to the email address he gave out on kickstarter [email protected] and it came back as undeliverable. Maybe the site is having problems. I can't find emails of my confirmation either. Can somebody else that ordered from the website see if they can log in?

I do find the posts troubling. They said shipping is scheduled and under way in the middle of November, shipping daily in December and in the recent update on 1-23-2015 they talked about the hurdles they are experiencing moving from prototype to production. Those hurdles should have been passed in October or November before they said they were shipping.

I funded a kickstarter campaign that is way behind, but it is different. They first told everybody that they had problems well before the scheduled shipping date and told everybody what the problems were and gave a new timeline with updates almost weekly. That hasn't happened here. The talking about little kids not getting abused in a factory and the LL Bean mention plus them talking about the negative people taking time away from production, to me is not a good sign.

I think the defensiveness and lack of updates is what everybody is frustrated with. I haven't seen that many attacks on facebook to take away from production. There 2 or 3 guys asking for an update and not getting an update. If they would come out and say they are having problems, it would look better.

At this point, I think I am past the refund period for paypal.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

Did anybody else order from brewnanny.com? I did and I went today to check on my shipping or order status and I can't log in to my account. It doesn't have my email address or my user name on file. I also sent an email to the email address he gave out on kickstarter [email protected] and it came back as undeliverable. Maybe the site is having problems. I can't find emails of my confirmation either. Can somebody else that ordered from the website see if they can log in?

Their website is kind of flakey... I just tried and was able to get in, but it has never taken my username and password from their support page. It kicks me out to a Wordpress login page which ends up working. Mine still shows PROCESSING NOV 20th (that's when they put in all of the Kickstarter orders into brewnanny.com).

Not sure if this applies to your login problem or not, but I have my username in ALL CAPS. apparently their system is case-sensitive. Back when I got my username and password in a email from them it was all in lower case, but didn't work and got the same error you are getting... Had to fart around awhile until I figured out that it should all be in upper case because I could never get them to email me back.

 

[texwake]

Any update on this? Just saw this thread after looking at it. Looks like they have made some progress if they have two models...

 

[unionrdr]

My thoughts as well for the time being. Neat lil gadget, but too expensive & no shipping yet.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

Any update on this? Just saw this thread after looking at it. Looks like they have made some progress if they have two models...

Despite previous updates (Dec23,Dec4th and Nov 14th) talking about shipping each day, no one has come forward with a review of a BrewNanny that they have received or just identifying themselves as receiving one... At this time all we have are the pretty pictures on their kickstarter and brewnanny.com webpage of what they say this thing can do and they have our money....

UPDATE on the BrewNanny Kickstarter page on Feb 12th... This update reads like another stall tactic...
Staff Announcement
It is my pleasure to announce the promotion of Paula Aubin to the position of Production Manager. Paula has been an integral part of all phases the start-up and now will be focused on getting products out the door. While we have stumbled a bit over the last few months we are now in a position to regroup and put our talent where needed. Paula will be in charge on the entire BrewNanny product line and will also be tasked with customer service improvements. She has implemented the new support ticket process, described below, and I am confident that customers will see a significant improvement in communications going forward.

Support Ticket Improvement

Up to this point we have been handling all customer service functions via a variety of email addresses. This has not been the most effective process and we have made major improvements to the customer service process. The most significant change is a new Customer Service Ticket System. There is a new link on the Support page of the BrewNanny.com website that will take you to a page that will allow you to create a new support ticket and check the status of any outstanding support tickets. You will get email notifications when updates to your ticket occur. We are confident that this system will be a significant improvement to our customer service process.

 

[texwake]

Has anyone ever asked for their money back? Was there a legal disclaimer you had to agree to before backing them?

 

[bondra76]

I can't believe this company is still pushing out new ads with the backlog and problems they have. Poorly run.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

Has anyone ever asked for their money back? Was there a legal disclaimer you had to agree to before backing them?

Unfortunately, with KickStarter they do not do refunds, and their are risks with backing a Kickstarter project. The funny thing is with BrewNanny... they collected $45K through Kickstarter,then started selling more via their own website... not sure how many more but they created a site to market and sell them..

Now my cousin Vinny on the other hand might be travelling to the east coast soon to collect if they don't start fulfilling their orders with product that ships and works... lol

 

[aprichman]

Unfortunately, with KickStarter they do not do refunds, and their are risks with backing a Kickstarter project. The funny thing is with BrewNanny... they collected $45K through Kickstarter,then started selling more via their own website... not sure how many more but they created a site to market and sell them..

