Coalpail.com Forum

Have any of you experienced the really bad quality of some Reading nut coal purchased in 2015? I bought four pallets of the stuff, in black bags this past October. I've had over sixty bags that was really nasty/wet inside and full of globs of thick fines. It's probably the worst quality coal I've ever burned. I could understand a few bags of questionable quality, but what I've got borders on the absurd. As I was loading the bags into my basement this past fall I got a really bad feeling when over ten bags with small holes in the bottom started leaking black goo all over the place. I never even put those ones in the basement.

Unfortunately my dealer only carries Reading. The Reading I bought in 2014, in white bags, was pretty good stuff. Prior to that he stocked and I burned Blaschak, and I never had any wetness or fines issues to speak of.

Anybody else get stuck with some pretty crappy Reading nut coal??

I have never used bagged Reading coal,we have burnt many tons of Reading rice & a few tons of nut,but we use bulk.
We have never had any issues with Reading coal,we like it alot

We are currently burning Gale rice & like it even better

We are still burning Reading nut & will be the rest of this season.

My main complaint with their nut is all the pea & buck mixed in.

Am burning Reading coal for the 1st time, am a brand new coal burner this year, and bought 4 tons in black bags in August. The size of the rice has been uniformly the same with no debris. Some bags, however have a pint or 2 of water in them, which caused me a major headache in December. Once I started drying the coal a bit before pouring it in the hopper, I have not had any problems. Drying it a bit though, is somewhat of a pain.It does seem to make a lot of ash of all sizes though.

Coal should be delivered dry. No free water. Its a major complaint I have with many suppliers. They think because coal is fine wet (water does not hurt coal per se but water in a stove is evil).

Well, I sent pictures of the really nasty Reading nut coal I'm saddled with to a company representative, and quickly got a nice response from the company. We'll see if anything comes of it.

Mr. Hopkins,

First, I can’t apologize enough for the quality of the product pictured. This is definitely not the best Reading Anthracite can do, and I am embarrassed that any Customer received this product. At this time I don’t have answers as to what occurred, but I have forwarded your message and pictures to virtually everyone in the company and believe me I will find out. I realize that answers don’t help with your situation and I will work with Ken Warner at K.W. Feeds to get you replacement product as he receives new shipments this spring and summer. I will be in contact with both you and Ken Warner in the near future to be certain that this matter is resolved.

Again, my sincerest apologies.

Scott Kline
Sales Representative
Reading Anthracite Company

It sounds like they are going to make it right. Let us know what happens.

Great reply from the company. Admitted that you received a substandard product. I would ask for an extra free ton at no charge for your troubles. Ask for what will make you feel good about doing business with them agaim.

Thanks for the good coal in the summer ! Kudos on your customer service !

I burned a few tons of Reading this year .. had to re-water-ify it ... that was fun !

davidmcbeth3 wrote:Thanks for the good coal in the summer ! Kudos on your customer service !

I burned a few tons of Reading this year .. had to re-water-ify it ... that was fun !

Hmmm. Not how I would work to remedy the situation.

When you are in a pile of excrement make fertilizer.

I burned quite a bit of Reading Pea this Winter. It certainly wasn't the cleanest coal I've bought but it burnt fine with no real issues.

Last year, purchased 4 ton or Reading nut only because it could be delivered at a nominal fee. Prior to that I had used Blaschak. Blaschak seems to be top quality coal. However the Reading, in black bag nut was terrible. Probably had 5 lbs of fined in every bag. Was absolutely disgusting. According to this forum, Reading was addressed about this issue. Apparently all appeals for quality control fell on deaf ears. Never ever will I buy bagged Reading again!!!
Jim

JohnB wrote:I burned quite a bit of Reading Pea this Winter. It certainly wasn't the cleanest coal I've bought but it burnt fine with no real issues.

I don't think that getting wet coal is on the manufacturer all the time .. if a dist. leaves bags out in the open then its one them.

I've gotten wet bags from several dist. of various manufacturers ... so I think its on the dist.

??

I never got a pallet of anything that wasn't capped and wrapped well enough to keep rain out.

coalder wrote:Last year, purchased 4 ton or Reading nut only because it could be delivered at a nominal fee. Prior to that I had used Blaschak. Blaschak seems to be top quality coal. However the Reading, in black bag nut was terrible. Probably had 5 lbs of fined in every bag. Was absolutely disgusting. According to this forum, Reading was addressed about this issue. Apparently all appeals for quality control fell on deaf ears. Never ever will I buy bagged Reading again!!!
Jim

Had further inquiry from the company about the bad coal I purchased from Reading. The stuff I bought last year in black bags (nut coal) has been uniformly garbage with every single bag. Unfortunately I bought 200 bags (four pallets) of the stuff. I started out the season with Reading in white bags, purchased in 2014, and it was just fine. No issues. But every single black bag has been full of water, and globs of wet, sticky fines.

We'll see if I get anything from the company other than inquiries of how many bad bags I used this year.

I have had 10 or so bags kicking around over the winter all stove size with tons of fines and wood, I filled a 5 gal bucket, today I used my last bag of Santa so I gave reading another go, here is the result, this is a 8" pan with just a random shovel scoop taken out...

Dana