# Buyer Beware of Harvest Right



## Montanalife

(I posted this response in another group and then realized I should start my own thread. sorry...nubie here...)

I am regretting that I ever purchased a Harvest Right. Our has not worked properly from about 3 weeks after we bought it. Our experience with customer service has been dreadful and is turning into a nightmare! I don't want to elaborate the whole story here but since June of 2015 we have only been able to complete about 50 batches running the dryer every day.

After months of diagnosing by email and phone and trying new parts, it looks like we bought a lemon. I would be OK with that if the company would replace the freeze dryer. It looked like we had an agreement to get a new one but when the replacement arrived it was a very old, used, dirty unit. I have tried appealing to Harvest Right but they are very difficult to work with and fail to see my point of view.

Here is a simple question that expresses our point of view: If you bought a new car that started having problems a few weeks after you bought it, and for months the manufacturer tried many things to fix it but could not, then they agree to replace the car but send you a model that is a few years older, dirty, with lots of use and miles, would you accept that?

I wish I had something good to say about their customer service but it has been awful. They have tried several times to weasel out of their responsibility. It pains me that I need to warn others about Harvest Right but I now feel it's the right thing for me to do. Buyer Beware.

Otherwise, it's a great day!

Larry


----------



## TnAndy

So what exactly IS a "harvest right" ?


----------



## Montanalife

TnAndy said:


> So what exactly IS a "harvest right" ?


Thats a great question! Harvest Right is a company that makes home freeze dryers.

https://harvestright.com/

Larry


----------



## po boy

Montanalife said:


> (I posted this response in another group and then realized I should start my own thread. sorry...nubie here...)
> 
> I am regretting that I ever purchased a Harvest Right. Our has not worked properly from about 3 weeks after we bought it. Our experience with customer service has been dreadful and is turning into a nightmare! I don't want to elaborate the whole story here but since June of 2015 we have only been able to complete about 50 batches running the dryer every day.
> 
> After months of diagnosing by email and phone and trying new parts, it looks like we bought a lemon. I would be OK with that if the company would replace the freeze dryer. It looked like we had an agreement to get a new one but when the replacement arrived it was a very old, used, dirty unit. I have tried appealing to Harvest Right but they are very difficult to work with and fail to see my point of view.
> 
> Here is a simple question that expresses our point of view: If you bought a new car that started having problems a few weeks after you bought it, and for months the manufacturer tried many things to fix it but could not, then they agree to replace the car but send you a model that is a few years older, dirty, with lots of use and miles, would you accept that?
> 
> I wish I had something good to say about their customer service but it has been awful. They have tried several times to weasel out of their responsibility. It pains me that I need to warn others about Harvest Right but I now feel it's the right thing for me to do. Buyer Beware.
> 
> Otherwise, it's a great day!
> 
> Larry


If you bought it using a credit card, file a claim through them to get your money back.


----------



## Montanalife

po boy said:


> If you bought it using a credit card, file a claim through them to get your money back.


That would be simple. Regretably, we were driving through Salt Lake and stopped to make the purchase and paid in cash. 

Larry


----------



## BarbadosSheep

You are the rare exception. I am a very active member on three harvest right groups on facebook as well as on a chef forum. A small handful of people have experienced problems, but you are the first who is still unhappy. I know of one other person who got a lemon machine but was shipped a brand new replacement. I can't speak for harvest right but I'm curious who you spoke with up there?


----------



## Montanalife

BarbadosSheep said:


> You are the rare exception. I am a very active member on three harvest right groups on facebook as well as on a chef forum. A small handful of people have experienced problems, but you are the first who is still unhappy. I know of one other person who got a lemon machine but was shipped a brand new replacement. I can't speak for harvest right but I'm curious who you spoke with up there?


I thought someone would pipe in to tell me I am the only one, a very rare exception.  Since Harvest Right is offering used machines for sale (if you call in), I wonder where they got all those? Actually I don't. They are problem machines that other people returned.

The "pro-harvest right" moderator on one Facebook page does not seem to want negative posts. For that reason, two other facebook Harvest Right pages have ben started. I have not spent any time there. 

