Midwest Supplies has terrible shipping policies.

[Jasper18]

So no matter what, its expected that all online orders placed between Friday and Monday should be processed before the end of the day on Monday? Even if the employees have to stay till midnight to pull and pack all those orders?

All of the grains you buy, are measured by hand as far as I can tell they all aren't prepackaged on the shelves(unless you are buying bulk bags). They aren't just walking through aisles grabbing the packages and throwing them in the box for you. If its summer and you bought liquid yeast, they cannot pick that until the last moment before shipping and they have to throw an ice pack in with it.

Sorry but you are going into the realm of being unreasonable. If there were 20-30 orders ahead of you, they probably weren't able to get to your order on Monday or even Tuesday.

Ok but that's why I'm saying process in the order received. If they are THAT backed up that an order placed on Friday wouldn't be gotten to until Tuesday or Wednesday then they need more help! I understand that they can't ship on weekends, but at least have like one guy getting caught up on orders or SOMETHING! Do they just have one guy there answering phones on weekends? My order also contained no grains. Just LME, dry yeast, hops, and priming sugar. Nothing fancy. No weighing. No liquid yeast.

 

[AkBrew907]

Yes it did but like I said it wasn't explained why it took so long. It doesn't NEED to take as long as it does, it's just how they make it happen, and that's what i take issue with.

You agreed to the conditions of the sale by clicking "buy", the "why" behind their shipping policy is inconsequential. They promised you a bill of goods delivered by a certain date in return for your money. It doesn't matter if how they run their business is different form CVS or other e-stores, that is what YOU agreed to. End of story. You don't have case unless they failed to deliver either the bill of goods or by the specified date.

This. They clearly explained when you can expect to have your items delivered. If you needed your items before xxx date then you should understand you need to pay for the faster shipping. Expecting faster delivery without paying for expedited shipping is just silly.

 

[Jasper18]

And yes I will concede that maybe I'm being unreasonable with Midwest, but it's only because other companies have "spoiled" the consumer. I'm not talking about just brewing stores. I mean these days they're working on drone deliveries, one hour deliveries, and I can use Amazon Prime Now to get fresh and frozen foods within an hour or two from our local warehouse. I know it sounds stupidly opulent, but waiting 3 days just for someone to get my stuff in a box and ready to ship just seems slow these days. But trust me I would still gladly support my LHBS or Midwest over Amazon.

 

[Jasper18]

This. They clearly explained when you can expect to have your items delivered. If you needed your items before xxx date then you should understand you need to pay for the faster shipping. Expecting faster delivery without paying for expedited shipping is just silly.

I guess you're just not picking up what I'm putting down. UPS states that their slowest shipping from there to here takes 3 days, and take $10 for the 8 lbs or so that it was. I paid for the shipping, assuming the processing and handling would be done in a reasonable amount of time. Your $$$$ for shipping pays for the transit. The processing and handling is totally separate of that.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Ok but that's why I'm saying process in the order received. If they are THAT backed up that an order placed on Friday wouldn't be gotten to until Tuesday or Wednesday then they need more help! I understand that they can't ship on weekends, but at least have like one guy getting caught up on orders or SOMETHING! Do they just have one guy there answering phones on weekends? My order also contained no grains. Just LME, dry yeast, hops, and priming sugar. Nothing fancy. No weighing. No liquid yeast.

True, your order may not take a long time to pull and pack.

But... this is a big but here. There was a 15% off sale from 05/19 to the 22nd. Online and in-store sale. And, to top it off, the sale fell on a weekend, starting on a Thursday and went through a Friday. Friday is pay day, people see a 15% off sale on or over a pay day weekend, they might splurge a little and buy more than they maybe needed. I went to the physical location in Minneapolis on Saturday (the 21st) and they were VERY busy, I saw one guy buying 6 all-grain kits, I myself got 4lbs of flaked wheat, 1lb of flaked corn, 1lb of golden naked oats, 2oz of Spalt, French oak cubes, 3 packages of bottle caps, 2 3lb packages of DME, my order if I placed it online, if I put it in before you, would've probably taken a decent chunk of time to pack.

