Poor Malt Miller Service

[Cozzyb]

EDIT
Issue now explained and resolved by Rob, do not take this post at all as being a normal situation as it clearly was just a mistake and has been resolved to a manner I would consider above and beyond the norm.


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Hi everyone,

just wanted to let people know of a poor experience I just had with Malt Miller, purely as a caution to those who have only read positive feedback here like I did. I decided to order from Malt Miller based upon good feedback and the available stock of White Labs added with crushed on the day grain.

All went well and arrived on Tuesday, the first issue I noticed was that the use by date on my bags of grains, were mostly September, so I guess from this that it was actually crushed and packed last month (into his for other shops to sell brand named bags). This was disappointing as I actually hoped that I could get a finer crush for BIAB as others said they had this done np.
The other issue was that I ordered WLP630 (Berliner Weisse) and sadly this was not included in my delivery, I received no explanation and still haven't (3 days on) and yet I was still charged the full amount i.e. inc that item, so rob knew he didn't pack it, yet hasn't refunded me, hasn't informed me as to why it wasn't included, and then hasn't replied to my email I sent him Tuesday.

Overall pretty poor service, and honestly I am pretty sure I will be returning to Worchester Hop Shop as the price and service are much better, I would only pay more for MM if the service was better, which it wasn't.

[T5FAU]

Im sure this is an honest mistake by Rob as ever since he's been in business he has given fantastic quick service.
He's active on the forum too so may well post his reply too.

Im still very faithful in Rob and MM.

[Tarmac]

I've only used him very recently for a 33litre pot and it showed up the next day.
They even followed my request for it to be left in a safe place. UNlike other companies who take it to a depot over 25miles away for pickup!

[jimp2003]

That sounds like a genuine mistake cozzyb. I would have thought payment would have been taken when you ordered the goods or at least when they were sent out the door so I don't get your point about Rob charging you for the yeast despite knowing it was not delivered. It sounds like it was a packing error to me.

Despite that, not responding to an email does not sound good. But don't forget they have one of those old-fashioned things called a telephone . Personally I would always ring a company when this sort of thing happens.

With regards to the grain - did you ask for a fine crush for BIAB when you placed the order? Also when you say the use-by date was September do you mean September 2013 or that the crush date was September this year?

Hope you get it sorted mate - get on the phone to them!

[Matt12398]

Did you try ringing him? Sometimes emails get lost or people find themselves in a position where they can't access them for one reason or another.

Ringing would be my first port of call before telling everyone about it because you might be damaging his business over what may be an honest mistake.

[dedken]

That will definitely be a accident, Rob's one of the most honest blokes around. Always sorts out any issues straight away. Yep sometime emails don't get through - just ring. In fact I got a refund I didn't even ask for just recently when he combined two orders into one. One time some yeast I ordered didn't get delivered, so I emailed and a new pack arrived the next day.

EDIT: I take the BBE date to mean 'crush date'. Otherwise we would constantly be receiving out of date grains and that wouldn't make any sense at all.

[ferry george]

very surprised at poor service from MM, I've used him several times and the price and service has always been cock on, everyone makes mistakes once in a while.

[Cozzyb]

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying everyone should avoid etc etc, I am sure mistakes happen.

As for the grain question, some are BB Oct 2013, some Sept 2013, which is why I guessed they were crushed in Sept, as I presume all would last the same time. Yes I did ask for fine grain crush for BIAB in the checkout section.
As for the packing error, on the sheet where he has ticked off each item, he hasn't ticked off the yeast, and it now shows as out of stock on the website, so he is aware that he didn't send it me.
Yes I am aware that I would have been charged in full no matter what, I am complaining about the fact I was not informed, and have not been refunded or received any indication of a refund.

As for telephoning, I haven't had the chance of late (although I could have today) to phone, but honestly, even if he didn't see the email, he should of emailed me once he packed the box to say Item isn't in stock, will refund or possibly offered a substitute.

*Again I am not trying to harm his business, I am merely stating an experience I had, as honestly I believe in mixed reviews on places so people get the overall picture, yes this may be a rare mistake for Rob, but as a first time shopper with him, it would be enough to turn me off for life*

[50quidsoundboy]

i think it's a bit early to be making a public call-out on this. just IMHO.

i've had nothing less than rapid and careful service from MM, whether i'm ordering 50 kilos of malt or a single 100g packet of hops.

