The Homebrew Company - problems

pitytofinish

Has anybody else here had problems returning stuff back to the homebrew company.ie ?
I ordered three fermenter lids with the holes drilled, but they sent them without the holes drilled.

They admitted it was their fault, and that I'd have to pay the postage back to them to rectify the mistake!
They won't have any more in stock for another two weeks when I 'can buy three more lids'

I've bought about 700 euros of gear off them over the last 18 months and granted this is the only order they messed up, but to say it isn't worth it to them to pay for return postage is bad form and very bad customer support.

BTW, it took me four phone calls to get that far. The first time I called I was told to cut the holes myself with a sharp knife or a drill-bit. Totally defeating the purpose of ordering lids with the holes drilled in.

horsemaster

They didn't keep their promise so it is their fault. They should take care of the postage. Please keep us posted here on what happens. Thanks for the heads up too as it lets me know not to do business with them if they have this attitide on customer service.

pitytofinish

horsemaster wrote: »

They didn't keep their promise so it is their fault. They should take care of the postage. Please keep us posted here on what happens. Thanks for the heads up too as it lets me know not to do business with them if they have this attitide on customer service.

I left two messages on the bosses mobile, which he hasn't returned.

I'll email them later and let you know the outcome.

The staff member I spoke to earlier said that it was only one mistake and I must be happy with them if I came back with so many orders.
And there's no need going around in circles with me saying they should pay for their mistake and they saying that I should.

To say the least, I'm very reluctant to do any more business with a company that won't rectify their own mistakes, not even for customer goodwill.

horsemaster

That is the silliest excuse I have heard! That staff member might be covering up his/her mistake. You did right on calling the boss. I really am interested to know what the outcome will be. I have not done business with the company before but I have seen their website some time ago when I was thinking about home brewing. But the kind of treatment you are receiving definitely is not a good sign. I won't be doing business with them for sure. Thanks for letting us know.

madhatter76

http://www.nca.ie/nca/shopping-from-home#distancesellingrules

Faulty goods & refunds
If you buy something through distance selling and it turn out to be faulty, then generally your consumer rights are the same as if you bought it in a shop.

If what you bought is damaged or faulty in any way you should complain to the seller in writing immediately - by email, fax or letter - and ask for a refund or replacement. If you have to return an item because it is faulty, the seller is liable for any return shipping costs.

The same applies for a delivery of a wrong item.

But he's totally right. If you are silly enough to consider being a happy returning customer than you have to pay the price for learning better.

I would get to the boss and make sure that guy gets booted straight away.

Seeing several threads the past few weeks, what wrong with the brew shops?
All HBW and HBC seem both to have loads of issues.

Are they doing so well that they can afford to send away customers?
Will they do better without customers?

If they are doing well and if they are not selling under cost then surely they can hire more staff to get things going and increase revenue.
And with the current high unemployment rates even in Galway (I recall both are from that greater area) they should be able to find someone who is motivated to have a job and to do a normal and as expected job (not to mention maybe even a good job)

Maybe having customers who are paying their stuff and come back to generate more revenue to keep in business is an archaic relict of the mainland and doesn't apply to a modern Ireland in which I see an increasing number of companies dealing with issues that are homemade rather than the overall economy.

</cynicism>

With the raising temperatures and the good weather I'm up to start my brewing season and I already look to NI or abroad to source my stuff even though the prices are slightly higher and shipping cost are killing me. But since the local ones seems all to have more important business to do it might be well worth it.

rant over

BeerNut

madhatter76 wrote: »

Seeing several threads the past few weeks, what wrong with the brew shops?

In fairness, I think it's just negative bias. People report bad experiences. They go out of their way to do it. The OP even joined Boards for the sole purpose of reporting something bad that happened to him/her. Minutes after someone else reported something bad about a competing supplier, coincidentally enough...

Nobody is going to set up a new account on Boards to say they placed an order with a supplier and the goods arrived within a couple of days, all present and correct.

Khannie

Yeah, exactly. I've never had any trouble with THBC myself. No shop is going to have a perfect record, but as BeerNut says - people rarely come on to say they've had a successful order with any of the suppliers. Sure we'd be inundated.

sharingan

I haven't ordered from HBC, but was thinking about it for some obscure gear I need (only place with Star San that I can find for one).

I have ordered a lot from HBW. And I have had problems. And the problems were fixed. And I am still happy to order from them (and others). A key thing for me, is that they operate a retail store in Galway where I used to live, and I like to throw some business that way.

Home brewers are a thrifty bunch. Nobody gets into home brewing so that they can spend more making their own stuff than they would spend in a shop or pub. You have to shift a lot of stock before you turn a decent profit, so it is often difficult to take on and train up new staff.

So I appreciate that when I am buying online, it is usually from a small, overworked operation and there may be some issues, that I would not expect if I was buying a TV from amazon.

pitytofinish

I too didn't have any problem with THC until this happened. The mark of a good company is how they deal with problems when they arise.

