Very disappointed in SIB WOODPELLETS

[tumbles]

Got a call from SIB wood pellets today. They don't have my super premium soft pellets any more. I paid for them 4 months ago to garentee I could get them. At the time i purchased them, they were in stock. They told me I was all set as long as paid for them in advance. To say I'm upset would be understatement. I could have bought GT for cheaper but now I'm stuck paying elevated prices because they did not keep their word. I will never do business with this group out of jay Maine again. Poor business to say the least. Next Time I will just buy early and pick them up then and there. Thanks for nothing SIB. If he did it to me, he might do it to you. Just letting people know so they do not make the same mistake.

 

[PJPellet]

Got a call from SIB wood pellets today. They don't have my super premium soft pellets any more. I paid for them 4 months ago to garentee I could get them. At the time i purchased them, they were in stock. They told me I was all set as long as paid for them in advance. To say I'm upset would be understatement. I could have bought GT for cheaper but now I'm stuck paying elevated prices because they did not keep their word. I will never do business with this group out of jay Maine again. Poor business to say the least. Next Time I will just buy early and pick them up then and there. Thanks for nothing SIB. If he did it to me, he might do it to you. Just letting people know so they do not make the same mistake.

Oh man that's rotten. Sorry to hear this. Back in the Spring my dealer wouldn't sell me a certain brand of pellet, but I could see that his warehouse was loaded with them. He said "nope, those are already paid for and not for sale." That made me happy to be doing business with him. Good Luck, I wish I had some advice for you.

 

[smalltown]

tumbles sorry to hear that. What were the super premium pellets he is not carrying anymore. He was selling OKIEs and MWP. Is he not selling the OKIES anymore?

I agree with you. If I buy pellets early I want delivery at that point. I want to see them in the garage with no late surprises.

 

[tumbles]

Worst part is I was getting a couple tons for a good friend too! I feel like a heal. I will pay more for pellets than give him a dime of my money. i should have bought from a local dealer. Lesson learned and it won't happen again! Hope you learn from my mistake. They were the Maine all pine super premium pellets.

 

[whit]

If he sold you the pellets and then didn't deliver them, that's fraud. Once you've given him money that's a firm contract to deliver the pellets. Probably too small a matter for your state attorney general to care about, but if you now have to pay more money for equivalent pellets elsewhere, you could probably be awarded the difference in small claims court - although it can be hard to collect. They do legally owe you that difference though. There's no reason you should take any loss from their failure to deliver pellets that contractually already belonged to you.

 

[tumbles]

Not even interested in ever dealing with them again. I will take my money and go elsewhere. Sucks to say the least as money is tighter this year. I will stay local and take delivery right away or pick them up myself. Live and learn!

 

[hossthehermit]

So, are they giving you back your money?

 

[lessoil]

So, are they giving you back your money?

At the very least you should get your money back.
You should also have the choice of putting money towards another pellet.
Sorry to hear about your issues with him.

Private Message from Scott Linkletter on 6/20/11

Hello,
I read your post. We switched over to softwood last week and made about 1200 tons before we had to switch back to our blend on Friday (we nearly ran out of our standard pellet during the week we made softwood). They are made from 100% Maine Pine, rather than spruce and fir, so they are darker colored and not too long. The white softwood pellets out there aren’t made from pine and most of those from out west are from the huge tracts of beetle-killed spruce they have. Pine requires a higher die temperature and a very long effective die length to form a pellet.
I don’t think Wood Pellet Warehouse has any yet, but some of our other vendors do.
They’ve been testing really well and burning very hot. I don’t know yet how much more of it we will make. Our blend pellet is testing nearly the same - ash and BTU/lb are very close - (better than a lot of other manufacturer’s softwood pellets) and isn’t as costly and slow to make.

Scot Linkletter
Maine Woods Pellet

 

[sinnian]

Got a call from SIB wood pellets today. They don't have my super premium soft pellets any more. I paid for them 4 months ago to garentee I could get them. At the time i purchased them, they were in stock. They told me I was all set as long as paid for them in advance. To say I'm upset would be understatement. I could have bought GT for cheaper but now I'm stuck paying elevated prices because they did not keep their word. I will never do business with this group out of jay Maine again. Poor business to say the least. Next Time I will just buy early and pick them up then and there. Thanks for nothing SIB. If he did it to me, he might do it to you. Just letting people know so they do not make the same mistake.

I'm not believing this, and other's should be skeptical too!

