What has happened to Northern Brewer Customer Service?

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MrHoppy

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I have purchased many kits (+50) from Northern Brewer. Their customer Service has been amazing and the three or four times I have called them regarding an order, they have always been very helpful. Recently, I put in an online order late at night, I then did a little more research and decided to change out the yeast I has selected. Well, that is when it was obvious that things have changed. After many searches, I gave up on finding a number. It seems that they now prefer a text or email. No problem, I understand there is a cost to having the phone monitored all day, so I sent a text and immediately received an auto reply that I would be contacted in three hours. That never happened. I sent a followup text and nothing. Then I tried the email option, again nothing. Last night (two days have passed) I receive an email telling me that me order has been sent!
Anyway, just venting I guess, but has anyone experienced this new policy? Does anyone have a number that they will answer?
 
I recently had some issues as well. Nothing would stay in my cart so I looked for their Support Chat option, it wasn't available. I then tried to find a phone number with no luck. They appear to have a few retail locations so I'd assume someone could answer a phone but nobody did. My email took 5 days to get a response.

I've had nothing but great service from NB so I gave them one more chance. I finally got an order placed and a very nice response from Mike W and he said they were working on some issues. My stuff arrived within a few days.

I hope they figure out their glitches and I'll continue to be a loyal customer. Fast service and support are paramount in the age of internet shopping.
 
Not really in their defense, but some observations. In the last few years they were sold to In-Bev which was not popular with many. They were later sold again to another outfit. After that they closed or are planning to close one of their stores. I believe there were only 2. Midwest is also part of the same outfit.

Too many changes? Growing, or shrinking pains??? New personnel? Who knows? But I does seem their service has degraded.

I stopped using them years ago when I found that I could get almost anything less expensive if I shopped around.
 
NB got back and made things right. They said it is just a very busy time and they are working with a new system. They also said that a phone line should be happening in the near future. Anyway, they came through.
 
I've never had any issues with NB.
And now I shop them regularly since they're not part of Inbev anymore (I still used them occasionally even then but less).
 
Well, I thought I’d give NB a try again. It’s been a long time since I used them so I thought I’d give them another shot. I should have gone elsewhere.

I waited 12 days to receive my order and then when I did receive it, two items were not included. That pretty much screws me for a brewday I planned this week.

Of course, I will work around them and brew something else but the fact that I have to do that is crap.

Top it off — I cannot call them to explain my situation. I had to send a message and am on their timeline to get back with me.

I should have known better.
 
I understand your frustration and have totally been there but as someone who knows how customer service tickets work you are probably opening up additional tickets with each additional text/email/phone contact which is adding to the likely backlog that has delayed your request in the first place.
 
cmybeer said:
I understand your frustration and have totally been there but as someone who knows how customer service tickets work you are probably opening up additional tickets with each additional text/email/phone contact which is adding to the likely backlog that has delayed your request in the first place.
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I only sent in one email. Not sure where you got the idea I sent in more than one.
 
brewbama said:
Well, I thought I’d give NB a try again. It’s been a long time since I used them so I thought I’d give them another shot. I should have gone elsewhere.

I waited 12 days to receive my order and then when I did receive it, two items were not included. That pretty much screws me for a brewday I planned this week.

Of course, I will work around them and brew something else but the fact that I have to do that is crap.

Top it off — I cannot call them to explain my situation. I had to send a message and am on their timeline to get back with me.

I should have known better.
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I bought a 3 gal BIAB chocolate milk stout kit from NB and it came with ingredients packaged for a 5 gal kit with instructions like "use only a little more than half of the included lactose sugar" and "only use 3/4 of the included cacao nibs". So I messaged them via the site to get some clarification and after 5 days, some girl emails me with a different set of instructions that were for a 5 gal extract batch. I wrote back that the help she was offering was for a different kit and she then sent instructions that I could use all the ingredients but soak the nibs in vodka first. I just gave up and followed the original instructions as best I could since she obviously did not know WTF I was talking about.

I'm beginning to appreciate the folks at http://morebeer.com a lot more these days.

**Snuffy
 
I made several large purchases with them in October, spent a bunch of money with them, however they were so unresponsive and challenging to work with that I decided not to use them any more. Not surprised it's just me. It's too bad, I hate to see this happen. When I got into brewing in 2016 originally, I remember them being much better. Hopefully they can reverse this trend.
 
I use Northern Brewer for all my on-line orders. Always excellent service, accurate shipments, and prompt responses.

