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Ordered Friday night, and was ready when I arrived Monday afternoon.
Too far away to be a local HBS, but if up in Marietta for some other reason, not bad. OTOH, northern burbs drivers make Atlanta drivers look sane.
 
The lack of activity on this thread suggests to me that they're back to their old, complaint-free, excellent customer service ways. Is that so?
 
The last issue I had was with an Aug 26th Order, got the confirmation email that it was ready to be picked up, physically got down there and some of it wasn't available... took till their next delivery for my order to be totally complete
 
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...

I buy ingredients from their store all the time, I commute from Atlanta to north Marietta so its on my way. I would say that a special trip to see the store will disappoint, but the guys are really nice. They are knowledgeable about ingredients, but I've asked some technical questions about pH and I felt like I knew more than them about it, but that's ok. I don't think I have been there once that they have had everything I wanted, shelves are always bare. I like to browse while grains are being crushed and I end up waiting on them instead of shopping, not much to see. I won't advertise for another store but about 45 min north east of there is a store I always enjoy going to. I still buy from Brew master's warehouse for convenience.
 
Cpt_Kirks said:
How is their crush? Did they tighten it up?
Click to expand...

I know this wasn't directed at me, but the crush on my most recent order from BMW looked great and I got around 3% better efficiency than I typically get from my other usual shops.
 
I've given up on them, regretfully. My last order was places on Sep. 15th. Ten days later I'd heard nothing from them, and the order was still listed as pending. I sent an e-mail via their contact form and did not get a response for another 3 days, and even then no real explanation - just that they are understaffed and behind. Delays happens occasionally with all smallish retailers, but this is the third time in the last 5 orders. It has also been consistent that there was no communication. If they had responded right after I placed my order to let me know they were behind and it'd likely be an extra two weeks then I could at least have decided if that fit my schedule or canceled and ordered elsewhere.

Given how they've been having problems long delays, communication failures, and out-of-stock listings ( and the tone of the e-mail I eventually got ) the strong impression is they consider this normal - not needing to be addressed beyond a half hearted apology. I won't be using them again unless I hear of substantial changes. It's too bad - my early experiences with them were great.
 
Had a nice experience with them last week. Ordered on a Saturday and called on Tuesday to check status. It was already in box ready to be shipped that day. Had a less than commonly ordered item that was out of stock, but that will be shipped within ten days according to them. One issue I had was the when the grain was delivered it was all mixed in one bag instead of separate like I had asked in the instructions. I called and they said they would reshape the grain correctly ASAP. Great customer service, pretty fast turnaround. I know that if I need something in a coup e of days for a brew I will pay more at the lhbs, but if I plan ahead I can save a bunch by ordering online at brewmasters.
 
I did use BW in the past but have since switched to Austin. I never had a bad experience but I have a concern with one way BW does business.
It is that back order thing. Their website allows you to order a product without any indication that they don't have it in stock. Then after you place the order it may take a few days to find out that something is back ordered and the waiting game begins.
I prefer Austin's method where the website tells you that something is not available. The webpage tells you when it will be in stock again, and then (and this is important) it does not let you order the product. Some folks might want to place that order and wait, but not me. I'd rather know up front and then make a choice to wait or go with another supplier that time.
BW method is misleading and it seems like the main goal is to get the money first and not have the customer walk away, then worry about supplying the product later.
If you went into a brick and mortar store they would not do that. You wouldn't be led to beleive they have a product,let you go up to the counter and pay for it, then when you get to the bagging area they tell you sorry, come back in a week or so. Or worse, not tell you anything until you find customer service and ask why you have an empty bag. BW's method seems to take advantage of the fact that you are not there at the store. Just my thoughts.
 
I've had enough good experiences with them that I don't believe in any scheme to get extra orders, charge people early, etc. I think the business side of things has just gotten away from them so that they've given up on really fixing things ( integrating inventory, shopping cart, and brew builder or notifying people in a timely way about delays, etc.). I'm sure they are still planning to fix it, I've just lost faith that it'll get done any time soon. I would love to be proven wrong since they are great to deal with when all the issues don't interfere.
 
I received a BMW order today.

Ordered: 10/6/2013
Shipped: 10/15/2013
Received: 10/16/2013

All parts of my order were correct. Yeast was very fresh.

I originally was sent an email stating the order shipped on 10/10/2013. The tracking never moved. I called BMW several times about this. They were always polite. They claim Fedex failed to come to the store to pickup orders several times during the last week. They don't know why. They claim to have taken my liquid yeast out of the box and refrigerated it during the delay.
 
I've said this a couple of times in this thread already: BMW, please get some damn Centennial hops! It has literally been months since you've had these in stock.
 
I decided to give them another try.

Order made 10/01/2013
Order "shipped" 10/10/2013
Order actually shipped 10/15/2013
Order due in today.

Took four rounds of emails, and part of my order is still on back order.

They are improving, but have a long way to go to get back to where they were a year ago.
 
