Beware of www.Pelletsdirect.com they are on the scam! price gouging-fixing?

Same here, paid up front upon ordering, got them much later, but I communicated pretty frequently with them.

In responce to all of the comments made about www.pelletsdirect.com, I feel the need to share my experiance with them. I posted somewhere in the forum on September 13th that pelletsdirect.com would NOT be deliverving my August order. I posted this to give others the heads up.

My initial order was placed at the end of June. It was for 8 tons in August and 9 tons in October, this was to supply 4 families. I had tried to make contact through
numerous phone calls and by senting multiple emails (neither of which were ever returned) to find out the status of the August order. My credit card was charged nearly $5000.00 at the time of the order. I was notified in an E-mailed letter on Septenber 13th stating their inability to fulfill the August order. I notified them through e-mail the following morning that I wanted to cancel both orders. I had contacted pelletsales.com immediately after recieving the the letter from pelletsdirect.com and left them a message to contact me. A rep from pelletsales.com contacted me the following morning, I told him about my problem and placed an order through them.

It has been one week and I still have not recieved my refund from PelletsDirect.com. I sent them another email last night requesting the refund. I will be leaving another message today. If they do not refund my money by tomorrow afternoon, I will contact my credit card company. It is horrible to find out from one of the posts that Pelletsdirect.com heard in July that Lignetics was having distribution problems. Yet they never apprised me of the issues, never offered me another brand, and certainly never offered to refund my money. All of which would have been the professional and responible thing to do.

I hope for myself and others that our refunds come quickly and the heating season doesn't.

I just wanted to report that we also got screwed by Pellets direct. We booked early for delivery in JULY and called nearly every week being told that the LG granules would be sent next week, then again next week, then again next week for months. Than we were told they couldn't be shipped because the truck broke down. Then again it will be next week, next week, next week. Just a week ago, after frequent calls with no return phone calls and emails not responded to, we were told that due to some problem with importation from Canada, no LG granules will be available. They offered us alternative pellets or our money back, and when we called a couple of days later to confirm alternative pellets to be shipped in January, they said they had no alternative pellets available. So we lost all the advantage of pre-ordering, both peace of mind and financial. It seems other people on this list received their LG granules in July, so I'm not sure what the problem was. Maybe they didn't want to drive out to where we were. This is our first year buying pellets and they were endorsed on this site by positive customer service. Now we are scrambling to buy much higher priced pellets. I would just like to confirm the warning that customer service is not a strength of pelletsdirect.com and I am hoping that the order we recently made to pelletsales.com comes through because they too have already put delivery off a week later than they originally stated. I honestly feel like it was false advertising on the part of pelletsdirect.com. We will be lodging a complaint with the better business bureau but I just wanted to confirm that the original poster here was not the only one with this problem.

I'm in the same situation. I ordered 1 skid of envi-blocks in August for September delivery. I was told that these were in stock ready to ship. My credit card was charged in Sept but no blocks. I've called many times but no one EVER answers the phone so I left messages along with several emails with NO response. Almost November now with no fuel - thanks for the BS!

My card was charged in June when I ordered my 5 tons of Barefoot pellets. I was a little nervous. They were delivered on time. in late August.

Still no returns to emails or phone messages regarding refunding us our money. They also closed their office on Friday. I really hope they are not also going bankrupt. We're going to try to reach them again on Monday. Has anybody gotten a refund from them?

I eventaully did get my refund from pelletsdirect.com after threatening to contact the attorney generals office and my credit card company. The owner sent me a snippy reply that my refund was processed a couple days earlier and had just not been posted by my credit card company yet. She went on to chastise me for not contacting my credit card company directly to check for a credit. She acted as if I was in the wrong for demanding my refund. She never appologized for the lack of communication, the misinformation or the unprofessional behavior she had displayed. I placed my new order with pelletsales.com, they were delivered and every employee I had conctact with was very pleasant and helpful.

I am personally glad to be done with pelletsdrect.com. Good luck to everyone still waiting on a refund.

Is it me, or is there a re-curring pattern with these pellet companies???

Ductape said:

Is it me, or is there a re-curring pattern with these pellet companies???

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No, it is not you. You folks really need to call your AG and the BBB now! As I have posted here before, it happened to me last season with Dogwood Energy out of TN. Same crap, ordered in April for delivery in August. Excuse after excuse, finally got a check in October AFTER I filed a complaint with the TN AG. I got my check about two weeks before they filed bankruptcy. DON'T WAIT! File a complaint. They will screw you and take your money.