 

[TorMag]

And yes I will concede that maybe I'm being unreasonable with Midwest, but it's only because other companies have "spoiled" the consumer. I'm not talking about just brewing stores. I mean these days they're working on drone deliveries, one hour deliveries, and I can use Amazon Prime Now to get fresh and frozen foods within an hour or two from our local warehouse. I know it sounds stupidly opulent, but waiting 3 days just for someone to get my stuff in a box and ready to ship just seems slow these days. But trust me I would still gladly support my LHBS or Midwest over Amazon.

I am in your camp and I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. I have shared your experience. All three of my orders arrived after the date agreed upon and it was not because of the shipping company. It is because Midwest sat on the order. A brewing friend of mine has had the same experience.

In the case of my last order, which was a FastFermentor, all they did was slap a shipping label on the FastFermentor box. No reason why they waited until I contacted them to find out why my order had not shipped.

 

[AkBrew907]

I guess you're just not picking up what I'm putting down. UPS states that their slowest shipping from there to here takes 3 days, and take $10 for the 8 lbs or so that it was. I paid for the shipping, assuming the processing and handling would be done in a reasonable amount of time. Your $$$$ for shipping pays for the transit. The processing and handling is totally separate of that.

If the order arrives after the quoted date range then I would say and assume most would agree there is a valid gripe. If it arrives between the dates they quoted, no matter how long they take to package and ship it they have held up their end of the agreement of which you agreed to when clicking "Buy".

What is the latest date they quoted you?

 

[Jasper18]

True, your order may not take a long time to pull and pack.

But... this is a big but here. There was a 15% off sale from 05/19 to the 22nd. Online and in-store sale. And, to top it off, the sale fell on a weekend, starting on a Thursday and went through a Friday. Friday is pay day, people see a 15% off sale on or over a pay day weekend, they might splurge a little and buy more than they maybe needed. I went to the physical location in Minneapolis on Saturday (the 21st) and they were VERY busy, I saw one guy buying 6 all-grain kits, I myself got 4lbs of flaked wheat, 1lb of flaked corn, 1lb of golden naked oats, 2oz of Spalt, French oak cubes, 3 packages of bottle caps, 2 3lb packages of DME, my order if I placed it online, if I put it in before you, would've probably taken a decent chunk of time to pack.

I mean knowing this now makes me cut them some more slack, but it's still their core policy which kinda sucks.

I am in your camp and I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. I have shared your experience. All three of my orders arrived after the date agreed upon and it was not because of the shipping company. It is because Midwest sat on the order. A brewing friend of mine has had the same experience.

In the case of my last order, which was a FastFermentor, all they did was slap a shipping label on the FastFermentor box. No reason why they waited until I contacted them to find out why my order had not shipped.

No I still will admit I'm spoiled by recent years of shipping progress.I mean I ship aircraft parts all the time and including big bulky things like 115 pound tires, and i always tell them ship it slow as she goes and they tell me oh ok it'll be there in two days. lol. Like dang you guys are fast. It's from Richmond VA to Milwaukee WI. Fed-Ex, UPS, and USPS have amazingly fast systems in place. The world is a small place these days. I know Midwest is a smaller company but in business you really need to adapt to survive. This may be the way everyone does it, but it doesn't stop them from doing things better.

 

[BrewerBrad82]

Ok but that's why I'm saying process in the order received. If they are THAT backed up that an order placed on Friday wouldn't be gotten to until Tuesday or Wednesday then they need more help! I understand that they can't ship on weekends, but at least have like one guy getting caught up on orders or SOMETHING! Do they just have one guy there answering phones on weekends? My order also contained no grains. Just LME, dry yeast, hops, and priming sugar. Nothing fancy. No weighing. No liquid yeast.

You do realize that these items are made into a recipe kit, correct? (You said you ordered a recipe kit in your first post) Last time I was in MW retail I had talked with the employees about how they make the kits, and it turns out that these recipe kits are made pretty much to order.

Sounds like you received your items within the range of stated delivery and your recipe kit was packed fresh just for your shipment. I see nothing askew here.

 

[Jasper18]

If the order arrives after the quoted date range then I would say and assume most would agree there is a valid gripe. If it arrives between the dates they quoted, no matter how long they take to package and ship it they have held up their end of the agreement of which you agreed to when clicking "Buy".

