Northern Brewer - Buyer Beware

[RyPA]

@BrewnWKopperKat Not sure if that was directed at me, but for the record I am not hating on Northern Brewer, I've actually ordered from them in the past and had no negative experiences. But over the past 2+ years, MoreBeer's prices are consistently better, they have an awesome selection, and they ship stuff out super fast with free shipping over $59, so I stopped bothering with other retailers. I do go elsewhere on occasion depending on what I need (Yakima for hops, Farmhouse for recipe kits/yeast, etc).

I wish Yakima would get on the free shipping train. I have to hold off until I need a large order to justify the $10 on shipping. It's not that I'm cheap, no wait a minute, I am cheap.

 

[mac_1103]

MoreBeer's prices are consistently better, they have an awesome selection, and they ship stuff out super fast with free shipping over $59, so I stopped bothering with other retailers.

I order from MoreBeer quite often. I've never received an order in less than six days. I can live with that, but I wouldn't call it super fast.

 

[RyPA]

I order from MoreBeer quite often. I've never received an order in less than six days. I can live with that, but I wouldn't call it super fast.

Depends on where you live I guess. They have a warehouse in Pennsylvania and I live in NJ, so its usually 3-4 days. So it's not Amazon Prime fast, but fast enough in my book.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@BrewnWKopperKat Not sure if that was directed at me,

Nope - the criteria in #170 noted that the OPs had a post count of one and never posted again to the topic. The most recent instance included posting on full moon.

FWIW, over the years, I've had problems with most on line home brew stores that I have used more than once (the problem is almost always shipping/shipper related).

'just in time' delivery (order on Monday, brew in Saturday) often works, but with a little bit of planning and some storage space, I can brew what I want when I want. And I don't have to 'hate on' a supplier because the delivery didn't arrive on time.

 

[user 344105]

I'm not hating on any shop either. Just relaying true experience and if that's a dud, so be it. I've ordered from dang near everybody at one time or another. Williams, NorCal, Northern, AIH, Austin, Atlantic, GF, MoreBeer. Seems like just when a store has it all working right, they get bought because they are doing well and then, they immediately dump the employees, facilities and systems that made them outstanding and dumb them down to mediocre - missing the whole point entirely. If you don't buy the shop for anything but the clientele, what sense does it make to wreck that relationship and lose them?

I would love to buy exclusively from my local HBS. I do so for cleaning stuff and whatever I can think of when I pass there. And I'm always thankful their sign is still up. But...the only wet yeast they stock is White Labs. You can't walk in there with a recipe and expect to get out with everything on the shopping list. It's substitutions and close but no cigar on anything remotely specialized or non-standard. So, I walk away 2 ingredients short and now don't have the volume to get to free shipping when I have to go back online for the rest.

You can't stock everything for everybody - I get it. My hat is off to folks that run a shop for the love of the craft. I respect your skills and hope you too will get that InBev call when you are ready to retire. It's just so much nicer to get it all like it says on the list. Only way I can do that is online.

I'd buy from a guy in a trench coat behind the skating rink if he had what I want at a reasonable price and it was consistent quality.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

From a different perspective ...

Seems like just when a store has it all working right, they get bought the owner(s) sell because they are doing well

... and that's how privately held businesses work.

---

It's been almost two years since AIH/AHS was sold. Maybe it's time to ...

---

That being said, polite commentary on suppliers that are hard to contact is certainly appreciated.

And, FWIW, it appears that much that HomeBrewTalk revenue is advertising. Suppliers can be a source of advertising revenue.

 

[McMullan]

that's how privately held businesses work

From whose perspective? Customers or shareholders?

 

[MaxStout]

I haven't seen any discussion in this thread that rises to the level of "hating."

People here are sharing their experiences, good and bad. We have to be consumerists. It's our money. If the experience is bad, and we've given the vendor chances to remedy the issue and the issue is not remedied, then it should be brought to our attention as a warning to others.

I don't care if the vendor is a mom-and-pop or if it's corporate-owned. I don't care where it's located. I don't care if they advertise here or not. I only care about the customers, because no one else is going to look after them. We're the ones who must be vigilant. Throwing our hands up and saying "that's how business works" is disingenuous.

It's our money, folks. We shouldn't stand idly by and let some vendor rip us off. Try to get them to do the right thing. Give them a chance to make good within a reasonable time frame. And if they won't, call 'em out. Then move on to another vendor.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

From whose perspective? Customers or shareholders?

 

[mac_1103]

Throwing our hands up and saying "that's how business works" is disingenuous.

This completely ignores the context in which the comment was made. Do you really think that a business owner doesn't have the right to sell her business because the new owners might not take care of the customers the way she did?

 

[mac_1103]

And the point about being skeptical of members who register solely to make a single post complaining about a vendor is also valid.

 

[IslandLizard]

Stay on topic, guys!
And leave politics out of our public forums.

 

[MaxStout]

This thread should be in the Company Reviews section, anyway.

 

[IslandLizard]

This thread should be in the Company Reviews section, anyway.

Ideally, yes.
But let's not nitpick.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I order from MoreBeer quite often. I've never received an order in less than six days. I can live with that, but I wouldn't call it super fast.

Depends on where you live I guess. They have a warehouse in Pennsylvania and I live in NJ, so its usually 3-4 days. So it's not Amazon Prime fast, but fast enough in my book.

