I'm one of those that has serious trouble. I'm about to be on my 4th unit. It's been frustrating to say the least. And then to expect your customer to go through all the steps of applying the flex seal to correct the issue? Also, maybe Spike should offer some sort of compensation for the lost glycol, especially when it was purchased from them.
Spike Brewing - Ben Caya
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Punx Clever
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Holy out of control thread! Ben with Spike here. I haven't been on HBT in years. Glad the forum is still around! Thanks to whoever tagged us so we go notified.
LOTS of misinformation being spread here mainly by (wickedbeernut). I'll try to give some clarity but I'll monitor this thread for a few days so people can ask questions and get actual information.
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Facebook User Group Bans
I've seen multiple places that we are banning people and we are controlling the Spike User Group. I'd recommend you reach out to Brandon Starkey who is the main Admin of the group who has no affiliation with Spike. The decision was made to start banning detractors from the group. This was not a Spike decision or order. The group is suppose to be a positive place to discuss brewing beer. A few people, who stated they will never buy Spike again, decided that they were going to comment negatively on every single post that ever got brought up. The group started to get hostile and just overall negative. Those detractors can go complain else where (thus this thread being created).
...
Again, lots of misinformation from people with too much time on their hands. If you don't want to buy from us then don't; it's a free country. But not sure why some people want to make it there life's mission to try and talk negatively about a small company filled with really hard working dedicated employees. Soon enough we'll be the only home brew brand around so don't burn your bridgeIn the meantime if people want to have a cordial convo I'm happy to answer questions!
Ho boy. I kinda went back and forth even responding, but since I'm the "thus this thread being created" guy, well... might as well.
1) Can't really reach out to the admin of a Facebook group you are banned from. Doesn't work that way.
2) It's a 'user group' not a 'buyer group'. Even if I decided to never purchase from Spike again because you (on your personal FB account) doxxed a customer's purchases, I'm still a guy who bought into the Solo system at the start. Telling people how to deal with the mash basket, it's tendency to overrun the mash, the enormous amount of uncirculated dead space, and the best way to ditch the basket and go to a BIAB if that's what they want has nothing to do with not buying Spike in the future.
3) Speaking of doxxing folks... maybe it's hidden behind the deleted posts, but something tells me that wickedbeernut didn't publicly share his name here. Maybe that something is the moderator's edit: "(attachment was removed due to showing personal information - mod)". That probably explains why this thread disappeared for a while too.
But, hey, I suppose I've got too much time on my hands. Maybe folks don't want to know when the owner/founder of a company will publicly share personal information from sales records. Maybe it's just me.
Reading these posts from customers who appear to have legitimate issues, who have been quite civil in their criticism, and who are not receiving respect or satisfaction for the hard-earned money they have spent, tells me everything I need to know about this vendor.
This thread should serve as a cautionary tale for others.
This thread should serve as a cautionary tale for others.
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Fwiw, I own numerous pieces from spike equipment, 30gal trio, 2 cf15s, flow pumps, aio prvs, and countless doodads.. I had 1 problem with my prv, talked to spike customer service, problem handled, no complaints here.. I understand that ppl have issues, but I'm willing to bet it's a small percentage overall.
I've had a similarly good experience with them and while the Solo system that I own does require some adjustments to my brewing process, I feel that it's well built and I have no complaints.
However, I agree that the responses here are rather off-putting. This isn't how I would have expected the vendor to respond.
However, I agree that the responses here are rather off-putting. This isn't how I would have expected the vendor to respond.
kotamoore23
Member
Wanted to revive this thread to show my recent interaction with Spike Customer Service. Had my eye on the Solo Panel in the Bargain Cave but didn't get to purchase it in the last go around, so I signed up for email alerts when it is back in stock. Well low and behold I get an email and then a text with a discount code because I left the full price Panel in my cart. So I click the link in the email apply my code and check out, receive my confirmation email and get excited that I finally have a 240v controller on the way. Shortly after customer service reached out saying the same thing as the email chain below. Then I get an email that I had cancelled my order. You can read how it unfolded.
I get it mistakes are made, but email the customer let them know discount codes are usually not accepted on sale items but it will be honored. Transparency, accountability and great customer service wrapped into one and you have the confidence of your customer. Seems like Spike needs to update their About page...
I get it mistakes are made, but email the customer let them know discount codes are usually not accepted on sale items but it will be honored. Transparency, accountability and great customer service wrapped into one and you have the confidence of your customer. Seems like Spike needs to update their About page...
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
As a vendor, I guess I'll go ahead and play devil's advocate here and this has nothing to do with any opinions I have about Spike the company; pro or con.
There are different kind of mistakes. If I ship the wrong thing, or forget to ship an item, that's an act of negligence or a temporary insanity or whatever surrounding a normal transaction. This is a different thing where the system is designed to work a certain way and by some combination of circumstances that were previously outside of consideration of the website build, a loophole was discovered.
