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I sent them an email 5-31 regarding my order that I placed on 5-21. I told them that if they couldn't ship it that day, to cancel my order and to refund my money. They responded later that day apologizing and canceling my order. Of course as of today they still haven't refunded my money. I've dealt with them before and never had any issues. This time though I think will be the last time. It would be different if they told me when I ordered that it wouldn't ship for awhile, but their email they sent me on 5-21 said that my order would ship within 2-5 business days, so that's what I expected. I placed an order 5-30 with Austin Homebrew and received shipping confirmation today. I'll stick with Austin and my LHBS from now on.
 
I have been buying ALL my kits and equipment from MWS but a recent thread on this forum mentioned the shipping costs at Austin has made think twice. Sure, a couple of dollars difference is not a deal breaker for me but it seems to ship 2 kits from MWS it costs ~$20+ whereas to ship 2 from Austin is $6.99!

The only question now is, are the kits from Austin any much worse than those from MWS?
 
I used to be a big fan of Midwest, because of reasonable prices, fast fulfillment and two day ground shipping to my house. I've cut back on ordering from them, because of how slow their fulfillment time has been. My last two orders (one in January) have taken a week to leave the warehouse. That's excessive.

Their customer service has been very good and they offer a 10% discount to AHA members. Those are the only things keeping me from walking away completely at this point.

Today if I know I need something by the next weekend, I order from NB or Austin. If I can wait two weeks, I'll order from Morebeer and get free shipping.

I hope Midwest can return to their former performance.
 
Has anybody else had a lot of trouble with Midwest Supplies taking like a week just to process your order? This is the 2nd time that it's taken more than a week and I'm pretty much fed up because this beer that I ordered ingredients for was supposed to be done for Father's Day.
 
Yep. Ordered some stuff 10 days ago and just got shipping confirmation today. It takes a week to get to where I am so 17 total days to process and receive my order (assuming it gets here is 7 days)
 
Tippsy-Turvy said:
I have been buying ALL my kits and equipment from MWS but a recent thread on this forum mentioned the shipping costs at Austin has made think twice. Sure, a couple of dollars difference is not a deal breaker for me but it seems to ship 2 kits from MWS it costs ~$20+ whereas to ship 2 from Austin is $6.99!

The only question now is, are the kits from Austin any much worse than those from MWS?
Click to expand...

I've only got a half dozen brews under my belt to judge by, and I've never ordered kits from anywhere else, but I've been very happy with the kits I've gotten from AHS.
 
I ordered on 5/29 and the order status has not changed. I called today and they said they were backed up from the holiday weekend. I'm all for letting employees off for the weekend but you need to be prepared for this. I was told that the order should ship today. Wanted to brew this Friday, but if it does not arrive by then this will be the last time I order from them. I've always had an easier time with NB or Austin. Also, they might want to change the claim they have on their customer service site. "Currently, over 99% of all orders are shipped out within 24 hours."
 
benteach said:
Also, they might want to change the claim they have on their customer service site. "Currently, over 99% of all orders are shipped out within 24 hours."
Click to expand...

Maybe your order was one of the 1% that didn't ship within 24 hours. It has to be someone, why not you?

:D
 
Second order in a row I've had with them that has been in the "processing" phase for nearly a week. Getting frustrated with their turn-around.
 
evrose said:
Maybe your order was one of the 1% that didn't ship within 24 hours. It has to be someone, why not you?

:D
Click to expand...

From the posts above, I don't seem to be the only one. It's frustrating, I don't get many days to devote to brewing without kids or the wife around. Friday was going to be one of those days.
 
Just got my order today after waiting over a week. The most important (and most expensive) item I ordered was marked as backordered on the packing list. When I called, I was informed that they have no ETA. Lovely. To be fair, he asked if they could substitute, but they only have inferior products with which to substitute.

I get that sometimes things don't go according to plan, but they really need to get their act together fast.
 
I had a few issues with Midwest in the past. I wouldn't consider the issues abnormal for a large company like them. Their customer service people quickly rectified the problems, so I really don't have a beef with them. With that said I quit doing business with them a little over a year ago due to slow turn around and high shipping prices. I sill still use them every once in a blue moon to get things that only they carry, but that's it. I exclusively use Austin now, and I'm very pleased with them. With Austin I always get my order in 3-5 days, and you just can't beat the flat rate shipping.
 
