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disney7 said:
Not a review, but it certainly sheds some light on the cause of BMW's poor performance lately:

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=30530&start=8
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There's good and bad to that. First, I hate it for Ed (I lost my mom to cancer this past April). Second, it sounds like the place has went to **** in his absence. I'm not trying to point any fingers, but you would think that the place would be more 'unified' in Ed's absence, especially considering what Ed is going through.

On a lighter note, I did get my stuff from BMW today (was expecting it tomorrow). Hope things get better Ed. I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers.
 
Ok let's see if my review is deleted again.... I live close to brewmaster warehouse and have used them for over thirty batches. I took their intro to brewing class which got me into brewing. I noticed that the employees seemed to not really seem to enjoy teaching the class it was more of a task. I may be stupid but a person who works at a brew shop wold enjoy teaching their craft to people who are very interested to learn. Anyways I enjoyed the class and researched brewing on YouTube after getting vague answers to my questions from BMW staff when trying to get started. I jumped right into all grain. I enjoyed that the store is just around the corner but found it interesting that when I would call in an order ( so it would be ready after work) and being told it would be ready for pick up I arrived to find out it was never filled and no one knew what I was talking about. So why would I have been called by ERIC? Anyways their shelves seem to always be empty and never restocked when they say an item will be in. Their excuse " the trucks never came in" or " trucks running late come back tomorrow" next day same answer. They talk to you like it's a inconvenience. I have also realized their crush I pretty poor. The brew builder is a nice idea and a good list of recipes to choose from. One thing that bothers me is that a brew shop is there for you to buy ingredients and supply's of course but also get advice and however they don't seem to have either.
 
benzy4010 said:
Ok let's see if my review is deleted again.... I live close to brewmaster warehouse and have used them for over thirty batches. I took their intro to brewing class which got me into brewing. I noticed that the employees seemed to not really seem to enjoy teaching the class it was more of a task. I may be stupid but a person who works at a brew shop wold enjoy teaching their craft to people who are very interested to learn. Anyways I enjoyed the class and researched brewing on YouTube after getting vague answers to my questions from BMW staff when trying to get started. I jumped right into all grain. I enjoyed that the store is just around the corner but found it interesting that when I would call in an order ( so it would be ready after work) and being told it would be ready for pick up I arrived to find out it was never filled and no one knew what I was talking about. So why would I have been called by ERIC? Anyways their shelves seem to always be empty and never restocked when they say an item will be in. Their excuse " the trucks never came in" or " trucks running late come back tomorrow" next day same answer. They talk to you like it's a inconvenience. I have also realized their crush I pretty poor. The brew builder is a nice idea and a good list of recipes to choose from. One thing that bothers me is that a brew shop is there for you to buy ingredients and supply's of course but also get advice and however they don't seem to have either.
Click to expand...

Your previous reviews weren't deleted. You have a review earlier in this thread, and a number of posts reviewing BMW in a thread you began in the wrong forum.

Two of the posts deleted immediately above this were not reviews, and one was attacking me for deleting your posts.

I'm leaving this review up, despite your repeated swipe at me. Since you took this public, I'll share with everyone that I tried to talk with you about this via PM, my last PM to you was a question that you did not reply to. Instead, you come here to say that I or someone deleted your previous review.

That is hogwash. Reviews in this thread are not edited or censored in anyway. Non-reviews are deleted.

Benzy4010 has been given a vacation from HBT for 10 days.
 
Preface - Not a review, although I am a loyal BMW customer and have a few posts in this thread.

This is copied from the link above, and since Ed posted it there, publicly, it will likely be okay here as well. Mods, please feel free to delete if this is inappropriate.

from the Brewing Network forum about two weeks ago:

Thank you very much J for bringing this thread to my attention.

I will start off by saying to all of our customers that I am extremely sorry for all of the troubles you have had with the store. The problems are completely my fault and I am doing everything I can to fix the problems you have been experiencing with your orders.

About 6 months ago my older sister was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer (It has spread from her colon to her liver and lungs). Without going into great detail about my very long and difficult family life growing up but she is very special to me because she was always there to take care of me when things were not the best. Her cancer really did a number on me personally and I have not only spent a lot of time out of town to support her, but also very depressed and certainly not engaged in the business like I should have been. As of right now she has about 2 months to live as the chemo treatments she was receiving were not working on her cancer.

