Swapping pellets for free .... part 3 - WHAT A PISSER

[muss]

So i call the dealer again where i bought the 5 tons of Maine pellets last year & asked what was going on & that i hadn't heard from them 'bout their swapping my pellets like they promised, yes, promised, . She tells me they only get 1/2 of what they order so i say, yeah but i don't get any . Then she tells me that there is a change in plans & that their gonna have to charge me for the swap . I ask " is this good or fair buisness practice . She says " hang on a minute" . The owner gets on the line & starts getting defensive . Now, i'm still being civil mind you. He turns everything around & starts badmouthing Maine Pellets & HOW THEY SCREWED HIM & he goes on & on with a few expletives thrown in . Then he finishes by saying my problem is with Maine Athens & not with him . So i says thank you very much & also say go check out Hearth.com & our forum & that it would be to his advantage especially with so many potential stove & pellet buyers . My question to everyone on here is : Shouldn't this dealer in Waterville be held responsible because he sold me the pellets ? Please help me get this straight in my mind . By the way, i called Maine Pellets & she was so nice to me . No problem on the swap she says, bring them in, i says no way of doing so, she says no problem, it will be swapped free within a day or so. Now that's the way to do buisness . Super nice lady Brenda is , who incidently is Dave Carr wife , who i hear on here is also nice . Hoping to hear from alot of you folks. Thanking you all in advance . Muss

 

[Xena]

So the Mfg is going to come out to your home and take your pellets and swap them for the same brand?

 

[imacman]

.......My question to everyone on here is : Shouldn't this dealer in Waterville be held responsible because he sold me the pellets ? Please help me get this straight in my mind . By the way, i called Maine Pellets & she was so nice to me . No problem on the swap she says, bring them in, i says no way of doing so, she says no problem, it will be swapped free within a day or so. Now that's the way to do buisness . Super nice lady Brenda is , who incidently is Dave Carr wife , who i hear on here is also nice . Hoping to hear from alot of you folks. Thanking you all in advance . Muss

Most of the time, I'd agree that the dealer is the one who has to make things right, since you bought the pellets from them. But it seems in this situation, the pellet manufacturer has as much as admitted that the pellets THEY made are no good, and stated that THEY would gladly swap your pellets.

Now, since Benda said that THEY would swap your pellet "within a day or so", where are you with that? IMO, you should be dealing with her, and getting the swap done with her speaking to the dealer directly and setting it up.

 

[jtakeman]

If the manufactor is willing to swap them, Why does the Dealer have an issue with it?

From my point of view is the dealer made his mark up on them, They should at least help with the swap!

What a load of crap that is. I'd think twice about purchasing doo doo from them again!!

jay

 

[stoveguy2esw]

in most cases i would think the dealer would be involved in some ways , but if the manufacturer is going to make it right i'd go with the manufacturer's offer if its fair to you. especially if the manufacturer labels his product with a "contact the manufacturer" label, some companies are better equipped to handle the situation from their end than a dealer may be. but the dealer should at least be made aware of it.

in defense of the dealer, he likely didnt know of the fault in the product when he purchased it from the manufacturer, but i must say that berating the manufacturer like that in front of a customer is bad joss IMHO, could have been handled better, perhaps making a call to the manufacturer on behalf of the customer, possibly working the swap through his shop (and maybe in the process getting his remaining product swapped out if its defective enough to warrant blasting a manufacturer to a customer)

in defense of our poster, he bought the product from this dealer, his first stop should have been with the dealer whom he purchased from unless the disclaimer on the bag exists which asks to contact the manufacturer.

lastly , i have seen mixed reviews from this company's handling of the issue. it should be noted that consistancy is the important thing when dealing with a product deficiency such as this. i hope that a consistant and fair method of dealing with this issue can be worked out for all involved. but i should note that its not as easy to work out a standard plan with a consumable product distributed over a wide area, unlike a stove , which doesnt get consumed, pellets are different, when used its gone, bags thrown away, fuel spent. its a different animal.

as for me , i try to be a fair advocate for both sides, i do not have a dog in this fight as i have never sampled the product, talked to the manufacturer, and can only rely to this point on information posted. being an industry member i dislike seeing this type of issue arise, but i know it occasionally does. i can simply urge all involved parties to work together towards an amicable solution to this in hopes that the end user can benefit from the use of biomass products, and the manufacturer can get this situation worked out , learn from it , and move forward in producing a viable product which will restore confidence in the customer base they intend to supply.

