Pennington Natures Heat Trying to Sabotage My Pellet Stove ???

[Ductape]

I'm aware of other complaints about the quality of Pennington pellets, but this is so outragious, I felt it needed its own thread.


Back in July, i started buying my pellets for the 08-09 heating season. As everyone knows, pellets weren't all that easy to come by. Well........ the first three tons i was able to purchase were all Pennington, and all purchased at my local Home Depot for $249.99. I assume these were all pellets from the previous year, since there are only bar codes at the bottom of the bags........ no lot numbers or production dates or any other identifying features.

Even though there are ALOT of fine in the bags of pellets, i've never complained till now, since they are what was available when i was shopping for pellets. Here are some pictures showing how much fine is in the pennington bags. In burning approximately 2 and a half ton of Penningtons, i'd estimate i've sifted out nearly two hundred pounds of fine. My estimation is based on the fact that i put the fine back into the empty bags and i've easily filled five bags with fine. Enclosed are a few pics of how much fine is in each bag........

But now for the meat & potatos of my complaint...............

The past two bags i've i've tried to put into my stove each contained a rock ! ONE rock per bag. Thankfully i was paying attention, and was able to spot the rocks as i was pouring some pellets into the stove. Now, i am not farmiliar with pellet production, but i have to think one rock in each bag of pellets was put there intentionally by a Pennington employee. I honestly can't imagine that somehow a rock fell from the sky into the bagging process. Can you imagine what these rocks would have done to my auger?? I warn you all to beware of Pennington pellets !!

Above you will see said rocks...... with a penny added for reference. I'd estimate them to be about quarter sized. Imagine your stove trying to pass these ! >:-(

 

[woodsman23]

WOW i would be pi$$ed big time. Have you called them? i would call where you got them and tell em to shove em where the flame don't shine...

 

[Ductape]

I don't expect Home Depot to do much for me at this point........ especially since i'm not sure i saved my original store reciept from back in July. Hopefully anyone here burning Penningtons will be more vigilant when opening a bag. These were two consecutive bags from the same pallet....... each containing a single rock. We'll see what happens when i open the next bag.....................................

 

[newguyjoe]

hey,
those look just like the natures heat that im using.so its not just your batch. well i didnt find any rocks in mine yet though.LOTS of fines. i called the customer service line as i was advised to on this website just on another post..i left messages and noone ever got back to me. you have to sift all penningtons pellets. im on my way to filling a big rubbermaid garbage pail with the fines i have sifted out of the first of the two tons i bought.

 

[firewarrior820]

I have some issues with my first ton of pennington's ,lots of fines ,chunk of rubber,,,,clinkers. no lot number on that ton.
so i called customer service ,and let them hear my complaints,just to let people know i felt i got a very standard response.
1 cup to 2 cups of fines are the acceptable amount, lot numbers dont mean to much,why did i wait till a ton was burned before i called ,etc. ect.
The woman said to send in a sample of pellets [couple hand fulls], intack empty bag and my original sales reciept[i cant believe i had it] and mail it off
she said my postage would be returned.,,,,,, we'll see what happens.

 

[insuranceman1]

Well I have to say that so far the Pennington Natures Heat that I picked up from Walmart have been great. I bought 20 bags or so to try them out after my boss had went on and on how little ash he gets from them. So far I have been impressed. A little more fines than with the Southern States brand, about the same fines from Freedom fuel from Home Depot. But a huge difference in ash. I am getting hardley any ash at all.

Will keep my eye out for rocks though!

 

[pelletizer]

From what I have seen the lighter colored pennintons are full of the fines?
I have 3 tons purchased in June they are dark in color and I have had no issues at all but I fear a 3 ton purchase next year may not be worth it. :roll:

 

[jenrn54]

I have some issues with my first ton of pennington's ,lots of fines ,chunk of rubber,,,,clinkers. no lot number on that ton.
so i called customer service ,and let them hear my complaints,just to let people know i felt i got a very standard response.
1 cup to 2 cups of fines are the acceptable amount, lot numbers dont mean to much,why did i wait till a ton was burned before i called ,etc. ect.
The woman said to send in a sample of pellets [couple hand fulls], intack empty bag and my original sales reciept[i cant believe i had it] and mail it off
she said my postage would be returned.,,,,,, we'll see what happens.

I had the same issues with 1 ton of penningtons I purchased in late July. 3-4 cups fines per bag, lots of clinkers. I sift every bag. I sent sample of pellets, empty bag and receipt Nov. 14. Just today I got a refund check from Pennington for $31.90. Big whup!! I purchased a second ton of penningtons in late August and they are much better--hardly any fines or clinkers and burn nice and hot. I will look to get lignetics for next year!

