Midwest Supplies

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I swear I didn't see that thread when I started this one. I knew it had been started, but didn't want to bump a weeks old thread. My bad...
 
They've changed from FedEx to UPS for shipping since I last ordered. I ordered on Saturday of the holiday weekend and they had my order shipped out on Wednesday, so not too bad.
 
They've changed from FedEx to UPS for shipping since I last ordered. I ordered on Saturday of the holiday weekend and they had my order shipped out on Wednesday, so not too bad.
That in and of itself is a plus. FedEx and I do not get along.
 
Where did you get your discount code? I got the same email and it says "use your personal dicount code", yeah no clue where that is
 
I've made a couple orders with them in the past week and everything's been on time.
 
Where did you get your discount code? I got the same email and it says "use your personal dicount code", yeah no clue where that is

I had this same issue when viewing the email at home (but not at work..same client). If you click on the "view in browser" link at the top of the email you should see the code right below the word "Cheers".
 
MichaelBrock said:
I had this same issue when viewing the email at home (but not at work..same client). If you click on the "view in browser" link at the top of the email you should see the code right below the word "Cheers".

When did you 2 get these emails?
 
Haven't shopped there in almost a year, but used to order pretty regularly from them
 
I had this same issue when viewing the email at home (but not at work..same client). If you click on the "view in browser" link at the top of the email you should see the code right below the word "Cheers".

AHH! got it thanks
 
Fed-Ex home delivery was great. Faster & no dinged boxes & such. I'll use UPS,but I'm not crazy about it.

It's funny how this works, in my area, FedEx is the absolute worst. Hell, half the time I paid for overnight delivery, it never showed up.
 
Don't order anything time sensitive from Midwest. I had a brew day planned for Saturday and ordered my grains from them. They still haven't shipped so I'm moving on to plan B and hitting my LHBS after work on Friday. Prices are good, but don't expect anything for at least 2 weeks after ordering.

I am sorry for the delay. Give us a call if you would like to see what the timing is looking like on your order. We did give everyone a couple of days off for the Holiday weekend, so they could do some brewing as well. We are working long days now to try to make sure that fermenters are filled as quickly as possible!
Cheers, The Crew @ Midwest
 
I have ordered bunches from them.

My only complaint is that shipping small stuff cost way too much. I think it is due to them having FedEx as the only option.

My orders here in NJ have always taken 4 - business days (counting Saturday).
 
Dammit ! And I just ordered my hop head double IPA yesterday...........

It's worth the wait. It's a tasty beer. Is the pumpkin ale you made through them as well? I was going to order that one from them next week to brew in a couple weeks, but due to the delayed shipping, I might just go ahead and order today.
 
^

Yes, It was, but I like to wait and do those in the fall, but I'm sure it's a good kit for anytime of year !!..........

I was going to add a lot of extra pumpkin to it and I thought I read somewhere that it takes longer to mellow out because of it. My idea was for it to be really good come fall. Does it not need that much time?
 
^

I added 2 cans of pumpkin once I ran it thru a blender, along with a cinnamin stick to the fermenter, back then I let my batches sit for 30 days before bottling, so 1 month later I was drinking them, tasted perfect ! Now, I don't let beer sit longer than 10 days before I bottle, I then secondary for 1 week, then bottle.....Just my own process now......
 
I ordered a kit on May 21. Their site says 2 to 4 business days. It still hasn't shipped. I emailed them for a second time today and they told me that they moved into a bigger warehouse and were having problems with their grain fulfilment room. My order is supposed to ship in a day or so according to them. What really sucks is that I was off 3 out of the last 4 days and really wanted to brew. My next day off is next Tuesday, I might not even have my kit by then!
 
They'll likely make it worth your while. I order a lot of stuff from them,& my last order the end of April/beginning of May was late. They refunded shipping. And when it got here,a $10 copy of "Best of BYO's 250 Classic Clone Recipes" was in the top of the box. I've posted a few recipes from it alreasdy. Then,there was a foul up & I got the same order a 2nd time. Justin said to keep it,as it's illegal for them to take returns on food stuffs. I'll be brewing that 2nd PM Berlin Wheat this weekend. But I'll move the 30 minute Haulertauer addition to 20 minutes. Then put 12 or so packets of Trulemon crystal in the priming solution. May just send justin a couple of those.
 
