Unfortunate Coal Switch... Not Happy!

Yep still have the moped. It's a 1976 Motobecane 40T in banana yellow. Runs very well and it is registered. I have fun on it cruising around town. Looking to get a 1979 Puch as soon as the owner finds the title. Been getting over 100 MPG on the Motobecane

I burn that coal, have found it better and more consistent than other brands. Can see how brand/pallet mix up happens. As far as credit/debit cards, they cost money. Some merchants absorb
the cost, others add it on. All the perks/miles etc come from the merchant. Everybody pays as the cost of them adds to the cost of product. At the end of the day, you will be warm

windyhill4.2 wrote:The best I can recall is that to properly burn wood in the 404 it is best to take the fire pot & grates out.The ashes would then get shoveled out.With no above fire air the 404 is not a great wood burner. This is info given by dcrane on some other thread. Water in a bucket...drill small holes in the bottom of the bucket,that will allow the water to drain out & the coal to dry out better.Of course if one is determined to burn wood,a second door,modified with no glass & air inlets would make wood burning a bit more desirable.

There is no way I am removing the fire box to burn wood.
I have wondered if I could fill the sides with fire brick to make it smaller though.

SuperBeetle wrote:Yep still have the moped. It's a 1976 Motobecane 40T in banana yellow. Runs very well and it is registered. I have fun on it cruising around town. Looking to get a 1979 Puch as soon as the owner finds the title. Been getting over 100 MPG on the Motobecane

That's great! They are so much fun and very useful . I have a 1984 Tomos A3 Bullet SP . All original . I also have a Tomos A35 engine that I'm going to build in a custom frame I'm going to put together .

Coal powered moped ? haha .

"Trust but verify."

Shrink wrap is cheap and stores use a ton anyway.

"I want to inspect this pallet before you load it."
Don't have to breakdown the entire pallet, but can always get a gander.

At the same time, not worth dropping dead over.

I actually do read my own meter cause I got tired of MetEd routinely 'estimating' outrageous use.

nealkas wrote:I actually do read my own meter cause I got tired of MetEd routinely 'estimating' outrageous use.

I have a little gizmo called a kill-a-watt. It plugs into the wall then the load plugs into it. CL&P is up to . $0.226 a kwh. I make a value decision as to how necessary everything is based on cost to run it. I have a large box fan used to move cold air to the stove and looks like $1.85 a week and good with that. It gets used on a small under counter refrigerator in my shop used to hold water and wine for me and a few beers for others if they stop by and going to see what it costs per month. CL&P also goes crazy both high and low on estimates of power used. Slightly high will lead to a very low bill at some point but several wildly low ones lead to a heart attack inducing monster high one.

ddahlgren wrote:

nealkas wrote:I actually do read my own meter cause I got tired of MetEd routinely 'estimating' outrageous use.

I have a little gizmo called a kill-a-watt. It plugs into the wall then the load plugs into it. CL&P is up to . $0.226 a kwh. I make a value decision as to how necessary everything is based on cost to run it. I have a large box fan used to move cold air to the stove and looks like $1.85 a week and good with that. It gets used on a small under counter refrigerator in my shop used to hold water and wine for me and a few beers for others if they stop by and going to see what it costs per month. CL&P also goes crazy both high and low on estimates of power used. Slightly high will lead to a very low bill at some point but several wildly low ones lead to a heart attack inducing monster high one.

Amazing how much juice so many things use while "off"

Smokeyja,

I'm glad you've resolved the issue to your apparent satisfaction.

The best thing about this thread is that you've learned a lot.

Know what your buying and verify that you got what you asked for.

I buy my coal by the bucket. I know how much within 10 pounds or so what 7 buckets of nut coal should weigh. I have stood on the bathroom scale and then did it again holding a bucket.

Some things to know about scales....They are nothing more than plates of steel sitting on load cells. I had one instance where mud had built up on the scale plate in a hump shape and it was windy. The wind going across the scales caused a lifting action and the scale was starting off in the negative range. With nothing on the scale you could watch it range from -20 to +20. I notified the scale operator and we made an adjustment.

Another time their scale was out of adjustment. I notified the scale operator that he was out of adjustment and it was reading high. We negotiated the amount and cost, he closed the scale, and called the company to come check it out.

My motto is I will trust people till they give me a reason not to trust them.

Trust but verify is nothing more than smart shopping.

Also learned from this thread is that all sales are not final, especially when using a credit card. And the 800 number on the back of the card is the first call.

SWPaDon wrote:Smokeyja,

I'm glad you've resolved the issue to your apparent satisfaction.

The best thing about this thread is that you've learned a lot.

I won't hold things on my heart too long. It isn't good for it . Although the reason I will never buy from them again isn't their coal switch but the way they responded to it . For the record the owner has never called me which in my book allows me to write them off in good conscience . Their conscience however is another story. I guess you always find out the loyalty of those around you in the fox hole ey? I didn't want to bring the credit card people into it either . Everything is resolved in due time .

Smokeyja wrote:I talked to a rep from the store and they don't want to do anything for me . The guy couldn't understand why I was upset about them selling me Kimmel instead of Blashak without then telling me . He also said "coal is coal" which is BS . I told them straight up I could have saved $100 by buying it at tractor supply and if I had known I would have . They still wouldn't offer money off and insisted I got more for my money because I got 100 lbs more for the same price ... Wow 100lbs ... What's that add up to at tractor supply? $4.99 / 40 lb bag = 12¢ /lb = $12.47 ?

I'm just disapointed . Hopefully the coal will work well .

I'm tired . Tired of These businesses . It's so hard to find people who give a crap anymore .

You paid by credit card .... write to the cc company and tell them that they just committed fraud and you don't want to pay.

That's the next step.

And you are being rather calm IMO ... I've had people say "you'll never get your money back" but did.

One issue that you would have to explain is why you did not return the product....CC companies & credits - they like to see the product returned prior to a credit. But yours is a quality and the old swicher-oo.

Just call the credit card co and send it back if you have something else available if not suck it up and pick better next year. At the end of the day whining is for children.

How is posting ones concerns or disappointments on the forum "whining"??? When we post that the stove we own just doesn't work as we would like ,we are whining ? I thought that this was all about helping others ? To say that he should get the credit card company to refund his money is easy from where you sit. He did not have the coal delivered to his house,he had to pick it up,getting a refund would mean he has to return the product at his expense. Now the best thing is to go forward,buy some other brand of coal,maybe even a smaller size to mix with & use it up. Never buy from the company that sold a misrepresented product again & kindly let them know why.The coal will burn & mixing it with other coal will allow it to be used with control.I am glad that he posted his concern.Now I won't be tempted to try Kimmels even if it is cheaper,& there is always the possibility that someone reading this thread will recognize the offending business & avoid being the next victim of fraudulent marketing.