 

[Souzafone]

The dealer offered to exchange your pellets for free, right, wrong, or other. They didn't. They suck, I think we can all agree on that. Now let's see what happens with the manufacturer. All this being said, do you have proof, like emails or letters, or was this all just talk on the phone? If you have cold hard evidence, post it here and name names, otherwise this is just another precautionary tale on how NOT to do something.

 

[Lousyweather]

I concur as well, as a selelr of pellets myself, that its up to the dealer to "make it right" to you, THEN back to the manufacturer. A couple logistical questions come to mind though. When we do deliveries, we use a forklift and try to get the pellets as close (if not exactly), where the customer needs them. Unfortunately, since the forklift is too tall, we cant enter a garage, or go into a cellar, so when we deliver, its the responsibility of the homeowner to move them from there. The homeowner then usually carries them into the garage, or, in my case the cellar, where they get stacked neatly for later use. Now, the logistical part: If the pellets are in the cellar, or the garage, who carries them out and puts them on pallets so they can be picked up?

 

[stoveguy2esw]

dunno about the moving the pellets part but i need a better way of getting mine from the garage entrance to the inside of the garage. last year i moved 5 tons of pellets by myself with a broken elbow. was not pretty.

I was thinking about one of those power winches installed at the back of the garage and just having it drag the pallet in. i think some of them can pull 6-8,000 lbs. might put it off tho, trying to squirrel away money until the economy is more stable. anyone use a winch to drag pallets of pellets?

that much fuel each year and storage for it , look at harbor freight or northern tool for a pallet jack, granted this isnt somthing which will "pay for itself" monetarily , but in sheer work it may be worth it to you. you just leave em on the skid and move the ton at once, ive done it at work many times and its not as hard as you might think to roll a whole ton around.

somthing like this;

http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa...itemid=39939&CategoryName;=&SubCategoryName;=

 

[OU812]

Should have bought your pellets at Home Depot. They would have taken them back without any hassle.

 

[krooser]

dunno about the moving the pellets part but i need a better way of getting mine from the garage entrance to the inside of the garage. last year i moved 5 tons of pellets by myself with a broken elbow. was not pretty.

I was thinking about one of those power winches installed at the back of the garage and just having it drag the pallet in. i think some of them can pull 6-8,000 lbs. might put it off tho, trying to squirrel away money until the economy is more stable. anyone use a winch to drag pallets of pellets?

Buy a cheap pallet jack from Horrible Freight, Northern Tool or some place like that. Normally I wouldn't recommend a Chinese jack but it should work for your purposes.

 

[Lousyweather]

dunno about the moving the pellets part but i need a better way of getting mine from the garage entrance to the inside of the garage. last year i moved 5 tons of pellets by myself with a broken elbow. was not pretty.

I was thinking about one of those power winches installed at the back of the garage and just having it drag the pallet in. i think some of them can pull 6-8,000 lbs. might put it off tho, trying to squirrel away money until the economy is more stable. anyone use a winch to drag pallets of pellets?

I once saw a guy in Agawam push tons of pellets into his garage with a snowplow! I was skeptical, but he did it...it worked well, and he didnt break a bag! We can usually get it far enough into the garage to at least close the door, as long as theres enough traction for the forklift tires. The logistical issue is kinda a big one. Most of the dealers I know will pick up pellets, as long as they are palletized and in a position where the forklift can pick them up. As a dealer, and Im gonna get flamed on this one, i dont think its the dealer's responsibility to carry them out of the cellar when they didnt put them there in the first place.......flame on!