Have THBC stopping delivering to UK?

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just to reiterate what AA has said re the Vienna malt I always use Bestmalz Vienna and Munich in my Pseudo Marzen/Lagers/Blondes
 
So the wine merchant has updated now that he's spoken to someone from the HMRC that oversees the computer system - he was entering the right data but the computer system has longstanding programming errors and advice on the HMRC website was either non-existent or plain wrong :


And he's finding that logistics have pretty much seized up - his regular shipper has suspended all movements til February, the company responsible for moving 70% of all UK wine imports has filled its warehouse in Belgium and so isn't accepting anything for 2 weeks, and couldn't say when it would make it across the Channel. He found one shipper who is getting some stuff across by taking control of all paperwork and charging £150 per consignment.

It's not just Brexit - if you're thinking of getting stuff from China there's problems there too - people being quoted £10k for a container that cost £1.6k in November. Seems to be a complicated mix of issues - reading between the lines it appears that it normally takes a while for containers to make it back to China after the Christmas rush, which has been exacerbated by people doing more online shopping during lockdowns and port throughput being reduced by Covid, so they're short of containers in China and so they would rather send them to places where there's less risk of the containers getting stuck in ports. So they quote silly prices to go to the UK.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55740063
So the short version is - this feels like it won't be back to (new) "normal" any time soon. As for the Irish (Sea) border, it doesn't help that in Larne the idiots are out again :
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Just to give a perspective from the other direction , my son was looking to get me a Christmas present and I'd picked out some spare parts , seals etc for my SS Brewbuckets from Brew UK . Apart from the original order confirmation mid December we haven't heard anything back since , their website now states that they aren't trading with the EU , they haven't responded to emails , and so the charge back process begins with our bank . At least the Home Brew Company seem to be corresponding with their clients as a route is worked out through the current mess and haven't just shut up shop while retaining clients money .
 
Just to give a perspective from the other direction , my son was looking to get me a Christmas present and I'd picked out some spare parts , seals etc for my SS Brewbuckets from Brew UK . Apart from the original order confirmation mid December we haven't heard anything back since , their website now states that they aren't trading with the EU , they haven't responded to emails , and so the charge back process begins with our bank . At least the Home Brew Company seem to be corresponding with their clients as a route is worked out through the current mess and haven't just shut up shop while retaining clients money .

Brew UK have a very poor reputation for bad customer service.
 
We do a weekly shop with a well known supermarket and found loads of fresh food was unavailable. On closer look it is the food that is produce in Europe at this time of year .
 
Sounds lovely, but which honey malt: Gambrinus (40-65 ebc) or Colorado (10-15 ebc)?
Hi AA I used Colorado the lower EBC and in small amounts as it is quite powerful or it seemed it to me from memory I think I used @ 200g approx in a 21 ltr brew and it imparts a nice honey taste but as with adding ordinary honey in the FV it can easily overpower a beer IMO
***Just checked my recipes on all my Honey Blondes etc and it was anything between 300g and 350g***
 
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Here's my only annoyance with THBC website is that if I buy in Euros from IE site my delivery rate is for Ireland which is marginally cheaper but then charged currency exchange rate but if I buy from their UK website I'm charged mainland delivery rates even though I'm north of the border and fall into the all Ireland delivery plan.Must leave a note in my next order to query this.
 
Hi have never used THBC but had a delivery last week from GEB no issues no extra cost either Also had to return an item ( not their fault but was collect by DPD within 2 hours of receiving the item ) All sorted very smoothly
 
Not sure yet.

I placed an order with THBC on Friday. They dispatched the goods within 1 hour of me placing the order 👏

I’ve heard nothing from the delivery company as yet, presumably DPD.

I’ll post on here when I have an update.

I’ve just heard from DPD, my order (placed Friday) will be delivered tomorrow. No additional charge for this order (£70).

I’d say things are now settling down but keep any orders below £130 to avoid import duty.
 
Hi Guys

Firstly I hope you are all safe and well during the pandemic

Regarding Brexit we have put significant effort into planning for this as we ship so much outside of our HQ in Northern Ireland we didn't want to lose our valued customers . We took on a new full time customs officer on with extensive experience and recruited extra admin staff and even a full time php coder so we could carryout express digital customs clearance.

We took on a new warehouse in Southern Ireland in Dundalk and then the government make a last minute deal which actually places us in a unique position as we are based in Northern Ireland....you can imagine what a roller coaster this has been. We have also stock pilled months of goods to prevent shipping delays affecting us. The NI Protocol means we remain part of the EU with a customs border down the Irish Sea but we also remain part of the UK with unfettered access to GB.

I can honestly say we couldn't have put more effort into preparation, the main issue is that whilst we have planned and invested in protecting our customer base not all companies have and a lack of knowledge of the systems and procedures is causing chaos with shipping companies.

In relation to shipping
We now offer two options
DPD - (Currently only shipping into UK & Ireland) They are experiencing huge delays and it's frustrating us with the lack of communication between dpd and our customers. We have been reshipping alot of orders to provide best service at our own expense and we have worked with dpd to palletise and ship our parcels to their main hubs broken down into regions to try and expedite the service level
DHL - (Shipping EU & Worldwide, they have lots of different services and currently it defaults to show the most expensive express service, I've asked my tech team to look at this to show all options clearly as the rates are putting some people off)
We don't make profit or margin on shipping we just pass on the couriers rates. We recognise DHL is a premium price but we have noticed they are successfully shipping anywhere and fast.

We actually see huge opportunity for expansion and we are trying our best to continue to bring best value and not allow the extra bureaucracy increase prices, we have always had a Euro (.ie) website and a Sterling (.com) website but made a decision to sell at the same rate taking into account the currency fluctuations as we don't want to treat anyone differently.

We have recruited extra team members in the warehouse and have an application process out at the minute for a further two, I'm really proud of our team and how well they have handled this and currently we are getting all orders dispatched exceptionally quickly

We did a blog post about this with some extra info here if your interested: Brewing Ingredients Supply after Brexit - Get Er Brewed

We are trying to get the message out there that we can ship across Europe and UK without any problems and will be doing some youtube videos etc showing you all the steps we have taken

Thanks so much

Jonathan
https://www.geterbrewed.com/https://www.geterbrewed.ie/
 
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