Midwest Supplies

[samc]

My experiences with them were negative. Defective manifold that was sold as new when it clearly was one of the "rebuilt" versions they were selling. They did send me a new one, but with an attitude like I did something wrong. Two corny kegs which were the most beat up kegs I've ever seen or purchased - they were basically tossed into a large box with zero packaging material. Didn't bother to complain, just moved on.

Happy that my LHBS has expanded over the last few years to pretty much have everything I need at nice prices.

 

[TokyoRoad]

well... still not shipped. "will ship today" which is what i was told monday so i have zero faith.

def wont make it here for the weekend which screws up my whole plan. what a waste of time. without a doubt the last order ill be placing. this is three for three of failing to do as they said they would.

Does overnight shipping not exist in your corner of CT?

I've used MW a bunch of times and have had a few issues, each time they have fixed the problem. OTOH, they need to clean up their operations a bit as it is often cheaper to get it right the first time rather than incur the additional cost of fixing a problem.

 

[Captainfester]

Does overnight shipping not exist in your corner of CT?

I've used MW a bunch of times and have had a few issues, each time they have fixed the problem. OTOH, they need to clean up their operations a bit as it is often cheaper to get it right the first time rather than incur the additional cost of fixing a problem.

it does exist. however they are shipping it fedex home(according to the site) which is estimated 4 day delivery from them to me.

maybe last minute they send it overnight but i doubt it since i think they would have mentioned it. time will tell.

 

[moviebrain]

Everyone else has already said it but I wanted to chime in.

The Midwest guys have never failed to help me out in a pinch. I live in Chicago, and found out the hard way that normal FedEx shipping actually arrives faster than the 2-day express. While not even remotely the fault of Midwest, they called me up and apologized on behalf of FedEx, agreeing that 2-day should be AT LEAST as fast if not faster than the regular shipping methods, and refunded the expedited shipping costs.

While some sites have flat rate shipping but make up the cost by inflating a few hot selling items I'm happy to pay for stuff from a semi-local company that seems to really understand what home brewers want and enjoys every minute of it. I think it's pretty awesome that they're helping out one of their employees that hurt himself in a home brewing accident (but didn't have the company provided insurance plan) by having a sale on brew safety equipment too. It's the little things that impress me I guess.

 

[JJL]

The only issue I've ever had was a few weeks ago. I ordered a 1/2" NPT lock nut that I needed to finish a weldless install. I also ordered two batches worth of ingredients all on the same order. So, lots of different hops, grains and yeast packets. Everything arrived exactly as I ordered except the locknut. They sent me the wrong one. So, that night I e-mailed the customer service. The next morning the got right back to me, apologized for the error, told me to just keep the part I had received, and sent me out the right part that day. Since I live fairly close, the part arrived the next day. Not only did the send me the part, but I had a hand written letter of apology in the box as well. Like I said, this was the only issue I've ever had, and in my book they made it right, and then some.

 

[Airplanedoc]

I have never had a problem with them, but have switched to a semi-local shop since its prices are usually the same or less and I don't have to pay shipping.

 

[TrooperThorn]

So far I have had nothing but good experiences with them.

 

[gregblatz]

I have a preference for Midwest because I have had great experience with their support. Also their prices always seem the be lower than Northern Brewer.

However......

If I need something to arrive in less than 1 week I always pay more and go with Northern Brewer. Midwest can't seem to package and ship under 72 hours.

 

[Captainfester]

One more day gone. One more day not shipped.... All these good reviews here I can't be this unlucky.

 

[Gear101]

One more day gone. One more day not shipped.... All these good reviews here I can't be this unlucky.

I would call and ask to talk to the owner?!?!?

not to me a smart a on my point, but this is something that he would want to know that is going on inside of his company?

 

[boomer135]

I think they might be getting behind or something. I ordered a kit monday evening, expecting it to ship out yesterday sometime... Still haven't gotten the email with the fedex tracking number..... Not sure whats going on over there.

 

[jafty]

So my wife had ordered me a starter kit and some extract kits for xmas. when the xmas came i put it all together. the bottling bucket was drilled incorrectly for the spigot bulkhead.

i called midwest who was happy to ship out a replacement bucket... however they never sent it. now i have to go chasing them again.

i tell my wife the story, turns out when she ordered the kit / recipes etc they forgot to ship those as well! she had to chase them for the original order!

anyone else have these problems or am i just lucky twice?

i like their site and the recipes seemed to come out good so far, but if its gonna be a pain in the A, i will go to austin and my lhbs.

fwiw I am positive midwest will send me the bucket, its not so much about that just a pain that im ready to bottle this weekend and im not sure it will be here.

Yes, I had a bad experience with them as well. It's a long story but here her goes. I ordered a 16 inch sight glass from Rebel brewer, and when I got it I thought cool. The shipping was a bi#@%, but I moved on and welded it to my HLT. Now I need one for my kettle. Well rebel was out of stock and I wanted to brew, so I ordered the exact thing from Midwest, when it came the shipping was fast, but the threads were striped and cross threaded. because the fittings were cheap knock offs ,and the rubber gaskets on top, and bottom were to Frickin big!

Now I have a crocked sight on my kettle that leaks! I will never buy from them again. As for the price was slightly more.