SIB doesn't charge until the day of delivery, at least that has been my experience with the couple of deliveries I have had from Steve. In fact, I told him to go ahead and charge me in advance, and he wouldn't.

I do know from talking to him at my last delivery that MWP and Okanagan are not keeping up with his orders. SIB could be selling and delivering A LOT more product if he could get it.

Unfortunately the MWP are going to the big box stores like TSC and Walmart, more than the local vendor. I saw the MWP blend at Walmart last night for 194 per ton. SIB sell them for $224 per ton delivered, can't go wrong there.

Anyway, I know we all need to watch our own wallets, but the less we buy from the big box stores, the better off we and the industry will be in the future.

Private Message from Scott Linkletter on 6/20/11

Hello,
I read your post. We switched over to softwood last week and made about 1200 tons before we had to switch back to our blend on Friday (we nearly ran out of our standard pellet during the week we made softwood). They are made from 100% Maine Pine, rather than spruce and fir, so they are darker colored and not too long. The white softwood pellets out there aren’t made from pine and most of those from out west are from the huge tracts of beetle-killed spruce they have. Pine requires a higher die temperature and a very long effective die length to form a pellet.
I don’t think Wood Pellet Warehouse has any yet, but some of our other vendors do.
They’ve been testing really well and burning very hot. I don’t know yet how much more of it we will make. Our blend pellet is testing nearly the same - ash and BTU/lb are very close - (better than a lot of other manufacturer’s softwood pellets) and isn’t as costly and slow to make.

Scot Linkletter
Maine Woods Pellet

Definitely calling BS on this! I have 2 tons of the softwood, 2 tons of the blend, 2.6 tons of a Canadian softwood mix, and the MWP blend has FAR MORE ash, and FAR LESS heat than either of the softwoods.

The MWP softwood IS on par with the Canadian softwood mix though, which is very encouraging for our region. I would definitely buy them again.

I probably would not buy the MWP blend again though.

(BTW I am running a pellet boiler)

 

[tumbles]

NO need for me to lie. You are right they do not usually do not want payment in advance. At 1st they did not want payment but they called me a month after I placed the order that unless I payed for them now, they could not guarantee delivery of the soft woods. So I called them back and payed for them. I am not a dealer or associated with one. They have called and offered to give me my money back or the regular Maine woods. I only want my money back as it is not what I payed for or was told they set aside for me. So it's not bs and you can choose to believe me or not. Just giving peoe a FYI. I could be just an anomaly but just letting people know what happened. If you want you can Pm me your # and I will play the voice mail for you. Believe or not I do not care but do not call my integrity into question please as I have nothing to gain! I only wanted what was promised to me which was the 100% softwood pelletsand nothing else. In addition, I do not care where people buy their pellets.

 

[johnnycomelately]

Well that sucks.

 

[DMKNLD]

I've dealt w/ Steve at SIB for 4 yrs and he has always gone more than above and beyond in his customer service and competitive pricing. Last year I couldn't be at home to pay him when he delivered my 4 tons, but he left them in my garage w/ a note "call me when you can w/ your credit card number". I don't know of any big box stores that would do that.

Honor Society's issue sounds like it is a supply problem from MWP, which SIB should not be thrown under the bus for, especially if Steve offered him his money back. I ordered 4 tons of the MWP 100% soft woods in early Sept and Steve delivered them as promised a week later. If Honor Society waited until November for delivery perhaps he waited too long, in a business that hinges on seasonal supply and demand. So I'll continue to do my business w/ Steve. "The customer isn't always right, but he does deserve to be treated right", which I believe Steve did, given the limits of his supplier.

I'll concur w/ Master of Fires assessment - the MWP 100% softwoods burn as hot in my Quad Castile with less ash and considerably less fines than the Oakies I burned last year, for $80 less per ton. The 2 tons of MWP blend that I burned in the shoulder seasons last year burned quite well, but not nearly as hot or clean as the MWP 100% softwoods do, unless this year's blend has been stepped up. It would be a shame, IMO if MWP quit making them.

 

[tumbles]

I paid in advance for the softwood pellets so I would be guaranteed to be able to get them. I called and verified they had them on hand when I paid for them. They promised me I had 3 tons with my name on them. I m not saying he is the devil. What I am sayings what he did to me sucks. He did not tell me he might be getting some more and maybe I could get them. Sib assured me several times I had 3 tons but I could not get any more as they were runningout. People can make up their own minds. Maybe it's just a blip but it still sucks to say the least.