Since customer service will not take the time (and courtesy) to even sign their name in an email, it is hard to say who I am communicating with. I have a few names, Andrew, Matt, Quinton and emails from the manager like this:

On Oct 9, 2015, at 11:57 AM, Scott Neville <[email protected]> wrote:

Dear Support Team,

Getting an email like this is never acceptable! 
Please come and see me and let's get this resolved.​
As you can see that was back in October. The problem is not resolved. 

Harvest right does not have any of the old style freeze dryers, only the new touch screen models. That's why they sent a used one to replace my new freeze dryer.

They also do not have any front panels which I would need to return my FD in original condition since I made a modification to the panel.

Larry


----------



## BarbadosSheep

I never said you were the only one. I said you are the rare exception. I know of a few people who have had issues, mostly small ones. And I know of one person who did have a lemon and got a new machine. But she had not modified hers as you did. I know normally if you make modifications to something, it can adversely affect the warrenty. And I know often when you return a defective appliance, you are sent a refurbished one. the FB group you are talking about is one I was kicked out of for asking the wrong questions. There are others, once where you are more free to discuss issues. Perhaps you could join one of those and get some help with your problem?


----------



## hickerbillywife

And you seriously titled this Buyer Beware of Harvest Right. You modified the front panel. Have you tried this on other appliances and then asked for a refund? You know like something you bought from Sears or Lowes. Give me a break! I put oil in a pump and then realized I had ordered the wrong size. Guess what, they would not take the pump back since I had poured the oil that came with it into it. I was a little miffed but I understand a company having to have a policy for returns. The fact that they even sent you a refurbished model after that speaks to the good character of the company. I imagine they sent you one from their factory that they have used. Not a reject from another customer. I am leaving this thread and won't look back as it has taken an unfortunate turn for the worst. I have nothing else to say to someone who seriously thinks they can modify the front panel, the control panel, and then demand a replacement. And then bash the company. Good Luck to you, you will need it.


----------



## BarbadosSheep

I could not agree more. if you choose to modify something, you sure can't expect the company to support it any longer.


----------



## Montanalife

BarbadosSheep said:


> I could not agree more. if you choose to modify something, you sure can't expect the company to support it any longer.


Because I have some hope that their are people that don't want to remain ignorant, I will try to help you and hicker... and anyone else that may find this post.

Let me first give an example of why Harvest Right has no claim to reject their responsibility: imagine you buy a new car. You take it to a radio shop and have a hole drilled in the body to mount a CB antenna. They run wires and make electrical connections. Then, your transmission fails. The dealer says, "No warranty....you modified the car". Right away, and here's the part where I expect you to want understanding, you can say the CB install had nothing to do with the failure. The dealer then says, "Too bad....we wrote that into our warranty." 

For this very reason, the US Congress passed a law that prohibits a manufacturer from trying to wiggle out of responsibility by writing such exceptions into a warranty. 

The fact is, Harvest Right is responsible for the failed unit even if I drilled holes in the cabinet. If you have the zeal to learn, do some study. It not hard to find that I am telling you the truth.

One other thing, I have not asked for a refund as suggested. I simple want a new machine that works properly. That is what I paid for.

Hicker... I can't see how you are miffed. Is my first post not clear? I paid for a NEW Harvest Right Freeze Dryer that was defective. Why do you want me to accept a used one to replace a brand new unit? A brand new unit that did not work right should not be replaced with an old used unit. I'm an honest person...if I had used the unit for a long time and then had a failure, I would expect a repair or used unit. 

Larry


----------



## Montanalife

BarbadosSheep said:


> I never said you were the only one. I said you are the rare exception....


I know. I was being facetious because I knew someone would pipe in with the suggestion that my case was not valid because it is rare. I know...you did not say that either. The implication I drew was that I should not say such things about Harvest Right and the poor customer service I have with them. Thanks, Larry


----------



## ShannonR

I would like to ask the OP, at what point did you modify the panel? Did you perform this modification before or after it stopped working correctly? Also, I understand that part of the function of these freeze dryers is a vaccum chamber. It seems to me that drilling holes in the unit would mess that up. But still, I would not mind seeing some pictures of the modification you made because I have honestly never even seen one of these freeze dryer units and I am curious as to whether it could be a vaccum issue.


