So, on Monday, I ordered 3 similar kits from 3 different suppliers, one right after the other.
What a difference. I’m sure I know who won’t get another order from me.
Midwest has went to crap. I ordered from them a few months ago on a Monday morning and on Wednesday of the next week I hadn’t gotten an email with shipping details and my order was still in the “processing” stage. I called and they said something about changing warehouses and being a little behind. I cancelled that order and haven’t been back since.
I would call and cancel also, but it’s the Chololate Covered BEAVR NUTZ recipe, and I don’t know where else I can get it. And, the peanut butter powder just arrived. Maybe I could just make a choco-stout and add the peanut butter to that.
Bummer. They had serious logistical issues earlier this year and I was hoping that by now they would have gotten their act together.
Maybe they’ll do better with the going out of business sale. :roll:
So let me continue with the rest of the story, I canceled my order with Midwest and ordered the same ingredients from NB, it arrives about 5 days later and then the next day my original order that I canceled from Midwest shows up on my door step. I called and told the lady I canceled that order so she tried to get me to buy it at a reduced cost and keep it, I told her no that I already got it from NB. She says “I will send you a UPS return shipping label”. They never did. Two batches for me…
My current working hypothesis is that the only thing Midwest’s e-commerce server does anymore is fire jobs off to a printer, and from there everything is handled with Post-It notes and illegible handwriting.
Evidence: Earlier this year when I called about my own long-overdue shipment, the rep made some excuse about the order sheet falling behind a workbench and getting lost or something like that.
Well, I just got a shipping notification that my order has shipped, with a Tuesday delivery date. That’s not too bad, compared to some of the other stories I’ve read about Midwest.
I’m just not sure I’m going to use them any more.
I remember reading recently that both Northern Brewer and Midwest have been bought out by some big firm, might be overseas or whatever. It’s all the same company now. When they took over, that’s when NB did the big switcheroo with no more $7.99 shipping on everything, etc. I’m also thinking the new owner has decided to devote all their time and efforts to keeping up Northern Brewer with the intent of ignoring and slimming down Midwest until feeling it necessary to shut them down entirely, keeping only NB. Typical sale/merger type stuff. It is a shame… I know Midwest was a great company just a year or so ago. I bet they’ve reduced the staff to pretty much nothing, maybe sending them over to NB if not laying them off. Or if they haven’t yet, well, the employees are feeling the pressures and it’s hurt their performance. I think the former conclusion is probably more accurate, but I’ll admit, it is only a guess.
I’ve always had good service from Midwest. And of course they are now owned by the same company as NB.
Hmmmm
I have a $25 credit with Midwest. SOunds like I should order now if I want it in the nearish future.
[quote=“dmtaylo2”]I remember reading recently that both Northern Brewer and Midwest have been bought out by some big firm, might be overseas or whatever…[/quote]So is Chris Farley out of the picture now? For those that don’t know he was the former owner of NB and really conscientious about providing good service.
Not officially, I don’t think - he’s still listed as the president & CEO on the company profile.
The rumor I heard is that Entrepeneur Partners had been in the picture for a while, but originally as silent partners. The changes started happening when they started getting a say in how the business was run.
Not officially, I don’t think - he’s still listed as the president & CEO on the company profile.
The rumor I heard is that Entrepeneur Partners had been in the picture for a while, but originally as silent partners. The changes started happening when they started getting a say in how the business was run.[/quote]
His LinkedIn page says Founder and Chief Marketing Officer at NB.
I wish the owners would be more upfront about this, but that’s not usually the way PE companies work.
*edit for missing word
Midwest is northern brewer. They are owned by the same people.
FWIW, I’ve generally had good experiences with all three sites, as well as Rebel Brewer. I do believe AHS does ship to me a little faster than NB, and a lot faster than Midwest, but I try to order far enough out in advance where that doesn’t come into play. Whenever I’m in the market for a big online purchase I will price out AHS, NB and Rebel and go with whoever gives me the best combination of product availability and price. I find that NB has the biggest selection overall, Rebel has more options when it comes to grains, but AHS is usually a bit cheaper since they still have flat rate shipping.
I also just placed my first order with MoreBeer the other day. Their shipping was considerably lower for me on the East Coast now that they have a warehouse in PA.
Thanks for the guys. It’s good to know that Chris still has influence in the company.
I almost never order online, since I live in the same city as NB and Midwest. That said, NB had an online-only promotion for buy-2-get-1 all grain kits, and I decided it was a decent deal to give it a shot.
I ordered on Monday morning. Shipping said “one day”, and that was my only option. I got a shipping notification on Thursday, stating the package would arrive the following Monday. So much for one-day shipping. Am I spoiled by the likes of Newegg & Amazon?
The product was fine, and everything was nicely packaged when it arrived… even if the exterior box had been beaten with a baseball bat. That said, I won’t order anything online unless it’s another no-brainer deal AND if I don’t care when it arrives.
[quote=“Silentknyght”]
I ordered on Monday morning. Shipping said “one day”, and that was my only option. I got a shipping notification on Thursday, stating the package would arrive the following Monday. So much for one-day shipping. Am I spoiled by the likes of Newegg & Amazon?
[quote]
On wednesday I ordered a bunch of stuff from William’s brewing and something from Amazon. The order from William’s was sitting on the front porch at 10 this morning. I hope the Amazon order, which was Prime, will be there sometime this evening. I am concerned as I think the order will be delivered by ontrac; the only other time ontrack was used by Amazon to deliver a package to me they mucked it up big time. My wife was online tracking the package when it said the package was delivered at 5:05 pm. It wasn’t: I was looking out the window trying to spot the delivery when it was “delivered”. It showed up the next day. We asked Amazon not to ship us anything via ontrac again and they hadn’t until now.
[quote=“Rookie L A”][quote=“Silentknyght”]
I ordered on Monday morning. Shipping said “one day”, and that was my only option. I got a shipping notification on Thursday, stating the package would arrive the following Monday. So much for one-day shipping. Am I spoiled by the likes of Newegg & Amazon?
[quote]
On wednesday I ordered a bunch of stuff from William’s brewing and something from Amazon. The order from William’s was sitting on the front porch at 10 this morning. I hope the Amazon order, which was Prime, will be there sometime this evening. I am concerned as I think the order will be delivered by ontrac; the only other time ontrack was used by Amazon to deliver a package to me they mucked it up big time. My wife was online tracking the package when it said the package was delivered at 5:05 pm. It wasn’t: I was looking out the window trying to spot the delivery when it was “delivered”. It showed up the next day. We asked Amazon not to ship us anything via ontrac again and they hadn’t until now.[/quote][/quote][/quote]
I guess Amazon read them the riot act, the package was delivered in good time.
