Warning - Brew It Yourself (aka The Online Shopping Co)

I'm another one who has received poor service from this company, they never update the website when an item is out of stock and I had to wait 3 weeks for delivery. There is a brilliant home brew in Sheffield that I now use for online orders, good prices and excellent service.

Brew It Yourself are bullies as well. One of the main homebrew websites do not allow criticism of them any more as the company has threatened to sue them for defamation.

I had a run-in with these guys a few years ago in which my order didn't arrive until nearly a month or so later. In fact I saved a copy of the letter I sent to them:

It is with great sadness that I have had to write this especially considering that I wholeheartedly support your endeavours to provide quality goods and services at reasonable prices. However it has come to my attention that your customer service leaves a lot to be desired, compounded by your terrible delivery services which can take anything from a week for two simple items to two weeks.

The items in question that I had ordered were x5 St Peter's 3kg kits and x3 500g Munton's Spraydried Malt Extract - two little items that one would expect to be delivered within two days, not three weeks.

As a businessman I usually expect things to be on time and as arranged however when you clearly state on the website that items are usually dispatched within 24hours this becomes no laughing matter, especially when you have only a small window of opportunity in which to take delivery of the goods.

If it has anything to do with the free delivery aspect that has brought about the delay please set the issue right as the order I had made was a gift to someone abroad (for which I will be paying over £200 for one of the 3kg kits to get there), and I would have been perfectly happy to have paid you an extra £100 on postage and packaging for it to have arrived to me on time.

It is because of this and every other time I have ordered from you that I will probably not be using your services again, unless I receive an adequate explanation as to the delays.


Yours sincerely

They never replied and quite useless in the customer support department. I have never ordered from them since besides which, I don't drink alcohol anymore :beer:

I posted earlier on this thread. Surprise, surprise, my order date has been pushed out further yet again.
It is now due for dispatch on the 26th Jan. I have complained on their online `help' system. Just got a generic response saying to only bother them with urgent enquiries and that they expect their customers to work with them at this busy time. I am working with them. I asked them to either post the `in-stock' items to me straight away or to just cancel my order. I'd at least like a proper answer from them rather than a generic copy and pasted response.

I find it strange that they have all these sales and special offers on at the moment when they have no stock. They should sort out their current order book before trying to bring in more business.

I fully expect my order to pushed out further yet again come the 26th. I'll keep you all posted. I am also reluctant to cancel my order as I've heard people having to wait forever for a refund too.

I have learnt a valuable lesson through dealing with these cowboys. When you find an honest, trustworthy and reliable company, stick by them as they are offering a valuable service and should be supported. My local homebrew shop charges slightly more money but I've always received my goods straight away and in good working order.

Also. I signed up on here to let people know how badly the online homebrew company treat their customers. I couldn't post on my usual homebrew forums as this company have threatened legal action against them if any negative comments are posted about them. That says it all really. They have threatened action against the top two homebrew forums and they ban anyone from their own forum who has a negative comment. Heance all of the `great' reviews on their website. I tried to review them on Trust Pilot but you can't review them unless you are approved to do so. So that is all very misleading to customers too. They keep telling people on twitter to check out all of their great reviews on Trust Pilot. Maybe they should direct people hear for some `true' reviews.

I have had exactly the same experience as above. My estimated delivery date even went so far as the 25th of February! (Initial order on Boxing day).

I messaged them stating if this was accurate that they were to canel my order and refund the full amount. I didn't receive any info whether it was accurate or not - they simply cancelled it. Now waiting onthe 10 working days to see if it comes through (also having a dispute about the amount they owe me).

They had the Wherry Kit deal (which my other half got me for Christmas) which was very badly worded and misleading, then they dropped their prices to Cost+£1, then they dropped to 2005 prices and now they're doing a "We Pay VAT For You" offer.

The worst online shopping experience I have ever experienced and I've passed on the details to some relevant bodies. They clearly have no stock and only order when the orders appear and they've taken the money.

They have also banned several people on their forum for stating that their service is not quite what it should be.