Ok. I decided to give an online homebrew supplier with the same ingredients as NB a shot at my business. I’ll preface this with: I really want to use other retailers that deal in specialty products. Here’s what happened:
I ordered items the well known online supplier has listed on their website 5 Mar.
I received my package 6 days later. However, I did not receive what I ordered. My ingredients were substituted without my consent though my phone number and email address are printed on my invoice. There is a hand written note thanking me for my order but no mention of the substitution. I ordered a hard to find item that only this store listed as ‘in stock’. I could have easily picked up the substituted item downtown.
I contacted them by phone and spoke to a person who literally said, “I don’t know anything about this stuff.” He went on to explain there are items listed as ‘in stock’ online that they really don’t have. He said there are also things they have that are not on the website. Interesting. I asked him to see if the item that I ordered was in stock thinking maybe it was a simple picking error. He said he checked and no it wasn’t. He apologized for the experience and offered a solution. I accepted the offer and was told it would go out UPS.
BTW, I had no idea UPS had an option to choose ‘slower than a snail’. I mean I’ve seen their routine 3 or 4 day standard delivery, next day air, next business day, etc. but this package has been in UPS for 8 days and counting.
That’s 14 total days to get this matter settled for an item that is still listed as ‘in stock’ on their website. ...and this is no run of the mill store. They’ve been in business a *very* long time. Unfortunately, they’ve lost my trust and confidence.
As a contrast, a while back I ordered ingredients from another well known supplier. The yeast I ordered had surpassed the expiration date. They called me and said they’d either throw in two or let me choose an alternative yeast. Imagine that, they let me decide vs just substituting without my consent. Great service but they don’t carry the item I ordered from the store mentioned above.
Now, as a simple comparison, I ordered ingredients that only NB and the store above sell (along with a very few others) on 16 Mar. The UPS website says it will be here 20 Mar. 4 days. Faster than I anticipated. 7 to 8 days sounds reasonable. We’ll see if my ingredients have been substituted but based on past experience the odds are it will be 100% accurate and complete.
My point: if NB can provide specialty ingredients I cannot get locally, get it to me as ordered in a reasonable timeframe — something an independent competitor cannot seem to be able to pull off — is it NB’s fault or the competitor’s? It’s not the opposition’s responsibility to let the competition beat them. The responsibility lies with the competition.
As I said above: Nostalgia only goes so far.
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Topic: Anheuser Busch trying to take over the Homebrewing market? (Read 8429 times)