USMCPayne said:
Second order in a row I've had with them that has been in the "processing" phase for nearly a week. Getting frustrated with their turn-around.
Click to expand...

Exactly my problem. I've been loyally using them for over a year with no issues, both kits and ingredients. Now it's become a pattern. Each time the orders take a week to ten days to ship.

The first time an order was delayed it was 'oh, your order got misplaced' or some such. They refunded my shipping and gave me a $25 credit. Pretty nice of them.

The second time it was apparently due to the warehouse move. Refunded shipping.

The THIRD time there wasn't even an apology from sales or customer service, just an email that said it would go out that day.

Hope they get the bugs out soon or I'll be looking elsewhere. Good thing I've got a few brews stacked up and I can wait and see if they improve their timing before I have to order again.
 
Myl last order of one kit and a few small items took 12 days! I'm going to try austin or NB!
 
Check out this thread where the OP says they shipped him a smack pack that's five months old. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Last January I placed an order (containing yeast) on a Saturday. They packed the order the following Thursday, let it sit overnight in the warehouse, then FedEx picked it up on Friday where it sat in their facilities over the weekend before continuing its two day journey to Kansas. Of course the ice packs had melted and the yeast was room temp. At least it was January, not June.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the recent excuse about moving. It seems to me that they have systemic problems.
 
My 1st two kits were from Midwest. One from a Craigslist buy with a fermenter bucket and a bottling bucket, capper, etc. Good starter EQ, very pleased. No problem with the next order either, but it took a while to arrive. I ordered one more and it took forever, 2+ weeks to ship. I tried AHS after a co-workers suggestion. I learned what good customer service is for Homebrew supply. I keep getting marketing fluff from MW even during their current challenges. They will not get anymore of my business. My LHBS and AHS suit my needs for now. Probably a natural progression of needs/wants; and, their lack of customer focus. There are far too many responsible, quality suppliers in this growing industry to put up with shabby treatment. Big thumbs down to Midwest Supply.

The easiest customer to keep is a current customer. They are losing them in droves!
 
Got a call back from Midwest tonight. They have refunded the shipping costs but still do not know when the order will be shipped out. Rather have my scheduled brew day than the shipping costs. Customer service makes or breaks it for me. BTW, I love vagrants.
 
They cancelled my order for me last Friday after sitting on it for 10 days and not shipping it, after I asked them to cancel it. They haven't refunded my money yet though which they've had since May 21. Customer service is extremely lacking right now with them.
 
I hate to bash on a company but Midwest is terrible. Same as everyone else.... My order took over two weeks to arrive at my door. When I would call to check on it, I received a different answer every time. Finally received order and pressure gauge was broken. They did refund my shipping but I will do my business elsewhere.
 
Same experience as everyone else. They told me they are experiencing an extended delay in their grain room. It would be an additional 2 business days.
 
Their prices aren't good enough that I am willing to put up with these kinds of delays. When I contacted them yesterday they told me it would ship that day. It didn't. Even worse, when I contacted them today, they told me they didn't know when it would ship. They wouldn't upgrade me to next day shipping, but only a refund of the ground shipping. I have ordered with them 3 times and have had to contact them about 2 of them. I'm just glad I didn't by the kit of the month subscription.
 
I bought a false bottom on eBay with the buy it now feature. Everything seemed fine until I noticed after 3-4 days that my money was gone and I didn't receive a tracking #. Called Midwest and the guy Said it's not in inventory... so why sell buy it now,or. Have it as an item for sale at all! They said they are waiting on a supplier. I guess I was too. Very disappointed and waited almost 3 weeks. Luckily I have a great LHBS so ingredients are plentiful and always available. Hell, they still have Amarillo in stock!

Anyways, it seems dishonest to sell something that you don't have... I won't buy from them again.
 
