Damn Pellet Dealers

[Junkman]

I bought and paid for 3 tons of Premium Energex wood pellets last June to be picked up this fall, and now the dealer tells me that he is out of pellets, and sold the ones that I bought and paid for, and won't have any till October. Those will be another brand, and now he wants $100 additional per ton. Told them that was unacceptable, and they said they would let me have the 3 tons when it comes in for an additional $200. The other choice is that they will refund my money!!

 

[mtwaterguy]

And the other choice would be for him to either produce the product you already paid for and thus own, or your next move will be contacting the police to see what they will do about the thief that stole and resold your pellets.

 

[LoneGunman]

Contacting the police will be useless, they'll say "It's a civil matter". I'd file BBB report against them and anything else to make their life miserable and I'd take my money back.

 

[oldgoat]

How about contacting consumer fraud?

 

[steveNH]

It may be different in CT, but in NH the Attorney General's office handles complaints of this type.

 

[Junkman]

It may be different in CT, but in NH the Attorney General's office handles complaints of this type.

I bought them in MA, and I did contact the Attorney Generals office, and they said that they do offer a free mediation service if I want to go that route. Last night, I spoke to them again, and they offered to deliver them to me free (about 15 miles) for an additional $200 payment of the increase in cost of the pellets. I offered to meet them half way at $100, and I have not heard back yet. They will refund my money immediately, but I can't find pellets for anywhere near the price that I paid. They have gone up $2.00 a bag or $100 a ton since. There is even a shortage of pellets around here!

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

You have a receipt, what does it show/state?

Did you have a contract?

 

[IDASHO]

Im the dispatcher for a large building supply outfit here in Northern Idaho. We go thru a LOT of pellets every year (predicting 500+ ton this year), and I deal with problems like this quite often due to our suppliers running out of pellets, cost changes, pre-purchasing, etc.

For "pre-bought" situations like this, I normally offer the customer one of two choices...

Either pay the new price,
or pay the old price + an additional "storage fee" for keeping "their" pellets in my yard.

Like it or not, time is money, and so is space. And our store doesnt have a surplus of either.

That said, I tell the sales persons all the time to avoid pre-purchasing if at all possible, and our quotes are only good for 30 days.

Also, new pricing was started this week. Last year a ton of pellets was $185. This year, $215.

But we only stock the good stuff. Lignetics.

 

[jay50]

I bought them in MA, and I did contact the Attorney Generals office, and they said that they do offer a free mediation service if I want to go that route. Last night, I spoke to them again, and they offered to deliver them to me free (about 15 miles) for an additional $200 payment of the increase in cost of the pellets. I offered to meet them half way at $100, and I have not heard back yet. They will refund my money immediately, but I can't find pellets for anywhere near the price that I paid. They have gone up $2.00 a bag or $100 a ton since. There is even a shortage of pellets around here!

What a bunch of BS. Sounds like that supplier is trying to follow in the tracks of the oil robbers...

 

[dropride]

Wish the pellets here were only $215/ton, they've gone from $240 last year to $280-$300/ton

 

[wilbilt]

$250/ton here.

For me, that works out to about $150/mo burning pellets, or $360/mo burning propane.

I guess I'll stick with the pellets unless they go up again. I do have a full LPG tank for backup. I just spent $577 for 240 gallons. Ouch.

 

[Junkman]

I paid $587.00 for 3 tons. Now they want an additional $300 for the 3 tons, and they won't be in till October. They did call back and offer to deliver the 3 tons for an additional $200, explaining that they would give me a 10% discount off the current price and credit me for what I paid. Somehow this figure works out to a magical $200. I offered to compromise and give them an additional $100 if they delivered the 3 tons to me. It is about a 10 mile trip, and there trucks are in the area all the time. Basically I paid $4.58 a bag, and now they want an additional $2.00 a bag, which I feel is wrong. They haven't contacted me about my last $100 offer. I believe that this is going to become a matter that the State Attorney General will be getting involved in to resolve. At this point, I have nothing to loose by going that route.
Last year, one of the local oil dealers tried the same thing with the oil customers. They were forced to refund money to people that paid the extra, and deliver those that had refused to pay the increase, but pre bought oil. To top it off, the state fined them for the deceptive business practice.

 

[jay50]

I paid $587.00 for 3 tons. Now they want an additional $300 for the 3 tons, and they won't be in till October. They did call back and offer to deliver the 3 tons for an additional $200, explaining that they would give me a 10% discount off the current price and credit me for what I paid. Somehow this figure works out to a magical $200. I offered to compromise and give them an additional $100 if they delivered the 3 tons to me. It is about a 10 mile trip, and there trucks are in the area all the time. Basically I paid $4.58 a bag, and now they want an additional $2.00 a bag, which I feel is wrong. They haven't contacted me about my last $100 offer. I believe that this is going to become a matter that the State Attorney General will be getting involved in to resolve. At this point, I have nothing to loose by going that route.
Last year, one of the local oil dealers tried the same thing with the oil customers. They were forced to refund money to people that paid the extra, and deliver those that had refused to pay the increase, but pre bought oil. To top it off, the state fined them for the deceptive business practice.

I guess there is nothing on your receipt about any terms or conditions, storage, etc.
They mentioned storage costs, etc? Remind them that they had your money and the interest potential from having it without delivery of product, so it should be an even deal.

Get the state attorneys office after those crooks and spread the word around ....