 

[South of Boston]

I think it's about time that these pellet manufacturer's include the date of production as well as the plant that produce from. If these get re-bagged they should also include the original info.

 

[Cavedweller]

had some of the same issues with pennington natures heat also purchased from a central nh home depot... no rocks for me yet however my brother had a rock jam is auger same place and pellets as i got. luckily he was able to un jam the rock and everything seems to be ok except for a small dent in the hopper.

 

[Cavedweller]

same issues, also central nh home depot

 

[littlesmokey]

My take on this is, you should scream long and loud. I would go back to Home Depot with a bag of their finest and ask to speak to the customer service manager. Let them scan the bar code and see they are in fact an HD product, and then calmly explain your issues. Cut the bag open if necessary and let him know your opinion of being able to burn 65-75% of the product you purchased. I think you will get their attention. Ask for a full cash refund and don't settle for a store credit. Ask them kindly to take their truck out to pick up their crap and tell them you are taking your business else where.

You paid for a quality product that HD did not deliver. They are responsible. My local store bought from three suppliers last year, they were only good from one. This year the went with a close regional maker and they are really great. As I understand things, they are paying a little more for the pellets, but keeping the price down, and completely satisifying the customers. The pellets are 5/16 diameter and average 3/8th long. About the size of a Spanish peanut, my stove loves them.

If we think the Big Boxes rule, let me tell you about a dozen 150,000 square foot buildings and parking I can get you for cheap rent.

 

[Fire]

Unfortunately Penninington has a serious quality control problem! This season I wanted to give Pennington Natures Heat another chance. Last year I had a bad experience with them. They were filthy with ash. I did send the lot # along with the other info they requested. They sent the letter that they had a problem with one of their mills and were "sorry", and sent a partial refund for the 2 tons I had purchased. This year I saw them again and felt I owed them a second chance because of their customer service with last years problem. I saw them in a local Walmart and asked the store employee when they were delivered. I was informed they just came in. This was the second week of Nov 2008. I purchased 15 bags and am once again disappointed. They are smaller than last year and not dark, but they are just as filthy. I do not want another "Im Sorry" letter from Pennington, nor do I want another refund. I will mix these pellets with a more superior brand for burning, and now drive further to purchase another brand. Pennington, you have lost my business "I'm Sorry".

 

[imacman]

I'm aware of other complaints about the quality of Pennington pellets, but this is so outragious, I felt it needed its own thread.
Above you will see said rocks...... with a penny added for reference. I'd estimate them to be about quarter sized. Imagine your stove trying to pass these ! >:-(

Ductape, I would contact Pennington directly.....HD isn't going to do anything about it, as they didn't make the pellets. I know the argument can be made that HD SOLD them, but I think you're better off going back to the manufacturer. Tell them you don't want to use their pellets, and you'd like your $$ back so you can buy something else.

Just my 2 cents as to what I would do if it were me.

 

[Ductape]

3rd Rock ! No........ not that TV show. Found a third rock in another bag of pellets, about half the size of the two previous rocks.

I'm changing my theory that they have been put there by an employee though. Since they all look like the type that are sold in bags for use in landscaping, i'm now thinking that they are in the pellet bags because Pennington is just grossly negligent. I'm guessing Pennington uses the same exact bagging equipment to bag pellets as they use to bag landscaping rocks........... and they don't bother to make sure they have cleaned all of the rocks out of the equipment before they start bagging pellets.

If i understand correctly, the pellet industry is self regulated. All "premium" wood pellets are described as such by their own manufacturers. And those same manufacturers are the ones policing their own product. Am i the only one who sees a problem here? These pellets are what Pennington classifies as "premium"??

 

[firewarrior820]

maybe the rocks came from home depot?
somebody posted a awhile back he found a golf ball in a bag of pellets, come to find out the store was down from a driving range.
believe me i'm not a big fan of pennington seed,,,,,doesn't home depot sell landscaping rocks?

 

[South of Boston]

maybe the rocks came from home depot?
somebody posted a awhile back he found a golf ball in a bag of pellets, come to find out the store was down from a driving range.
believe me i'm not a big fan of pennington seed,,,,,doesn't home depot sell landscaping rocks?

I think it's time for the pellet companies to use clear bags with born on date. Was at Lowes yeasterday and saw the Pennington seed pellets on three pallets with alot of dust on the bags. after reading the past few days I will not purchase.
Happy New Year!

 

[Ductape]

maybe the rocks came from home depot?
somebody posted a awhile back he found a golf ball in a bag of pellets, come to find out the store was down from a driving range.
believe me i'm not a big fan of pennington seed,,,,,doesn't home depot sell landscaping rocks?

I see no way the rocks got into sealed pellet bags, with a large plastic bag over them, then shrink wrapped. I'm still betting Pennington bags pellets on the same line they bag landscape rocks. Maybe a Pennington Rep could comment ???

