Home depot and Freedom (Natures Earth) Pellets BEWARE

[odlaw]

Home depot and Freedom (Natures Earth) Pellets BEWARE Two years ago I purchased a ton of Freedom brand Natures Earth pellets from Home Depot and had to return them. These things were so bad that they would skim over in my pot after a few hours. I noticed they were very small in diameter compared to all others I have tried. They did not have the PFI logo on the bag back then either. I called the manufacturing company and the reps on the phone had no clue as to what size they and did not know if they were a member of the Pellet Institute.
Home Depot did exchange them for me and told me they were not going to sell those anymore because others were complainiong also.
I bought a ton this year and didn't unrap until I got home and the Freedom brand is back. I opened them up and they are the small diameter pellets again. I am taking theses back also.
The Freedom brand now has the PFI(Pelet Fuel Institute) logo on the bag but does not conform to the Fuel Grade Requirements of which I downloaded from PFI website.
The diameter should be .250 - .285 in (6.35 - 7.25mm). These pellets are clearly not even close to that and will feed at completely different rates than your stove is used to.
I am a little upset at the PFI's governing of who can use their logo also. It appears all you have to do is send in your dues and your a member.
Great for them bad for the consumer.
Maybe a PFI exec will chime in??

Thanks

 

[Romy]

So you purchased pellets without knowing what brand they were until you got them home? Pardon my cynicism but I think you screwed yourself.

 

[odlaw]

The store assured me in the past that they were not going to sell the freedom brand anymore because of the returns. They also had fireside pellets in the store display when I ordered, not a freedom to be found. . They had pallets of fireside outside with peoples names on them waiting for pickup. I did not see the need to disturb the covering on the pallet they gave me plus it was raining at the pickup spot.
It is my fault for being taken advantage of because they have old stock that other people reurned??

 

[SXIPro]

I hate Home Depot. Worst customer service on the planet.

 

[cac4]

yeah, the same thing happened to me from the other big-box. They had the sign on a pallet of one specific brand of pellets. I ordered them in the store, and specifically told them that I wanted that particular brand, and while there was some confusion, I was assured that this is what I would get. What arrived at my house was a load of something else entirely. I refused the delivery.

It is, imo, a highly questionable business practice, but it seems that both of these big-boxes work exactly the same way.

 

[Romy]

The store assured me in the past that they were not going to sell the freedom brand anymore because of the returns. They also had fireside pellets in the store display when I ordered, not a freedom to be found. . They had pallets of fireside outside with peoples names on them waiting for pickup. I did not see the need to disturb the covering on the pallet they gave me plus it was raining at the pickup spot.
It is my fault for being taken advantage of because they have old stock that other people reurned??

That makes more sense.

Lessons learned for dealing w/ big boxes: You get what you pay for and big boxes aren't known for service. Pick up on a fair weather day so you can hand load and you know you're getting what you paid for. Also, any open bags are credited on the spot. I learned my lesson when I picked up my order and they wouldn't load a full pallet on my small utility trailer (1700# cap.). We hand loaded across trailer and truck. I was annoyed at first but, in the end, they had swap out 8 open bags. I can imagine the hassle of trying to bring them back for credit later.

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Sorry about your luck, but boy do I feel better now... About 3 years ago I too went to Home Depot and ran into this very brand, and because they didn't have the " Pelet Fuel Institute stamp" on them I didn't buy... Funny thing was they had a ton of "Lignetics" sitting next to them and the manger told me they where for individual bag sales only, so i went across the street to Lowes and bought a ton of what they where selling

 

[Stentor]

The big boxes can be fine if you drop in for a specific item and can see it's what you want before you go to the checkout counter. They're less good at stuff that the stores buy at high volume or that the store people have never been taught about. It's like buying pelletized lime or fertilizer, pretty much interchangeable for the store. The complication with wood pellets is that you are spending a lot of money to buy from sources that really don't care about your requirements. I think you are better off looking around at some of the smaller more specialized suppliers.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

Home depot and Freedom (Natures Earth) Pellets BEWARE Two years ago I purchased a ton of Freedom brand Natures Earth pellets from Home Depot and had to return them. These things were so bad that they would skim over in my pot after a few hours. I noticed they were very small in diameter compared to all others I have tried. They did not have the PFI logo on the bag back then either. I called the manufacturing company and the reps on the phone had no clue as to what size they and did not know if they were a member of the Pellet Institute.
Home Depot did exchange them for me and told me they were not going to sell those anymore because others were complainiong also.
I bought a ton this year and didn't unrap until I got home and the Freedom brand is back. I opened them up and they are the small diameter pellets again. I am taking theses back also.
The Freedom brand now has the PFI(Pelet Fuel Institute) logo on the bag but does not conform to the Fuel Grade Requirements of which I downloaded from PFI website.
The diameter should be .250 - .285 in (6.35 - 7.25mm). These pellets are clearly not even close to that and will feed at completely different rates than your stove is used to.
I am a little upset at the PFI's governing of who can use their logo also. It appears all you have to do is send in your dues and your a member.
Great for them bad for the consumer.
Maybe a PFI exec will chime in??

Thanks

though not a PFI employee i have had dealings in the past with them , have you tried contacting them to convey your findings on one of their members products? click here (broken link removed to http://www.pelletheat.org/2/index/index.html) and look at th etop for the "contact" link , send them a message with your findings. if they are made aware of this from the public i have to believe they will get this information to the manufacturer in an official capacity. your cost in informing them? nothing but a few minutes time. your reward? knowing that you may have helped people in the future.

 

[odlaw]

Thanks for all the replies. I did send the PFI an email before I ranted on this site but some times I am not very diplomatic and get too
emotional which detracts from the message I am trying to get across. I am however awaiting a response from them. It would be interesting just to here what they say.
Thanks

 

[investor7952]

yeah, the same thing happened to me from the other big-box. They had the sign on a pallet of one specific brand of pellets. I ordered them in the store, and specifically told them that I wanted that particular brand, and while there was some confusion, I was assured that this is what I would get. What arrived at my house was a load of something else entirely. I refused the delivery.

It is, imo, a highly questionable business practice, but it seems that both of these big-boxes work exactly the same way.

I ordered pellets from HD ALSO They just put on the slip HARWOOD PELLETS. I asked the store to call me about the brand. When they called they told me it was fredom NATURES EARTH.They said hardwood was hardwood and I asked for hardwood and thats what they have. I told the lady the person didnt know what brand they were and he said if u didnt like the brand just cancell. Anyway after a bit of bitching I got my money back.She said AS i WAS LEAVING i CANT UNDERSTND THE DIFFERENCE. I just kept walking I didnt what to get into it with another rabotic box store employee.

 

[odlaw]

Freedoms Natures Earth pellets are a soft pine pellet. It is quite possible they are made smaller because they are soft and many people have had problems with soft pellets. My stove is an insert which means that the pot size and cleanout pans are a lot smaller than the free standing models. They did not work properly for me and I thought it was close to dangerous to continue to burn these as they clogged up the pot quickly.
This company also makes cat litter from pellets and I think they found anew way to get rid of their pellet litter.
Hope you have better luck.