Midwest Supplies

[JoppaFarms]

I just got some supplies today, and for the second time in a row there was no ice for the yeast. I'm done with them.

You didn't mention whether you paid for the upgraded yeast pack or not. Did you?

 

[satownsend]

Yes I paid for the ice both times.

 

[JoppaFarms]

Yes I paid for the ice both times.

Ok, I thought you did, just wanted to make sure. That is definitely an issue that MW should remedy, I think.

 

[satownsend]

Got this email today.

"I am very sorry to hear about the continuing errors for your orders. There was a glitch in our ordering system that did not let our packers know to add ice until after quality control steps. This has since been resolved and should not be an issue anymore. Your business is valuable to us and we are disappointed to have failed you. I have transferred 1600 points towards your rewards account which should be good for a $40 discount on your next order. Again, my deepest apologies. I hope your brewing is fortuitous."

I'm pretty satisfied with their solution. I will be nervous ordering liquid yeast from them in the future though.

 

[thatjonguy]

Midwest has always made things right when I let them know about small issues (as they should) but they usually offer more than what a replacement would be to make up for the inconvenience. Once they get their shipping figured out, I will continue to order from them.

Although I wished they offered hops by the pound. I have to take that elsewhere.

 

[stevehardt]

I'd like to put in a good word for Midwest. I know they've had some issues, but they've always done right by me.

Let me give an example...I wanted to upgrade from plastic buckets to glass carboys. So I ordered a 5 gallon and 6.5 gallon glass carboy, along with some other items. Got a great deal from Midwest. Ordered them online Saturday, and paid a competitive price and very reasonable shipping.

I got my order today (Thursday) less than 4 business days later. And I live in south Florida, so it was shipped from Minnesota to Florida. My order was complete, well packed, and not a scratch on any of the glass. And these are some big $#@ carboys.

I don't work for Midwest. I've just been very pleased with the service they've delivered over the years. I'm also a big fan of the easy to understand directions that come with their kits

 

[JoppaFarms]

I made an order on 9/27 and the order shipped on 10/2. 5 days order to shipping. Not awful, but not great.

 

[Shakybones]

I placed my last order on 9/25. I received the shipment on 9/28. Satisfied as usual.

 

[zeg]

With some trepidation, I placed an order with them last Sunday. As of Friday night, the status remained "Processing." For a reasonably sized order of common ingredients, I don't consider that anywhere near acceptable.

They were responsive when I requested cancellation, at least.

Not sure what's going on, I'd been mostly happy with them in the past. They'd had what I'd consider an abnormally high number of errors, but they'd been small, and had generally handled them well enough. I don't think I'll be returning, though. If I have to plan more than a week ahead for weekend brewing, that's not gonna work for me.

 

[krackin]

I've never had a problem with them. I placed an order a week ago last Friday very late afternoon, shipped Tues. It was an order for 16 items, large and small. It arrived in total.

 

[CooperBrew]

I just had an order with them about 2 weeks ago. I ordered one partial mash kit, a Boston red Ale but received the Mild Brown Ale kit in error. The invoice and packing slip were right, just a packing error. I chatted with them via their online live chat service and got it straightened out. They sent the proper kit and let me keep on one they sent in error. I got two good kits for the price of one and they made it right as soon as they were made aware of the problem. I'll order from them again. Mistakes happen, they made it right. All good in my book.

 

[gwapogorilla]

I have made multiple orders from MW, and I never had a problem. I really enjoy the services from them and will continue to do business with them.

 

[lgilmore]

I have used Midwest in the past and will continue to use Midwest in the future. I find their shipping times reasonable for the amount I am paying, which is the lowest possible cost to me. I do understand that I can pay more shipping costs to have the product arrive sooner to my door. I cannot complain about how long something takes when I personally choose the lowest cost possible to get it from there to here. Taking longer to get to my door is expected when I choose to pay for the cheapest option possible. I would feel different if was paying for overnight delivery and the delivery didn't happen overnight.

 

[zeg]

Just a postscript to my earlier post: As I said, the cancellation went smoothly. It both showed as a refund in my order history and as an actual refund to my credit card. That is good news, of course. Oddly enough, however, the canceled shipment arrived yesterday (alongside the replacement order I'd placed elsewhere).

I emailed to let them know and was told to keep the batch "on them." So, as seems to be the running theme, they handled the situation well.

 

[Mike37]

Just wanted to share my latest experience with Midwest.

I bought a recipe kit from Midwest through Amazon (had a gift card to burn) and it arrived quickly, within 3 or 4 days. I opened it up a few days before brew day, which is when I realized they left out the yeast.

Well, the plan was that I would brew the kit at a friend's place that weekend and let him keep the batch as a birthday gift and to teach him how to brew at the same time since he wants to get started brewing.

So a few emails and calls later, they said that they would expedite a pack of yeast to me ASAP. Brew day came and went with no yeast so we had to run to the local overpriced shop.