Sure, as the customer you can look at it like you've just stress tested the system and the vendor could treat it like the loss is just paying a tithing to the person who discovered the loophole. Yeah, maybe. Walmart or Amazon can afford to pay bounties to all the loophole detectives and never miss a beat. However, do you really want to be part of putting a niche hobby business in distress on principal?
What if you found a glitch where you put ten fermenters in the cart and it let you check out for a dollar. They're a crap company if they refund the dollar and cancel? It's an extreme example, but there's a line somewhere.
Agreed. Not every customer disappointment is a reason for a vendor to cave. And, even though some Spike customers may well be justifiably aggrieved (I'm thinking of terrible with a glycol chiller), Spike also has a strong history of quickly sending replacement parts when something seems awry. (Ask me how I know.)
That said, @kotamoore23 feels led astray, a sort of bait-and-switch feeling (maybe caused by a web site snafu) if I understand correctly. Perhaps he and @SpikeBrewing could come to some compromise with better communication. After all, Spike has a product that kotamoore wants...
Cheers!
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I'll take ten, please. Of course, I'll gladly pay the additional Spike 7.8% "Tariff Surcharge".
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I bet you can save $150 on a brand new 240V Solo Panel through a Spike reseller. Most resellers don't keep up with Spike price increases. Most resellers don't pass along the Spike 7.8% "Tariff Surcharge". The resellers drop-ship from Spike. You're getting the exact same Solo Panel in the same amount of time as if you'd ordered it directly from Spike at a significant savings.
* - It doesn't apply in the case of the Solo Panel, but some resellers have a free shipping minimum less than the Spike $150 minimum for even further savings.
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SpikeBrewing
Well-Known Member
Thanks to @Bobby_M for depending our decision with some additional background. For additional background...
This item was in our Bargain Cave at 25% off as it was returned item. When checking out the customer used a 10% additional discount for first time buyers which our system should block on Bargain Cave items. The tariff surcharge was also not included for some reason. That means the customer paid $450 for what should have been $540. We reached out to the customer to explain the issue and sent an invoice for the remaining balance. Instead they decided to comb our website for leverage on how to force us into taking an additional loss on this sale. We explained (with a screenshot) that our Terms of Service clearly state we can cancel an order at any time and for any reason. That was not a good enough reason and thus the additional post to try and cause more harm to Spike.
As Bobby stated, the home brew community is in a massive decline. We are not Amazon. We are not going to take a loss on a sale because of some glitch. The customer isn't out anything other than some potential savings they were trying to squeak out. If the customers continue to squeeze all the manufacotuers and suppliers there won't be anyone left to sell y'all equipment...
This item was in our Bargain Cave at 25% off as it was returned item. When checking out the customer used a 10% additional discount for first time buyers which our system should block on Bargain Cave items. The tariff surcharge was also not included for some reason. That means the customer paid $450 for what should have been $540. We reached out to the customer to explain the issue and sent an invoice for the remaining balance. Instead they decided to comb our website for leverage on how to force us into taking an additional loss on this sale. We explained (with a screenshot) that our Terms of Service clearly state we can cancel an order at any time and for any reason. That was not a good enough reason and thus the additional post to try and cause more harm to Spike.
As Bobby stated, the home brew community is in a massive decline. We are not Amazon. We are not going to take a loss on a sale because of some glitch. The customer isn't out anything other than some potential savings they were trying to squeak out. If the customers continue to squeeze all the manufacotuers and suppliers there won't be anyone left to sell y'all equipment...
SpikeBrewing
Well-Known Member
We have a longgggg history with you so we'll try to keep it short....
Not sure why you have tariff surcharge in ""? We've been hit with 100%+ tariff bills recently. 7.8% is a SMALL fraction of what is being paid behind the scenes.
Also for anyone listening to this bad advice I'll give 2 warnings.
1) You're taking advantage of a dealer if you try and exploit this loophole. The dealer will be paying the higher price on our site and thus making a smaller margin
2) Most likely the dealer will see the price discrepancy when they order from our site and then send you an invoice for additional money owed
Not sure why the community is trying to take advantage of manufacturers and dealers. If they make no profit they go out of business....
It's unsurprising when someone seeks advantage. Also, when someone else declines to give it. Again, sometimes compromise is possible, but sometimes not.
"The community" is, of course, many more folks than those of whom you complain.
I'm a happy Spike customer, but, of course, that's not a universal experience. People like to complain, but my sense is that "the community" generally feels pretty good about Spike. And, usually, vice versa.
Cheers!
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In my (limited) experience, Spike resellers honor the price listed on their website despite being almost 20% less expensive than the Spike website. I've yet to see a reseller raise their prices after I placed an order.
Are you sure your resellers understand what they're expected to charge? Have you explained to all your resellers that they need to tack on a 7.8% "Tariff Surcharge"?