I prefer FedEx around my house, but honestly both of them do about the same and delivery time seems to be the same from Midwest so....whatever. I know Midwest had issues with supply numbers not being available to the online ordering system, which is why you don't know something is out of stock until after you order sometimes. I don't think they've integrated those two systems yet.
 
Ya I had to email them because its past the date amazon said I would receive it and they had not even started to ship it. They never returned my calls. I'm not planning on supporting their business ever again. Btw still haven't gotten my order.
 
Has anyone ordered from them lately - I know they were having some shipping issues not too long ago, was just wondering if they'd been settled yet.

Just got a 20% off coupon emailed to me, good for the next 3 days, so I might put in an order tonight. I don't have a brew day scheduled (starting a hard cider this week), so any shipping delays won't be the end of the world, I just like to know about them up front.

I want to know why you don't have a brew day scheduled.:mug:
 
I placed an order on Saturday and it still shows as processing. Not what I have come to expect from them. Unfortunately I placed another order today. I may be forced to find another online vendor for things my LHBS doesn't carry.
 
I want to know why you don't have a brew day scheduled.:mug:
Working 45+ hours a week, with a 60 min round trip commute, plus fire department duties, church commitments, all while remodeling my basement...hasn't left much time for stuff like brewing -- plus the basement remodel hasn't left me with a place I really want to set a fermenter for a month. Hopefully that will change soon!
 
I ordered from them on May 21. Their website says all orders ships within 2-5 business day. I emailed them on May 27 asking them about when it will ship, they tell me that they are 100's of kits behind on the all grain kits. I emailed them again yesterday and here is their response:


REFERENCE NUMBER: LTK121710242776X Please use this ticket number in any correspondence with us.
SUBJECT: 1586341


Thank you for contacting us. We apologize for the delay. Recently our shipping warehouse underwent a fairly large transition and experienced some unforeseen issues. In particular with our grain room fulfillment. Your order is in process to be filled, and looks like is shipping in the next day or so, but I'm sorry to say we do not have a stronger ETA.

Ed
http://www.midwestsupplies.com
1-888-449-2739

In case this email does not fully answer your question, or you would like to contact us for any reason, simply reply to this email. You can also get immediate assistance using our Chat support service at:
 
I'm slowly losing my patience with them.

I recently received a large gift card as a birthday/wedding gift and wanted to use that money to buy equipment to move to 10 gallon batches when I move home next summer (currently live in Germany).

They removed the "in-store pickup" option. I was going to purchase the stuff and have my brother pick it up for me (If I don't buy that stuff now, I will end up spending it on little crap). I call customer service and they say they can't do it because the warehouse is no longer at the same location as the retail store. I call the retail store and explain the situation to them and asked if everything was in stock. They didn't know and said they would email me in 10 minutes. Well, an hour later, nothing. I called back and they said they were working on it. They said to just have my brother come in and get the stuff. I explained that he doesn't brew and was doing me a favor and that I wanted it to be easy for him. I'm "spending" over $900 there and I don't think it should be this difficult to pick an order and have it ready for pick up.

Luckily, being from MN, I will be using Northern Brewer when I move home, but for now, it's Midwest because they ship APO.

Disappointing that after 3 years of shopping almost exclusively from them (only 3 purchases have been with someone else), that this is the way it goes.
 
It is true. Our Instore pick-up process has been suspended. I am sorry that you are disappointed with that move. The reason we had to suspend it, was due to our inventory control. With our warehouse move, we don't always have enough inventory on hand at the store for large orders or even some of the smaller ones. Customers would come in for their order, and then be disappointed that we didn't have everything that they were looking for. The program isn't gone forever, but we are trying to find a way to offer it that will meet the expectations for customers.