 

[tumbles]

Just got off the phone with the owner steve. Nice guy and was very apologetic over the mix up. He is going to make things right with some okies at a fair price. The fact he called me directly and made things right speaks volumes about him and his company. Glad to see people with integrity and a good work ethic. Seems this was just a big mix-up and it should be fixed shortly. I m impressed with the quick response and the wilingness to make things right.

 

[St_Earl]

^this is good to hear.
i am getting a delivery tonight.
yes. tonight. steve driving all the way up here to millinocket and not charging me any more than anyone else closer to them than me.

without a truck, i cannot do better than their delivered price. which is a good price too.

local delivery for mwps is $20 more per ton.
that's $80 savings on my order today.

i'm sure they're are heavy demands on sib. and from all accounts they do a good job meeting those demands.

myself, i'm hoping to have a long relationship with them.

 

[tumbles]

Thanks. He was even offered to give me the okies at the price I paid for the Maine super premiums! However, I did not think that was fair to him. We met at a fair price to both of us. He seems to be very concerned about his business and wants to be fair as well. Kodos to him. I don't want to be taken advantage of nor do I want to take advantage of anyone. Steve made things right and seemed very concerned he would earn my business . He did just that!

 

[jtakeman]

Nice to hear! I have heard many good things about SIB. Was kind of shocked when I first read this thread. Glad all is well.

I was hoping to get some of the MWP softwoods to test, I kept hinting to Scot Linkletter to provide a sample. But he does his own in house testing. I suppose they are so good, He doesn't need my input. That's OK, I'll find some sooner or later.

 

[hossthehermit]

Just got off the phone with the owner steve. Nice guy and was very apologetic over the mix up. He is going to make things right with some okies at a fair price. The fact he called me directly and made things right speaks volumes about him and his company. Glad to see people with integrity and a good work ethic. Seems this was just a big mix-up and it should be fixed shortly. I m impressed with the quick response and the wilingness to make things right.

Gotta admire a man that stands by his convictions, tumbles.
"Worst part is I was getting a couple tons for a good friend too! I feel like a heal. I will pay more for pellets than give him a dime of my money. i should have bought from a local dealer. Lesson learned and it won’t happen again! Hope you learn from my mistake. They were the Maine all pine super premium pellets."

 

[Pellet-King]

Why you wait so long for delivery anyway?

 

[tumbles]

I was in no rush as I had pellets to burn and I wanted the super premiums for when it got cold. But lets put this to rest. SIb woodpellets made it right and it appears this was a misunderstanding. Mistakes happen and we are all human. They put erasers on pencils for a reason. What is important is he righted a wrong and all wil be forgiven and forgotten. It's behind me and it's time to move on. The owner is a man of integrity and I appreciate his willingness to right a wrong. Thanks for everyone's imput into the matter. He seems to have many satisfied customers and now me too

 

[St_Earl]

yeah. i just met steve an hour ago in my driveway.
good guy.
will definitely be doing business w/ him going forward.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

So I've been reading this thread from the original post that you made and I'm not willing to let you off the hook so easily. Your OP and title of same was flaming SIB and painted them with a broad brush. Yours was the first post I had ever seen that painted SIB in a bad light. Misunderstanding or not, you didn't have all of the information you do now. With the type of volume that SIB does, these things are bound to happen. You were pissed off and came here to make a post to potentially hurt his business. You owe him an apology.....not a "It's time to move on"

 

[DMKNLD]

There are legitimate reasons to 'flame' shady business practices, but I certainly don't put Steve's business ethics at SIB in this category. So just as suggestion, give him and anyone else the chance to 'make it right' before you flame them on a widely read public forum like this. That said, I'm glad it worked out for you OK. And yes, I'll put it to rest too.

 

[johnnycomelately]

These forums are for information and sharing ideas and knowledge, not for settling personal business disputes that may arise between two parties who both knowingly and voluntarily enter into sales agreements. Disputes may arise, but don't burden us all with your own personal disappointments, especially if you are going to share just your own version which probably slightly differs (at best) from the whole truth. Nuff said! I make a motion that this thread be closed before a good businessman with a great reputation endures more defenseless slander.

 

[76brian]

I'm not familiar with SIB at all, but a number of members here seem to speak highly of them. My interpretation is it looks like SIB had supply problems and the original poster got pissed off about it, then proceeded to go off half cocked before anyone there had a chance to fix things up, and now that they have, he's back tracking.