Thumbs up for morebeer.com!

[Palefire]

Just wanted to throw a shout-out for morebeer.com. I went to the retail store in Concord last week to stock up on supplies, hops, etc, since they're so damn much cheaper than my LHBS (which shall remain nameless). The dude working there was super friendly and helpful.

Their printer wasn't working, so I didn't get a printout of my receipt, but it was e-mailed to me. When I got home I saw that the prices for some hops I had bought were a lot more expensive than they were advertised as on-line (their 2oz bags of Willamette were advertised as $3.25/2oz; they didn't have any 2oz bags in the store, so I bought a bunch of 1oz bags - when I got home I saw that I was charged almost $3 per 1oz bag!). I e-mailed them, explained the situation, and after a bit of e-mail exchanging, they're going to credit my account for the difference.

Nothing special, but I generally think it's nice to spread the word about companies that provide good customer service. So there you go. Two thumbs up!:rockin:

 

[boredatwork]

I have found that there in-store prices are not the same as the website.

 

[Arkador]

storefronts cost more than a shipping warehouse. it is not uncommon to pay more to get something at a storefront, than if you order it from the same companie's warehouse.

 

[humann_brewing]

I have found most things that I buy from them are the same in store as online such as grain, star-san 3-piece air lock etc... I just submitted a big order today actually.

I was just adding up my orders, I have spent over $700 there since November

 

[HenryHill]

Try ordering equipment and stuff from them online, and you will come away with a whole new outlook.

 

[CarlLBC]

yeah, not kidding. I've had out of stocks on the last five orders i've placed. more often then not its the main thing i'm making the order for. I've spent well over 1500 with more beer but have found myself using them as a last resort.

 

[Shooter]

Since I'm in Hayward, More Beer is about a 35 minute drive for me. So, they're kind of like my LHBS, I do frequent Hoptech occasionally. I'm not sure how they handle their website and internet orders. Many times I've seen things online that I want to get and it says they're out of stock. However, when I go up there, not only do they have it, they have several. When I get home the item will still be listed on their website as out of stock for days even weeks after I bought the item. This is at the Concord location, which I believe is their main warehouse. I'm not sure who handles their inventory, but they aren't always on the ball. The guys in the store though are very helpful!

 

[CarlLBC]

well, thats just fantastic for you

 

[Evan!]

Try ordering equipment and stuff from them online, and you will come away with a whole new outlook.

yeah, not kidding. I've had out of stocks on the last five orders i've placed. more often then not its the main thing i'm making the order for. I've spent well over 1500 with more beer but have found myself using them as a last resort.

+1 here. Walking into their store and looking at the inventory on the shelves is different. If it were like the online version, then you'd walk into the store, see an item on the shelf, pick it up, put it on the counter to check out, and when you turned around, it would be gone. When you went back to the shelf to get another one, the rest would be mysteriously gone too.

Personally, I don't order from them anymore, and I won't until their inventory system gets fixed. The last 3 or 4 times I tried ordering from them, I would put a whole bunch of stuff (stuff that said "in stock", of course) into my cart, check out, then a day or two later, I'd check on my order status only to see that the entire order was being held up because one of the "in stock" items wasn't actually in stock. Once is one thing, but when it becomes a recurring problem, I gotta go elsewhere. The OHBS scene is replete with awesome stores looking to please you. I personally am fond of Northern Brewer and Midwest. They seem to have the best selection, good prices, and never any of that hocus-pocus inventory nonsense. Austin Homebrew is great too, as long as you don't order from them during a sale---because that often means your order is delayed by at least 3 to 5 days.

Anyway, sorry for the aside, and I'm glad you had a good experience at their bricks-and-mortar shop. I wish they could fix the inventory system so their online store was as good.

 

[ThickHead]

I myself am a huge fan of supporting local business. By supporting the community within which you live you add to its viability, you also support and promote its health and level of quality. If you find prices online that are significantly cheaper than the prices offered by your LHBS let the owner of your LHBS know about it. Ask the owner if they would be willing to offer price matching options to keep your business local.

I by no means am against companies that offer great prices online and reach out to a larger community. There are many online companies that offer quality services and products. It is just my opinion that it is generally more healthy, for your local community, to support your local businesses when practical.

 

[humann_brewing]

I am just waiting for The POI to poke his head in here, I know he just loves Morebeer

As far as the product stock thing, I think they have improved this. If you have shopped there in the last couple of months, there are quite a few things out of stock. I have been wanting the 9" false bottom and aeration system that have been out forever. Hint hint if anyone needs to sell one.

 

[CarlLBC]

naw, they hadn't improved it. not in my opinion anyways. had to cancel whole order just a month ago due to OOS.

 

[Shooter]

well, thats just fantastic for you

Indeed!

 

[jpc]

I like to support my locals as well...

Turns out that MoreBeer IS one of my locals.

 

[Clayton]

thankfully my lhbs is great and its also my ohbs
thay are great to deal with and keep a huge inventory.
just the other day my dumb ass buddy dumped hot work in to a better bottle and melting it
to the size of a 2 litter. he called them and thay sent him a new one!!
I would have told him he is a dumb ass but we do have more if he would like to "buy" one.