At this point although my support and love for her is still fully in effect, I have finally reached a good place with it personally, and I am back and engaged in the business on a day to day basis. I am doing everything I can to get the problems in the store fixed as quickly as possible. We are slowly catching up on the back log of orders, and the inventory levels in the store have improved with a lot more on the way. This will not get fixed overnight, but things will be back to the way I want them soon. Again I sincerely apologize to everyone for the troubles.

Thanks,

Ed

Ed - so sorry for your situation, best and sincerest wishes for your emotional health and for your store to get back on track.
 
BMW have been my go to shop for the last couple of years also. The Brew Builder has also be quite useful to me. But my last couple of orders have been very slow to ship. They have been out of Centennial hops for months. I hope Ed is able to get it back on track after he takes care of his sister. I normally just order on line and use the HBT discount and have it shipped. It would cost me more in fuel to drive over there than the $6.99 flat rate shipping.
 
I haven't used BMW in a while. I decided to give them another try.

Ordered July 5.
Shipped July 11.
Received July 12.

All of my order was correct.

I made a mistake and left "crush all grains" checked when submitting my order online. I called after entering my order to ask them not to crush. The person who answered was very polite. My order arrived correct (no crushed grains).

EDIT: one of the yeast vials I ordered is marked best before July 5, 2013.
EDIT2: new yeast on its way.
 
First of all, I want to say to Ed that I am sorry that him and his sister are dealing with cancer. I know how it can affect one's life as I have a 5 1/2 year old that just finished 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy (858 days of treatment & 126 nights in the hospital).

Based on all stellar reviews of Brewmaster's Warehouse prior to this news, I hope the business can get its "mojo" back as it would be nice to see someone who built this business continue to succeed. My family had their own business as I was growing up and I have seen the hardwork it takes to keep it going.

I want to leave this feedback as constructive criticism for Brewmaster's Warehouse and not as beating them up as I think they still have some areas to improve upon.

I was upgrading my brewing equipment to go all grain and was in the market for a larger pot to do full boils. I ordered my pot on July 9. A couple days went by and I did not receive any communication about my order nor did the status of the order change. So I call them on July 11 to inquire and they informed me they are backed up about 1 week. He did go check on the inventory of the pot and accessories and told me the pot and one item was not in stock and hopefully should be in the following week. On July 12, I decided to cancel the order as I needed the pot quicker than they were going to be able to deliver. There were no problems on July 12 with cancelling that order.

So I waited 3 days (time for the bank to credit back my account) and saw that the credit for the order did not come back into my bank account. So I called on July 17 to see why the credit has not been processed. They did not have an answer but did say they would take care of it. I saw later in the day on their website that my order status changed from 'Pending' to 'Cancelled'.

I again waited 3 days waiting for bank to credit my account which would have been July 22. When I still did not see the amount credited back to my account, I called them again. They looked up my order and told me the credit was processed on their end on July 18 and that it takes between 3-5 days to process on my bank's end. Well, today (day 3 from July 18) the credit showed up.

I have read how great Brewmaster's Warehouse has been in the past, and I hope they can get their business back on track. It seems they still have some improvements to make and I wish from my experience they could have done the following:

1) when I placed the order it would have been nice to have the item listed as out of stock and possibly even a re-stock date. That would have helped me know when I could have possibly received my order to begin with.

2) to have my credit processed immediately after I cancelled my order instead of basically having to wait an extra week for the refund.

3) to have the status of the orders better communicated on the website or via email.
 
:(Sorry to hear about the family troubles Ed but unfortunately I had to call my credit card company to reverse the charges. I submitted my order on 07/10 and never heard back. I finally contacted BMW and on 07/16 I was told some items were backordered 5-10 business days so I said no problem just ship them all once they come in. That was the last I heard from BMW. It’s now 13 business days later and nothing shipped and no response from my last email. If I was just told upfront about the family issues I would have said no problem and just ordered these items from another company until Ed got his feet back under him but receiving no notification at all about what is going on is just not the way to do business. Someone at BMW should be servicing their customers if Ed is unable to but that doesn’t seem to be happening.
 
