Christmas in a Box...

[JohnnyO]

So my order arrived today from midwest supplies. I ordered a brew paddle, some yeast, some root beer extract and a splitter for my gas line.

The box was long, but I knew that was because of the brew paddle.

However, when I picked it up, it was much heavier than I was expecting.

I opened the box and it was clear there was more in there than I had ordered.

In addition to what I had ordered, there was 6 lbs of Wheat LME, 2 ounces of Tettnang hops, about a lb of unmarked/uncrushed grains, priming sugar, a hop bag and some additional Munich dry yeast.

Being a relative noob, I was not immediately clear as to what all these ingredients exactly made up. I knew it was a wheat beer-type beer. Turns out it is for Midwest's Bavarian Wheat.

Win!!

I just sent them an email to let them know of the additional items. I odubt they'll want me to send it back, as it would probably cost more for the postage back to them.

From they're catalog, it looks like all I would need to convert these ingredients to a Hefeweizen would be to add some Light DME, which I have. Any thoughts?

 

[fretsforlife]

"any thoughts"?! Yeah. I think Midwest just threw you one hell of a bone! congratulations man!

 

[JohnnyO]

hahaha very true. I should go bury my bone in the backyard so they can't find it!

 

[HalfPint]

Shoot, you're more honest than I would've been. I probably would have justified it by saying they must really like me purchasing stuff from them and threw me a Christmas gift.

J

 

[Brew-boy]

Good I am glad you let them know of there mistake.

 

[buzzkill]

The bad thing is some poor guy more than likely got a box that was a little small..

 

[JohnnyO]

I was thinking the same thing. Poor guy.

 

[scrambledegg81]

Meh-screw him. Brew some f***ing beer and have a blast. >

 

[mordantly]

midwest has awesome customer service... they shipped me some stuff and the yeast nutrient bag split. the next day deliver was an upgrade to boot. i suspect it's not worth the hassle to ship it back and throw it away.

 

[rico567]

They won't make you ship that back- costs are too high. Their service is just great. When I split a nylon steeping bag, they just immediately sent me a new one, and said to just throw the old one away.

 

[dpittard]

That's really odd. I recently ordered a kegging system, which includes a Corny keg, lines, regulator, and a 5 lb co2 tank, and I received an EXTRA Corny keg! Now I need to order some extra line, some posts and a splitter!

 

[IrregularPulse]

Weird, last week I ordered a Corny keg and Bavarian Wheat kit and a new hydrometer and all I got was my hydrometer. I'll just PM you guys my address and you can ship me my stuff. No need to bring Midwest into all this.

 

[JohnnyO]

LOL go wait by your mailbox IP

 

[JohnnyO]

**UPDATE**

I received a response from midwest via email today. They said that I can pay $10.00 and keep the kit, or they will send out a return shipping label.

I'm pretty stumped by this.

What does this say about their quality control if they're willing to take these items (LME, grains, hops & yeast) back into inventory?

I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do. I would like to brew another batch, but not necessarily an extract kit. But for $10.00, its very reasonable.

 

[Shooter]

Your call, if it's something I didn't REALLY want, I'd tell them to send out the label and ship it back. I wouldn't pay them for something I didn't order in the first place. If they want to give it to you fine, but, if they want it back, also fine.

 

[Kaner]

$10 is a good deal for the kit, but then again they screwed up not you so why should you have to pay for it or be inconvenienced by dealing with shipping it back. You would think that they would just eat the difference in hopes that they made a loyal customer. If it were something expensive I could see them wanting it back, but a perishable item like that... doesn't make sense.
I do have to say that you are much more honest than I would have been.

 

[jbambuti]

As I understand it, if a business sends you something you didn't order, you're legally entitled to keep it. If someone knows better, please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think that it's horrible business practice to expect you to pay $10 for a few ingredients based their mistake. You already made an order, so they're already getting a customer. I'd feel pretty strongly that if they expected me to ship it back or pay for it, there are plenty of other places that would welcome my business.

Just my two bits.

 

[rico567]

As I understand it, if a business sends you something you didn't order, you're legally entitled to keep it. If someone knows better, please correct me if I'm wrong.

I think that it's horrible business practice to expect you to pay $10 for a few ingredients based their mistake. You already made an order, so they're already getting a customer. I'd feel pretty strongly that if they expected me to ship it back or pay for it, there are plenty of other places that would welcome my business.

Just my two bits.

So Garda (armored car company) accidentally drops off a few bags of cash at your house, thinking somehow it's a bank. Are you entitled to keep it? Same principle. They made a mistake; can you keep the $350,000?

And when I've been asked to return ship something (to any company, never happened with MW), and they send me a label, it's always been prepaid. Some clarification may be in order here.

 

[jbambuti]

Here is a clarification quoted from the law regarding unsolicited merchandise:

(a) Except for (1) free samples clearly and conspicuously marked as such, and (2) merchandise
mailed by a charitable organization soliciting contributions, the mailing of unordered merchandise or of communications prohibited by subsection (c) of this section constitutes an unfair method of competition and an unfair trade practice in violation of section 45(a)(1)of title 15 (15 USCS) Sec. 45(a)(1)."

This paragraph quite clearly makes it a per se violation of the unfair trade laws to ship unordered merchandise which is defined as "merchandise mailed without the prior expressed request or consent of the recipient."

"(b) Any merchandise mailed in violation of subsection (a) of this section, or within the exceptions contained therein, may be treated as a gift by the recipient, who shall have the right to retain, use, discard, or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any obligation whatsoever to the sender. All such merchandise shall have attached to it a clear and conspicuous statement informing the recipient that he may treat the merchandise as a gift to him and has the right to retain, use, discard, or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any obligation to the sender."

This law was designed to keep companies from sending unsolicited merchandise and then billing the buyer after the fact. However, I take this to mean that, although a mistake by the company, they cannot request payment for something that was not requested, regardless of the value. It is the company's due diligence to pay attention to what they mail.

If Garda accidentally drops a bag of money at your house, thinking it's a bank, then that would just me a mistaken delivery to the wrong address. I don't think it's the same thing.

 

[chemman14]

wow im kind-of amazed that they asked you to pay for it if you want to keep it.

 

[Buildmark]

**UPDATE**

I received a response from midwest via email today. They said that I can pay $10.00 and keep the kit, or they will send out a return shipping label.

I'm pretty stumped by this.

What does this say about their quality control if they're willing to take these items (LME, grains, hops & yeast) back into inventory?

I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do. I would like to brew another batch, but not necessarily an extract kit. But for $10.00, its very reasonable.

Tell them that you don't think that you should have to pay for it and that you will continue to order from them in the future, but you didn't order it and shouldn't be obligated to box it up and send it to them.

Send a copy and paste of that legalize that jbambuti posted with your response and see what they say.