I had an interesting experience yesterday that I need to share just for the humor of it.
I had ordered a 7 gal SS Brewtech Chronical fermenter and received it via FedEx yesterday. I had also ordered the leg extensions, casters, and the accessory shelf for this fermenter so that I can roll it around my brewery and my cooler. Everything, minus the shelf arrived with no problems. However, I had an extra large sized box with the shipment that perplexed me as to what it contained. I opened it and much to my surprise found a half barrel More Beer fermenter, complete with insulation and peltier unit in the box. It had everything minus the controller, valves, and the stand. What’s a mother to do?
Now being the honest person I am, I called More Beer and explained that I had not received the shelf but somehow had this extra fermenter. I mentioned that I would be extremely happy to keep it without the need to pay for it due to their error. After some chuckling on his part, the rep. told me that he would be glad to sell it to me at a discounted price (a bit over $1000) so it didn’t have to be shipped back to California. Of course, after pondering his offer for about a nanosecond, I said no because “A” I don’t have room for it, and “B” I didn’t want to spend $1K on another fermenter I really did not need. (I already have the half barrel SS Brewtech Chronical and the new one will be used for small batches and test batches so I can sell all of my glass carboys and move away from glass).
Thought you all might enjoy my dilemma here. Comments, guffaws, etc. will be entertained.
I once received a fermenter with a slight manufacturing defect, and the seller walked me through a simple fix over the phone, using simple hand tools, so I didn’t have to return it.
I think the rep should have walked you through how to cut that thing up and make your shelf out of it. ;D
They should offer you something for the effort of returning it - your time is worth something, right. But Good onya for being honest and decent about calling them. I hope it will come back four-fold to you…
Hopefully they are having a shipper pickup the system.
I would laugh at the situation myself too, but I would not be willing to spend a dime to return it to them. They mis-shipped it, they should pay to have it returned.
Glad you can laugh about it. 8^)
Years ago I ordered a 50" Plasma TV as a gift to the family for Christmas. When it arived, there were 2. The shipper didn’t really appreciate when I signed for one and refused to sign for the other. I didn’t really think I needed two $1600 TVs. :
Yep! More Beer sent me a FedEx shipping label via e-mail the same day and the driver picked it up yesterday. The only labor on my part was taping the box shut, applying the label, calling FedEx for a pickup, and putting the box where he could easily find it.
As I think about it, I realize this is the first I’ve heard of MoreBeer messing up an order, really. The fact that this is noteworthy says a lot about the quality of their service. As does their handling of the return. I recall a couple of times when part of my order was going to be delayed at the warehouse or what have you, and they split it up and shipped it in two lots so I could get the bulk of it promptly, without charging me extra shipping on the straggling item. I do hope the intended recipient didn’t have to wait too long. And I hope you get your shelf promptly.
I order from Morebeer a lot. Their customer service has always been outstanding, they fulfill orders quickly, and rarely if ever make a mistake picking the order. IMO Morebeer is the model of how an online business should be run; they have it very dialed in.
I once ordered a three-gallon glass carboy from them which came in hundreds of small pieces. They sent me another box with hundreds more pieces and then finally sent one packaged properly.
I not too long ago got a 5L Erlenmeyer flask from them. They packed the $#!? out of it. Like a Russian doll of boxes and bubble packs. Guess they learned from your incident!
A few months ago they accidentally sent me a 5 lb. bag of Weyermann Carafoam instead of Weyermann Pilsner.
They sent the replacement bag of pilsner via 2-day delivery so I wouldn’t miss my brew day, at no additional charge. They also said to keep the Carafoam.
I don’t like Carafoam so I gave it to somebody I was selling a few surplus corny kegs to.
I order from them pretty frequently, and that is the only mistake they’ve made.
I’ve had nothing but good experiences with MoreBeer over the past 15 years. And given my location in northern New England, their new warehouse in PA has really increased the speed of shipment arrivals.
I’ve had a number of mispicks from MB, but no more frequently than any other outfit and MB has always been very good about correcting their mistakes. A couple times they’ve mistakenly sent me an extra bag of grain or something I didn’t order, I always inform them when this happens cuz I don’t want to mess up my beer karma, they always say just keep it.
As someone else previously stated, MB in my mind is a great model of what an online retailer should be - which makes me worry that they will be purchased by some big outfit and systematically ruined.
My latest ordering experience.
Ordered 4 of the AEB Italy kegs. I have 7 already, very expensive but SUPER nice and should last forever.
I was not amused by what I received. New kegs should be en route, but I’ll likely miss a spund window on my Pils. Oh well, mistakes happen.