 

[cswest]

I got a few kits from them without any issues but the one time I did have a problem with my order their customer service was terrible. I bought a burner from them and it was missing the gas connection / regulator. After being told that they would ship the part the next day for over three weeks I emailed the manufacturer. That got their attention but what they sent me looked like they put it together from some parts at the hardware store. I emailed the manufacturer again and they sent me the part and billed Midwest for it.

 

[gregblatz]

I feel your pain.
I have called Midwest on these situations in the past. They have offered to send my order express since they didn't ship in a reasonable time-frame.

Give that a shot. Then order from Northern Brewer the next time you are in a time crunch. They package and ship very quickly but are more expensive.

 

[TokyoRoad]

One more day gone. One more day not shipped.... All these good reviews here I can't be this unlucky.

Why it is you call them then hang up the phone without tracking information is beyond me.

 

[Captainfester]

find it hard to understand how you missed that it hadnt shipped when i called.

i did call today and they say it shipped yesterday and gave me a tracking number although fedex didnt notify me / their system doesnt show it / there is no tracking info on fedex.com

we shall see. at least some progress at this point

 

[boomer135]

find it hard to understand how you missed that it hadnt shipped when i called.

i did call today and they say it shipped yesterday and gave me a tracking number although fedex didnt notify me / their system doesnt show it / there is no tracking info on fedex.com

we shall see. at least some progress at this point

Same here. Just got off the phone a minute ago... Nothing on fedex.com. A little disappointed with their performance at the moment, but willing to give them the benefit of the doubt (because i've had nothing but good experiences with them) until this happens again. Then i'll be ordering my brewing materials through a different company.

 

[Captainfester]

So they gave me a tracking number verbally. Which think was generated on the spot since there is no action on the website or fedex. Although I made it abundantly clear I need it for the weekend so I think when / if they shipped it they will expedite it.

Here's hoping!

 

[cowgo]

I placed an order late Saturday night, realized I left something out and called the next morning. They added it to the order with no problem. It was shipped regular USPS, so I didn't get it till today but, again, no problems, it was all there.

All in all a decent transaction, although getting a shipping notice would have been nice.

 

[Captainfester]

Well I finally got a update from fedex. Nothing like being blatantly lied to by Midwest. It didn't ship Wednesday or Monday for that matter. it shipped Thursday like I suspected. And no they didn't expedite it even though they were told over and over I needed it by Saturday.

It will arrive Wednesday of next week. Thanks for nothing Midwest. Looks like I will use Austin from now on.

 

[Stauffbier]

Well I finally got a update from fedex. Nothing like being blatantly lied to by Midwest. It didn't ship Wednesday or Monday for that matter. it shipped Thursday like I suspected. And no they didn't expedite it even though they were told over and over I needed it by Saturday.

It will arrive Wednesday of next week. Thanks for nothing Midwest. Looks like I will use Austin from now on.

When they messed up my order the fedex update also said it would be the following week, but to my surprise it arrived the following morning. Maybe you'll get lucky, and the same thing will happen for you..

 

[Captainfester]

When they messed up my order the fedex update also said it would be the following week, but to my surprise it arrived the following morning. Maybe you'll get lucky, and the same thing will happen for you..

ahhhh dont get my hopes up. they have already been crushed like 4 times this week.

 

[Captainfester]

Update = total failure

 

[Captainfester]

Finally came. Only 5 days late. Austin. Here I come!

 

[Spanky338]

Have placed several orders with them over the last 5 years or so...havent' had to call upon their customer service, but so far, the orders that I have placed have been filled correctly and shipped on time..

Only issue I have had has been with the fedex gonks...they have damaged boxes of liter swing top bottles...I have ordered well over 100 swing top bottles and I have gotten boxes with 2-3 broken per shipment...there's not much Midwest can do about it, and I look at it as a cost of doing business...

This is why I ordered my new Kegging system from them...

Got it way quick and ready to go...

 

[lamppa]

sometimes if I order from them on weds am it gets to me on friday at noon!!!

FYI I live 240 miles away.

 

[DWavs]

I called to amend an order...needed some screw on lids for my 1 gallon jugs. They threw a pack of 10 in for free and didn't amend the total price like I told them to do. Top notch in my book!

 

[1Q84]

It's a shame so many people seem to have issues with Midwest. I've done a fair share of my purchases from them (I only really deviate if they don't have something I want), and their service, and shipping times are flawless. Heck, they've even sent me emails/left me messages about my orders when there is a problem.

Once, a yeast I ordered was backordered until the beginning of the next week. No big deal, glad they were nice enough to leave a message.

All in all, I have nothing but good things to say about Midwest! Great retailer!

 

[StainlessBrewing]

Never had a problem with Midwest. Fedex...is a whole different animal. Never really been a big fan of Fedex. Boxes always looks like the have been dragged behind the truck and every now and then I get "the guy on the couch" or a Juggalo delivering it. Remember this from not to long ago?

 

[cperry7467]

My only complaint about Midwest is their sales through Amazon. They only have 1 option for shipping and the cost is through the roof. I had gift cards to amazon and wanted to buy stuff from Midwest but couldn't justify spending close to $10 just to ship some tubing. I can turn around and go directly to their site and my shipping options are WAY cheaper. I probably would have spent close to $200 with them if they had better shipping options on Amazon.