On the Spike website, there's the price you're presented in performing a search, then there's the price on the product page which is 10% higher. For example, the Solo Panel "search price" is $599 (see attached). The Solo Panel "product page price" is $658.90 ... a 10% increase. Of course, the 7.8% "Tariff Surcharge" is applied to the "product page price" in your cart for a total increase of 18.6% over the "search price".
The resellers I've looked at are charging the Spike website "search price". Clearly, the "search price" is still on the Spike website. Maybe resellers are accessing the "search price"?
Maybe. I'm sure they will figure this out. We can't see the maker-reseller relationship details.
The tariff situation has lots of folks scrambling.
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I paid 61% Import Duty (including "Regulatory Charges" and a $17 USD "Duty Tax Processing" fee) on my second to last Brewtools.us order (August 3). I just paid 32.7% Import Duty on my most recent Brewtools.us order. The difference? With my second to last order, the country of origin for all of the Brewtools products was China. With my most recent order, the country of origin for the Brewtools products was split approximately 50/50 between China and Norway. I suspect the tariff on Norway is around 10% - 15%. Of course, the answer is to order Brewtools products through MoreBeer (assuming MoreBeer stocks the product you're after).
In a perfect world, dealers are given pricing spreadsheets that list retail pricing for all SKUs so that they can be imported quickly to keep up with MAP and make it fair for everyone involved. This has been difficult, I'm sure, for all manufacturers who both sell retail and support a dealer network. Pricing is fluctuating constantly so as a vendor that sells Brewbuilt, Blichmann, Spike and SSbrewtech it's impossible to keep up with pricing without those update sheets. I don't mind being transparent in saying that none of the manufacturers are on top of pricing updates with their retailer network. I almost always take a big hit on items that are not selling regularly. When I see my profit evaporate, I update the price for that item. I don't have time to scour websites for current pricing on this many SKUs.
Some resellers stocked up against impending tariffs, and buyers may gain some benefit from that. Eventually, tariffed goods will cost more.
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All of the Spike resellers that I've looked at drop-ship directly from Spike. They don't maintain any inventory.
shoengine
Whale Noun Member
In my experience resellers tend to sell stuff cheaper than OEMs.
Just buy it where it is cheaper.
Is this a supply chain management class now?
Just buy it where it is cheaper.
Is this a supply chain management class now?
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I just checked a few of your Spike products. They don't reflect the Spike 10% price increase (whatever that's attributed to). And you're not applying the Spike 7.8% "Tariff Surcharge". So as with the other Spike "resellers" (likely the wrong term), your prices are considerably lower than the Spike website.
I've placed three orders with you in the last month. You have a great selection of products at fair prices. Quick shipping. Thank you.
and it's not intentional. Luckily I did have a pretty good inventory on hand but for the items I was forced to drop ship, I basically made a buck fiddy.
SpikeBrewing
Well-Known Member
Appreciate that! It's just frustrating because I'd say about 75% of all negative experiences are posted online somewhere. However the literal tens of thousands of positive ones aren't. We understand that's how the internet works but it's difficult because we want to defend ourselves but then typically people throw the "customer is always right" back at us regardless of the situation. Appreciate the support!
shoengine
Whale Noun Member
That's fair. Just today I was looking for my Amazon order and although I intentionally delayed my order a few days everything is still split up. I wanted to complain because what is the point of consolidating my orders on Amazon Day if they get split up and delivered on different days, but now I just feel spoiled.
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Looks like BrewBuilt "reverse-engineered" the Spike Brewing "Tank" Kettle ...
The BrewBuilt Boil Kettle Cooling Jacket is an interesting twist. I'll be anxious to hear how that performs.
Of course, with their X3-series, BrewBuilt did an excellent job "reverse-engineering" the Brewtools F-series unitank. The Brewtools F-series unitank remains the gold standard, but the BrewBuilt X3-series is a close second. Spike Brewing isn't competitive (in terms of performance) in the unitank space.
BrewBuilt is "reverse-engineering" the best of the best.
The BrewBuilt Boil Kettle Cooling Jacket is an interesting twist. I'll be anxious to hear how that performs.
Of course, with their X3-series, BrewBuilt did an excellent job "reverse-engineering" the Brewtools F-series unitank. The Brewtools F-series unitank remains the gold standard, but the BrewBuilt X3-series is a close second. Spike Brewing isn't competitive (in terms of performance) in the unitank space.
BrewBuilt is "reverse-engineering" the best of the best.
gifty74
Well-Known Member
@SpikeBrewing, just curious, when you note that homebrewing is down 70%, are you referring to the hobby in general, like a general statistic, or are you referring to your specific sales to homebrewers?
SpikeBrewing
Well-Known Member
This is based on our sales, competitors sales, the fact more commercial breweries are closing than opening (commercial is probably down 90%). Along with web traffic, web searches for home brewing and more anecdotal facts like brewing user groups being ghosts towns compared to 10+ posts/day back when people actually brewed.
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