----------



## Montanalife

ShannonR said:


> I would like to ask the OP, at what point did you modify the panel? Did you perform this modification before or after it stopped working correctly? Also, I understand that part of the function of these freeze dryers is a vaccum chamber. It seems to me that drilling holes in the unit would mess that up. But still, I would not mind seeing some pictures of the modification you made because I have honestly never even seen one of these freeze dryer units and I am curious as to whether it could be a vaccum issue.


Hi,

The front panel is just painted sheet metal. The chamber is a different part. The issue we have is the inability to pull a vacuum consistently. One day it would work, the next day it would not. After a few months of this, it has quit working at all. We tried a replacement pump, new gasket, new vacuum hose and many times tested and cleaned these items.

After a couple of months of the Harvest Right freeze dryer failing to complete cycles, and having poor customer service, I decided to install a timer and counter so I could tell what was happening. I have 35 years in electronics and mechanical systems so this was childs play for my abilities. The metering only samples voltages, nothing else. 

The timer let me see how many hours the unit had been running. The counter counted how many times the dry cycle had started. These tools proved to be very helpful diagnosing problems. Later I added another timer to view how many minutes or hours the heaters were on. 

In the first photo, you can see the results of a normal operation. The machine ran for 22.4 hours. The heater was on for 8 hours and had a total of 13 drying cycles. This is the way it should work.

In the next photo, notice that the machine ran for 91.9 hours and had never reached a deep enough vacuum to start the drying cycle. Without these displays, we had no idea about what was happening other than the freeze dryer would not work.

Thank you,

Larry


----------



## BarbadosSheep

Ok that's a bit more than just drilling holes. You had to tap into the electronics. And HR cant refurbish your machine and sell it without restoring things back like they were supposed to be. While I don't understand the reason HR didn't act faster, I do see why they sent you a refurbished machine instead of a new one, given the modifications you made.


----------



## Belfrybat

Did the replacement they sent you work correctly?


----------



## BarbadosSheep

I will add that I like your modifications. It would be nice to have a better idea what's happening. I close the door and start it. It counts down the freeze cycle and the final dry, but the main drying cycle I have no idea where in the cycle it is. It just does its thing and tells me when it's done.


----------



## Montanalife

BarbadosSheep said:


> ... While I don't understand the reason HR didn't act faster, I do see why they sent you a refurbished machine instead of a new one, given the modifications you made.


Hi Barb....

Yes, I see how someone would conclude that....but there is more to the story.

When Harvest Right agreed to replace the defective freeze dryer, they told me that "when I get the new one", the simple text that led me to believe they would do the right thing, they agreed that I could remove the front panel from "NEW" one and swap it for the one I had modified. Then they would receive an unmodified unit back to repair and resale.

Because I received an old, heavily used, dirty, repaired unit, I did not swap the panel but once again inquired why I should accept a heavily worn machine that someone else had trouble with to replace my new machine.

I have been a business owner for over 35 years. Never could I imagine treating a customer the way Harvest Right has done to my wife and I. We have lost months of food storage, had to make many other plans for our harvest and the other foods we had purchased for freeze drying. So, I stick by my warning: BUYER BEWARE OF HARVEST RIGHT.

Larry


----------



## Montanalife

BarbadosSheep said:


> I will add that I like your modifications. It would be nice to have a better idea what's happening. I close the door and start it. It counts down the freeze cycle and the final dry, but the main drying cycle I have no idea where in the cycle it is. It just does its thing and tells me when it's done.


Hi Barb...

Yes, the meters have been a great benefit for both diagnostics and to monitor how different foods dry. For the few times the freeze dryer worked, it became a tool to let me know approximately when our batches would be complete. 

If you are interested in these mods, after your unit is out of warranty, I can help with the details. Because they used .250 spade connectors, the meters can simply be plugged in. You could use a separate box to mount them in so no cabinet cutting would be necessary. That way, you can restore the unit back to factory state by removing the spade plugs.

