Where is my malt mill!?!?!?

[RAWKON]

I can't keep them in stock on the floor or for shipping. They can not make enough mills. I was drop shipping them to save the customer money. I can tell now that that is not an option. When we get them back in stock I will have an option to ship them from our store or save money and have them dropshipped.

I also ordered a Barley Crusher just before Christmas and I'm stuck in the same boat. I went with AHS BECAUSE they had the lowest price shipped! I have no issues with you because you clearly stated on your website that it ships from the manufacture. I understand that it is not your responsibility that Barley Crusher is a little behind and I appriciate the fact that AHS has answered my e-mails in a timely manner (unlike other companies) if i had to do it over I would still choose the drop ship method, but a choice would be nice

 

[BrewThruYou]

Just got mine today. Was about 16 or 17 days...not too bad.

 

[JJL]

Our price is $7.99 less expensive than Northern Brewer. Should I raise the price to match Northern Brewer and ship them from here or keep the price lower and people will have to wait for the manufacturer to catch up?

Would an option be best and let the customer decide? Pay $7.99 and it ships right away or buy it at the lowest price available and have to wait on the manufacture.

Forrest

From a consumer's perspective, saving $7.99 on $125 item isn't worth the wait. What's worse is it isn't worth the inconvenience of not knowing when my purchase will arrive. I vote for keeping them in stock, but the businessman in me says that's a lot of carrying expense to have a dozen of those on hand at any given time.

 

[-TPM-]

If I where you Forrest I'd change "May take up to 15 days" to something like "Usually takes 15 days, but around holidays can take longer...". Either that or just adjust the time when it's a busy time of year. I don't think people mind the weight so much as I ordered it for Christmas etc. and it didn't arrive in time.

 

[stevea1210]

I know this doesn't help people still waiting for their already ordered mill,but...
I called around and checked a laundry list of HBS's. The only place that had them actually IN STOCK was northern brewer. Their price was I think $8 more than AHS. To me that $8 was worth it. I got it today, after ordering it Tuesday.

If I hadn't read this thread, I probably would have ordered it from AHS due to them having the best price. Sorry Forrest, I can't tell you if it is worth it to you or not to keep them in stock. However this was a sale that went to another company due to availability issues that not only you, but many places are currently suffering from.

 

[rico567]

I say leave the price alone... we all need to learn patience! haha and a little patience may come in handy when homebrewing!!

(and I'm also waiting on my Barley Crusher)

THIS. Patience is a virtue, in no pastime more so than homebrewing.

What is it, RDWHAHB?

 

[rico567]

I understood what you were trying to say, but I was trying to point out that some folks, like me, could really take it much differently.

Working in customer service must yield a special insight. I've read Forrest's post four times, and I can't detect a smidge of sarcasm there. He's a retailer trying to deal with a supplier, is all.

I think the cause of the problem is clear, at least IMHO. You've got one of these one-man shows trying to crank out a product, and the very success of the Barley Crusher has caught up with him- to the point where he's trying so hard to get his product out he doesn't even have time to answer the phone. Either way, he's burning it at both ends and needs either to ramp up production (which is perilous) or set a realistic production schedule and establish a system of informing customers when they will receive their orders for sure.

Note: I know that the above may appear that I'm being overly generous toward the manufacturer.....but the Internet seems to excel at breeding suspicion, leading to (again IMHO) unwarranted inferences as to the motives and reasons for the actions of people. I find that in most cases I lack the facts to draw such conclusions, so my solution is generally to give the benefit of the doubt. Others may do as they please, of course.

 

[evilhomer]

Wish I would have seen this before ordering on the 18th, I would have gone the Northern Brewer route and thrown a bunch of other stuff in the order since shipping was covered. Ooops looks like NB is out of stock too.

 

[Nova5]

So for Christmas my wife orders me a Barley Crusher Malt Mill from Austin Homebrew Supply, along with a huge sack of two row. Now it clearly says on the website that the mill ships directly from the manufacturer. My wife orders it TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

It doesn't show up in time for Christmas... in fact it's STILL not here. I contact Barley Crusher directly to see when it's set to arrive and they tell me they HAVEN'T EVEN MADE IT YET! Three weeks nearly since ordering and it still hasn't even been made!!! I understand the holiday rush and a lot of orders... but come on... really?

There's really no point to this other than that I'm really agitated and wanted to vent. I ordered a bunch of unmilled specialty malts from AHB and now I have close to 100lbs. of grain that I can't do anything with. ARG!!!

Better freeze it lest the weevils get it.

 

[jakecpunut]

Got my Barley Crusher today! Ordered on January 6th! STOKED!