We are glad that we could help with your brewing for three years, and I am sorry that this issue is a breaking point. Being that you have gift cards, and know what you want, I am sure we can come up with a solution. It will probably involve "shipping" the item to the store, which we wouldn't charge you for. We will also want your brothers phone number, so we can call him when everything is ready to pick-up and go.
Please forgive us for not having a process in place for these special requests, as the change is very recent. In the meantime, keep brewing and we are glad you are coming home soon.
Cheers,
The crew @ Midwest
PS.
I am going to give Justin a rundown of your circumstances. If you call 1-888-449-2739 and speak with him, he can take care of the order with the workaround.
 
midwestsupplies said:
It is true. Our Instore pick-up process has been suspended. I am sorry that you are disappointed with that move. The reason we had to suspend it, was due to our inventory control. With our warehouse move, we don't always have enough inventory on hand at the store for large orders or even some of the smaller ones. Customers would come in for their order, and then be disappointed that we didn't have everything that they were looking for. The program isn't gone forever, but we are trying to find a way to offer it that will meet the expectations for customers.

We are glad that we could help with your brewing for three years, and I am sorry that this issue is a breaking point. Being that you have gift cards, and know what you want, I am sure we can come up with a solution. It will probably involve "shipping" the item to the store, which we wouldn't charge you for. We will also want your brothers phone number, so we can call him when everything is ready to pick-up and go.
Please forgive us for not having a process in place for these special requests, as the change is very recent. In the meantime, keep brewing and we are glad you are coming home soon.
Cheers,
The crew @ Midwest
PS.
I am going to give Justin a rundown of your circumstances. If you call 1-888-449-2739 and speak with him, he can take care of the order with the workaround.

I appreciate the response.

A lot of the disappointment comes from the recent downfall of service considering how top notch it used to be. When I called customer service and was told that in-store pickup was suspended, I was offered a, "you can always try calling the store and see what they say". So when I called the store to see if they had the 5 items in stock that I want, I got a, "um.... We will have to get back to you," and that never happened. The women at the retail store was very helpful, but seemed somewhat lost as to how to handle this type of situation, but she can only do so much and she did everything she could.

I understand the change has been rough and that I do have a special request that may not be an everyday occurrence, but to have 5 items pulled from the shelf shouldn't be this difficult. I would have even accepted a, "Give your brother the list and when he comes in, we will have someone there to help find what's on there for you."

I have ordered several more times since the move with a few minor order errors and am really hoping that this on going situation is resolved soon. As I have said, I get quality products and, normally, quality customer service and hope that this doesn't become the norm.
 
I quit using Midworst over a year ago, they screwed up my first 3 orders with them, always some lame excuse, a company that can't even fill simple orders correctly is just filled with employees that don't give a crap, plain and simple.

This has been going on way to long for it to be from a recent warehouse move, more lame excuses.

Bye Midworst, have a nice trip !

Cheers :mug:
 
I use a variety of places depending on price (Midwest, AHS, RiteBrew, ChiCompany, LHBS), but have always had good experiences with Midwest over the past couple of years, and they've easily been the place I've spent the most money). They replaced a Tap-A-Draft bottle for me when I was just starting out (even though it was my mistake that blew it up), and only one thing has ever been missing from an order (and they sent that out right away after I brought it to their attention). I've never had an issue with things being broken in shipping or with things being packaged incorrectly. Their shipping costs may be a bit higher, but in many situations, I've paid it knowing the service and quality that comes with Midwest.

Then this whole mess happened. With their reputation and presence on the boards and social media, I can't imagine a situation that could have been handled worse. They could have gotten ahead of this and put the word out to expect shipping delays. Or even if they didn't expect it to be a problem, when they first realized delays were happening, just send out an email so that people know what's going on.

I had a mixed order of grains, yeast, and equipment that I ordered on Wednesday, 5/8. I sent an email on Saturday, 5/11 checking up on it (never got a response). On Monday 5/13, it was still in processing, so I called and checked on it. I was told about the warehouse issues and delays, but it would probably ship in the next day or two. I called on Tuesday to try to add something to my order because it hadn't shipped yet, and was told that it was sent to the warehouse, and they couldn't add it to the order. They did, however, comp the shipping cost because of the delays, and I received the item a couple of days later. On Wednesday 5/15 or Thursday 5/16 I called again, seeing if we could guarantee that I would receive the order by Tuesday 5/21. I was headed out of town on 5/22 and didn't want my order sitting on my porch for a week, so if it couldn't be shipped by Thursday or Friday (I live in Virginia), I'd have to cancel it. They couldn't guarantee it would go out, so I canceled the order and got the refunds. Then when I come home from work on Tuesday, what do I find? The order sitting at my front door.

