New Pellet Co in Fitchburg, MA $225/ton for one day

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Here is an update. My wife just called and said we were supposed to receive delievery today and we didn't. The woman told her she "left a message" saying that they couldn't do deliveries today and that it needed to be rescheduled. (there is NO message from her on our voicemail, so I don't know who she called). My wife said no thanks, we just want a refund. The woman then told her "Unfortunately we aren't giving refunds". What!?!?! Who runs a business like that?? So, needless to say we now have to contact our credit card company to dispute the charge. I think these people wrote the book on "How NOT to Run a Successful Business".

The woman also said that she is happy to have people pick up, it is the deliveries that are backed up. We have tried TWICE to pick up our pellets to no avail.
 
Orange Crush CJ-7 said:
"How NOT to Run a Successful Business".

Does not sound like they will be around too long. No way to run the show. Bad enough there product has issue's. Nothing worse than crappy sales deptment.

Will they be here next year? I highly doubt it very much.

Sorry you ALL had to go through all this crap.

Take care and stay warm
jay
 
Guys...

Just found this thread after I started researching Creative Biomass... Wish I looked this up earlier.
I ordered 2-tons in early Oct from the State Line Stove Shop.
Pellets were supposed to be at the store for pick-up in Nov.
I canceled my order in Dec because they could not produce the product and I need the pellets, there are too many other sources, I was trying to support a local business.
The Stove Shop stated that they were not authorized to credit back my credit card and I would be issued a check from Creative Biomass.
I was okay with that, but I asked for a phone call back with a status on the refund (didn't get it)
I called the store back after a week, and was given the phone number and a name of Melissa to talk with.
I called and talked with Brenda Teissa (sp?), she stated that Melissa couldn't talk with me, and that my pellets would be ready in a week.
I thought to myself, I haven't even explained why I was calling... weird...
Next I explained that I canceled the order two weeks ago and wanted to know the status of my refund.
I was told that they were not issuing refunds, and that the lady in the State Line Stove Shop should have told me that no refunds would be given... I pressed them more and they explained that the Lady at State Line didn't want to tell me that they couldn't refund my order because she was "shy" about it.
I let them know that I cancelled because they could not deliver and I had to buy pellets elsewhere.

They were rude, no business savvy at all.... really irritated me.

I called the CC company and filed a complaint and challenged the charge. They are investigating it.

I called the Stove Store back because the factory really bashed the sales lady, saying that she was supposed to tell me "no refunds" and that she wasn't telling people this. Like that is my problem.... I wanted her to know in case she was oblivious to what was going on.

I know a lot of people in Mason, I am going to ask some questions about this operation...

I hope a lot of people are not going to get financially hurt over this.... Money is tight, the cold weather is here...

I cannot believe that a company would compromise the trust of customers...
 
I too hope people aren't going to get financially hurt over it as well, but anyone who paid cash, will most likely. And on that first day way back in June, the line for credit card purchases was quite long, and cash, could just go up to the front... I just hope if someone paid cash, they only bought 1 ton. Please feel free to share this thread with anyone you speak to in Mason, or if anyone needs additional references of experiences I would be happy to talk to anyone.

--edit

and I found 2 other local papers that I believe would love to hear about this story and sent my letter to them as well. They also published an article back in June of this year on how wonderful this company will be for the town/community providing jobs and all!!
http://www.leominsterchamp.com/news/2009-06-19/Business/New_location_new_opportunities.html
and
http://www.fitchburgpride.com/news/2009-06-12/Business/New_location_new_opportunities.html
 
ducker said:
I too hope people aren't going to get financially hurt over it as well, but anyone who paid cash, will most likely. And on that first day way back in June, the line for credit card purchases was quite long, and cash, could just go up to the front... I just hope if someone paid cash, they only bought 1 ton. Please feel free to share this thread with anyone you speak to in Mason, or if anyone needs additional references of experiences I would be happy to talk to anyone.

--edit

and I found 2 other local papers that I believe would love to hear about this story and sent my letter to them as well. They also published an article back in June of this year on how wonderful this company will be for the town/community providing jobs and all!!
http://www.leominsterchamp.com/news/2009-06-19/Business/New_location_new_opportunities.html
and
http://www.fitchburgpride.com/news/2009-06-12/Business/New_location_new_opportunities.html

Thanks for the links; I wrote an email to both of these publications about my experience.