I spoke to Shane the boss yesterday afternoon, who came across as friendly and understanding and agreed to send out out more lids (as ordered) at no extra cost to me.

He said he'd call me back either yesterday or today when he had news of their delivery. So hopefully I can report good news here later.

There are no ulterior motives in me joining boards other than to report an on going situation, and to see if any others experienced something similar.

Shiny

BeerNut wrote: »

In fairness, I think it's just negative bias. People report bad experiences. They go out of their way to do it. The OP even joined Boards for the sole purpose of reporting something bad that happened to him/her. Minutes after someone else reported something bad about a competing supplier, coincidentally enough...

Nobody is going to set up a new account on Boards to say they placed an order with a supplier and the goods arrived within a couple of days, all present and correct.

Just thinking this myself over the last few days. I wonder how many thousand successful and correct orders are going though for every one of these complaints?

pitytofinish

Shiny wrote: »

Just thinking this myself over the last few days. I wonder how many thousand successful and correct orders are going though for every one of these complaints?

Mistakes do happen, it's how they are resolved is important.

The good news is that I just got off the phone to Shane and he assured me that he'd send me the lids when he gets them on Monday.
So hopefully everything will be back on track in the next few days. :-)

Devi

sharingan wrote: »

I haven't ordered from HBC, but was thinking about it for some obscure gear I need (only place with Star San that I can find for one).

I have ordered a lot from HBW. And I have had problems. And the problems were fixed. And I am still happy to order from them (and others). A key thing for me, is that they operate a retail store in Galway where I used to live, and I like to throw some business that way.

Home brewers are a thrifty bunch. Nobody gets into home brewing so that they can spend more making their own stuff than they would spend in a shop or pub. You have to shift a lot of stock before you turn a decent profit, so it is often difficult to take on and train up new staff.

So I appreciate that when I am buying online, it is usually from a small, overworked operation and there may be some issues, that I would not expect if I was buying a TV from amazon.

This is it, I suspect margins are low in this game, otherwise we would have had more stores opened by now by either company. In saying that I’d say there is room for a Dublin based operation, kills me as id say it kills a lot of people to pay the €6 delivery if your only getting a few small things.

Khannie

Devi wrote: »

I’d say there is room for a Dublin based operation

There was a place in Rathmines but it went online only last year iirc, so unfortunately it looks like that's not the case. I would love a walk in store in Dublin.

beazee

Never had problems with THBC. On one instance they forgot to include one item in the package of 20 other items. Sent an email back and the very next day the missing item arrived. I'm all for Shane and THBC.

Grudaire

Devi wrote: »

In saying that I’d say there is room for a Dublin based operation, kills me as id say it kills a lot of people to pay the €6 delivery if your only getting a few small things.

It would be a brave soul who would try set up around Dublin given the price of rent.

Tesco has a decent range as well if people are stuck (albeit only in larger stores)

[Also if you only need yeast or something I would advise contacting THBC, after ordering everything I wanted - except a a slightly important packet of yeast - they let me get a few packets with postage costing ~€1 and put it through the ordinary mail ]

Devi

Khannie wrote: »

There was a place in Rathmines but it went online only last year iirc, so unfortunately it looks like that's not the case. I would love a walk in store in Dublin.

I remembering hearing about them but weren’t they primarily a wine shop (could be wrong there). Rathmines have some of the highest rents/rates in Dublin, they should have opened up in a cheap ind estate or something.

Devi

Cliste wrote: »

It would be a brave soul who would try set up around Dublin given the price of rent.

Tesco has a decent range as well if people are stuck (albeit only in larger stores)

[Also if you only need yeast or something I would advise contacting THBC, after ordering everything I wanted - except a a slightly important packet of yeast - they let me get a few packets with postage costing ~€1 and put it through the ordinary mail ]

It would be a brave soul to set up any business these days lol.

Ah I dunno, the right industrial estate with low-ish rent and rates, near the M50 and you might just make a success out of it. Hombrewing seems to be getting more and more popular, but very hard to do a feasibility study on.

madhatter76

Beside rent and other costs in Dublin, the question would be how and where to source the stuff.

I had some look for kits (just for curiosity and entrepreneurship and cause I can easily compare prices) and tried to get to the manufacturers and wholesalers and dealers all over Europe (due to import duty avoidance).

HBW and THC have unbeatable prices europe wide, and I would have no idea how they make it TBH. As mentioned before I'm sure they do make some profit else it would be totally stupid and not sustainable. But going forward I was no way near in any purchase price (even assuming a high stock number for resale) than what they sell it to end customers. The only way to get close (under) was to get 200l kits and self separate it. Now some might picture separating a 200l kit and funnel everything into parts. So thats a no go. Will any other supplier be able to survive when you can get the stuff online much cheaper (taking into count they maybe possibly one day become again reliable and fast) ... eh NO

So we have to leave the secret to them and suffer and winge. :-D

tteknulp

I have to say i find THBC very good ,i had a few probs with h.west alright , one of the workers from THBC actually dropped stuff to me on his way home ,as he had made a mistake with order originally ,so not all bad .