What is the latest date they quoted you?

Hmm I think the latest date was 6/1. So knowing that all carriers deliver on Saturdays as well, Midwest was giving themselves over a week just to get my stuff in a box. Doesn't that seem like a messed up time range to give people?

 

[broadbill]

I am in your camp and I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. I have shared your experience. All three of my orders arrived after the date agreed upon and it was not because of the shipping company. It is because Midwest sat on the order. A brewing friend of mine has had the same experience.

In the case of my last order, which was a FastFermentor, all they did was slap a shipping label on the FastFermentor box. No reason why they waited until I contacted them to find out why my order had not shipped.

Your experiences are not at all similar.

Jester agreed to one level of service but expected another, and is being unreasonable about it.

You expected shipping to happen at a specified time, and they were late (multiple times by the sound of it). You have a reasonable gripe in my opinion.

You are both hung up on this issue of "sitting on" orders; I disagree with you both that this is an unreasonable approach. There are multiple reasons a business would do this and is perfectly acceptable business practice. However, if this is causing them to miss ship dates that isn't good. I don't know if this is the case or not.

 

[Pappers_]

I want to clarify something - the package arrived in the range in which they told you it would when you ordered it and chose that shipping option? Is that correct?

 

[Jasper18]

You do realize that these items are made into a recipe kit, correct? (You said you ordered a recipe kit in your first post) Last time I was in MW retail I had talked with the employees about how they make the kits, and it turns out that these recipe kits are made pretty much to order.

Sounds like you received your items within the range of stated delivery and your recipe kit was packed fresh just for your shipment. I see nothing askew here.

Yes they assemble the kit but all the ingredients I order should require ZERO processing from MW. The LME comes pre-packaged from the manufacturer, the yeast comes in it's little packets, and basing off of my previous kit that came with my starter kit from MW, the hops is also pre-packaged in various quantities. My order just needed some pick and pull. Had I ordered a big order as was mentioned above with many specialty grains and a lot of separate components I would totally expect and extra day or two.

 

[ifnotuthenwho]

I agree with the multitude of comments here that say that Midwest specified the delivery dates and if they meet those dates then they met their obligations.

But it's because of their long delivery times that I chose to spend my dollar elsewhere. Their prices aren't so great that I'm willing to wait a week or more to get the product I order. I hope that Midwest and their sister company Northern Brewer understand that they are losing business because of this policy of sitting on orders for days.

 

[Jasper18]

I want to clarify something - the package arrived in the range in which they told you it would when you ordered it and chose that shipping option? Is that correct?

No no I haven't gotten it yet. It just shipped yesterday.

 

[Jasper18]

I also want to clarify that I'm not sitting here charging MW with like breach of contract or anything. I'm just a little annoyed with the reasons behind almost a two week wait for a product when actual in-transit time is only 3 days.

 

[Pappers_]

Hmm I think the latest date was 6/1. So knowing that all carriers deliver on Saturdays as well, Midwest was giving themselves over a week just to get my stuff in a box. Doesn't that seem like a messed up time range to give people?

No. When I order online, I go by the expected delivery date or range and choose the option I need. I don't care how they get it to me, how long they took to package it, or if they used a bicycle messenger. If I choose an option to be delivered by June 1st and I get it by June 1st, I have no reason to complain. I don't think you have any reason to complain - if they get it to you by the time they promised to get it to you.

 

[Jasper18]

No.

Agree to disagree with you as well. No hard feelings or anything.

 

[TorMag]

Your experiences are not at all similar.

Jester agreed to one level of service but expected another, and is being unreasonable about it.

You expected shipping to happen at a specified time, and they were late (multiple times by the sound of it). You have a reasonable gripe in my opinion.

You are both hung up on this issue of "sitting on" orders; I disagree with you both that this is an unreasonable approach. There are multiple reasons a business would do this and is perfectly acceptable business practice. However, if this is causing them to miss ship dates that isn't good. I don't know if this is the case or not.

