Gringo_Bandito
Active Member
They went ahead and made it official today.
Except our little bit of brewing social media here.
I'm seconding the advice above about contacting your credit cards for any outstanding purchases - this is by far the best approach and most likely to get you your money back.
Businesses go out of business all the time, and its almost always sad and usually messy. Its easy to make a moral issue of it, but I think that's usually a mistake. It's enough to be sad for former customers, employees, and owners. And hope for better times for all of them.
What bothers me most right now is that the website is still up and accepting orders. People that don't know what is going on can still throw their money into Ed's pockets.
All kidding aside. The website is up but surely they won't continue to take orders that they have no intention to fill??
All kidding aside. The website is up but surely they won't continue to take orders that they have no intention to fill??
I agree its sad and messy and that is shouldn't be a moral issue. I'll let others decide for themselves if Ed/BMW's behavior is justified in this situation. I think I've made my opinion clear.
I will be contacting Ed Meyer/BMW one last time for a refund on the gift certificate. If he would like to settle this out, I will be more than happy to indicate as such on this thread.
If he doesn't make good, I'll consider it an unpaid debt and as such Ed will be on my s*it list. Should one of Ed's business ventures ever pop up again in the future I will be reminding everyone of my experience and urging them not to patronize him on "social media" sites like this one.
I think this is fair approach.
I doubt you'll get anywhere with that. It would be very surprising if you did.
If the BW operation is not incorporated, Ed, the owner is personably liable for restitution. That doesn't mean you're going to get it. Hard to pluck a bare chicken.
To do that, you could file a small claim in the magistrate's office, if your city/county/state has such laws. I would definitely call the magistrate's office and see. There's a filing fee involved ($25-50 usually), he'll be served and there will be a hearing. You'll likely win, but he can be stubborn to pay, and without much recourse.
If he files for bankrupcy you can be placed on the creditors list.
We've had a few of his kind here being mentioned. Easy to forget who they are, though.
If you go back in this thread, you will find a picture of bare shelves in the beginning of Feb2015 (post #2758 by shetc). There were reports of bare shelves before that point. I know I've been dealing with them since late January(ish) to get a shipments out of them. I absolutely think they've been taking orders they had no intention of filling (or could not fill).
I just went through right up to the point of putting in a credit card number. Nothing on the site has changed.
As of 30 seconds ago, still advertised on here as well
That's pretty sad. When I first got into brewing in 2008 BMW was the online vendor that I chose to use the most. They had, when they first started out, excellent service and prices. It's sad to see a company go from one of the best to out of business.
It makes those of us that petitioned on behalf of BMW to allow them to sell in-state look pretty silly.
Not so. When they first started, they were excellent...I was using them a lot. There were a couple times where something went out of stock and I would get a phone call asking if I wanted to wait or substitute. And I usually got my orders within a few days.
It seems odd to see something homebrew or craft beer related shutdown with the growth the industries have seen.
RiteBrew looks like a pretty good site to me. I'm going to give them a try.
it seems odd to see something homebrew or craft beer related shutdown with the growth the industries have seen.
It seems odd to see something homebrew or craft beer related shutdown with the growth the industries have seen.
On the other hand, I'm amazed when any retail store thrives. Margins are low, competition high. It seems very tough to me.
On the other hand, I'm amazed when any retail store thrives. Margins are low, competition high. It seems very tough to me.
RiteBrew looks like a pretty good site to me. I'm going to give them a try.
Has anyone been able to get through to them on the phone?
I highly recommend them (him)! I've purchased a number of things from Ritebrew over the last two years. I've picked up grain in person, and had some items shipped, and I'm very satisfied with the prices and the service. Plus, I picked up some grain when Neil was there, and he helped haul out my sacks of grain. He must have felt sorry for this small little old lady, but I did appreciate it!
I purchased often from BMW in the past, and was pleased with the speed and price from them back then, and am saddened to see it end. I wish the employees (and Ed) well in the future.
Has anyone been able to get through to them on the phone?
The phone rings in an empty building. Who would pick it up? Even if Ed stopped in to grab some things, he has no incentive to answer the phone.
Well, looks like the website won't allow you to add anything to your cart anymore - trying to do so simply does nothing. You can still add recipes from the BrewBuilder app to your cart though which is probably an oversight. So that's at least a step in the right direction - it would be better if he posted something on the home page indicating that BMW was out of business though.
In the end, it's a real shame - BMW used to be a great place.
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