These are tough economic times; the last thing the public needs is getting hassled about refunds on a product that can't be delivered as promised. What makes this more important is the fact that we are talking about health and welfare, home heating fuel is a necessity in New England, it appears that a lot of people put down money up front with their order and now when the pellet heating fuel is needed, the company can't produce the product or offer a refund. If they oversold their production capability knowing that the customers would not receive the product when cold weather arrived, or if they had unforeseen mechanical breakdowns, they should be calling and offering refunds so that the customers can secure pellets elsewhere. Offering refunds is the responsible reaction for a business that cannot produce as promised when they accepted the customer’s money. After all, this is not a luxury item like a television or mp3 player, we are talking about heat.
 
The Sales women at the Mason Store is very much aware of what is going on in Fitchburg. They had me going back and forth for over a month, with both of them saying that the other shouldn't be telling customers things that weren't facts. I did pay with cash and I was one of the lucky ones who did get a refund, but I do beleive it was because both myself and my husband are disabled and told them we didn't have the money to go purchase pellets else where until they could get their act together. Even if they could fix all their problems, no one would trust them again after the way they have treated their customers. I told them then they needed to be up front with everyone about the problems they were having. But they still are selling more pellets to people that do not know about the issues, and are going to be waiting a long time, and most likely the company is going to go under and they will end up with nothing. There are a lot of people in the Mason, Greenville, and New Ipswich area that are in the same boat and are not getting teir pellets either.
 
There may be a possible resolution to actions that took place in the Mason, NH store. The Mason, NH police dept has been contacted regarding this issue and is researching the following:

638:6 Deceptive Business Practices. –
I. A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if, in the course of business, he:
(a) Uses or possesses for use, a false weight or measure, or any other device for falsely determining or recording any quality or quantity; or
(b) Sells, offers or exposes for sale, or delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity or service;

Section (b) would be the area of concern as people are stating that payment was made, delivery was promised and that delivery did not occur (delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity).

The owner's of the store will be contacted and asked to resolve this matter prior to any formal investigation being opened. There is a chance that this issue could be viewed as "civil" meaning that the police cannot become involved. If the matter is determined by the prosecutor's office to be criminal, it will then be up to the prosecutor to determine if charges will be filed and then a judge to determine if the alleged crime did occur. The Mason, NH Police Dept phone # is 603.878.1111. Allegations must be written, sworn to and have to have occurred in the town of Mason, NH.
 
PDK9 said:
There may be a possible resolution to actions that took place in the Mason, NH store. The Mason, NH police dept has been contacted regarding this issue and is researching the following:

638:6 Deceptive Business Practices. –
I. A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if, in the course of business, he:
(a) Uses or possesses for use, a false weight or measure, or any other device for falsely determining or recording any quality or quantity; or
(b) Sells, offers or exposes for sale, or delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity or service;

Section (b) would be the area of concern as people are stating that payment was made, delivery was promised and that delivery did not occur (delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity).

The owner's of the store will be contacted and asked to resolve this matter prior to any formal investigation being opened. There is a chance that this issue could be viewed as "civil" meaning that the police cannot become involved. If the matter is determined by the prosecutor's office to be criminal, it will then be up to the prosecutor to determine if charges will be filed and then a judge to determine if the alleged crime did occur. The Mason, NH Police Dept phone # is 603.878.1111. Allegations must be written, sworn to and have to have occurred in the town of Mason, NH.

From what I remember the Chief of Police for Mason was at the Grand Opening for the Mason store back in Sept. They had a demonstration with the police dog. It looked like the Chief and the owner of Creative Biomass Shawn were buddy buddy. And that they were old friends. Good Luck with this.
 
rcarr10525 said:
PDK9 said:
There may be a possible resolution to actions that took place in the Mason, NH store. The Mason, NH police dept has been contacted regarding this issue and is researching the following:

638:6 Deceptive Business Practices. –
I. A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if, in the course of business, he:
(a) Uses or possesses for use, a false weight or measure, or any other device for falsely determining or recording any quality or quantity; or
(b) Sells, offers or exposes for sale, or delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity or service;

Section (b) would be the area of concern as people are stating that payment was made, delivery was promised and that delivery did not occur (delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity).