I still wanted everything, so it worked out, but there was really no reason for it to all go down like that. I wouldn't have ordered if I had known in the first place and would have waited until this week in the first place. I felt bad so I called them today to straighten everything out. It's such a shame that they've done a lot of damage when all they really had to do was keep people apprised of the situation.
 
Hey guys-
I happened to be on the forum this morning, and noticed the specific complaint about the instore pick-up. I know that Nick has addressed our delays on different threads, (it looks like they were all merged on this one) so I wasn't planning on expanding on them. I assure you that we care, and aren’t enjoying the situation either.

We appreciate all of your orders, and we making changes to get better with everything we do. We are going through some growing pains, but trying to handle them in the best way possible. We are making daily improvements in every department. My favorite analogy is that it feels like we have an infection in the brewery. We are still making beer, but troubleshooting the issue as we do it. Some of the beers (your orders) are great, but some of them have some off flavors.

If anyone is looking for resolution on any issue that they have with us, contact us directly (1-888-449-2739 or [email protected]). We don't like to cause stress or give you an order that is missing items to delay your brew. When mistakes do happen, we try our best to make it right.

On the service side of things, more order delays/issues lead to additional contacts. Our response time is a little slower than normal because of that. We are working on them but are sacrificing a few Customer Service people to help fulfill as many orders as possible. We still have brewers here to help get things resolved, so make sure to let them know what you need. Saving a brew day is important for all of us.

We know we could have handled this differently, but when the delays started we put all hands on deck for fulfillment. There have been a lot of lessons learned around here and we hope that your good experiences will earn us another chance to prove that.

If you are unsatisfied with the service you get, call or email me directly. I will work with you to get a reasonable resolution.
Happy Brewing and drink great beer!
Cheers,
Todd Jackson
Customer Service Manager
Midwest Supplies
[email protected]
952-562-5354
 
I noticed I had a post deleted today from this one. Did I do something wrong? Not that I am looking for trouble or want to take issue with anybody, but I wonder what was it about what I posted that was so wrong? I thought this post was merged a few weeks ago to just be a general Midwest forum where all comments were acceptable (as long as not nasty) and not just about poor shipping experiences? Wasn't that the case a few weeks ago or am I mistaken?
 
I noticed I had a post deleted today from this one. Did I do something wrong? Not that I am looking for trouble or want to take issue with anybody, but I wonder what was it about what I posted that was so wrong? I thought this post was merged a few weeks ago to just be a general Midwest forum where all comments were acceptable (as long as not nasty) and not just about poor shipping experiences? Wasn't that the case a few weeks ago or am I mistaken?

Hi Lgilmore. In the Company Review forum, the administrators have asked the moderators to not edit or censor reviews in any way, but that posts must be reviews and they must be from actual customers. As you can see from the many many negative reviews of all the major national companies, we allow all reviews to stand.

Your post above that I deleted wasn't a review, though, but a question directed to Todd at Midwest, and making a general point about their marketing strategy. I think its a fine point, but its not a review and probably not the best way to get a response from Todd.

In my deletion note, I suggested contacting Todd directly with your question and I still think that's the best approach. If you are a customer of Midwest, you might then add a 'review' of the response you get (I got a great response, I got a disappointing response, etc.)

The merged thread you mentioned was a giant thread that pre-dated the administrators creating this review forum, I believe. I merged the threads to keep things tidy and so that folks looking for reviews of Midwest didn't have to look in two different forums.

If any of this is unclear or unsatisfying, please don't hesitate to send me a PM and we can talk about it further.

Edit: I just realized that you might not be seeing my deletion note if you are using a mobile app to access the forum. When a moderator deletes a post, we always leave a deletion note that tells the poster why the post was deleted. I don't access the forum through the a mobile app (even when I'm on my tablet), so I don't always remember that app users don't see everything sometimes.
 
thanks, no did not see your deletion note, just use regular old computer... ;)

Thanks for clearing up. The reason I did put the note here was I figure midwest folks read this often and I wasn't looking for just "me" getting a deal. I felt they should think about all their customers, of which I am one. I apreciate the feedback and you make sense. From my end, didn't want to look selfish about it.

Cheers.
 

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