Midwest Supplies

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I ordered from Midwest on 4/23 and am still in processing mode. I emailed them asking what was going on and they told me about their transition and that my order would likely go out that night or the next day. Ok, no big deal - i understand.

I waited 4 more days and still no word.

I emailed them again stating that I'd like to know exactly what to expect and if they couldn't give me a straight answer then I'd like to cancel my order. I was given the apology again and they took off my shipping fee, saying it was going out this past weekend. Well - here we are Monday afternoon and still no shipment.

I'll be making other brews in the meantime, but, if I don't get my stuff before this weekend you can bet they'll lose out in thousands of dollars in future orders from me. Maybe they should have had better protocols in place to handle a transition. First off - actually communicating to the customers to expect a delay. Instead, I get no word on my order, but I sure do get multiple email promotions from them in the meantime - that doesn't help me and is pretty infuriating. I fear I'm getting the usual apology and the usual high shipping price refunded to shut me up, rather than just give me what I want - my dang supplies!
 
After communicating with Nick at Midwest, the order was processed and is now shipping! I'm happy it was taken care of because I'd rather just keep coming back to them. :mug:
 
My stuff just got here from midwest @ 4:13pm. Not only did Nick refund my shipping,he/they also gave me a copy of "the best of brew your own" magazine's 250 classic clone recipes!!!! HOORAH! We gunna havta share some of these...
 
Mine shipped yesterday as well. Would like to know if this is the end of our back-log or the end of the problem though.
 
Calichusetts said:
Mine shipped yesterday as well. Would like to know if this is the end of our back-log or the end of the problem though.
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Nope, mine still hasn't shipped. Just emailed them about it. I had trouble finding their e-mail address from their site. Wonder if they're discouraging people from writing.
 
jungatheart said:
Nope, mine still hasn't shipped. Just emailed them about it. I had trouble finding their e-mail address from their site. Wonder if they're discouraging people from writing.
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Sign up for e-mails from them. The info you need is usually in those. And sign up for the reward points program too. saving points can be used to take money off your orders. Reviews count for points on site too.
 
+1 on Midwest points system

Awesome that you got the clone recipes
 
CZs said:
+1 on Midwest points system

Awesome that you got the clone recipes
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Calichusetts said:
The rewards rock...I've basically got my shipping for free all year now. Sometimes even more
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Yeah,those points def help. With this order I just got,for instance,200 reward points knocked 5 bucks off the total. Then they refunded my shipping. Then,when I opened the box,the best of byo's 250 classic clone recipes was on top! All the beers I liked,or you guys have mentioned over the course of time are in there. AG,AE,E/SG. Different brewing styles for them,depending on the beer though.
The forward in the mag also said they were all updated for this new issue as well. Not to mention,it's $10 for free!
 
Got some major delay action here, too.

While I wait, I tried authoring some reviews of past purchases, but the page stalls on submission and displays no error callback. :(
 
I ordered my first kit from Midwest Supplies last Thursday. I just started a 6 gallon batch of cider with that very kit today. 3 business days is all it took, and I certainly won't complain about that!! Everything is exactly what I ordered. I ordered additional items like yeast, stabilizer, energizer, etc... and it's all there and packaged very nicely. THANK YOU MIDWEST SUPPLIES!! I am embarking on a new journey tonight, thanks to those guys!
 
I just did a large order from them this weekend, so I am hoping that they have sorted out their warehouse issues. This large order will allow me to get my keezer up and running and allowing me to keg my homebrew. Fingers crossed.
 
Massey said:
I ordered my first kit from Midwest Supplies last Thursday. I just started a 6 gallon batch of cider with that very kit today. 3 business days is all it took, and I certainly won't complain about that!! Everything is exactly what I ordered. I ordered additional items like yeast, stabilizer, energizer, etc... and it's all there and packaged very nicely. THANK YOU MIDWEST SUPPLIES!! I am embarking on a new journey tonight, thanks to those guys!
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This has been my experience for years with them...hope their "growing pains" are over
 
Placed my second order ever on 4/22 and it shipped on 5/1. I inquired about the slowness and received the same response. It arrived with a bag of busted grain and just very poorly packed. I sent an email and filled out the customer survey but got no response. I don't think I will continue business with MW.
 
