HomeBrewWest not responding

[Hauglia]

I have no luck reaching HomeBrewWest regarding an order I made 18.09.2014
The payment where quickly withdrawn from my account, but no items received.


-10.10.2014 (22 days after ordering), I sent my first email asking for the status. No reply from HomeBrewWest.
-27.10.2014 (39 days after ordering), I send a second email. Also with just a polite question about the status. It was replied with "I will get Brian to check on this for you." But he didn't, no reply.
-04.11.2014 (47 days after ordering), I sent my third mail. Also just asking for the status. No reply
-The following week I tried to call twice with no reply.
-10.11.2014 (53 days after ordering) I noticed that HomeBrewWest has a facebook page where they encurage customers to ask questions. I asked about my order, but the question where just removed without answer given.
As this didn't work, I sendt a SMS also asking for the status.. no reply.


So.. what to do? Anyone else had a simular problem with HomeBrewWest?

This post could of course be deleted, just as my question on their facebook page. But for the fellow homebrewers, it is usefull to also highlight problems with suppliers so that others don't get burned.

Even after 54 days, I still hope that this is just because of some silly mistake or in other ways can be explained.



Steinar Aa.

[Garry]

You're not having much luck are you  Try sending HomeBrewWest a PM here. Brian reads them.

[johnrm]

No customer of any company, should have to come on here to PM a supplier, affiliate or not.

[imark]

Wow... That's terrible. I haven't experienced similar with them myself. I hope you get a satisfactory resolution soon.

[Shane Phelan]

Just curious,  why did you wait 22 days to send the first email?

[Hauglia]

I live in Norway, so I figured it could take some extra days.

I hope that I'm able to reach them this time, since HomeBrewWest is active on this forum and will probably read this.
Have tried to contact them trough their other channels of communication. Always in a polite way, but with no luck.


Steinar Aa.

[molc]

That is pretty terrible now I must say; always have had pleasant and efficient dealings myself. At the very least, there should have been some sort of response, busy or not.

[HomeBrewWest]

This order has just been refunded, sorry for the delay. I was going to try to find a way to get it to you.

A couple of points though: we don't ship to Norway (this order selected shipping rates for a different country). The paperwork involved for customs is so tedious, its not feasible to ship small orders to Norway.

Also, this small order contained certain items that we don't ship below a minimum order value. See:
http://www.homebrewwest.ie/speidel-braumeister-231-c.asp
its clearly pointed out.

Also, we most certainly did not remove any Facebook comment.

[Hauglia]

A mail from PayPal just came in, the funds have been refunded. "Note from mercant; none provided".
So I concider this matter closed, just a lot of waisted brewing time.


If there was any problem with the delivery, then let the customer know. At least answer the mails, phone, sms or facebook message.
It should not be nessesary to lay it out on a forum to get a reply.

I know of at least one other Norwegian who has bought items from HomeBrewWest, so this "we don't ship to Norway" seems like a weak argument. Besides.. on the web shop Norway is spesificly listed as a country HomeBrewWest delivers to;
https://www.dropbox.com/s/87etr924lefwmc2/homebrewwest.jpg?dl=0

[Hauglia]

Also, we most certainly did not remove any Facebook comment.

Yes, my post on this facebook page where removed.
https://www.facebook.com/homebrew.west?fref=ts

It was posted under a post from HomeBrewWest encouraging customers to ask questions, this post was removed as well.
I quess HomeBrewWest found out it was not such a good idea to let customers ask questions openly.

[Parky]

Wow, was surprised when I read this - 54 days is some 'delay'  - a quick email to the customer at the time of order would have seen this sorted. But when someone has to go on a forum to get a response it looks really bad.

I encountered some communication issues with HomeBrewWest in the past when returning an out of date item, so can sympathise with the OP. The matter was sorted in the end, but I haven't used them since.

[Garry]

It's frustrating alright but we all make fúck-ups. Glad you got sorted eventually.

Why's it so difficult to ship to Norway anyway? HBW's site does say they deliver to Norway for €30, might need to change that.

Are there any forwarding services you can use like parcelmotel or shipito?

[Hauglia]

Norwegian customs isn't any different than other European countries. I'm pretty sure of that..
I order things almost weekly from all over the world.  Cant remember having any problems before.

When ordering something from USA, I often use Jetcarrier due to an export limit of 100USD. Thought it was just towards USA such services was needed?

[Garry]

Norwegian customs isn't any different than other European countries. I'm pretty sure of that..

That's what I was thinking too.

When ordering something from USA, I often use Jetcarrier due to an export limit of 100USD. Thought it was just towards USA such services was needed?

It's not just the US. We need to use parcelmotel sometimes to get stuff off our neighbours in the UK. Yet we can get stuff delivered free from China 

[johnrm]

I'm in the middle of an order with HBW now.
I can see where it says Norway under Delivery, but under Checkout there is no option.
It  might have been an idea to check in advance before commiting cash if there was any doubt.
I do this for items of a less than 10 Euro on fleabay.

I have found service from HBW excellent for as long as I have dealt with them - one or 2 hiccups but always remedied with minimum fuss.

What kind of beers are you brewing?
Will we see entries from Norway in the 2015 National Competition?

...and Welcome to the NHC!