Definitely depends on where you live. I'm about 5 hours south of MoreBeer's California location and my last order, a couple weeks ago, arrived less than 24 hours after placing it. On a previous order they had to split the items, some from CA and some from PA. The CA items arrived within a couple days, and the PA items within 5 days. That's fine. I like MoreBeer's prices, fast shipping, and inventory (they stock most things I look for). But I still make regular trips to my LHBS (40 mile round trip), to support them whenever it makes sense.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

FWIW, the phrase wasn't "hate", it was "hating on" (with a mention of posting on full moon).

Different words, different meanings.

Like I said earlier:

• polite commentary on suppliers that are hard to contact is certainly appreciated.

... and I'd like to add

• Report slow order filling and/or shipping?
  • That's a good to know.
  • Over time, these problems tend to correct themselves.
  • Acquisitions tend to take 6 to 12 months for things to get back to normal.

• Report slow filling and/or shipping, drag in the ownership history of one of the related store fronts, and then promise to never buy again from any store front in the ownership history?
  • That might discourage other businesses from ...
  • 

 

[PCABrewing]

I don't have to 'hate on' a supplier because the delivery didn't arrive on time.

I don't advocate that either but I do think it is worth giving them the feedback if their shipper of choice is in a rut of bad service. Just do it constructively while keeping the focus on the shipper not the vendor.
They might not even know they are getting poor service from their business partner.

 

[ncbrewer]

And leave politics out of our public forums.

Could you explain what you mean by this? I didn't think there were any political comments.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

@ncbrewer : a 'side topic' went down a very short cul-de-sac before being removed.

 

[redrocker652002]

Depends on where you live I guess. They have a warehouse in Pennsylvania and I live in NJ, so its usually 3-4 days. So it's not Amazon Prime fast, but fast enough in my book.

I live in the SF Bay area and they have a warehouse in the Central part of the state, so two to three days for me. Usually way before my brew day which is cool.

 

[BongoYodeler]

I live in the SF Bay area and they have a warehouse in the Central part of the state, so two to three days for me. Usually way before my brew day which is cool.

Really? I think their warehouse is in Pittsburgh, CA which I thought was less than an hour from SF?

 

[Broothru]

I order from MoreBeer quite often. I've never received an order in less than six days. I can live with that, but I wouldn't call it super fast.

I get orders from MB usually w/i 2 days: order Monday, on the doorstep by Wednesday afternoon. Of course, I’m only 70 miles from their Pittsburg, PA., warehouse. So there’s that.

In a way it kinda sucks though, since it’s easier to order from MoreBeer than to go across town to my LHBS, and I know the retail side of their business has to be feeling the downturn. Fortunately they are closely aligned with a number of local breweries, and that business keeps them in the black.

 

[redrocker652002]

Really? I think their warehouse is in Pittsburgh, CA which I thought was less than an hour from SF?

I could not remember, just remember it was somewhere in California. You are right, according to their website, but for some reason I thought it was Modesto or Turlock. Either way, two to three days and I usually have my stuff. Not bad.

I just checked, with no traffic it is a little over an hour. And in California, no traffic is not normal. LOL

 

[treacheroustexan]

I just wanted to contribute my shipping times to this post. I had to take advantage of a sale so I got the kama citra kit and the mosaic ipa kit. Ordered on Feb 4th, was delivered Feb 14th.

 

[z-bob]

Even with 20% off, their prices are still high.

The only time I ordered from them in the recent past was when they use to do their 3 for $60 kits sales, but now they only on that for extract brews.

I need to get some of those $20 extract kits whenever they go on sale. (they still do that, right?) I'm an all-grain brewer but I only get to brew a few times a year. Extract kits would allow me to sneak a few extras in. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

I need to get some of those $20 extract kits whenever they go on sale. (they still do that, right?) I'm an all-grain brewer but I only get to brew a few times a year. Extract kits would allow me to sneak a few extras in. Thanks for the reminder.

I honestly don't know. I do not pay attention to any of their “deals” anymore.

 

[mac_1103]

I get orders from MB usually w/i 2 days: order Monday, on the doorstep by Wednesday afternoon. Of course, I’m only 70 miles from their Pittsburg, PA., warehouse. So there’s that.

Just FWIW, I placed a small MoreBeer order on Monday. It shipped today. This is typical for me, maybe even a day quicker than usual. So I'm not sure how anybody gets their stuff delivered in two days no matter how close to a warehouse they might be.

 

[BongoYodeler]

Just FWIW, I placed a small MoreBeer order on Monday. It shipped today. This is typical for me, maybe even a day quicker than usual. So I'm not sure how anybody gets their stuff delivered in two days no matter how close to a warehouse they might be.

I usually get my MoreBeer orders quite fast as long as the the entire order comes from CA. It obviously takes longer when they have to split the order between warehouses.

I just went back and checked my most recent order which was grains for an imperial stout, plus some miscellaneous hardware. I placed the order on Monday February 19th at 9:54 am, and received an email later that same day at 3:10 pm letting me know my order shipped. The order was at my front door on Tuesday February 20th at 11:13 am. It shipped free using standard shipping via GLS since the order was in excess of $59.
While that's quicker than usual I still don't think I've ever waited longer than 3 or 4 days, order to delivery.

 

[mac_1103]

I guess they just don't like me.

 

[Yesfan]

I order from MoreBeer quite often. I've never received an order in less than six days. I can live with that, but I wouldn't call it super fast.

That's weird. I'm in TN, so I may get my orders from MB in 4-5 days. Not super fast like you say, but neither is Amazon Prime if that makes you feel better.

I've thought about letting my Prime account expire.