High Gravity Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies Online Store - High Gravity

 

[Shooter]

Anyway, sorry for the aside, and I'm glad you had a good experience at their bricks-and-mortar shop. I wish they could fix the inventory system so their online store was as good.

Oh, no need to apologize, I've found their in store service to be great with a huge selection, but have heard a few complaints about ordering through them. The website looks nice, but the inventory system sure doesn't seem to work.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

My previous experiences gave me the impressions they had there Thumbs Up. But I'll leave out where they, or what they were up.

Took my business elsewhere and only order from B3 when there is no other viable alternative.

 

[TheMan]

I agree with the out of stock thing. But as far as customer service, they are awesome. I had a bag of malt arrive broken. I called them up and told them the situation...they sent out a new bag that day, no questions asked. I find that very rare, typically something that arrives broken requires a lot of haggling with customer service to get it replaced.

When in stock, they are great.

 

[humann_brewing]

I guess I have a good experiment going. I just placed an order with 26 items on it that were marked as "in stock". So we shall see......

 

[CarlLBC]

my guess is 25 will be out of stock, but they will let you know when they come back in stock :rockin: when ever that may be

 

[Evan!]

my guess is 25 will be out of stock, but they will let you know when they come back in stock :rockin: when ever that may be

It's never 25. It's always just one or two, and those one or two hold up your entire order. It's a stupid system. If one or two things are out of stock, then ship them separately and, since THEY were the ones that screwed up, THEY should pay for the extra shipping. It's just such a PITA to spend an hour or two researching and putting together a shopping cart filled with stuff, only to have the entire order get screwed up because they didn't have a few things. What I don't get is why it's so difficult to put however many items you have in the warehouse into the inventory system, and when the inventory runs out, it automatically updates the website. I mean, most places on teh intarwebz seem to be able to do it...

 

[CarlLBC]

yeah, I agree. just a little sarcasm. a real time inventory would be great and would get my business back. hell, even those morons at the brewing network have a real time inventory in their store. (I can call them morons, because I like/listen to them) until the get that part of their company fixed, i'll continue with AHS, Midwest and my not so lhbs.

 

[Shooter]

I wonder how many shipments are held up for an out of stock item because the computer is telling the person filling the order that they don't have it and they just went by that, instead of going down to that bin and looking and seeing that they have five or six of them?!?!? All I know is when it says out of stock online, nine times out of ten I go to the store and they have several. Hmm, they REALLY are quite nice in person. Too bad they can't get their system working correctly!

I have had great success with online orders from Austin Homebrew and Williams Brewing.

 

[artyusmc]

I just placed an order, an hour ago, about ten items and a kit. all items were in stock. i have experinced the out of stock frustration but i was able to adjust. B3 is my lone realible option. I was heading to LA to today check out the wine and cheese shop in woodland hills but plans changed and i want to brew friday. maybe next time

 

[boredatwork]

I do agree with the comments about the online stocking problem. But I also agree with the comment about customer service. They have fixed every single one of the mistakes they made on my orders with compelling urgency. But the point still stands, it would be nice to have no problems in the first place.

And I actually started ordering online because the storefront in Los Altos usually has poor stock of whatever I need. Seeing as how that is my LHBS sometimes ordering online is a necessity.

 

[humann_brewing]

I guess I have a good experiment going. I just placed an order with 26 items on it that were marked as "in stock". So we shall see......

FYI, my order shipped within the same day. No emails saying that anything was out of stock etc... I was quite shocked especially since I picked the super saver shipping too.

 

[humann_brewing]

Well, to my suprise, I received my order 1 day after ordered and also selected the free shipping which before meant that they would hold the order for 4 days before even shipping.

So not only did come back to me saying something was out of stock but I received my order the next day when choosing the free shipping option. Granted I live about 4 hours away but still.

 

[boo boo]

Well Northern Brewer is out for us Canucks. They stopped shipping to Canada due to the NAFTA regulations and the hassles that go with it.
But there are still some great places that will ship here....

 

[mgo737]

I have had terrible, terrible experiences with morebeer.com. BMW>MW>WB>NB (too much markup on NB)

 

[WenValley]

Another "No" vote for Morebeer.

I placed an order last week, and the order was held up because the CO2 regulator was out of stock. Morebeer agreed to split the order and ship the regulator when they arrive next week. I was told via email that I shouldn't choose the Free Shipping option as by the time they go to fill these types of orders, it's possible that the item will no longer be in stock.

This suggestion from Morebeer customer service rep. seems odd to me. Morebeer is saying that they're system is defective, and that if you select one of the features that they plaster all over their webpages, you're actually reducing your chance of receiving the item. The upshot is that if you pay for shipping, you'll get better treatment and your order has a higher potential to be shipped in it's entirety.

The order did arrive yesterday, well packaged and complete (except for the regulator). This is my first large transaction with a mail order brew supply company. I'll probably do more business with Morebeer, but they won't be my primary supplier.