Brewers Hardware

[Crusty]

How many of you guys have dealt with Brewers Hardware in the USA?
I've ordered a sanke fermenter kit with thermowell 5 days ago & paid via PayPal. I got a receipt stating the order was processed upon payment but that's all I've heard. I've emailed twice asking for confirmation of shipping & nothing. No reply or any communication as to when it's getting shipped or even if it's been shipped. When I ordered, I put in the comments field that I would like to be notified when the order was shipped just so I know it's on it's way. I'll try again tomorrow but if I don't get a response within the week I'm opening a dispute with PayPal. I'm not sure if Derrin lets people know if their order has been shipped or not as it's my first order & possibly my last. I guess I'm just spoilt with ordering from the sponsors above & being notified of every step in the process which is a bloody excellent way to let your customers know what's going on with their order. He's got 2 days to respond or I'm gunna get nasty.

 

[razz]

I ordered from them Crusty but that was a few years ago. From memory my receipt came through quickly and the goods turned up a few weeks later. I think, like you, there was no communication. What's the point in getting nasty?

 

[Crusty]

I ordered from them Crusty but that was a few years ago. From memory my receipt came through quickly and the goods turned up a few weeks later. I think, like you, there was no communication. What's the point in getting nasty?

What I meant by getting nasty was just blowing smoke out my butt, I was just joking.
Of course there's no point getting nasty & I would of continued to try & contact them via email. I have emailed them in the past & promptly got a reply so either,
1. They are closed at the moment
2. They took my money & run
3. They are having technical difficulties
4. Who knows what else.
I've never ordered before & I do find it bizarre that after taking someone's money, you would think that they would have the decency to let you know that all is well. I'm left to just guess what's going on & it seems as though they can't even be bothered to at least email me with shipping details.
Maybe it will be here in a couple of weeks, or not, or maybe, who knows? I'm just the silly bugger that paid for it.

 

[sponge]

I've placed two orders with BH in the past couple of years, both showing up within 2-3 weeks.

Communication was pretty low, but still seemed to get the orders fine.

 

[dicko]

Hi Crusty,

Some others on here report of good service from an agent in the USA where they actually buy the goods and send them to you. http://www.ustooz.com/
That may be an option if buying a bit from there, although there is a fee attached.

cheers

 

[Crusty]

Hi Crusty,

Some others on here report of good service from an agent in the USA where they actually buy the goods and send them to you. http://www.ustooz.com/
That may be an option if buying a bit from there, although there is a fee attached.

cheers

Thanks dicko.... :beerbang:

 

[jlm]

I've ordered from them a few times, as recently as getting something in the mail from them today. In your receipt saying the order has been processed there's a link to track your order, cut the ID number and paste into the next link. I've found it takes a few days for anything to get out of their warehouse (or similar), but once its on the road it it moves pretty quick. Latest item took longer to get across the Bass Strait than it did the Pacific Ocean.

 

[Crusty]

I've ordered from them a few times, as recently as getting something in the mail from them today. In your receipt saying the order has been processed there's a link to track your order, cut the ID number and paste into the next link. I've found it takes a few days for anything to get out of their warehouse (or similar), but once its on the road it it moves pretty quick. Latest item took longer to get across the Bass Strait than it did the Pacific Ocean.

This is all I got. No link anywhere.

 

[stux]

Ordered from them in the past. Received goods. Super hi quality stuff too.

 

[Crusty]

I finally got an email today from Curtis at BH & it hasn't been sent because they are out of stock, yippee!
Don't you love ordering a stocked item that is actually out of stock & waiting almost a week before someone letting you know it's not available.
Apparently they make these on site so they will have it made & sent by early next week.
Why cant someone locally make these? I'm sure there are quite a few brewers on here that want to ferment in stainless like I am.
The item cost me just under $200.00 including freight due to the shitty Aussie dollar exchange rate so maybe someone could look at making these locally.
Patience is not one of my strong points but it looks like I'll just have to suck it up & wait. I've heard the gear from BH is top quality so I'm happy with that.

 

[sp0rk]

Why cant someone locally make these? I'm sure there are quite a few brewers on here that want to ferment in stainless like I am.
The item cost me just under $200.00 including freight due to the shitty Aussie dollar exchange rate so maybe someone could look at making these locally.
Patience is not one of my strong points but it looks like I'll just have to suck it up & wait. I've heard the gear from BH is top quality so I'm happy with that.

