Ordered a still on-line......big mistake.

[WiskeyJaR]

Wife ordered me a still online back in January 2021, before this cornea crud. Got an email in March saying that they had “over sold” for Christmas 2020 and was running behind on manufacturing/delivery <stills are hand made> gave me 4 different opinions, opinion I chose was to “wait, and we will get to you as fast as we can”. Still arrived today, May 19th in fair shape, seams are uneven and seems poor craftsmanship, have not ran it yet. Thumper keg had no port hole to add fruit or whatever. On their web site they have a chat window for any questions Customers might have. I got on there and asked about the port hole in the lid of the thumper keg.
They answered right away and said “yes, we do have a port hole for the lid, it cost a 120 dollars”. I answered “it would be nice if it was mentioned on site that the port hole was extra, I would have paid for it” On website in description of still, it mentioned having a thumper keg, but never said either way about a port hole. <to add fruit, etc. I assumed it would be installed> Immediately my cell phone rang, it was the owner of said web site. Impressive, good customer service, right? Wrong.....I answer phone.

He starts by immediately saying “you do not know s-it, I am so f—-king tried of you people in Oregon I have been building stills for 20 years, and you people do not know s-it” <web site says he has been building stills for 8 years> I explain that “ I was just asking a question, and my mistake was assuming the port hole would be installed”. He said “ I am sending you a mailing label, I want my product back. I am so tired of all this s-it I am going to stop building stills”. <still was pre-paid for> I answered “fine, I will add the port hole myself”. He hung up before I was even finished talking.

At $450, I can make this still work with some tlc. on my end. Not sure on the policy here, if I can post business names?
WiskayJaR

[jonnys_spirit]

Sorry you were treated like that as a vendor/customer pair. I’d personally take future business elsewhere. There’s a list somewhere here of banned vendors. That vendor might be on the list already. Not sure about rules and posting names with this kind of info but the best approach IMO is always to be respectful and to share valuable, factual, knowledge and information.

I hope the still can work well for you and one way to look at it is that you might be the type that would eventually take a hole saw torch and some silver solder to it eventually anyway?

Care to share some pics of your new still?

Cheers!
-jonny

[LWTCS]

It can be challenging setting up the website selling parts that have additional modularity designed into the part.

Many experienced distillers don't necessarily need all of the extra bits and bobs as they likely already have spares. Therefore the experienced distiller frequently doesn't want to pay for bits and bobs that are unneeded.

The new distiller on the otherhand doesn't really know what they need.
A user friendly website helps avoid confusion.

Sounds like the "owner" doesn't get it and certainly missed an opportunity to create a repeat customer.
Sorry you had a bad experience.

[Tom Kat]

I have about 450 in mine...https://stillntheclear.com/2021/04/20/h ... keg-still/

[Twisted Brick]

Sounds like the "owner" doesn't get it and certainly missed an opportunity to create a repeat customer.
Sorry you had a bad experience.

It goes even further than losing a repeat customer. It is said that a diner who has a bad experience at a restaurant may tell 40 others of that negative experience. Not nearly as many with a positive experience. Such is the power of reference or 'word of mouth' selling.

Given that you took the time to share your experience here is a good heads up, but falls short of a meaningful warning if you don't inform your audience of whom to avoid.

[WiskeyJaR]

The American Copper Works is a business I won’t be using again. Yes, I think I can put a port in the thumper just fine. Will get a pic once I get it set up.

[shadylane]

I had to look

After reading the American Copper Works
BEGINNERS GUIDE DISTILLING PART 1 and 2
I can honestly say Rosie O'Kelly and George, know more than he does.

[LWTCS]

I had to look

After reading the American Copper Works
BEGINNERS GUIDE DISTILLING PART 1 and 2
I can honestly say Rosie O'Kelly and George, know more than he does.

Had to have a look. Someone should have proofed the content.

[AlZilla]

He starts by immediately saying “you do not know s-it, I am so f—-king tried of you people in Oregon I have been building stills for 20 years, and you people do not know s-it” <web site says he has been building stills for 8 years> I explain that “ I was just asking a question, and my mistake was assuming the port hole would be installed”. He said “ I am sending you a mailing label, I want my product back. I am so tired of all this s-it I am going to stop building stills”. <still was pre-paid for> I answered “fine, I will add the port hole myself”. He hung up before I was even finished talking.

At $450, I can make this still work with some tlc. on my end. Not sure on the policy here, if I can post business names?
WiskayJaR

Since you're going to keep the still anyway, use his shipping label to send him a large box of rocks.

[Chucker]

Good grief! I took a look at the beginners guides on their website; it reads like a bad voicemail transcription!! About 1/2 unintelligible gibberish and 1/2 not making any sense. Maybe proofed by Giggle??

[Deplorable]

He starts by immediately saying “you do not know s-it, I am so f—-king tried of you people in Oregon I have been building stills for 20 years, and you people do not know s-it” <web site says he has been building stills for 8 years> I explain that “ I was just asking a question, and my mistake was assuming the port hole would be installed”. He said “ I am sending you a mailing label, I want my product back. I am so tired of all this s-it I am going to stop building stills”. <still was pre-paid for> I answered “fine, I will add the port hole myself”. He hung up before I was even finished talking.

