Warning - Brew It Yourself (aka The Online Shoppi...

[A. Badger]

Be very careful if you're tempted by the friendly looking website of Southend-based Brew It Yourself (aka the Online shopping Co).

Shortly before Christmas I placed an order with this firm, who duly sent me the wrong goods.

Unfortunately, BIY is one of those up to the minute web businesses that only to wants your money. If things go wrong, they've made it next to impossible to contact them to get redress.

BIY refuse to accept e-mails, claiming they can't cope with the volume of spam they receive. They have an answerphone-only telephone system that doesn't take messages and is proud of it (you get a message telling you to use their website to contact them) and yet the website has no obvious contact mechanism.

In other words, BIY are happy to take you money, but if they get your order wrong, you're stuck.

Fortunately, inside my wrongly packed box was someone else's order - complete with their invoice showing a mobile phone number, which I called.

Enter another equally irate Brew It Yourself customer who had received exactly the same shoddy treatment and was wondering what to do. Mercifully, she had received my order, so we concluded that as it was impossible to get any sense out of these geniuses, we would arrange to meet and swap boxes.

It cost us each a 40 minute drive to meet halfway, but at least she got her order and I got mine.

Brew It Yourself? Seems they couldn't organise the proverbial in a brewery!

[Jeff Bridges hair]

I think there has been a couple of threads about these lot over the last few weeks

[Fruit and Nut Case]

Originally Posted by A. Badger

It cost us each a 40 minute drive to meet halfway...

Bet you didn't know you were signing up to a dating agency too.

[Mankysteve]

Humm ive had a friend order stuff from them and he's been very happy.

[A. Badger]

Originally Posted by Mankysteve

Humm ive had a friend order stuff from them and he's been very happy.

So was I when they got my first order right.

But just wait till they get one wrong!

Since posting earlier, I've read the other MSE users' comments about this bunch of imbeciles.

I hope Southend TS gets on their case - though I won't be holding my breath.

[dfh]

It must have been love..............

[A. Badger]

Originally Posted by dfh

It must have been love..............

No, sadly, it wasn't a Richard Curtis script.

Just as well, as I took Mrs Badger with me!

[ruralskinflint]

I've dealt with these guys a couple of times in the past and been really happy (things turned up quickly and only paid for what I got etc)

However, earlier in the week I ordered a new pressure barrel and after that when back into my account to see that the item was still in my shopping basket - thinking that our slow broadband had messed up, I ordered again - so OK I made a mistake.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to cancel an order with this shower - the only way (they say) is by snail mail. I received the first order within 2 working days but now the second order says that the item is out of stock. I have sent a letter by road and we will see what happens, however I wish I'd read these before ordering.

Thankfully my order was about £50 so if all else fails and the second item gets delivered, look out for a new top tap pressure barrel on ebay!!!!


AVOID AT ALL COSTS

[ArferDaly]

I know this is an old thread.
But I was in an earlier one on the same subject that disappeared.

Another warning if you use there forum do not put anything about bad service as I just got banned,as I am sure my fellow posters did.

Mark

[skywoman]

I have used this company for quite a few years and had been satisfied until recently. I place an order in July 2011, part of the order was out of stock so could not be delivered. I was given many new delivery dates. I managed to get them to cancel the order, which they did, however I have not recieved the refund which they told me would take 28 days to complete. The 28 days passed over two weeks ago. I have contacted them through their online procedure and have had several replies all asking for information which they already have on their website. I have made several request for this refund and supplied the information several times. It is clear they do not intend to give back the money.

Please do learn from my experience and don't use this company.

[Gastomagic]

I ordered items from BIY in April. They still haven't arrived and i get a fortnightly e-mail pushing the dates of delivery out again. I've sent letters to cancel the order and also complained to Essex trading standards...who were useless. Has anyone had similar experiences? This goes against the Sale of Goods Act. I've seen other threads online that suggest i am not alone. Can something be done...short of me turning up to their doorstep in Essex?

[weetam]

I have had three orders delivered by them now, the first order had a broken thermometer in the wine kit, i phoned them up and they delivered another very quickly. The other two orders have had no problems whatsoever.

[Omar Little]

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.

[kittie]

the same company

http://www.the-online-homebrew-company.co.uk/

no delivery and no refund and no responses. I contacted my bank who did a chargeback. Be warned!!!!

[Bodymass]

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

[Bodymass]

I feel that I need to justify my earlier comment (because I am effectively criticising a company in the public domain, and don't want to seem like I am doing so for the sake of it).

Just to compliment what I stated earlier the previous order was delayed by nearly two weeks when they should have been delivered within a couple of days. I was prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt because it was my first order.

However I ordered from them again soon after and the next items took nearly a month by which time I was extremely annoyed (mainly because it was a present promised to someone in Canada). He was a fan of St Peter's Brewery and I had heard St Peter's recently released a beer kit which he couldn't get hold of over there. Hope this clears things up regarding the letter.

[PeterBateman]

I wish I had checked these jokers out before using them! I ordered with them in October, was continually fobbed off until late November when I cancelled the order. Since then I have been trying to get a refund, with no success or direct reply! A problem they have is that, apparantly, their system won't reply to a hotmail acount! It will, however, when you need a password to sign in! So, I have now tried a written request. watch this space. next step Essex trading standards! Not hopeful though.

[spinning-top]

I think I maybe got a bit over-confident shopping online.

I've been ordering home brewing items from various vendors online now for over 3 years and I think that I just got used to receiving good service and not having to check the companies out before hand.

I wish I had read up about these cowboys before ordering from them!! I placed my order on 30th Dec. Everything was apparently in stock when I ordered. If anything wasn't currently in stock I wouldn't have put it on my order.

Since placing my order which according to their website `is usually dispached within 24hrs'. various items on the order keep changing status and the expected delivery date changes on a daily basis. One item will be in stock, then the next day it will say it is in transit, then it will be out of stock again, then it will be available. Then another item will appear as out of stock.

I'm getting really annoyed with them now. My expected dispatch date currently is 17th Jan. But I expect that date will be pushed further out before I receive my items.

Also, the items that are out of stock in my basket still say they are in stock with expected dispatch of 24hrs on the website.

There is no way of contacting them either. They don't have a phone number or e-mail. Just a useless online help system. If you wish to cancel your order you need to do it by post and wait 28 days for a refund.

Never using them again. Can't believe they can get away with this treatment of their customers.

[spinning-top]

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.

[spinning-top]

They've cancelled my order now. Everything on my order became out of stock yet again. They say I will have to wait up to 10 days for my money to be refunded. So lets see if they can at least do that on time.

They did tell me that their philosophy has never been on quick delivery. They just provide good deals and it takes as long as it takes. Well that's not what they are telling people on their website. They say items are usually dispatched within 24hrs. More like 24 days of fobbing you off and then cancelling your order.

They still have loads of offers on their website trying to drag in more customers. But they have no stock !!!!
They should look after their current customers first if they are struggling to cope with demand.