Has anyone had trouble with midwest shipping. Cause I have been waiting almost 2wks for a replacement pot. I placed another order on Sunday and it still hasn't shipped out. Just want to know if this is normal. Thanks
 
Got my order today from the 5th. 5 items BACK ORDERED including 50 lbs. DME and all my hops. Got two yeast starters all dressed up with no where to go. 2nd order I placed still hasn't shipped.

I'm not pleased. Just checked again and each item shows shipped on their website. No indication of any backorder.

It's not so much that their ball of yarn got all twisted up as much as it's they're pretending it's not happening that's got me perturbed.
 
I think it may be normal as of the last few months. If you search on this forum you will find quite a few slow Midwest Shipping threads. I have always been a big fan of Midwest but I placed an order 3 months ago and it took a week and I live next door in Minneapolis. I was also in their store last Saturday and they have moved the entire store around and I was much more knowledgeable than any of their help. There was a person in the grain room filling an order and asking me if it made any difference what kind of pilsner malt she put in the order. Another guy didn't know what where lactic acid was located or what it was used for. This type of service is not normal for Midwest based on my years of experience with them but it certainly seems they are having quite a few issues as of late. It's too bad because I have always liked Midwest a lot. Hopefully they will sort out their problems soon.
 
Just got my late order with lots of items backordered. Account shows everything shipped and I had no notification of anything being backordered.

Now my UPS guy is mad at me because I yelled at him about not delivering all my packages.
 
I was amazed & bewildered yesterday when a box arrived from midwest. They'd inadvertently sent me a duplicate of my latest order that was late being shipped & all. That ones been in the fridge for a while now. Now I have 288 o2 caps,8lbs of dextrose,& 2 PM Berlin Wheat kits.
Since it's illegal to return food stuffs,they let me keep it,even though I wasn't charged for it. An oopsie,but I had to let them know by e-mail,since I didn't feel it was right to just keep it. Didn't think about it as being a food item,thus non-returnable. It at least lets them know to keep a close eye on their shipping dept...
 
just put in a nice sized order last Friday, 5/10 and got shipping confirmation in the middle of the night (5/15) - the equivalent of about 3-4 business days - I expect around 2-3 so unless I'm special because I complained and they didn't want my hassle again, then I'll assume they are just about getting back to normalcy.

What made it great was that I used my points and had received a GC code from them because of the problem with my last order so this next brew is a steal!

I'm going to continue to use them unless I get another problem - I can handle 2-4 business days processing. Although, I will say - I'm hoping they can make the leap at some point and either make it 24-48 hours flat for processing, or, give you overnight shipping for every 5-10 orders - something has to become easier on the shipping end eventually. To pay a premium on shipping and then have to wait that long is asking too much form a customer IMO. They can blame Amazon for the spoiling!
 
What a mess. Just checked my order and found even more items missing.

Sure wish I had known this was coming. I'd have ordered from somewhere else.

They haven't even told me when the backordered items are expected to ship.

Thread title should be: "When a Company Implodes."
 
Well,with something on the order of 1 million home brewers in this country alone,that can't be easy to keep up with. And I understand that expansions take time & manpower away from business. Just thought maybe they'd have extra help or something. But it'll work out one way or another. It always does with them,as they do try hard to make things right.
 
I haven't had a big issue with MW lately. I buy brewing hardware and parts from them pretty often without much delay. I just don't buy grain from MW anymore which may explain my lack of issues. It's basically just because of how they package it. They aren't zip-loc bags and the writing is just a sharpie in very hard to decipher handwriting at times. Usually when I got my grain from MW I deciphered what the grain was based on my invoice & reading the cryptic writing on the bag; I rewrite my own sharpie label on them.

Two other places I order from use properly sized ziploc bags for specialty grains, nice heavy duty bags for 10# bags and printed labels so if I don't use 100% of the grain I can tell what it is 2 months down the road if I want to brew a batch.
 
Placed an order with them on 4/22, all items showed as in stock. Their web site says they generally ship in stock items in one business day ( http://www.midwestsupplies.com/customer-service/#answer1 ).