I have already replied to this thread once and I was close to placing an order last night, but I decided not to. I could drive the 1hr over to Marietta and hope my order would be ready. BMW were my go to source. I really like the Brew Builder, but how long can you be out of Centennial hops? It has been months. The sealed bag of pre-crushed grain has always been a nice touch. Now, I'm going to another well know source and they just use a twist tie. But at least it ships and arrives in a week or less. I also don't understand the term "backed up". If business is that good and it takes 1 week to pack and ship an order, I think it is time to create a proper shipping department with a proper supervisor or manager. That way an owner can keep growing his business as well as his customer service even when he is away.
 
July 18th- Ordered 2 better bottles, bungs, airlocks, and a Firestone ball lock liquid post.
July 19th- Billed for the order.
July 22nd- Got an email saying the Firestone ball lock liquid post was out of stock.
July 25th or 26th- Firestone post should be back in stock (according to their email).
August 2nd- Called to find the Firestone post is still out of stock.
August 2nd- Order, minus Firestone post, shipped today.
August 3rd- Should receive order minus Firestone post.

UPDATE:

August 3rd - received order minus Firestone post.
August 12th - sent message to BMW inquiring about Firestone post
August 12th - ordered Firestone post and other items from William's Brewing
August 12th - sent message to BMW to cancel Firestone post and apply refund
August 13th - William's Brewing shipped order (from California).
August 14th - received order from Williams Brewing
August 14th - BMW applied refund
 
Since I wasn't in a rush for anything, I thought I'd give BMW another try.
7/29 Placed order
7/30 received an e-mail thanking me for the order and that 2 items were out of stock (cap's & Starsan) and that they should be in by the following Monday.
8/5 (Monday) received notice that my order had shipped & a tracking number.
8/6 Fedex site says my order is out for delivery.
That's a total of nine days. Not as good as they used to be but much better than my last couple of orders.
Hopefully they are getting their problems worked out.
 
Since they were my go to supplier, I gave them another shot:
8/25 - placed order for a custom recipe with crushed grain
8/25 - received confirmation
8/27 - received confirmation that order shipped :mug:

I sure hope they are back on track because they were an excellent supplier!
 
I'll also add my recent good experience with them:
order placed 8/19 (monday), shipped 8/21 (wednesday), on doorstep on 8/23 (Friday). That is the fast BMW shipping I was getting when they first opened!
 
I will share my positive experience with them. I usually order from AHS but they were having some issues getting in flaked corn and I was almost out of beer. So I got on the forum search and saw that Brewmasters Warehouse was getting good reviews. Order sent right then. Then, I wanted to reference something I saw on that forum search and noticed the thread recommending Brewmasters Warehouse was from 2008 or something. When I looked at the newer threads they were ripping them--needless to say I was very nervous. But I am happy to report that my order came yesterday--8days after ordering--which is as good as anything I have gotten from any of the other online brew shops. The crush looks good. Everything was as I ordered it. Price was wonderful. Shipping was actually reasonable. I will DEFINITELY use them in the future.
 
8/26 - Placed order
8/26 - Received order confirmation
8/28 - Received phone call informing me that the White Labs yeast was on back order and asking if I'd like to substitute with Wyeast.
8/28 - Received shipping confirmation.
It looks like they may be getting their problems worked out. :rockin:
 
My package was delivered today...only to the wrong house and I don't know which one. BMW had the address correct and they turned my order around quickly. Now, I'm dealing with FedEx ground...I wish it were FedEx Express because they are much quicker at resolving these things. So my grain and yeast could be sitting out on someone's front porch.

Nevertheless, BMW is back on my good list!
 
For me personally, I've given up on BMW - I gave them "one last try" followed by another last try, and between items being out of stock, not informing me my items had shipped, and more than two months of them telling me "it will be in stock next week and we'll send it out" I had to cancel the majority of my order, and it still hasn't been refunded yet, so I'll be on the phone again with them to try and resolve it.

By all means, if you are having good luck with them continue to use them, for me however, I'm now looking to others as my suppliers; I am only good for about $750 a year worth of supplies however, so not a big fish to lose back to the pond.

cheers
 
I will keep following this thread. I used to love ordering from them before all the problems started. I haven't ordered in quite some time but may get my next brews from them.
 
