The beauty of a forum is the fact that you are able to freely post your experiences. The good, the bad, the ugly. I had stopped ordering from NB when their shipping policy changed. I was also unimpressed with one particular kit. I brewed Caribou Slobber, and was disappointed with the finished product. I thought possibly I may have missed something in the process so I tried it again. I wanted to taste what I read in the description. The second brew yielded similar results. Even a friend of mine had expected a little more OOMPH from a home brew. So I posted a review on their website with my experience. Well, it’s safe to say Northern Brewer knocked my socks off. Although their kit guarantee wasn’t available when I ordered those two kit, they are honoring it. I didn’t ask. No calls were made, no emails. They emailed me out of the blue yesterday looking to make good. They even gave me some valuable pointers on how to tailor a pre-made kit to my liking. They asked what styles I prefer, and which kit I would like them to send. If that isn’t A1 customer service, I don’t know what is…
Good to hear.
Good News!
I’m not a fan of Brown ales. I would never be impressed with that kit.
I’m sure I can appreciate the beer that it makes though.
At one time I could drink a Moose Drool or a Smithwicks. Can’t do it anymore. 
NB went WAY out of there way to take care of you IMO. It’s not their fault that my (your) taste buds don’t like the beer.
NB’s customer service has always been A-one. Have a problem and they will help you with it until it’s solved. Kudo’s.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]I’m not a fan of Brown ales. I would never be impressed with that kit.
I’m sure I can appreciate the beer that it makes though.
At one time I could drink a Moose Drool or a Smithwicks. Can’t do it anymore.
NB went WAY out of there way to take care of you IMO. It’s not their fault that my (your) taste buds don’t like the beer.[/quote]
I would agree with this. Are you sure its the ‘arrow’ and not the ‘Indian’?!
I might try one of their kits just for laughs now.
I rarely order from NB any more only because I get grains and hops from bulk group buys. I buy small amounts of specialty grains, yeast, etc from my LHBSs because I like to support local business and my fellow brew club members.
But, NB’s customer service is top notch. I order a starter kit from them a few years ago and the flask broke after the 2nd use. No fault of my own. I cleaned and left it on the counter to dry over night. The next morning there was a huge crack. I sent an email explaining the issue and they sent me a new one right away with no other questions asked. If I didn’t have a LHBS, I would definitely order from NB. They do a great job.
I’ve had two ‘issues’ with NB and couldn’t have been more impressed with their C/S.
First ‘issue’ was when my starter kit showed up in the mail there was a small box missing…I happened to be in the cities and swung through to make sure I hadn’t missed something.
They were very quick to take the blame (could have been UPS) and replaced the box… What got me impressed was that they threw in a couple free pint glasses for my ‘trouble’.
The second ‘issue’ was that I made a large order a couple weeks ago the day before they came out with a 48 hour ‘free carboy with x $ purchase’ deal. I shot a quick email and within minutes I got a call saying they added the carboy to my order and was all set up.
Its reassuring to know that if a real issue ever comes along that they’ll be thinking customer first and handle it.
Couldn’t be more impressed. I deal with clients sometimes a few times a day. My end goal is a satisfied customer. I myself have a 1 year no questions asked warranty on my work. Some customers can be a PITA, but as long as they have something good to say about me when all is said and done, my goal has been achieved. A LITTLE customer service goes a LONG ways…
Which is it. YMMV are they have great customer service?
As has been pointed out, they have refused to go the extra step to charge a reasonable shipping for a small packet.
YMMV are they have great customer service?[/quote]
I’m sorry, I’m not sure what this means? ARE they?
YMMV are they have great customer service?[/quote]
I’m sorry, I’m not sure what this means? ARE they?[/quote]
My apologizes for not proof reading my post. It was a little late.
My question is which is it, YMMV or that they have great customer service. You stated both. They can not be both. Lack of adjusting a shipping charge to reflect the actual charge to ship a small item is zero customer service.
Different experiences yield differing results. I personally am satisfied with my recent experience with their customer service. In turn NB has retained a customer. They made ME happy. YOUR milage may vary. Take what YOU want from any number of posts.
Not my company but if it were I really wouldn’t give a crap about losing out on the online sale of a single packet of yeast. It’ll cost them nearly $3 of labor to make the special effort to make an exception on their normal shipping. They have been nothing but awesome on all of my orders including throwing in a ton of extra stuff when I made a large order when picking up stuff to start all grain.
Your comment seems to assume that the individual attempting to buy the “single packet of yeast” has never or will never order any other homebrewing supplies online, and that the potential loss in sales for NB is only that 1 packet of yeast. I think the more likely scenario is that the individual has and will continue to order supplies online and if turned off by lousy customer service on a small order will more than likely take his/her business elsewhere for future, and most likely, larger orders.
Don’t like it, shop elsewhere.
There is a local homebrew shop in my area that charges an arm and a leg for kits and other homebrew supplies. The average Brewer’s Best kit is about $50 and Wyeast is $11.
[quote=“s2y”]Don’t like it, shop elsewhere.
There is a local homebrew shop in my area that charges an arm and a leg for kits and other homebrew supplies. The average Brewer’s Best kit is about $50 and Wyeast is $11.[/quote]
Ya a large online retailer like NB and a LHBS aren’t operating under the same business model and really are not direct competitors in most cases. The local shop offers the convenience of having what you need(sometimes anyway :roll: ) when you need it(now!) and as such is able to charge a premium, a premium it probably needs to survive as its margins are generally much tighter than the larger online retailer. If I’m NB I’m looking to the other online big boys in the market and making sure my prices and shipping costs are in line with them. That said I have no idea what % of their business is derived online vs in store. Since they do have 3 locations it’s probably a safe bet that they do a lot more local in store business than some of the other online retailers and can maybe afford to lose some online business as a result of their higher shipping costs.
With regards tp their shipping, I ran into a coworker who brews and as luck would have it, he’s looking to get a kit or two. I think we’ll go halfzies on shipping. :cheers:
[quote=“s2y”]Don’t like it, shop elsewhere.
There is a local homebrew shop in my area that charges an arm and a leg for kits and other homebrew supplies. The average Brewer’s Best kit is about $50 and Wyeast is $11.[/quote]
I’ve never seen prices that high, the last Wyeast I bought was from a local shop for $6 something. It wouldn’t take that much of an order at reasonable prices to cover the cost of shipping.