The owner's of the store will be contacted and asked to resolve this matter prior to any formal investigation being opened. There is a chance that this issue could be viewed as "civil" meaning that the police cannot become involved. If the matter is determined by the prosecutor's office to be criminal, it will then be up to the prosecutor to determine if charges will be filed and then a judge to determine if the alleged crime did occur. The Mason, NH Police Dept phone # is 603.878.1111. Allegations must be written, sworn to and have to have occurred in the town of Mason, NH.

From what I remember the Chief of Police for Mason was at the Grand Opening for the Mason store back in Sept. They had a demonstration with the police dog. It looked like the Chief and the owner of Creative Biomass Shawn were buddy buddy. And that they were old friends. Good Luck with this.

I am the Chief of Police for the Town of Mason, NH so when I say that the dept will research a matter then that is what will happen. As far as being buddy buddy, I clearly stated in my first post for this that Shawn and I were friends. Having said this, I have absolutely no hesitation in prosecuting ANYONE that has violated the law. When you actually take the time to review what I have posted regarding this matter you should clearly see that I am not attempting to protect anyone here other that the consumer. In the future, review a post completely before you insult someone in the first 3 of your post while hiding behind a user name.

To all others, the Mason Police Dept will investigate this upon receipt of the requested information.
 
PDK9 said:
I am the Chief of Police for the Town of Mason, NH so when I say that the dept will research a matter then that is what will happen. As far as being buddy buddy, I clearly stated in my first post for this that Shawn and I were friends. Having said this, I have absolutely no hesitation in prosecuting ANYONE that has violated the law. When you actually take the time to review what I have posted regarding this matter you should clearly see that I am not attempting to protect anyone here other that the consumer. In the future, review a post completely before you insult someone in the first 3 of your post while hiding behind a user name.

To all others, the Mason Police Dept will investigate this upon receipt of the requested information.

The other night I was going through this whole thread and I remember reading your earlier post PDK9. I was going to ask if you have any recent communications with him over the past couple of months. I'm guessing not, if it's looking like you will have to do some digging into this. Have you been reading this thread over the past couple of months or just recently?

Just over all just sad and disappointing.
 
PDK9 said:
rcarr10525 said:
PDK9 said:
There may be a possible resolution to actions that took place in the Mason, NH store. The Mason, NH police dept has been contacted regarding this issue and is researching the following:

638:6 Deceptive Business Practices. –
I. A person is guilty of a class B misdemeanor if, in the course of business, he:
(a) Uses or possesses for use, a false weight or measure, or any other device for falsely determining or recording any quality or quantity; or
(b) Sells, offers or exposes for sale, or delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity or service;

Section (b) would be the area of concern as people are stating that payment was made, delivery was promised and that delivery did not occur (delivers less than the represented quantity of any commodity).

The owner's of the store will be contacted and asked to resolve this matter prior to any formal investigation being opened. There is a chance that this issue could be viewed as "civil" meaning that the police cannot become involved. If the matter is determined by the prosecutor's office to be criminal, it will then be up to the prosecutor to determine if charges will be filed and then a judge to determine if the alleged crime did occur. The Mason, NH Police Dept phone # is 603.878.1111. Allegations must be written, sworn to and have to have occurred in the town of Mason, NH.

From what I remember the Chief of Police for Mason was at the Grand Opening for the Mason store back in Sept. They had a demonstration with the police dog. It looked like the Chief and the owner of Creative Biomass Shawn were buddy buddy. And that they were old friends. Good Luck with this.

I am the Chief of Police for the Town of Mason, NH so when I say that the dept will research a matter then that is what will happen. As far as being buddy buddy, I clearly stated in my first post for this that Shawn and I were friends. Having said this, I have absolutely no hesitation in prosecuting ANYONE that has violated the law. When you actually take the time to review what I have posted regarding this matter you should clearly see that I am not attempting to protect anyone here other that the consumer. In the future, review a post completely before you insult someone in the first 3 of your post while hiding behind a user name.

To all others, the Mason Police Dept will investigate this upon receipt of the requested information.