Thanks for your input. We called the credit card company and even though Tammy said they would credit us on Oct 14th, it's the 27th and the credit card company said they haven't received any credits. They told us we can submit to refute the charge but the guarantee is only 60 days and we paid in June for delivery in July. We did submit with the better business bureau and the attorney general's office. Thanks for everybody's help. Also, Tammy, who I believe is also the owner, has also been rude to us on the phone and has never apologized for all the inconvenience and expense she is causing.

What i'm not understanding is......... why are so many people OK with getting charged for pellets in early spring when they aren't going to get delivered till fall?? This just wreaks of ripoff ! If the company selling the pellets doesn't have the capital to buy the pellets without charging the customer the full amount there is a problem (I can understand a deposit). If they don't have the capital, they get a business loan to buy the pellets. If they can't get some type of business loan, or can't pay for the pellets themselves....... there is a problem . Spend your money elsewhere!

When we bought in June for delivery in July it was not clear they did not have pellets in stock.

She's still taking orders. "It's a long wait list.... probably into February for delivery" Man, I hate dishonesty.

Lesson learned, sort of. Pelletsales.com delivered today, but some sort of mixup because they delivered 2 instead of 3 tons. I wish I could just go pick up pallets on my own. How do people do it if they buy a pallet and someone at the distribution center puts a pallet into their truck with a forklift. Do they just unload the pellets directly from the truck? Those 1 ton pallets are hard to move around!

convertingtowood said:

Lesson learned, sort of. Pelletsales.com delivered today, but some sort of mixup because they delivered 2 instead of 3 tons. I wish I could just go pick up pallets on my own. How do people do it if they buy a pallet and someone at the distribution center puts a pallet into their truck with a forklift. Do they just unload the pellets directly from the truck? Those 1 ton pallets are hard to move around!

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Sounds like maybe an "intentional" mix-up (?)....their trying to spread the pellets they do have around to the most number of customers they can, to get people off their backs.

And if it was a "mistake", have they refunded you the difference, or offered to bring the other ton tomorrow?

As for picking up in a truck yourself, unless you have a forklift, you just have to unload them by hand. I do 2 bags at a time, and it takes about 30-40 min. for a ton by myself. If you can bribe a friend ot two w/ some cold "beverage", that time can be shortened considerably!! LOL

convertingtowood said:

Lesson learned, sort of. Pelletsales.com delivered today, but some sort of mixup because they delivered 2 instead of 3 tons. I wish I could just go pick up pallets on my own. How do people do it if they buy a pallet and someone at the distribution center puts a pallet into their truck with a forklift. Do they just unload the pellets directly from the truck? Those 1 ton pallets are hard to move around!

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Did you call them about it? My experience with their customer
service has been excellent.

Pelletsales.com is going to cut us a check. Still no word from Pelletsdirect about refunding us. Hoping pellet prices will go down later in the year and we can pick some up then. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

NoMoreOPEC said:

DiggerJim said:

NoMoreOPEC said:

There seems to be a shortage in New England for $259 Ton but not for $300?

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I can sympathize with your experience with pelletsdirect.com but wanted to note that there's something of a shortage regardless of price here in the northeast. Theoretically, the price should keep going up until the demand/price curve crossed. I think we're at $300 now because that's what they can get, and until someone successfully tests at a higher price (like $325) this is the new "going price" around here. Depending on the price of oil & alternatives, that may go up or down.

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There is NO shortage.

https://www.pelletsales.com/

269.00 Ton for LG's

If a suppler can not get the pellets fine I will take my money somewhere else. But do not lie to your customers!

Enough said...

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There is no shortage - what there is is a reaction to very high new pellet stove sales & media hype. The media has basically driven up the pellet prices with & manufactured an artificial pellet shortage with their irresponsible & hysterical reporting.

I bit the bullet & bought 5 tons of pellets the second week of August because I could only find one local dealer who was still taking orders. I bought them at Home Depot in Topsham, Maine at 259.00. Ten days earlier, they had been 239.00. At the time I bought the pellets, I was told they'd arrive by the end of October. They came in less than two weeks.

At the time I ordered the pellets no Lowes in Maine was taking orders, no other Home Depot in my area & BJs & Sams Club were not taking orders, all because they said they were backed up at least through the end of October. The same was true of independents, although some of them were still taking orders for November, but at 300.00 or so in August.

By mid September, all of these big box stores had plenty of pellets in stock (at $6.00 a bag). My advise - wait as long as you can to buy. There is no shortage of pellets - there may well be a glut, as so many people bought their whole season early, and as someone pointed out, there are plenty available at $300.00 a ton; & after the election, oil is almost certainly going back up.

mnoack said:

NoMoreOPEC said:

DiggerJim said:

NoMoreOPEC said:

There seems to be a shortage in New England for $259 Ton but not for $300?

Click to expand...