Weird. I haven't brewed for perhaps just prior to my son's birth. He turned 16 last week. Been lurking and learning here for the last year as I assemble my AG set up. About a month ago I received a email from Midwest offering a $25 gift card free for the purchase of a $100 card. I bought the C note card and got the 25. I then last week receive a "we miss you and here's 20% off your next order" email. I was hoping to place an order in which I could then pickup at there warehouse, take the 20% off and pay using the gift card. Nope, placing order and picking up was not an option. Was order pickup available in the past? No biggy, I'll just printed out my shopping cart and brought into store last Saturday. The shelves seemed to be adequately stocked. There was only one item not available from my list. Extended delay in the grain room? Not while I was there, I was the only one in the grain room. Sounds like some bad juju going on in CS . Looking for new customers while being dishonest to returning patrons? The brewing gods may have been looking down on me as I never pulled the trigger on having my order shipped.
 
I received an order on Tuesday that had a wyeast pack that was dated January 13. Almost 5 months old. Couple that with the fact that my order showed "processing" for over a week and I'm done. I don't mind a longer wait if its known upfront but I can't accept 5 month old yeast packs.
 
I decided to cancel my order after only sitting for a few days in processing (4 days). I asked about time frames and was told it could be up to 3 weeks or so as some stuff was being drop shipped from Blichmann. After reading all of these horror stories I decided to jump ship before it turned too ugly.

They did refund my money right away and were very quick on replying to emails, so that was nice. I hope they get it sorted out, but I will be checking back here before I place another order.
 
I finally received a shipping notice, 2 days after it had shipped. That was 1 week after the order was placed for ingredients for a 5 G batch of American Wheat. Seriously, like 10 lbs of grain, 4 oz hops and some yeast. Why does it take a week to ship that? 1 person could mill that grain and box it up in 5 minutes. Amazon has ruined us all, you all know that right? Instant gratification of shipping due to the beast that Amazon is.
 
I had a strange but pleasant experience with them today.

A few days ago, I ordered the buy one get one better bottles they had on special. A couple of days later I ordered a couple of air filters that you use for an air pump. My 2 carboys arrived yesterday and I brought them into the house.

Today, I was expecting my filters and see my carboy box on the front porch... WTF? They sent me 2 carboys instead of my 2 sanitary filters.

If someone was expecting carboys today, I have them here in SC. I am sending them back in the morning, you should be getting yours soon.

Weird... The shipping didn't take too long but I did not expect 2 carboys instead of my 2 filters... Looking at the tracking, I think my filters are in Atlanta, GA
 
Ordered on 6-31 still processing. Got a note from Justin, still issues with Grain. I had two all grain kits in my order. I succumbed to the 20% offer. I also ordered a Chugger pump and Johnson control temp control.

I hope they can get their problem fixed, have always been wonderful to deal with in the past.

Martin
 
Wow thought my last order was a fluke. They were prompt a number of times. Last time was supposedly a delay in grain room processing orders. Took 2 weeks or more to ship. Gave me $15 worth of Midwest points but of course that means I'm spending another $100 with them to use it. Next time I'll just go to Northern.
 
Mdsutton said:
Ordered on 6-31 still processing. Got a note from Justin, still issues with Grain. I had two all grain kits in my order. I succumbed to the 20% offer. I also ordered a Chugger pump and Johnson control temp control.

I hope they can get their problem fixed, have always been wonderful to deal with in the past.

Martin
Click to expand...
Yep, same here. Caved on the 20% offer, put my order in Sunday night. Got a bottle tree (splurged for the 90 bottle - when it's only $10 more than the 45 bottle, why not?) and a porter ingredient kit. Got order confirmation that night, haven't heard anything since. If I have time tomorrow, I'll fire off an email to get a status update.
 
I just placed an order with them. Now that they ship UPS, their shipping to the PNW dropped about 50% .:ban:
 
Well maybe they have been listening.

Put an online order in late in the evening on Sat 1 June.
Got a shipping conformation & a tracking number on Wed 5 June.
Delivery scheduled on Mon 10 June.

I find that completely acceptable for a non-rush order here to the east coast.
 
tonyp063 said:
Well maybe they have been listening.

Put an online order in late in the evening on Sat 1 June.
Got a shipping conformation & a tracking number on Wed 5 June.
Delivery scheduled on Mon 10 June.

I find that completely acceptable for a non-rush order here to the east coast.
Click to expand...

Seriously? I placed an order on May 30 and my order is still pending. This will be the last order I EVER place w/ MS, that's for sure.
 

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