You can accept mediocrity or not, that is your choice. There is a reason some people shop for their clothes at Nordstroms and some shop at Sears. Our experiences did have some commonality in the fact that orders where not shipped in a timely manner.

If my business was Mail Order, I would break my balls to make sure all orders are shipped ASAP, I would want return business. At some point as a consumer, you have to say, this person is not providing me with the service I expect and want.

I would be willing to accept their slow order processing if they did not charge my card the moment they accepted my order but when they shipped it. But the moment you take my money, you are now obligated to get me MY product.

Look at somebody like Wilser Bags. He took my money and my expectation was for the bags to get to me in a week or two because the bags are not his day job. He shipped the bags that very day and threw in an extra bag because he wants my business. That is somebody who knows how to do it.

I do know that I am rambling at this point.

 

[Jasper18]

Look at somebody like Wilser Bags. He took my money and my expectation was for the bags to get to me in a week or two because the bags are not his day job. He shipped the bags that very day and threw in an extra bag because he wants my business. That is somebody who knows how to do it.

Wow! That guy was motivated! lol

 

[Pappers_]

Agree to disagree with you as well. No hard feelings or anything.

Sorry for my brief reply, I inadvertently posted before finishing the post. My fuller explanation is above. If they deliver by the time they promised to deliver, you have no reason to complain, in my opinion. Doesn't matter what methods they use, what process they use - they promised to get it to you by June 1st - if they don't, then complain away. If they do, you knew that when you chose the shipping option.

 

[Jasper18]

Jester agreed to...

And thanks for the pun broadback

 

[thereverendmaynard]

There are so many great vendors - just go somewhere else. Fast handling times are a must for me. If the vendor sits on my order 3 days I wont go back.

 

[Pappers_]

There are so many great vendors - just go somewhere else. Fast handling times are a must for me. If the vendor sits on my order 3 days I wont go back.

Midwest won't sit on your order for three days if you choose a faster shipping option. They let customers choose which is more important to them - speed of delivery or cost.

 

[Jasper18]

Sorry for my brief reply, I inadvertently posted before finishing the post. My fuller explanation is above. If they deliver by the time they promised to deliver, you have no reason to complain, in my opinion. Doesn't matter what methods they use, what process they use - they promised to get it to you by June 1st - if they don't, then complain away. If they do, you knew that when you chose the shipping option.

Lol hey it's ok. I do that all the time. I just feel that the amount of $$$ i spend shouldn't determine how motivated a seller is to get my stuff out.

There are so many great vendors - just go somewhere else. Fast handling times are a must for me. If the vendor sits on my order 3 days I wont go back.

Any way you could show me to some vendors? All i know is MW and NB and i hear they're related and do the same thing.

 

[Jasper18]

Midwest won't sit on your order for three days if you choose a faster shipping option. They let customers choose which is more important to them - speed of delivery or cost.

But you realize that the amount you pay for shipping determines how the CARRIERS handle your freight. It should have absolutely no impact on the sellers motivation to get your stuff out or boxed. All packages by them should be handled the same. The money you spend will determine how your stuff gets sorted and transported by UPS/FedEx/USPS

 

[Jasper18]

Theyre basically saying my business is worth less than someone elses.

 

[Pappers_]

I just feel that the amount of $$$ i spend shouldn't determine how motivated a seller is to get my stuff out.

That makes no sense. Every shipping option from every online vendor I've ever used includes more expensive options for faster delivery and less expensive options for slower delivery.

Midwest gives customers choices. Some customers value quick delivery and others value low cost.

I only infrequently buy from Midwest, can't remember the last time, so I'm not connected to them at all. But your criticism is really unfair.

 

[Pappers_]

Theyre basically saying my business is worth less than someone elses.

They're saying you paid less for shipping than others did.

 

[Pappers_]

But you realize that the amount you pay for shipping determines how the CARRIERS handle your freight. It should have absolutely no impact on the sellers motivation to get your stuff out or boxed. All packages by them should be handled the same. The money you spend will determine how your stuff gets sorted and transported by UPS/FedEx/USPS

Why not? You're not paying FedEx or UPS, you're paying Midwest. They told you it would be delivered by June 1st. If they don't get it to you by then, you have a legitimate complaint. Until then, you don't.