I can sympathize with your experience with pelletsdirect.com but wanted to note that there's something of a shortage regardless of price here in the northeast. Theoretically, the price should keep going up until the demand/price curve crossed. I think we're at $300 now because that's what they can get, and until someone successfully tests at a higher price (like $325) this is the new "going price" around here. Depending on the price of oil & alternatives, that may go up or down.

Click to expand...

There is NO shortage.

https://www.pelletsales.com/

269.00 Ton for LG's

If a suppler can not get the pellets fine I will take my money somewhere else. But do not lie to your customers!

Enough said...

Click to expand...

There is no shortage - what there is is a reaction to very high new pellet stove sales & media hype. The media has basically driven up the pellet prices with & manufactured an artificial pellet shortage with their irresponsible & hysterical reporting.

I bit the bullet & bought 5 tons of pellets the second week of August because I could only find one local dealer who was still taking orders. I bought them at Home Depot in Topsham, Maine at 259.00. Ten days earlier, they had been 239.00. At the time I bought the pellets, I was told they'd arrive by the end of October. They came in less than two weeks.

At the time I ordered the pellets no Lowes in Maine was taking orders, no other Home Depot in my area & BJs & Sams Club were not taking orders, all because they said they were backed up at least through the end of October. The same was true of independents, although some of them were still taking orders for November, but at 300.00 or so in August.

By mid September, all of these big box stores had plenty of pellets in stock (at $6.00 a bag). My advise - wait as long as you can to buy. There is no shortage of pellets - there may well be a glut, as so many people bought their whole season early, and as someone pointed out, there are plenty available at $300.00 a ton; & after the election, oil is almost certainly going back up.

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I'll bet a million dollars you're a big Michael Moore fan!

I feel lucky after reading all of these posts. I purcahsed 24 tons of pellets from PelletsDirect in March for delivery in June/July. I called them in mid-June for an update and they gave me a delivery date, and that's when they showed up. Granted the truck load was delivered directly form the Barefoot so there was minimal impact from the folks at PelletsDirect, but it worked out for me. I feel bad for all of you that are still waiting, and I hope your pellets arrive soon.

Wow! I thought I was hit hard at $3.49/40lb. bag/$174.50/ton of Heat Resource Hard Oak pellets. My supplier told me he has seen pellet demand up three-fold from last year at this time. Also said he's seeing the same shortages in wood shavings animal bedding. Guess I'm glad I can raid the corn crib when I need too.

Just wanted to post an update. Finally we got a response from pelletsdirect AFTER they received contact from the BBB. She says to them that Pelletsdirect offered us Phoenix substandard pellets to replace our premium LG granules. When she spoke with us, she told us there was no future deliveries available, after stringing us along for FOUR months. Offering us low grade pellets is not equivalent to offering us the pellets we purchased back in June for July delivery. We lost over $700 because of their practices. This company's business practices are unbelievable.

We were prevented by Pellets direct from getting any preseason pellets like all the pellet hogs on here. We wanted to be like them. Now we're just pellet pig wannabe's.

I am using these guy's and so far they charged me for 4 tons of barefoot's to be delivered on December, early bird special price. They charged my account last month, September, I placed the order in July. I also called Robins garden center and they said that I would be contacted when their received pellets and made an offer, they never called me.

Their is hoarding going on and price manipulation, like any business, I drive by a truck service center, Stafford St., that must have 400 ton's of Lignetics sitting in their yard covered with tarp. Every couple of day's they get more. Just like the oil tankers waiting in the harbor for high oil prices to dock - so are the dealers.

I better get those pellet in December, my stove is being installed then. I just called Pellets Direct and they did not pick up the phone. To be far it seems that everyone is experiences hit and miss service, regardless of the dealer.

I have bought pellets from PD in the past, but I picked them up behind Robbin's. They are the only company anywhere near me that carried Barefoots.

I've been buyig them by the bag from Robbins, and they price per bag has gone up significantly. Last time I bought from them, Eagle Valley pellets where over $7 per bag. The week before they were $6.50. they offer different kinds each time I go in there. They only offered Eable Valley and some other brand by the bag, but when I drove out to the yard to pick em up, there was another guy loading up Energex pellets, which it looked like there were around 50-60 tons in the yard.

in-control said:

I just called Pellets Direct and they did not pick up the phone. To be far it seems that everyone is experiences hit and miss service, regardless of the dealer.

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It probably doesn't help you, but my dealer is super. CTPellet.com has been upfront about what's going on, they've had pellets for pickup in Torrington (they're fully booked for deliveries) and when they ran out they posted that rather then lead people on. Their prices are up there ($300/ton last I looked) and they're out of stock for new orders (not the already committed ones) until November (tomorrow?). There are good folks out there and I suspect over time those are the ones that will still be there next year and the year after that.