I wanted to chime in with another order experience. I ordered a basic grain bill (already have the hops and yeast) on Sunday night and I got a shipping notification Monday afternoon. Really fast turnaround on this one. The package arrived this morning.
 
I placed an order late, yesterday afternoon. I just received an email that it was ready for pick up. It was a order consisting of two different recipes, some bulk hops, misc specialty grains and tubing.

I can't complain.
 
Mike37 said:
I wanted to chime in with another order experience. I ordered a basic grain bill (already have the hops and yeast) on Sunday night and I got a shipping notification Monday afternoon. Really fast turnaround on this one. The package arrived this morning.
Click to expand...

I think ordering on the weekend is the best time to order from them. Friday is a very busy day and they get a lot of walk-in customers preparing for weekend brew sessions. That means an online order on Thursday won't get touched until Monday at the earliest. I placed an order on a Thursday and got it the following Thursday. Four business days is not bad considering it was a recipe I had built on their system. I would hope something that is an on-the-shelf item would make it in 2-3 business days.
 
Nice . I like that brew builder .
Are your brew classes available online also or just for local walk ins ? Brew classes should be quite popular I would think .
 
I'm concerned. I used to use BMW back in 2010. They were always fast with a better crush than Northern Brewer. This is my first order since. I hope I get it in time for brewday.
 
Send them an email or call as soon as you can to double check they have everything you ordered in stock. They have a habit of going silent and just not shipping or notifying when something is out of stock and the order has been delayed.
 
I ordered full ingredients for a a 5 gal batch (crushed grain, hops, liquid yeast) on tuesday morning. it came today. that's 48 hours from order submission to the box at my door. awesome!
 
mine shipped within 3 days, I got it two days after that.

I get such good efficiency with their crush. Literally over 10% more than using northern brewer's mill. Maybe closer to 15%.
 
motobrewer said:
mine shipped within 3 days, I got it two days after that.

I get such good efficiency with their crush. Literally over 10% more than using northern brewer's mill. Maybe closer to 15%.
Click to expand...

i get 70-75, which is better than the low 60s i get with my lhbs mill.
 
I took the plunge and placed an order for a 5 gallon all grain batch on Wednesday morning. I received an order confirmation immediately, and that evening received an email that my order had shipped. Today (two days later), it arrived! Wow!

This may not be typical going forward, but it certainly bodes well. I don't know if there's still a problem with how they handle back-ordered items, but I guess we'll see.

Oh, and they have Centennial hops in again. I know some folks were wondering what was going on with that.
 
They do seem to be improving. I placed a new order and got it in three days (two pending, one in shipping).

Crush seems better, too. Gravity was spot on.

Now, they just need to tie their inventory and online sales systems together...

;)
 
Had to place a rush order Friday for a Homebrew class I am teaching this weekend. BMW got right on it and it will be delivered today.

Thank You, Very Much

TD
 
One more recent experience from me and I'll refrain from posting here unless something changes. Otherwise, BMW is back to being my go-to online shop for ingredients.

I ordered ingredients for a batch the day before Thanksgiving. They shipped that same day and they arrived Saturday. This is the third great experience I've had with them since the one slow one I had.
 
It looks like their back to normal.
I placed my order on 12/9 @ 11:10am and recieved a confermation immediatly at 11:11am.
Recieved shipping notification with tracking# @ 5:46pm.
Fedex tracking says it's on the truck for delivery today.
It just doesn't get any better than that. BMW is back to being my go to HBS. :rockin:
 
Looks like they're back on track. I placed an order late in the day on Monday, it shipped on Tuesday, and was delivered on Wednesday (I'm in an adjacent state).

I ordered some liquid yeast and it was only a couple of weeks old, so I'm happy. This is my first order from them since January when I gave up on them.
 
I like some of the previous comments had stopped ordering from BMW in the spring when it took weeks to get an order delivered. After reading the recent posts I decided to give them another chance. I ordered Tuesday night, received confirmation email then Wednesday mid morning I received another email with tracking information. Friday afternoon my order was delivered.
The crushed grains for two different beers were well packed and heat sealed.
I'm really pleased and would recommend giving BMW a chance.
 
The order was shipped on 1/3/14 - pretty fast considering the holiday. I will start using them again provided they are cheaper than Austin or morebeer.
 
I ordered on the 31st and it got delivered today. One week turnaround with a holiday in there, not bad! Only problem was they shipped it to my old house! I had to drive over there not knowing if it would still be there (1 hour round trip) and get it from the new owner. Really awkward and inconvenient. Both the invoice online and the packing slip in the box had my new address listed correctly, but after digging around the website I found my old address still listed in my profile. If you have moved, be sure to update your info carefully, there are several pages that include your address that need to be changed. Besides that stupid mistake, the order looks perfect and arrived pretty quickly. I'm thinking they're my go-to again.

[Edit] I gave a heads up to BMW regarding the mistake and they acknowledged it was human error, said they would ensure that mistake doesn't happen again, and gave me a gift certificate to compensate me for my trouble.
 

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