Maybe they are spending all their great customer service and time on just the "good" customers, like me, as one example lol. [emoji481]
 
I can't imagine the justification for not having a phone but you kind of have to give anyone a little bit of a pass in December and early January between holiday shopping, holiday schedules, and the gift card and returns rush the days after. I'd imagine they get a lot of people like my friend I sent to AIH last year who are buying for a significant other and have no idea what they need/want. Then a lot of people coming back to get the *right* thing LOL.
 
I agree ordering during the holiday break warrants patience. I wasn’t too concerned with the slow transport and planned accordingly. My concern was the shortages.

I received a note today that the missing items would be shipped today and to expect them by the end of the week.
 
Not a fan. They don't ship to APO (don't support the troops) and the prices are not the best. Anything you can get from them you can get better and cheaper from BrewHardware, BrewersHardware, BargainFittings, AustinHomebrew, Yakima Valley, or Amazon.
 
I received the omitted items from my original order today. I had to laugh because the original shipment took 12 days but the correction took three. LOL. Whatever.

They did include a small taster glass for my trouble. That’s cool of em.
 
ChaosB said:
Not a fan. They don't ship to APO (don't support the troops) and the prices are not the best. Anything you can get from them you can get better and cheaper from BrewHardware, BrewersHardware, BargainFittings, AustinHomebrew, Yakima Valley, or Amazon.
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I’m about to develop a relationship w/Austin Homebrew as soon as I brew this last Patersbier I got from NB. (Which is a simple yet awesome beer, BTW) I gotta try and brew some of the AHS clone kits. Belhaven, Old Speckled Hen, Theakstons Old Peculiar. If those hit the mark, that’s some awesome beer.

**Snuffy
 
Imhoppy said:
...Always excellent service, accurate shipments, and prompt responses....
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rnorman57 said:
$55 for a sack of grain shipped from NB. I don't think any of the vendors you listed do that.
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I agree with @Imhoppy as my experiences with NB have always been positive. They have responded within 24 hours to any inquiries I have had and all my orders have been filled in a timely fashion. Granted, their free shipping may take longer than MB. But as @rnorman57 has pointed out, their prices on 50lbs and 55lbs sacks of grains are hard to beat.
 
I'm fortunate enough to have a NB retail store about an hour away. I stop there about once a month or so for supplies. The crew is always helpful and much of what I see online is in stock and ready to take home the same day :). That being said, I still like to shop at my LHBS (only 5 blocks away), Morebeer, Brewhardware, LabelPeelers, and of course Amazon.
 
Just sent this note to NB:

“I recently ordered two oz of East Kent Goldings from you. When I weighed the contents of the packages neither were a full oz.

I realize scales can be off so I checked the qty on three different scales and the heaviest of either package on any scale was .9 oz.

I also realize .1 + oz light per package in a 5 gal batch will probably be undetectable, but the fact remains that I believe I did not get what I paid for: two full oz of hops.

Given the fact that my order was short two pounds of grain that you had to resolve and now to find out it was also light makes me begin to rethink using Northern Brewer in the future.”
 
brewbama said:
Just sent this note to NB:

“I recently ordered two oz of East Kent Goldings from you. When I weighed the contents of the packages neither were a full oz.

I realize scales can be off so I checked the qty on three different scales and the heaviest of either package on any scale was .9 oz.

I also realize .1 + oz light per package in a 5 gal batch will probably be undetectable, but the fact remains that I believe I did not get what I paid for: two full oz of hops.

Given the fact that my order was short two pounds of grain that you had to resolve and now to find out it was also light makes me begin to rethink using Northern Brewer in the future.”
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There is really no excuse for that. Obviously, someone is not paying attention. Such small issues like this can make a huge negative impact on the business's reputation.

I guess I will need to double check the weight of my orders too.
 
I rarely, if ever, use them. I get almost all my specialty grains and misc stuff from ritebrew. Equipment from Ritebrew, Morebeer, brewhardware etc. Hops from Yakima Valley or farmhouse. Bulk base malts through our homebrew club.

Our local shop has had to cut back their hours so much it forced me to go to online options. I just have to plan more and ensure I have my ducks in a row before starting a brewday.
 
I agree that they're slipping, but I still go to them for some things. I put in an order with them last Friday and it just shipped yesterday, though. That was surprising. 5 days from order to shipping is a little much when nothing mentioned being back-ordered or anything. Hopefully they can get back to what they used to be. A full pound of hops free with a $75 purchase wasn't too bad though...
 