At $450, I can make this still work with some tlc. on my end. Not sure on the policy here, if I can post business names?
WiskayJaR

Since you're going to keep the still anyway, use his shipping label to send him a large box of rocks.

or road apples...

[Twisted Brick]

At $450, I can make this still work with some tlc. on my end.
WiskayJaR

It might take a little more than that, some voodoo or something. This graphic is located on ACW's assembly 'instruction' page. Not only does it look very poorly built, it looks downright dangerous.

I'd send it back.
.

ACW .png (18.23 KiB) Viewed 3790 times

[Deplorable]

At $450, I can make this still work with some tlc. on my end.
WiskayJaR

It might take a little more than that, some voodoo or something. This graphic is located on ACW's assembly 'instruction' page. Not only does it look very poorly built, it looks downright dangerous.

I'd send it back.
.
ACW .png

That looks like it would take one hell of a lot of flour paiste to seal. Is that where the cap fits to the boiler?

[Twisted Brick]

Yup...

[StillerBoy]

The results are always the same as one read through the thread posted here.. people get the idea that the hobby is just a plug and play from fermentation to stilling.. no though put to develop understand and comprehension of what's involve with the hobby before jumping in..

Not sorry for those who jump in without checking how deep the water is..

Mars

[Saltbush Bill]

Not everyone plans everything perfectly Sboy.....Im one of those who jumped in at the deep end then learned to swim.
Im glad my life is not so boreing that everything has to be planned for months before I do it.

[shadylane]

I once hear that.
Perfectionist are less likely to have an active sex life.
I think it has something to do with too much studying.
And not enough F#$%@ing

[Twisted Brick]

people get the idea that the hobby is just a plug and play from fermentation to stilling.. no though put to develop understand and comprehension of what's involve with the hobby before jumping in..

Mars

When I first started out, I wanted everything to go perfectly so I read more threads until I thought I felt comfortable. Unfortunately, you still miss things because you only know what you know at that time. Learning from experience and/or reading additional threads after completing a batch turned out to be an essential loop in my learning. And how my log book has become invaluable to my learning.

[Chucker]

Well that conversation went off the rails quickly!!

[shadylane]

My bad
I thought this was in the Off-Topic Discussion section.
Here I am hijacking a post in the New distiller reading lounge.

[dunluce]

Not sorry for those who jump in without checking how deep the water is..

Way to make someone feel welcome.

WhiskeyJar - best advice a friend ever gave me was that he "had never done anything for the first time before". Bad luck, for sure, but learn from it and you'll do all right.

[StillerBoy]

Way to make someone feel welcome

If you want to advertise and publicize your f*ckup that occurs in your life, and look for sympathy to validate that it was ok..
Then you should also be man enough to recognize that not everyone will do so and point it out..
Learn something from the f*ckup and move on, as we all have our share of them, that's call life..

Mars

[shadylane]

Here Ya go Sboy
Not every body agrees with Ya


https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... =33&t=5200

[NZChris]

Here Ya go Sboy
Not every body agrees with Ya


https://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtop ... =33&t=5200

+1

[dunluce]

Learning from your mistakes is a great way to learn, and sometimes you need people to point them out to you.
Some people actually have things to do and have to jump in feet first, without lurking and reading for years before giving it a shot.

Probably be a millionaire for all the mistakes I made simply because life doesn't allow to time to learn everything first.

[WiskeyJaR]

Yes, I may be a newbie when it comes to distilling, only been doing it for couple years now. That does not excuse bad customer service, screaming at me over the phone before I even have a chance to fully introduce myself? Swearing and saying “all you people in Oregon are fucking assholes”.
Explain what I was doing/did wrong and educate a person would get you a hell of a lot more return business.
Oh well, plenty of other Manufacturers out there.

[dunluce]

Yes, I may be a newbie when it comes to distilling, only been doing it for couple years now. That does not excuse bad customer service

Definitely not. Loved the comment someone made about shipping him rocks back. lol

[NormandieStill]

Definitely not. Loved the comment someone made about shipping him rocks back. lol

Or a live bobcat à la XKCD

[dunluce]

Or a live bobcat à la XKCD

https://dicksbymail.com/products/spring ... F9EALw_wcB

[shadylane]

Yes, I may be a newbie when it comes to distilling, only been doing it for couple years now. That does not excuse bad customer service, screaming at me over the phone before I even have a chance to fully introduce myself? Swearing and saying “all you people in Oregon are fucking assholes”.
Explain what I was doing/did wrong and educate a person would get you a hell of a lot more return business.
Oh well, plenty of other Manufacturers out there.

Sounds like the manufacturer was the one that messed up.
Copper is expensive, he should make a better product out of it.
Also being mean to customers is a terrible way to do business.

Anyway that's all water under the bridge now.
How can we help you modify your thumper?
Keep in mind Ya don't want to accidently unsolder what already done, while soldering on new.