Now my cousin Vinny on the other hand might be travelling to the east coast soon to collect if they don't start fulfilling their orders with product that ships and works... lol

Their website makes it look like everything is available but in TINY letters it says they are on backorder. Adding one to your online shopping cart doesn't give any indication that they are on backorder. Looks like an easy way to get people's money and then say "oh they are on backorder - we will get them soon."

Taking a quick look through the Kickstarter the project seems quite sketchy at the moment. The initial projection time for delivery was 10 weeks which is pretty quick but not unreasonable considering there were ~150 of these things needing to be produced to meet the demand of the Kickstarter. That's not unfeasible considering that 2 weeks of assembly would mean ~12 units built each day. Now it's approaching nearly a year since the kickstarter is wrapped up and not a single product has been built. I guess the creator is blaming it on bad parts being manufactured? Not really sure seems like there has been no good explanation for why these aren't being built. Even if this guys was assembling them at 1-2 units a day for the last few weeks a significant number should have been sent out. After all there are only 150 people that backed this at a high enough level to receive a brewnanny.

Digging into the creator's background I makes me even more suspicious. He received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in photographic illustration and then worked some tech jobs that were related to illustration. Obviously people can have many talents that go well beyond their jobs but seeing what has been shown so far has mostly been fancy "mockup" photographs of what the Brewnanny should look like it doesn't inspire confidence. I think the most worrying part is that there has never been a video released of the Brewnanny in action. The creator has a long video on the Kickstarter where he shows a picture of the original "brewnanny" that's a bunch of machinery hooked up to a piece of plywood but he never even shows a video of that in action.

The Software UI is shown "recording data" as if it's in action but I wouldn't be surprised if it was just a mockup of what the program should look like in action. The fact that he hired someone to handle PR and customer service is even more curious. This guy is making 150 units with $45,000 of Kickstarter money but every update uses "we" - "we are shipping out units daily, we are working hard to address shipping issues", etc. Who the heck is this "we" he is referring to? How in the world can this guy afford a team of people when he has cleared maybe $10,000 - 15,000 profit? That much money would dry up in a couple of months and not over the course of a year. You can't afford a team of people even if it's only 3-4 for that much money.

It sucks though because Kickstarter pretty much gives a path for people to steal money by promising on things they can't deliver and making vague "updates" about what is happening with the project. It may be possible for the backers to form a class action lawsuit though. Kickstarter's TOS doesn't necessarily provide legal protection for the creator if they take people's money and fail to deliver a product.

This is one of the main reasons I stay away from Kickstarter. The funders assume all of the risk with no protection and no benefit besides getting what they paid for. Many people are quick to point out it's not the same as investing or purchasing a product but it sucks because creators can end up abusing the system.

 

[AF1HomeBrew]

Another piece of evidence that probably no BrewNanny's have been sent out, regardless as to what their FB page or Kickstarter updates say... If you go to their support forum, there is pretty much nothing available. Anything that is available are months old and by the Admin. If they had been sending out their product over the last few months (beginning in Nov 2014?) that forum would have users posting questions and answers up. The only non-admin posts are by a few backers that are pinging them for updates or asking for their money back.

Last night I received a reply back on the support ticket that I submitted a few days ago. Their reply was "We have experienced some production problems and are behind in our shipments. We hope to have all outstanding shipments sent within 4 to 4 weeks. We will notify you as soon as we have a firm shipment date for your order. The Support Team" . A far cry from their Jan.23 update where they are blaming their pesty backers... I am giving them until the end of this week before I file a complaint with Amazon Payments.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I only like Kickstarters as ways to give money to people. As in, I'm gifting them money expecting little in return.

 

[dnitty]

I've given up on ever receiving my Brewnanny. I would advise anyone following this thread and considering making a purchase to wait until you start reading that orders have been filled with working units. Also, if they ever to start shipping, I'm sure that one of the brewing magazine will review it. As sketchy as this company seems to be, I would wait for a review. A positive review.

 

[aprichman]

I would suggest that people who have "purchased" the Brew Nanny look into Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Massachusetts has pretty strong consumer protection laws and failing to deliver a product after taking payment for it should apply.

Keep in mind that Massachusetts state law is going to override any Kickstarter terms of service. If the law says you can't use unfair or deceptive business practices you can't just make a contract that says "my client allows unfair and deceptive business practices" and do business in Massachusetts.

The people who bought these things should really get together and file a class action lawsuit.