I am glad to hear that you are the Chief of Police for the Town of Mason. And seeing that you and Shawn are friends I am sure that it is not going to be easy to investigate this. When this company started out we were all excited for them, and the MA/NH area and also when the NH store opened in Sept. We all put our trust & hard earned money into this company. And now months later we have all been let down. Some people have been able to walk away from this as a lesson learned. Some have not, and it looks like they might have a battle on their hands. I was able to cancel before they started to refuse refunds. But I did get stuck with one ton of junk pellets. And I am not exaggerating when I call the pellets junk. I had to scramble to find pellets last minute. I hope you can understand the frustration this has all caused for me and a lot of other people. So I am not trying to be insulting to anybody I just state things like I see it. I am not trying to hide behind a user name. I am in here sharing my experience with others cause I don't want to see anybody get screwed with all of this. This forum helped for me to see what has been going on with Creative Biomass. Because I would not have known and might still be waiting for my pellets and still listening to their lies.
 
THE LAW

The New Hampshire Prizes and Gifts Act (RSA 358-O), the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the federal Fair Credit Billing Act, and other laws all protect consumers from unscrupulous prize promotion schemes.

The Prizes and Gifts Act requires that any business that implies that you have won anything of value, or have won a contest, must:

Give you the prize without obligating you to purchase anything
Deliver the prize, at no expense to you except for reasonable shipping and handling costs that have been clearly disclosed, within ten days of announcing your winning

This is the law in NH so Creative Biomass has broken the law as to the 10 ton they gave away in Mason in September. I hope this helps the 10 people that have won the pellets
 
ducker said:
Filed a formal complaint with the Attorney General’s office for them to look in to.

Good luck with that one. I think Martha is a little busy trying to be Teddy Kennedy's successor at the moment. ;-)
Seriously though, I hope either the AG's office or Worcester DA's office investigates.
 
I know everyone loves this thread. Anyone have any updates?

Seems like I wasn't the only one that reached out to the local paper, and that's excellent. I do hope some type of action is taken on this company - if it's minimally forcing them to stop selling product they can't deliver.
 
ducker said:
I know everyone loves this thread. Anyone have any updates?

Seems like I wasn't the only one that reached out to the local paper, and that's excellent. I do hope some type of action is taken on this company - if it's minimally forcing them to stop selling product they can't deliver.

Hi Ducker,

My sister and I (both upset creative biomass customers) reached out to the local paper and they are coming to my house tonight to take a photo of us in front of my stove. Looks promising for a followup article! Like most, I just want the truth to be known and for this company to stop taking orders they can't fill.
 
RonL said:
ducker said:
I know everyone loves this thread. Anyone have any updates?

Seems like I wasn't the only one that reached out to the local paper, and that's excellent. I do hope some type of action is taken on this company - if it's minimally forcing them to stop selling product they can't deliver.

Hi Ducker,

My sister and I (both upset creative biomass customers) reached out to the local paper and they are coming to my house tonight to take a photo of us in front of my stove. Looks promising for a followup article! Like most, I just want the truth to be known and for this company to stop taking orders they can't fill.

want a pellet bag to display too? lol :)
 
ducker said:
RonL said:
ducker said:
I know everyone loves this thread. Anyone have any updates?

Seems like I wasn't the only one that reached out to the local paper, and that's excellent. I do hope some type of action is taken on this company - if it's minimally forcing them to stop selling product they can't deliver.

Hi Ducker,

My sister and I (both upset creative biomass customers) reached out to the local paper and they are coming to my house tonight to take a photo of us in front of my stove. Looks promising for a followup article! Like most, I just want the truth to be known and for this company to stop taking orders they can't fill.

want a pellet bag to display too? lol :)

Hehe. Well, with the gist of the article being they don't deliver, I would hate to display their product. :)
 
make sure your stove is shut down in the background and you are huddled around a candle for warmth.... wearing scarves and a jacket for added effect. pull your pockets inside out too. lol
 
I too have experienced delays and no-show deliveries but did receive 2 out of 5 tons the first week of December. The pellets I have are clean and burn nice (Half a Ton so far). Creative Biomass made a huge blunder by not having a website to check on the status of deliveries and by boldly stating a delivery date when they knew it was wishful thinking. I had burned over a ton of Penningtons from Wal-mart before I received my Perfect pellets and find the Perfect ones burn a lot hotter and cleaner. I cleaned my stove the other week and with burning only Perfect pellets there is very lttle ash. I gave a bag to a friend who bought a ton with me in June but canceled his order and he said they were the best he has burned in the year and a half with his stove incert. He loves the little or no ash because his ash pan is small. I am still hopeful about my other three pallets but did pay with CC for protection. I looked into Shawn's other business and it was successful. A lot of bad luck in an enterprise that demands product quality and timely delivery for the obvious reason of WARMTH.
 
