Whats the deal with Austin Homebrew Supply???

[ArcaneXor]

My experiences with AHS, Midwest and Northern Brewer have all been positive. However, had what happened to the OP happened to me, I would e-mail the owner and give him a chance to make things right. Otherwise, I'd move on to another store.

 

[conpewter]

They really do their best to fix any issues you have (especially Forrest). I appreciate them and almost always buy from them when I order online. I like that their ingredients seem really fresh. They also do a pretty darn good crush if you are ordering pre-crushed.

I'm going to be part of the 1% (though I think more) that Bobby talks about. Never never take a car to Wal-Mart service center to get it fixed. They stripped my oil plug, siliconed it in place, and when I changed the oil next time and found it (myself) they said that I couldn't prove that they did it. The plug could have fallen out at any time and ruined my engine.

 

[jeff_2506]

I've had great experiences with AHB. Excellent customer service, and Forrest was always quick to help with anything I needed. Northernbrewer, and midwestsupplies are both great ones too. If I order stuff online, it's always something from one of those 3 sites.

 

[Kevin Dean]

Thanks KD, i will continue to support AHS.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying 'Go with them, they've always rocked for me' to you. I'm saying don't rule them out before they've been given a chance to fix it. If you make a demand and they refuse to fill it, I fully support you spending your money elsewhere. It's all about meeting your needs. Most of the time, it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Saccharomyces]

I gotta agree with the OP something is really wrong here.

I think they owe ya a free kit or something to make up for the runaround. I need to head over there in the next couple of days to pick up some stuff, I will print out the OP and ask JB to look into it.

 

[TheSpoon]

Well I just dealt with AHS. I made my first ever homebrewing purchase. In the order was a funnel, which according to the website included a filter screen, however, one was not included. I emailed the address given on the website ([email protected]) and asked who I needed to contact to see about getting one sent. LESS THEN 5 MINUTES later, I had a response that a screen was going to be sent out. Mistakes can happen, I believe it should only be an issue though when company's won't work to correct them.

Now, I used to work at a retail store and the thing that irked me the most was when a mistake was made the customer would automatically expect something free. Now don't get me wrong, we would do everything we could to fix the mistake, and sometimes give them more then what was originally paid for. But the minute that customer "required" that we give them more, was the moment that we stopped being nice.

 

[bsay]

I'm getting a shipment from Austin Homebrew today. The previous order I got was excellent, even included an extra carboy bung. Called them up and they said they didn't want it back. I only use better bottles, so I have no idea what to do with it.

Edit with update:

I unpacked my order. Turns out I was missing 2 items (one of them was the funnel screen like TheSpoon posted about). Here's how the timeline went:

3:29pm Package delivered by UPS
4:15pm Unpacked order
4:56pm E-mail to [email protected] about missing items
5:14pm E-mail response about missing items
5:30pm Items sent UPS

Those times are all today. If that isn't great service, then I don't know what is. This is why AHS is still at the top of my list.

 

[Jamo99]

One time shipping department left a voicemail and told me that my city didn't match my zip code (was getting delivered to work which borders two locations, so they like to use the more popular one). Called up, asked for shipping which I was transferred to, and cleared everything up. Only times my order is delayed is when I get in on the tail end of a sale. Can't complain much about that though.

So, I guess as Frank Costanza would say, "Million to one shot, doc! Million to one!" Two orders messed up in two weeks has to be a fluke.

 

[BullF-16]

I emailed them yesterday and this morning i had a reply. They said they would refer this to the shipping dept. I got s UPS shipping notification that the missing items are on the big brown truck....should be here tomorrow PM.

This is exactly how my first order turned out, they forgot the stopper and airlock for the carboy i ordered. It was also sent out the next day. Out of 3 orders, i have had miniscule items missing on 2. They seem to make it right though. Just kind of an inconveniece since i am trying to stock up on all the small items.

What i really like is the fact that i have received my order the next day on all 3 purchaces.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Yes, I am on vacation but I will be back tomorrow. Sorry for the problems. We have had half of the shipping department leave in the last month. We are still training new people and we still need to hire another person.

Private message me your name and I will hook you up for all of the mistakes.

I really want to be the best homebrew store there is and you guys make it all worth while. If there is ever a problem let me know so I can fix it.

Forrest

 

[Austinhomebrew]

In my defense about mold on extract, we ship out 136,500 pounds (67 tons)of liquid malt extract a year. We do not send extract with mold on it. The extract in question was at least 3 months old. As far as the bolt that ended up in the extract, it was the bolt from the metal gate used to pour the extract. That was the first time anything like that has happened. It fell into the extract and shot straight to the bottom so it was not noticed. Sorry about that.
Forrest

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Can this thread be closed since the issue has been resolved. Thanks for your support.

Forrest

 

[olllllo]

I'm going to close this for now. If the OP or anyone has a compelling reason to open it, send me a PM.

Forrest, I'm going to allow the OP to post when this is completely resolved so that we can all learn the outcome.

 

[olllllo]

The question has been asked:

Was there a compelling reason to lock the recent thread about AHB? t just seems like their is some underlying relationship between the site and Forrest since a couple of threads have been locked as soon as he asks. Locked even when the discussion is interesting and relevant to many others.

If anyone asks to close a thread that is directed at them, then it is given consideration.

In this case all, of the focus is on what Austin Home Brew is going to do to fix the problem with the original poster.

As a courtesy, I am allowing the two parties to work this out and later post the results.

As an example, if there was a dispute between two individuals about shipped beer in a trade, I would close he thread and ask that they resolve the issue via PM and not on the public forum.

I get no favors from Forrest, any of the sponsors or any of the individual members on this site.