Screwed by FedEx. BMW did an excellent job with this order. It was turned around very quickly and should have been at my door on Aug 28. However, the FedEx driver did not deliver it to me. So, I'm stuck in the middle and have been instructed to report this now to BMW. It is normally UPS who is the problem.
 
I haven't used BMW since I stopped ordering by recipes, but if I were still there is no question I would use BMW. I have them on my short list of small businesses who know how to do it right and understand customer service. They went through a rough spot, no doubt. Ed will bring it back, if he hasn't already. Very good news.
 
Pilgarlic said:
I haven't used BMW since I stopped ordering by recipes, but if I were still there is no question I would use BMW. I have them on my short list of small businesses who know how to do it right and understand customer service. They went through a rough spot, no doubt. Ed will bring it back, if he hasn't already. Very good news.
Click to expand...

You said something that has had me thinking for a while now and that is buying recipes. While most everything I buy is my own recipe, I do think about going back to keeping some stock grains. I used to do that, but I don't have a mill anymore and getting a nicely sealed package of crushed grain from BMW is sooo convenient.
 
limulus said:
Screwed by FedEx. BMW did an excellent job with this order. It was turned around very quickly and should have been at my door on Aug 28. However, the FedEx driver did not deliver it to me. So, I'm stuck in the middle and have been instructed to report this now to BMW. It is normally UPS who is the problem.
Click to expand...

So here I am exactly one week later and I finally got my package. FedEx could never explain what happened to my original shipment. BUT, BMW did respond by preparing a new shipment. It shipped yesterday and it was delivered today. I notified them on Friday, Aug 30 that FedEx did not deliver the package. I got a nice reply from BMW telling me that they would take care of me and they did. There was also the Labor Day holiday thrown in there and I still got it today.

I don't normally get wrapped up in things like this, but I felt I had to since, BMW did their job very well and had to do it twice. So, I'm back to being a loyal customer again. I just wish they would get some Centennial hops.
 
I hope they are I love the fact they are only a few miles away and will put together any recipe without having to buy to the nearest ounce or pound!
 
I hate to have to do it because I have had good luck in the past, as have many of my cohorts, ordering from BMW.
But perusing the last few pages of this thread, I see that there are some issues to be worked out at BMW.

I ordered on 9/4 at noon. Account was debited with the charge on the next day.
2 days later I called just to check on the status of the order (it was still showing as PENDING), the individual that I spoke to informed me that PENDING was the status until it got shipped. He assured me that it would be shipped out Monday 9/9 at the latest.

Here we are on Tuesday morning and it still shows pending status (not shipped yet? or that is what I was told it meant)

What kind of process allows for the customer's account to be charged and then close to a week later, the actual order is still not shipped?

I am a simple man, so a simple explanation is plausible, but I feel that it is the responsibility of the vendor to communicate issues and problems to the customer.

Really hope that they can provide a good reason and better yet a "simple" offer of good faith that we can all trust BMW from this point on.
 
I'm giving them another shot because I won't have time to get to my LHBS and I just need one recipe for now. I ordered 9/6 Friday morning and I'll update as it goes. So far, zero communication and the order still shows as pending.
 
brewkinger said:
I hate to have to do it because I have had good luck in the past, as have many of my cohorts, ordering from BMW.
But perusing the last few pages of this thread, I see that there are some issues to be worked out at BMW.

I ordered on 9/4 at noon. Account was debited with the charge on the next day.
2 days later I called just to check on the status of the order (it was still showing as PENDING), the individual that I spoke to informed me that PENDING was the status until it got shipped. He assured me that it would be shipped out Monday 9/9 at the latest.

Here we are on Tuesday morning and it still shows pending status (not shipped yet? or that is what I was told it meant)

What kind of process allows for the customer's account to be charged and then close to a week later, the actual order is still not shipped?

I am a simple man, so a simple explanation is plausible, but I feel that it is the responsibility of the vendor to communicate issues and problems to the customer.

Really hope that they can provide a good reason and better yet a "simple" offer of good faith that we can all trust BMW from this point on.
Click to expand...

