What has happened to Northern Brewer Customer Service?

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I just did an order with them last week all went smooth

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.

 

[brewbama]

Brewbama - I hope you will post their response. That will be as important as the product shortage.

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.”

 

[user 254557]

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.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

IMO, great customer service by Northern Brewer as per their reply/concern above.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

That's going above and beyond well done NB and thanks @brewbama for posting the follow up

 

[lowtones84]

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.

 

[Buick Beer Gardens]

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.

 

[bkboiler]

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.

 

[TennBrewer]

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 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.

 

[Dland]

Remember when their "catalog" was a few pages of flyer taped shut & sent in mail?

 

[beernutz]

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.

They offer a 10% discount (as a refund) to veterans and active service members.

 

[Hwk-I-St8]

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.

They worked a deal with a local brewery where we piggy back on their orders. Ther upside is dirt cheap...25 bucks a bag. Downside is it's all briess and it's mostly limited to base malts.

 

[jturman35]

Anyone have any issues with the hops they package in-house? I just ordered some Amarillo and Simcoe and was surprised when it arrived in their packaging.

 

[VirginiaHops1]

Anyone have any issues with the hops they package in-house? I just ordered some Amarillo and Simcoe and was surprised when it arrived in their packaging.

I really hate when online retailers do that so I try to only buy from places that I know nitro flush well and are the original source or close to it. That said I bought 8 oz of falconers flight from them late last year because for some reason that hop is really cheap there and it seemed fine.

 

[kzosche]

We placed an order with NB. It took a little long to get here but okay - it's the Corona virus season. We opened the box and the fizzies had split open during shipment and are stuck all over the bottom of the box. Of course, there's no one I can call to explain this. I have to send an email. This was three days ago. Still no response. My husband would really like to get started on a batch but now cannot. I would not order from NB again. I would never order from a place that doesn't have a live customer service. I wish we'd known this. Never again!

 

[kzosche]

k

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

We placed an order with NB. It took a little long to get here but okay - it's the Corona virus season. We opened the box and the fizzies had split open during shipment and are stuck all over the bottom of the box. Of course, there's no one I can call to explain this. I have to send an email. This was three days ago. Still no response. My husband would really like to get started on a batch but now cannot. I would not order from NB again. I would never order from a place that doesn't have a live customer service. I wish we'd known this. Never again!

NB is often top shelf with customer service I have never been in a situation they didn't make right. They may be slow now responding with limited staff and higher than usual orders at the moment but I would follow up with them if I were you. Anytime I did have an issue with NB I called and they looked the order up while I was on the phone and resolved the issue. I don't often order from them but I don't have any issues placing an order with them either, I just prefer Morebeer. (NB typically is the longest for me to receive my order)

 

[jturman35]

Same here! I can order hops from Yakima Valley hops which is 4 states further away and get them in 2-3 days. Granted its usually a lot smaller package but they pick the pick the order extremely fast. I just received my order yesterday and i hate getting room temperature yeast even when the ice pack as room temp.

I wish Austin Homewbrew would sell Imperial yeast.

 

[kh54s10]

We placed an order with NB. It took a little long to get here but okay - it's the Corona virus season. We opened the box and the fizzies had split open during shipment and are stuck all over the bottom of the box. Of course, there's no one I can call to explain this. I have to send an email. This was three days ago. Still no response. My husband would really like to get started on a batch but now cannot. I would not order from NB again. I would never order from a place that doesn't have a live customer service. I wish we'd known this. Never again!

Assuming "fizzies" are carbonation tabs, there is no reason to put off brewing. You won't need them for 2 weeks anyway and you can just substitute table sugar of Domino Dots.

I don't know about them not having a number to call. But in these times and circumstances I would not EXPECT prompt shipping, quick response to e-mails etc. They are more than likely understaffed, and overwhelmed with online orders.

And mistakes happen. Like a bag of fizzies breaking open. I am sure they will make it right. I only had one issue when I ordered from them and it was resolved very easily. I did stop ordering from them years ago though - long before InBev. I found I could get most everything a little cheaper when shopping around.

I use the cart of a couple of sites. Put everything I want in the carts, go through the process right up until confirming to get the total price. Then I order from the place that has the lower price or has everything that I want to order. In the last few years NB has always been higher priced.

 

[lowtones84]

They will make things right, but they have been -much- slower, even before all of this started happening. In early January it took 5 days before my order was even shipped, and then apparently it was delivered by a dude on roller skates because it took over a week. Not going to complain too much because the shipping was free, but if you have anywhere closer to you I might look to other options.

 

[kh54s10]

They will make things right, but they have been -much- slower, even before all of this started happening. In early January it took 5 days before my order was even shipped, and then apparently it was delivered by a dude on roller skates because it took over a week. Not going to complain too much because the shipping was free, but if you have anywhere closer to you I might look to other options.

And in early January the online businesses are recovering from Christmas. And probably filling a lot of orders from gift cards and Christmas money etc.

 

[lowtones84]

Eh, I don't really buy that. Maybe it's true, but my brewing partner ordered late Jan and experienced the same thing. If we start making excuses for any time in the past 4 months then I think there might be a pattern...

Once again, not a bad company. If you want to order from them, I wouldn't say not to, just expect a significant delay.