E-mailed them on 4/25 and was informed that they had moved their warehouse over the weekend and were really backed up. No problem, that's why I order two weeks before I need things. I was given $10 credit for the delay.

The order finally shipped 4/29 and was delivered on 5/1 (Wednesday). Great, just enough time to make a starter and brew on Saturday. Except that they left out all of one type of hop that I ordered. I called them and tried to get the customer service rep. to ship them in time for me to brew on Saturday. It was too late to ship that day (Wednesday) and he didn't want to go to the expense of shipping next day, even though it was their fault. I spoke to a supervisor (Todd) who lied to me and told me they would ship it out next day air so I would have it in time. I think he just wanted me off the phone. What they actually did was put it in the USPS mail. It arrived too late in the day to brew.

So, recently I decided to give them another chance and use up that $10 credit they gave me. Placed an order for all in-stock items on 5/13. Called today to see if they were going to ship this week and was told that the warehouse is backed up AND two of my items are out of stock (they both still show in stock on the web site). Not sure when they will ship they say, maybe early next week. I got no e-mail informing me of the items being out of stock.

Fortunately I don't need any of the items for a couple more weeks, so I'll wait and see.... but I probably won't do business with them again.
 
Got my shipping confirmation last night. Order on the 12th ship on the 16th. Not bad, I would love a little quicker shipping times, but it was within their stated ship window so they met expectations. Looks like their shipping delays are mostly resolved. Will update when I get the shipment to update as to the packaging, I did not get any grains, it is all hardware so it should arrive in good shape.
 
MW always send the hops in airtight packages - do other places do this with the grain - CAN you do this with the grain?

If so - I think that would make customers feel a little better about the shelf life
 
JohnSand said:
I ordered on the 6th, I think. It was only shipped yesterday.:(
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GAH... I ordered on the 5th... 10 bidnezz days later and still says "Processing."

Had a line returned to me from Justin saying WhiteLabs yeast for the Hop Head is not in and that some swing top bottles I got are backordered. :(

I may ask to cancel the bottles or something... I have a bunch of empties now from idle-quaffing!
 
Very disappointed with Midwest lately. I have been buying my supplies from them exclusively. They are my LHBS and I actually go there to pick everything up. The selection is great and the products are top quality, but my service has been absolutely horrible lately. I order online for my items to be picked up at the store. The website allows for instore pickup 2 days after the order has been placed. My orders used to be ready when I came to pick them up on the date selected on their website. My last three orders were not. They had not even been printed off the computer which one of the employees told me meant no one had even looked to see if there were any orders. I had to stand around for an hour and 10 minutes while they collected my last order. The website has been an issue lately as well. Using IE I couldn't actually put anything in my shopping cart. I downloaded Mozilla and was able to shop again. I purchased a $100 gift card from them that I wasn't able to use if I was signed into my points account with them and then the website would only accept it if I spent the entire amount at once. Some of the website products don't match what they sell as well. I had ordered 8oz of corn sugar from their website because that is what was offered. When I went to pick it up I was told they don't sell 8oz packages only 5oz or 1lb. I was given the 5oz package at the website price for the 8oz package. I also bought an all grain kit and picked out a yeast from the selections given on the site. I was told at the store that the yeast I chose wasn't an option for the kit and would need to pay more for a liquid yeast or get the cheaper dry yeast at the premium price. I know a lot of this sounds minor, but its starting to add up. I never get any response except we'll look into it. The service was great at one point in time, but has really fallen off. I'm just really disappointed. I believe it may just be time to mail order my supplies from another company. I liked having the ability to actually go to Midwest, but all the minor incidents are starting to add up to one large headache and they seem to be great with customer service as long as they can do it through the mail and not be able to do much for someone in person. I appreciate the "I'm sorry" and "We'll look into it" but those only work for a limited number of times before a pattern becomes a problem.
 
Last order shipped late but the shipping confirmation showed all items shipped. When I got the order, DME and hops were not there among other things and had backordered. No explanation, no notification, no expected ship date for backorders. When I checked what they had sent, I found another item missing.

Wrote them a couple of times and I'm not pleased with their response. Another order I had with them shipped today and showed all items shipped. Wonder what really did ship and won't know until I get it.