I just received a response from someone at BMW. To paraphrase the contents of the message:
"Let's start over, there is no need to accuse us of stealing."
Looking back on your order sir, it was ordered, it was paid for, it is now 6 days later and we will ship it to you now."
We are a little behind. I am sorry that the person that you spoke to the other day misinformed you and told you that we would ship it out yesterday."
Mike37 said:
I'm giving them another shot because I won't have time to get to my LHBS and I just need one recipe for now. I ordered 9/6 Friday morning and I'll update as it goes. So far, zero communication and the order still shows as pending.
Click to expand...

Give them a call, ask for Kirk, you will get the a much faster response
 
The posts above are a good example of why it is helpful to keep reviews short and factual, with minimal commentary. I'm going to use you as an example, Brewkinger, but its not meant as criticism at all. You ordered on Wednesday and are upset enough that four business days later that the order isn't shipped that you apparently accused them of stealing. You clearly value speed in your purchase experience. Others, though, might not find 4 business days extraordinary at all and value price more than speed.

Please keep the reviews to the point, factual, and about your customer experience. Thanks!
 
Pappers_ said:
The posts above are a good example of why it is helpful to keep reviews short and factual, with minimal commentary. I'm going to use you as an example, Brewkinger, but its not meant as criticism at all. You ordered on Wednesday and are upset enough that four business days later that the order isn't shipped that you apparently accused them of stealing. You clearly value speed in your purchase experience. Others, though, might not find 4 business days extraordinary at all and value price more than speed.

Please keep the reviews to the point, factual, and about your customer experience. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Point taken. I appreciate the non-critical example.
Looking back on it, I place value on not only speed and price, but most importantly the customer service experience.
I contacted the company on 3 separate occasions; got misinformation on the first, no response to the second and a nasty-gram on the 3rd.

I understand businesses having issues and delays. I will not stop ordering from BMW simply because of this, but it is definitely a nail in the coffin.
 
Just now got a shipping notification. Seems more like their past turnaround.
 
Clearly there appears to be some problems with web-based orders and timeliness of order fulfillment and shipping lately. Ed is aware of the problems and as such, should make a concerted effort to inform and educate his employees on proper customer communications, specifically when it comes to commitments and calendar based quotes.

It is not unreasonable for an order to take several business days; however, it is up to Ed's team to set reasonable and measurable expectations for processing and shipping, and to meet those commitments. If the commitment cannot be met, proactive communication with the customer is a must.

I have a fairly big order (3 or 4 batches) on the horizon and have been watching this thread faithfully as BMW is my go-to source. Over the years, they have come through.
 
Just got my shipment today, so that's a total of five days from placing the order to when it showed up on my porch excluding Sunday. I won't complain about that!
 
I have never before purchased from a local HBS. Monday, the 16th of September, I'm going up to Yankeetown for a doctor's appointment. SWMBO and I are going to make a full day of it ending with dinner at 5 Seasons North.
I plan to go to Brewmasters Warehouse for the first time, partly just to see what it looks like.
As a walk-in customer with a recipe for a simple 5-gallon extract, how much time should I allocate for this shopping experience?
Do I pull items off the shelves, or will I have to take a number?
Should I pre-order online?
 
DromJohn said:
I have never before purchased from a local HBS. Monday, the 16th of September, I'm going up to Yankeetown for a doctor's appointment. SWMBO and I are going to make a full day of it ending with dinner at 5 Seasons North.
I plan to go to Brewmasters Warehouse for the first time, partly just to see what it looks like.
As a walk-in customer with a recipe for a simple 5-gallon extract, how much time should I allocate for this shopping experience?
Do I pull items off the shelves, or will I have to take a number?
Should I pre-order online?
Click to expand...

Yankeetown? I have only been inside BMW once and that was to pick up an order. I can't remember what it looked like but I don't recall it being like Home Depot for beer supplies. I think you should enter your recipe via Brew-Builder and let them know when you'll be there to pick it up.
 
limulus said:
I think you should enter your recipe via Brew-Builder and let them know when you'll be there to pick it up.
Click to expand...

That's what I do and have never had a problem. I have also put a recipe together in the brew-builder and just printed it out and hand it to them when I get there.If they are out of something, they will usually make good on substitution even if it is more expensive. That said the shelves are pretty bare these days as it seems they are concentrating on ingredients more then equipment. Trying to get back to the way it used to be. I buy all my ingredients from them, and equipment usually online.
 

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