[Belter]

I'm not keen on Worcester hop shop. I had a fag butt in my hops, called and complained. They said they'd get back to me about a reimbursement but never bothered. All jolly on the phone until I said I wanted a refund them promptly ended the conversation

[mark4newman]

Hi

<i>I am complaining about the fact I was not informed, and have not been refunded or received any indication of a refund.</i>

I suspect he will send it to you free of charge when it arrives.(Which could be anytime, as he gets regular deliveries.His deliveries are normallly next day, so it isn't as if you have been waiting a long time for this order!

If you want a refund then ring him, which takes a couple of seconds. I have to ask why you have free time to post here, but not to make a little phone call?

Anyway I find it a bit rich to be complaining on a message board, when you haven't even given a supplier a simple phone call, and asked them to sort out your percieved problem.

[Jim]

I've also used The Malt Miller (very recently) and found the service and products to be first class.

[micmacmoc]

I ordered hops and yeast from MaltMiller about 3pm Weds, all received 10am Thursday. My grains have always been excellent, whitelabs and dried yeast too. Never had a problem, indeed MaltMiller is exceptional with their good service. I'm sure there'll be a good explanation. Wish he had some goldings in at the mo though!

[borischarlton]

[In view of Rob's response I've restored the original thread and appended his reply - Jim]

I wanted to reply to a thread about us but am now unable to find it, I certainly have not asked for it to be deleted. Bit frustrating but here is the reply anyway:-

Hi

Firstly as someone that has had pretty much faultless feedback for more than a couple years we also have to take it when we make a mistake, and in this case we have, indeed more than one.

I totally missed the email that was sent, I normally rely on my phone for most emails but they do go to my PC and that is checked as well. The email never arrived on my phone but I have just found it on my PC. This would be the type of email I would normally answer right away.

The yeast was simply missed from the order. We spend all day putting orders together and as such don't want the Whitelabs out of the fridge for anymore time than nessessary so they are the last thing into the boxes before the courier arrives. Your WLP630 is still in our fridge.

The dates on your bags are incorrect. It was Monday late afternoon before it was realised that one of the date stamps had been incorrectly set. All your grain was crushed on Monday.

Indeed you did ask for all the grain to be of a finer crush and without having to go into great detail about the website, it was invisible to us because it was written on a seperate paragraph, under another instruction. This is again, our fault not yours.

So, there you go, 4 mistakes in one order. We do occasionally make a mistake but we do put it right the best way we can so on Monday we will redo the complete grain order, crushed to the desired level and include the yeast for delivery on Tuesday morning by 10.30.

Please take this as a personal apology and be safe in the knowledge that we do learn by our mistakes

Cheers

Rob

[Cozzyb]

[In view of Rob's response I've restored the original thread and appended his reply - Jim]

I wanted to reply to a thread about us but am now unable to find it, I certainly have not asked for it to be deleted. Bit frustrating but here is the reply anyway:-

Hi

Firstly as someone that has had pretty much faultless feedback for more than a couple years we also have to take it when we make a mistake, and in this case we have, indeed more than one.

I totally missed the email that was sent, I normally rely on my phone for most emails but they do go to my PC and that is checked as well. The email never arrived on my phone but I have just found it on my PC. This would be the type of email I would normally answer right away.

The yeast was simply missed from the order. We spend all day putting orders together and as such don't want the Whitelabs out of the fridge for anymore time than nessessary so they are the last thing into the boxes before the courier arrives. Your WLP630 is still in our fridge.

The dates on your bags are incorrect. It was Monday late afternoon before it was realised that one of the date stamps had been incorrectly set. All your grain was crushed on Monday.

Indeed you did ask for all the grain to be of a finer crush and without having to go into great detail about the website, it was invisible to us because it was written on a seperate paragraph, under another instruction. This is again, our fault not yours.

So, there you go, 4 mistakes in one order. We do occasionally make a mistake but we do put it right the best way we can so on Monday we will redo the complete grain order, crushed to the desired level and include the yeast for delivery on Tuesday morning by 10.30.

Please take this as a personal apology and be safe in the knowledge that we do learn by our mistakes

Cheers

Rob

Ha damn, I just wrote a reply and then the thread went again, oh well.

I just want to thank Rob for his reply and great service he is giving me to resolve the issue, I can see he truly is a outstanding chap, and clearly his customers loyalty seen above is justified. I will indeed be shopping with himself again in the future and can see that paying the little extra is indeed worth it.
Faults were made by both side, and have been resolved and I would hope Rob does not see my comments as slanderous in anyway.

Again thank you for resolving the issue.

CozzyB