Burning Good said:
I too have experienced delays and no-show deliveries but did receive 2 out of 5 tons the first week of December. The pellets I have are clean and burn nice (Half a Ton so far). Creative Biomass made a huge blunder by not having a website to check on the status of deliveries and by boldly stating a delivery date when they knew it was wishful thinking. I had burned over a ton of Penningtons from Wal-mart before I received my Perfect pellets and find the Perfect ones burn a lot hotter and cleaner. I cleaned my stove the other week and with burning only Perfect pellets there is very lttle ash. I gave a bag to a friend who bought a ton with me in June but canceled his order and he said they were the best he has burned in the year and a half with his stove incert. He loves the little or no ash because his ash pan is small. I am still hopeful about my other three pallets but did pay with CC for protection. I looked into Shawn's other business and it was successful. A lot of bad luck in an enterprise that demands product quality and timely delivery for the obvious reason of WARMTH.

When/where did you purchase your pellets?
Honestly a website to check your deliveries would have been nice, but wow, that is like pie in the sky.. just a truthful delivery date, and honesty with customers would have gone a lot longer in my book.

I'm getting towards the end of my first ton of pellets I've burnt, and they are showing a lot of dust, and quite a few long pellets of around 1.5" - 2" long.

In addition many of the pellets have black markings on them, as if they some how scorched themselves when they were going through the milling process of being created.

I've also found some hard piece of, I don't know what, in the bags - almost like clinkers... I know I didn't put that in the bag.
 
Burning Good said:
I too have experienced delays and no-show deliveries but did receive 2 out of 5 tons the first week of December. The pellets I have are clean and burn nice (Half a Ton so far). Creative Biomass made a huge blunder by not having a website to check on the status of deliveries and by boldly stating a delivery date when they knew it was wishful thinking. I had burned over a ton of Penningtons from Wal-mart before I received my Perfect pellets and find the Perfect ones burn a lot hotter and cleaner. I cleaned my stove the other week and with burning only Perfect pellets there is very lttle ash. I gave a bag to a friend who bought a ton with me in June but canceled his order and he said they were the best he has burned in the year and a half with his stove incert. He loves the little or no ash because his ash pan is small. I am still hopeful about my other three pallets but did pay with CC for protection. I looked into Shawn's other business and it was successful. A lot of bad luck in an enterprise that demands product quality and timely delivery for the obvious reason of WARMTH.
Do you work for creative biomass?If not your perception of a good pellet is way way off, if your stove likes metal,rocks,plastic then yeah there great.The perfect pellet is the worst pellet I've tried to date by far!!!!!!!!
 
mnkywrnch said:
Burning Good said:
I too have experienced delays and no-show deliveries but did receive 2 out of 5 tons the first week of December. The pellets I have are clean and burn nice (Half a Ton so far). Creative Biomass made a huge blunder by not having a website to check on the status of deliveries and by boldly stating a delivery date when they knew it was wishful thinking. I had burned over a ton of Penningtons from Wal-mart before I received my Perfect pellets and find the Perfect ones burn a lot hotter and cleaner. I cleaned my stove the other week and with burning only Perfect pellets there is very lttle ash. I gave a bag to a friend who bought a ton with me in June but canceled his order and he said they were the best he has burned in the year and a half with his stove incert. He loves the little or no ash because his ash pan is small. I am still hopeful about my other three pallets but did pay with CC for protection. I looked into Shawn's other business and it was successful. A lot of bad luck in an enterprise that demands product quality and timely delivery for the obvious reason of WARMTH.
Do you work for creative biomass?If not your perception of a good pellet is way way off, if your stove likes metal,rocks,plastic then yeah there great.The perfect pellet is the worst pellet I've tried to date by far!!!!!!!!

I agree the ton I received the pellets are no good. I found blue plastic fused in with one long pellet the other day. Lots of fines and lots of long pellets. Leaves sticky film on glass. I have twenty bags left to burn can't wait till I am thru them so I can start to use my good pellets from Home Depot. I had been alternating thru both last couple of weeks big difference. Just trying to get thru the CBM Perfect Pellets so I can be done with them and look at this as a lessoned learned to not buy from them again, ever.
 
I wonder if Creative Biomass bought pellets from someone else and started to put them into their own bags since they were having a hard time making their own. Maybe that is the pellets some got that say they are the best pellets they have ever used.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.