Ended up being kind of a pain/letdown. This is only the second time I've ordered from them. The kit was fine otherwise. Not sure when or if the yeast will actually show up.

 

[krackin]

Did you check the P.O.? I ordered yeast last week and it arrived in 2 days USPS Priority Mail.

 

[Mike37]

Nope, didn't have time before brew day. I'm in no hurry for it now, so I'll give it a couple more days.

 

[WileECoyote]

I made 3 purchase from midwest, they only got 1 of them right, its just easier to order from anywhere else that can get a order right the first time.

Also I don't like they have had been hacked and so many peoples information is now being used.

Cheers

 

[Mike37]

As a follow up to my original post, I received an envelope yesterday which contained two packs of yeast. That's a help, because now I have yeast for my next two batches since I wasn't planning on ordering kits for the time being.

 

[BannyBrewer]

So I have read alot of positive things about MW but I'm currently having an issue. On Oct 16th they sent out a mass email with a promotion for chugger pumps. Order a pump and get a free brix refractometer. Since i was actually in the market for a pump I placed an order within 2 hours of receiving the email along with some other items. All the other items arrived within a week as expected, but no pump. The packing list showed the pump on backorder (first I had heard). Most sites will inform you at order if an item is BO, but not MW. i even received an order confirmation, no mention of BO and a notice it shipped (no mention of BO). I called to check on the item and was told a shipment was expected at MW on Nov 6. I waited a few days after the 6th then called to check on pump because they have no way of notifying you when a BO item ships. I was told they didn't get the shipment but expects one on Nov 20th.......we'll see. Keep in mind they have my $ and have since Oct 16th! I'm being patient but obviously not very satisfied.....stay tuned

 

[JoppaFarms]

I placed an order on 11/11 and received it on 11/18. 1 week with the cheapest shipping is definitely respectable. I'll keep doing business with them.

 

[BUCKNUTS]

I ordered a 2 keg system from Midwest in October and it arrived quickly and was as described. I set it up easily and it is now dispensing delicious homebrewed ipa.

 

[BannyBrewer]

Update to last night post.....To my surprise the pump arrived today! They obviously recieved a shipment sooner than expected and sent the pump right out. Certainly cant complain about that!

 

[goldenrice]

Compared to MoreBeer I cannot order from Midwest Supplies ever again. Midwest always takes longer to ship my stuff; whereas MoreBeer consistently ships the very next day for me. I don't know about everyone else, but many times when I order something I need it for the weekend brew session. I don't think it is unreasonable to place an order on Monday, and have the item by Friday with 2 day mail. Now that my "We are so sorry we compromised your credit card information" $25 gift cert is used up I am happy to never order again.

 

[BroStefan]

I was in the Midwest shop last Saturday and was told that they've entered into some kind of business arrangement with Northern Brewer. Midwest is shipping from the NB fulfillment operation and they had a number of NB exclusive items for sale on the floor.

 

[Pappers_]

My local LHBS stopped carrying my favorite wine kit, so I went online and found it for a really great price at Midwest, lower than what I had been paying even including the shipping. Ordered it Saturday, shipped on Monday, received on Wednesday. Everything was great.

 

[plasmator]

Ordered from Midwest Supply three days ago, as of this a.m. the order was still in processing.

Emailed them, they replied that some items were backordered and that they could go ahead and ship the in-stock items.

I replied that yes, I would like them to go ahead and ship the in-stock items. I also asked if there was a way to be informed next time of a backorder. Their reply was that their system is usually configured to do so but they've had some system maintenance issues, which I take to be somewhat of a non-answer.

I then went and checked the stock status of the backordered items on their website and all of them are currently showing as "In Stock". Sent a reply informing them of this.

Hopefully my stuff shows up soon. Midwest definitely has some issues. On the plus side, they did have a good Cyber Monday special (15% off) and have responded to my inquiries fairly quickly. As a side note, an order from MoreBeer placed within 10 or 15 minutes of the Midwest order showed up today, a day before they said it would.

Tl;dr: Midwest is slow and their stock status isn't necessarily accurate

 

[mors]

I placed an order with Midwest for some gift certificates on 11/29 (yes I realize it's black friday). I was irritated because there was a $6 shipping and handling charge for gift certificates... Ridiculously expensive for gift certificates in my opinion... I went ahead and sent that sentiment to them via email... No response. It's now been over a week and the gift certificates are still in processing... Not even shipped yet... Ugh....

UPDATE: Was told the shipping charges were due to an error in the system. They refunded and shipped my gift cards out. Not sure why they didn't just pull up all order with those 'errors' and reverse the fees... Issue resolved for me though ;-)

 

[gwapogorilla]

I placed an order last Monday evening. Wednesday it was at my door step. Upon opening, I noticed the vial of White labs yeast I ordered had a "use by date" of the next day.
I called Midwest and talked to a rep. I had a replacement vial waiting at my door step on Friday...no extra charge.
Now that's service! That's why I stick with MW.

 

[bendog15]

I placed an order with Midwest and it came right away.