 

[wilbilt]

Wow. The amount of fines in those photos looks very similar to the bad batch of Blazers I bought a while back...also from Home Depot. There wasn't any gravel in them, though.

I have bought some more in recent weeks and they are much better.

 

[mullet]

That is all I needed to see they will not get another dime from me. That is a total mess not to mention a burned up auger motor.

 

[sydney1963]

From what I have seen the lighter colored pennintons are full of the fines?
I have 3 tons purchased in June they are dark in color and I have had no issues at all but I fear a 3 ton purchase next year may not be worth it. :roll:

Some of my Pennington's look exactly like that (light colored and tons of fines). I first was vacuuming them but now I dump them right into my stove, fines and all. Other bags I have the pellets are much darker and little or no fines. I haven't noticed any rocks. Both seem to burn hot, and I don't notice much difference in ash or clinkers.

 

[roger7272]

Boy was i surpise to see some one also got rocks in there pellets from pennington. The same size and shape as your pic shows. I all so got mine in june of 2008 two tons. And your pic show the same with way to much saw dust. I call peggy at 1-800-285-7333 when i bout them to conplain about there was way to much saw dust. She said send a sample with one of the bags so i did. Two week go buy now she wont a hole bad unopen to send to there mill. I didnt do that do to it would be to much to send. do to the price to send....... so about two more week go buy and i put a bag in whent to bed got up and the stove was not working. I took it apart and there was four rocks and a rock inbeded in a pellet. So i call her back and told her and she didnt wont to here it. I will be nice and not say here what i realy told her what i think of there pellets. But was glad to see some also got rocks in there pellets. But sorry to hear........... Also your pic look just like mine way to much saw dust........ I had better luck with home depot to bring them back to exchaing them to fix the proublem. Pennington just didnt care sorry to hear you had a proublem but there to of us that found rocks. pennington pellet suck

 

[roger7272]

I don't expect Home Depot to do much for me at this point........ especially since i'm not sure i saved my original store reciept from back in July. Hopefully anyone here burning Penningtons will be more vigilant when opening a bag. These were two consecutive bags from the same pallet....... each containing a single rock. We'll see what happens when i open the next bag.....................................

I bout two tons of pennington from home depot back in june 2008 that was junk with rocks in them i call the home office of home depot and was nice and were i didnt have the reciept they take them back. was really nice about it. I call peggy at 1-800-285-7333 and told her there pellets had way to much saw dust and now i am finding rocks she just didnt care at all............. she didnt wont to do anything about it pennington pellets suck

 

[firewarrior820]

Boy was i surpise to see some one also got rocks in there pellets from pennington. The same size and shape as your pic shows. I all so got mine in june of 2008 two tons. And your pic show the same with way to much saw dust. I call peggy at 1-800-285-7333 when i bout them to conplain about there was way to much saw dust. She said send a sample with one of the bags so i did. Two week go buy now she wont a hole bad unopen to send to there mill. I didnt do that do to it would be to much to send. do to the price to send....... so about two more week go buy and i put a bag in whent to bed got up and the stove was not working. I took it apart and there was four rocks and a rock inbeded in a pellet. So i call her back and told her and she didnt wont to here it. I will be nice and not say here what i realy told her what i think of there pellets. But was glad to see some also got rocks in there pellets. But sorry to hear........... Also your pic look just like mine way to much saw dust........ I had better luck with home depot to bring them back to exchaing them to fix the proublem. Pennington just didnt care sorry to hear you had a proublem but there to of us that found rocks. pennington pellet suck

sounds like a lot of run around , that kind of behavior from pennington isn't going to impress any body on this site
I'm still waiting to hear back, can't imagine what kind of poop thier going to sling.

 

[Ductape]

Well, that certainly proves the rocks weren't introduced to the pellets by Home Depot. Not that i thought that was a possibility (the bags were completely sealed). I'm now up to six bags of Pennington's with rocks in them. I may post more pics tomorrow. I have emailed a complaint to the email address posted in the other Pennington complaint thread, with no response yet. I have no hope of getting any satisfaction from Pennington........... which at this point could only be full reimbursement for all three JUNK tons of pellets i've purchased. LET THE BUYER BEWARE Pennington is not only peddling crappy pellets LOADED with fine, they are including at NO EXTRA CHARGE........ ROCKS ! Again i say that the pellet industry allowing its own pellet manufacturers to classify THEIR OWN pellets as " premium " is absolutely bogus. There is absolutely no comparison between "premium" pellets by Pennington, and "premium" pellets by County Pine, or Somerset........ two other brands i've burned this year that make an excellent product. Other manufacturers should be embarrassed that Pennington labels their pellets as equivalent.