Purchased my first kit when I started 21 years ago. Lots has changed in that time. Visit their retail outlet in Milwaukee and had great experience with random extra discounts.

Ordered a simple riptide upgrade kit on Tuesday. No movement after 48 hours. In the past they got everything wrapped up within 24 hours, many times same day. Sent email asking for them to cancel order if it had not shipped. 30 minutes later got a shipment label created notification. Does not pass smell test

Have tried a lot of places, but when I need to do mail order, Austin Beer and Morebeer has been hard to beat, but I learned the LHBS has been best option.
 
OG-wan Kenobi said:
I just did an order with them last week all went smooth
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My previous orders, like yours, have gone smoothly too.

After the same member had yet another problem with the same order regarding the amount of hops he received, I reviewed my previous orders with NB. All were for the correct minimum amounts ~ 5lbs and 8 oz (5lb 1.4oz, 5lb 1.7oz, 5lb 1.3oz, 8.1oz).

I do not plan to weigh out everything again and really never had a need to, but this was a good exercise to perform seeing this member had repeated issues with one order. The exercise reaffirmed my positive experiences with NB and I will continue to order from them.
 
ncbrewer said:
Brewbama - I hope you will post their response. That will be as important as the product shortage.
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Absolutely. Their response is below. I believe it’s a great answer.

“We really appreciate your order and completely understand how we have made you doubt us as a future supplier.

The really bad news is that there were two different errors in your order. The missing grain was likely left out of the order during fulfillment, while the hops issue was in our packaging department.

We repackage our hops to control freshness. They stay in the freezer, in sealed bulk packaging, from the supplier. This allows us to know exactly how the hops were handled before being shipped to you. Great ingredients make great beer. We do calibrate our scales regularly but I am going to bump this to the operations team to make sure they do it again, as this is concerning.

It is always a good idea to weigh pre-packaged ingredients. We do allow for variances but try to make sure it is only in excess. We use grams when measuring so often times there is 29-30 grams in a package versus the 28.35 g that equals an ounce. A couple of pellets is all it takes to swing that and while you might not notice it in a batch, if consistency is your brewing goal, measuring on your own is a great practice to help that.

All that said, I am going to suggest a resolution and hopefully have you give us another shot. I see that you ordered 3 ounces of the East Kent Goldings and a few other hops as well. Were the other 8 ounces on the order over the one-ounce mark?
I was thinking I would offer a $50 gift card, so we can cover all (or most) of your next recipe order. Would that be fair? Our goal here is to help you make awesome beer, if you have concerns about the two short hop packs affecting this batch, I would be happy to replace those as well.

My apologies for trouble with this order and I look forward to getting this resolved for you.”
 
I have used them for years as well, I live a couple hours up the interstate and usually have really good service and fast shipping but I am really waiting for them to have the free big mouth bubbler promotion again, I use two of them now and really like em.
 
Well, after almost two weeks to get my order, my autosiphon showed up like this. Could have happened anywhere in shipping I suppose, but packed in a large box with lots of padding it seems a little unlikely. Nothing else particularly hard or heavy in the package. We'll see what customer service says. I really don't like complaining.
20200206_183031.jpg
 
I have had no issues with NB at all. The kit I received did have a broken syphon but that was due to mishandling by the wonderful post office. I emailed NB with a question. They got back to me within a hour. I ordered a kit to brew and it shipped timely. Instructions are present with the ingredients. I can not say that for others that make kits and mail. Also, as a one gallon brewer I find their big mouth bubbler as probably the best.
 
Seems like they've noticed some challenges as they sent me an order follow up asking that I fill out a survey. I've always had good experiences with them and notice that their ingredients are fresher than most. That being said MB tends to have higher quality hardware than NB among the big ones.
 
Hwk-I-St8 said:
I rarely, if ever, use them. I get almost all my specialty grains and misc stuff from ritebrew. Equipment from Ritebrew, Morebeer, brewhardware etc. Hops from Yakima Valley or farmhouse. Bulk base malts through our homebrew club.

Our local shop has had to cut back their hours so much it forced me to go to online options. I just have to plan more and ensure I have my ducks in a row before starting a brewday.
Click to expand...
I am interested in how your club offers bulk base malts. My only LHBS is closing and this setup could be handled by the local club. Please advise. Thanks.
 

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