 

[tdkkart]

Even if you have to pay the same price somewhere else I think I would tell them to stick it. Better yet, buy somewhere else without telling them, let them think you're still buying from them, and then when they call and want to deliver tell them to stick it in their butts.

As far as I'm concerned you have a reciept for 3 tons at $587. They owe you 3 tons of product. It's no concern of yours that they didn't have a solid supply to support their sales.

 

[dfox1234]

pay the additional money with your credit card, get the product then dispute the charge with your credit card company, easy fix. What ever you do, DO NOT bother the poor police with this problem, they cannot help you.
Dean

 

[Junkman]

This morning I got an email notice from my credit card company that they had refunded the credit card payment made in June. For whatever it is worth, I have filed a complaint with the State Of Massachusetts Attorney General's office. Now, I am even in more of a problem, since no one around here has any pellets in stock at any price.

 

[bmacz06]

When they sold you the pellets and agreed to a fall time frame for pick up they entered into a contract with you. Unless they specifically stated the price could rise they are obligated to sell them to you at the agreed upon price. If the price of pellets decreased, I assure you, they would not be offering a refund of the difference. They rolled the dice and lost and need to step up and do the right thing.

 

[billspit]

pay the additional money with your credit card, get the product then dispute the charge with your credit card company, easy fix.
Dean

That ain't gonna work.

 

[rburke65]

Call 1-800- I-SUE-BIG!!

 

[baldeagle650]

I bought premium wood pellets in Georgetown, Ohio on Monday (9-15-08) for $220.00 per ton. They had at least 30 skids/tons when I was there.
The name of the place was Southern Ohio Stoves and their phone number is 937-446-4443

 

[mulepackin]

Im the dispatcher for a large building supply outfit here in Northern Idaho. We go thru a LOT of pellets every year (predicting 500+ ton this year), and I deal with problems like this quite often due to our suppliers running out of pellets, cost changes, pre-purchasing, etc.

For "pre-bought" situations like this, I normally offer the customer one of two choices...

Either pay the new price,
or pay the old price + an additional "storage fee" for keeping "their" pellets in my yard.

Like it or not, time is money, and so is space. And our store doesnt have a surplus of either.

That said, I tell the sales persons all the time to avoid pre-purchasing if at all possible, and our quotes are only good for 30 days.

Also, new pricing was started this week. Last year a ton of pellets was $185. This year, $215.

But we only stock the good stuff. Lignetics.

I assume all of this is made clear to the buyer up front when prepurchasing. Also, this doesn't sound like he's trying to get them to honor a quote, but rather produce what he purchased already.

 

[C G]

You paid June prices for a September contract. They had full use of your money during this time and now they want more money? What would be the point for paying up front like that? Did they tell you if you pay up front it assures you the June price? Someones getting screwed.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

And the other choice would be for him to either produce the product you already paid for and thus own, or your next move will be contacting the police to see what they will do about the thief that stole and resold your pellets.

Who will promptly tell you its a civil matter...

 

[jay50]

Wonder if one could similarly "pre-buy" say 500 gallon of fuel oil in July and expect it to be delivered with no additional charge (price increase) in the winter?

 

[Junkman]

The answer is yes. Many oil companies offer contract deals in the summer for winter delivery. The reason that they do this is to lock in their price for winter fuel delivery's from the tank farms. A friend that was in the business told me that when oil was inexpensive and very commonly used for heating homes and factories, that he would buy contracts for several million gallons of heating oil. If the price went up he made money. Rarely would the price go down, so he made a lot of money. He would then sell some of the contracted oil to other oil dealers that didn't have the financial backing to buy these large contracts. They delivered between 30,000 - 50,000 gallons of heating oil a day with a large fleet of trucks. His business was bought out by an even larger oil company. Those were the days of 45 cent heating oil.

 

[Brad54]

Yeah, it seems to me that you pre-pay so that you get locked in at that price, and ensure you have the widget at the agreed upon time.
Otherwise, what is the advantage of pre-paying for it?

-Brad

 

[timgr]

My experience is the yearly oil contracts are the norm if you heat your home with oil. The oil companies typically offer your choice of a yearly contract with delivery at a fixed price, or a delivery contract where the price floats according to the spot market in fuel oil.

 

[mulepackin]

We have almost always contracted our propane in the summer for fall delivery. The distributors have always honored the prices too. I don't think they would stay in business for long around here if they didn't.

 

[dawg]

yeah even the cord wood is up conciderably.
everyone wants a bit of the oil action.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

yeah even the cord wood is up conciderably.
everyone wants a bit of the oil action.

Energy is just expensive however you have to buy it. Natural Gas is projected to be up 15% to 25% over last year. Thank God for Global Warming. Can you imagine if we had one of those 1970's era winters at these prices?

Phil

 

[Bulldog13]

That's ****....you prepurchase to get the savings at that time....that's like getting billed twice....I would call a attorney and make them honor the price they originally quoted.Are they gonna pay you interest on the money they already took from you...if you choose to take the refund...How do these jerks stay in open...?

 

[dbird]

Go out some Saturday or their busiest day & picket their business, I bet they will honor the price already paid.

 

[mulepackin]

yeah even the cord wood is up conciderably.
everyone wants a bit of the oil action.

I don't think woodcutters want in on the oil action, so much as it now costs considerably more to bring in a cord of wood due to increased fuel costs.