Something big has happened to Midwest and they're not handling it very well. I feel like they're trying to bluff their way through it. As StompingClover says, "I'm sorry" gets old after awhile.

Most of the other people who got caught up in this disaster got their shipping free or credits, I got nothing and my orders were about $600 total for a weeks orders.

I used to like dealing with them. Now, not so much.
 
Sad to see a company go down like this.

Midwest doesn't answer any of my emails.

They still haven't shipped over $200 worth of paid for merchandise. Ordered May 2.

Last two orders full of mistakes and omissions. And again, no response to emails.

The only option I have left is to ask my lender to charge back the money I paid. Forcing good customers like me to leave can't bode well for their future.
 
Ordered 2 all grain kits and some yeast around 2 weeks ago, and no shipping notice or anything. I don't know what these guys are doing but i think this will be my last time ordering from them.

If there are delays they could at least send out a communication email to inform the customers.
 
disney7 said:
Placed an order with them on 4/22, all items showed as in stock. Their web site says they generally ship in stock items in one business day ( http://www.midwestsupplies.com/customer-service/#answer1 ).

E-mailed them on 4/25 and was informed that they had moved their warehouse over the weekend and were really backed up. No problem, that's why I order two weeks before I need things. I was given $10 credit for the delay.

The order finally shipped 4/29 and was delivered on 5/1 (Wednesday). Great, just enough time to make a starter and brew on Saturday. Except that they left out all of one type of hop that I ordered. I called them and tried to get the customer service rep. to ship them in time for me to brew on Saturday. It was too late to ship that day (Wednesday) and he didn't want to go to the expense of shipping next day, even though it was their fault. I spoke to a supervisor (Todd) who lied to me and told me they would ship it out next day air so I would have it in time. I think he just wanted me off the phone. What they actually did was put it in the USPS mail. It arrived too late in the day to brew.

So, recently I decided to give them another chance and use up that $10 credit they gave me. Placed an order for all in-stock items on 5/13. Called today to see if they were going to ship this week and was told that the warehouse is backed up AND two of my items are out of stock (they both still show in stock on the web site). Not sure when they will ship they say, maybe early next week. I got no e-mail informing me of the items being out of stock.

Fortunately I don't need any of the items for a couple more weeks, so I'll wait and see.... but I probably won't do business with them again.
Click to expand...

Just following up: The order I placed on 5/13 hadn't moved by 5/21 so I contacted them and was told they could ship what they had in stock and send the rest when it came in. I asked them to do that. Then they sat on it for three more days and then shipped all the items I had ordered, but in two different shipments. I assume the items they didn't have came in by the time they got around to shipping the stuff they did have.

So, to sum things up, their on-line inventory system cannot be trusted as to whether something is actually in stock or not and they take way too long to ship things that they do have in stock.

I won't be ordering from them again.
 
jungatheart said:
Sad to see a company go down like this.

Midwest doesn't answer any of my emails.

They still haven't shipped over $200 worth of paid for merchandise. Ordered May 2.

Last two orders full of mistakes and omissions. And again, no response to emails.

The only option I have left is to ask my lender to charge back the money I paid. Forcing good customers like me to leave can't bode well for their future.
Click to expand...


Update: Final email to midwest telling them to ship or refund. Travis writes back and asks: what backorder, what missing items? But does give a refund on backordered/missing items and their proportion of shipping.

I have no trust in their systems or their people.
 
Don't order anything time sensitive from Midwest. I had a brew day planned for Saturday and ordered my grains from them. They still haven't shipped so I'm moving on to plan B and hitting my LHBS after work on Friday. Prices are good, but don't expect anything for at least 2 weeks after ordering.
 
Has anyone ordered from them lately - I know they were having some shipping issues not too long ago, was just wondering if they'd been settled yet.

Just got a 20% off coupon emailed to me, good for the next 3 days, so I might put in an order tonight. I don't have a brew day scheduled (starting a hard cider this week), so any shipping delays won't be the end of the world, I just like to know about them up front.
 
I've got another PM Berlin Wheat going into the other fermenter this coming weekend. so I'll have another week or so till another fermenter opens up. Gotta get another pale ale or IPA going.
 

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