Hopefully by early next year I might be
Mrs sp0rk has a teaching scholarship that gives her a teaching job SOMEWHERE in NSW in term 4 this year
I've decided if I can't find any work I'll be picking up my small lathe, bandsaw and other machinery (and buying a small tig welder) from my parent's place in Ballina and I'll start making one off/small run custom fittings focusing on brewing hardware
If and when it happens, I'll get retailer status setup up and start posting on here about it

 

[Crusty]

Hopefully by early next year I might be
Mrs sp0rk has a teaching scholarship that gives her a teaching job SOMEWHERE in NSW in term 4 this year
I've decided if I can't find any work I'll be picking up my small lathe, bandsaw and other machinery (and buying a small tig welder) from my parent's place in Ballina and I'll start making one off/small run custom fittings focusing on brewing hardware
If and when it happens, I'll get retailer status setup up and start posting on here about it

Nice one Sp0rk.
I hope you can get it off the ground mate.

 

[hockadays]

It will be worth the wait. I have one and have ordered a few things from them in the past. Fermenting in the sanke works well with their kit.
Cheers

 

[Camo6]

Why cant someone locally make these? I'm sure there are quite a few brewers on here that want to ferment in stainless like I am.

This was mentioned in a thread a while ago. If I had a lathe and a bit more time I'd be churning a few out. Hopefully you head down this route Spork. Australia needs more bling!

I put one together myself using mainly leftovers and cheap Chinese bits. All up probably set me back less than $80 including the taps and comp fittings. No thermowell but one can easily be fitted into one of the two compression fittings and swapped back after fermentation. Sad bit is, due to time constraints, I'm still yet to use it.

 

[zappa]

FWIW, I've ordered from them 4 times. The first 3 times, orders were fulfilled quickly and I received a shipping notice within a few days. The last order I placed included one of their sanke fermenter kits + a bunch of other stuff. Almost $500 in total. Despite numerous requests for an update, was almost 8 weeks before I got a response, which was apologetic and to say they didn't have stock of the fermenter kit, they were making it, and it would ship the next day or 2. It shipped about a week later, actually. I'd always been happy with their service and stock, but that last order blew it for me. There was a thread on another forum in the US where many people had plenty of similar experiences. I can understand growing pains, but to simply ignore polite requests from customers requesting an update is really poor form IMO. Nice guy and all, but I can get my specialty hardware elsewhere.

 

[Crusty]

FWIW, I've ordered from them 4 times. The first 3 times, orders were fulfilled quickly and I received a shipping notice within a few days. The last order I placed included one of their sanke fermenter kits + a bunch of other stuff. Almost $500 in total. Despite numerous requests for an update, was almost 8 weeks before I got a response, which was apologetic and to say they didn't have stock of the fermenter kit, they were making it, and it would ship the next day or 2. It shipped about a week later, actually. I'd always been happy with their service and stock, but that last order blew it for me. There was a thread on another forum in the US where many people had plenty of similar experiences. I can understand growing pains, but to simply ignore polite requests from customers requesting an update is really poor form IMO. Nice guy and all, but I can get my specialty hardware elsewhere.

It looks like it will be my first & only order with them at this stage.
They just ignore any communication at all which simply isn't good enough for me.
I sent them 5 emails over the course of a week & finally got a response to let me know that they have no stock.
I paid with PayPal & I have no intention of waiting weeks for them to get their act together.
I'll just cut my losses & lodge a claim with PayPal if I am still waiting after 3 weeks.
It's poor service & piss poor to advertise something on your site that states it's in stock & after you paid for it you find out almost a week later that they don't even have it in stock. They didn't contact me by the way, I had to chase them for 5 days.

 

[Crusty]

I received an email from Curtis @ Brewers Hardware today & it looks as though my Sanke fermenter kit is finished & it will be shipped today.

 

[Crusty]

I received an email from Curtis @ Brewers Hardware today & it looks as though my Sanke fermenter kit is finished & it will be shipped today.

And guess what was waiting for me when I got home from work today.
I might of been a bit harsh on Brewers Hardware for not contacting me after several emails but boy oh boy, that was quick.
The Sanke fermenter kit is top quality & a perfect fit for the kegs I wish to use to ferment.
Would I buy from them again? Absolutely. Highly recommend this product ( with thermowell ) even with the crappy arse exchange rate at the moment.
Righto, I'm off to eat a slice of humble pie.

 

[mikk]

The quality of the stuff I've bought from them in the past has been exceptional, though like you, they didn't reply to any of my emails.

Room for improvement, definitely. I'm about to place another order with them, so hope there's no problems with communication again, but in reality I now know what to expect!

 

[Moad]

I've purchased a few parts from these guys and had great dealings until my last order. They overcharged me $20 USD for shipping on two orders, I also sent some parts back worth $80 USD which I was told they would refund via email from Curtis.
This was early August, I've followed up 3 times and they are no longer responding to emails.

I'm not normally one to bag a company out and they do produce quality stuff but to be promised a refund and then just stop responding to emails is pretty poor. I really hope they process the refund as I would like to order more parts from them but I just cannot give them any more business on top of the $1500 I have already spent with them... I'll post back here if they process it.


edit: posted on facebook and got a response straight away, refund processed.

So if you are having trouble try contacting through facebook