Larry


----------



## sisterpine

Sorry, my original post did not post??? Seems to happen quite a bit lately. Anywho, I am one who is considering a purchase with Harvest Right and I have been quite disturbed by your post. You seem to be knowledgeable (more so than I am) about the process and the problems you are having and I appreciate your hones opinion. Certainly your episode has given me pause. I would think that any company worth its salt would go where ever needed to make the customer experience a good one even when the product is faulty. Apparently this company is not aware of how fast bad news can travel! Thanks again....I shall be following your journey for customer service. Sis


----------



## Montanalife

sisterpine said:


> Sorry, my original post did not post??? Seems to happen quite a bit lately. Anywho, I am one who is considering a purchase with Harvest Right and I have been quite disturbed by your post. You seem to be knowledgeable (more so than I am) about the process and the problems you are having and I appreciate your hones opinion. Certainly your episode has given me pause. I would think that any company worth its salt would go where ever needed to make the customer experience a good one even when the product is faulty. Apparently this company is not aware of how fast bad news can travel! Thanks again....I shall be following your journey for customer service. Sis


Hi Sis,

When the Harvest Right freeze dryer actually worked, we were thrilled with the ability to preserve our food. There are some other technical issues that they need to work out. It could be a great product if real customer support was there to take care of you. I'm still investigating and looking for others that have been burned by Harvest Right. 

I've decided to put up a website, www.harvestrightsucks.com, in order to have a central place to post my and others trouble with them. I really hate that it came to this, I'm not a mean or vindictive man. But justice is important to me and since it has been 7 months of hassel, I think it is now appropriate so other people don't get ripped off.

Blessings to you Sisterpine,

Larry


----------



## Gadget_Lover

I had issues with my Harvest Right machine and communications with the company. It's not the easiest machine to use when you get errors and try to troubleshoot those errors. Their hours of support are terrible for people who work full time. I wanted a machine that I didn't have to babysit for 24-36 hours... It can take many hours to get an error and then you have to start over. The people at the company forget things you tell them and tell you that your machine works when it doesn't. I wasn't impressed! I wish I never "met" the machine!


----------



## happymom4kids

Montanalife said:


> (I posted this response in another group and then realized I should start my own thread. sorry...nubie here...)
> 
> I am regretting that I ever purchased a Harvest Right. Our has not worked properly from about 3 weeks after we bought it. Our experience with customer service has been dreadful and is turning into a nightmare! I don't want to elaborate the whole story here but since June of 2015 we have only been able to complete about 50 batches running the dryer every day.
> 
> After months of diagnosing by email and phone and trying new parts, it looks like we bought a lemon. I would be OK with that if the company would replace the freeze dryer. It looked like we had an agreement to get a new one but when the replacement arrived it was a very old, used, dirty unit. I have tried appealing to Harvest Right but they are very difficult to work with and fail to see my point of view.
> 
> Here is a simple question that expresses our point of view: If you bought a new car that started having problems a few weeks after you bought it, and for months the manufacturer tried many things to fix it but could not, then they agree to replace the car but send you a model that is a few years older, dirty, with lots of use and miles, would you accept that?
> 
> I wish I had something good to say about their customer service but it has been awful. They have tried several times to weasel out of their responsibility. It pains me that I need to warn others about Harvest Right but I now feel it's the right thing for me to do. Buyer Beware.
> 
> Otherwise, it's a great day!
> 
> Larry


Hi Larry,

I agree with you on Buyer Beware of Harvest Right. I also highly regret purchasing a Harvest Right freeze drier. Our first one arrived more than 4 weeks after the order had been placed. What a shock we had when we opened the undamaged box to find a damaged machine inside. The whole top right corner had been crushed. Harvest Right claims it was damaged in shipping, but they could not explain how that happened when the shipping container (box) was not damaged. They tried to get us to use the damaged machine anyway - by offering a $500 credit on our card, not advising us at all that in even trying to use the machine we would have voided the warrantee and would have been stuck with a damaged machine. The next customer rep we spoke to said that putting a credit on a card is not possible and anyway he had no idea who would have made us that offer. He then offered some free oxygen absorbers. We feared using it because we did not know what might be wrong on the inside and if it might quit working or might present a hazard. I also felt strongly that for the price I had paid, that a fully functional undamaged machine was simply to be expected.

So after much arguing, they sent along a replacement quickly enough. They did send an inspector to determine the extent of the damage, but this only so they could fight with th shipper over who would be responsible for the damage. We asked for copies of the inspector's report but were denied (e, multiple requests were ignored).

After hours (20) of trouble shooting the replacement machine, it never could achieve a vacuum. The pump also sprayed and dripped hot oil. Once when the machine was cooling (and therefore quiet enough to actually hear anything - we had given up trying to keep it in the kitchen - although I wonder about all the nice videos that show it being used in a kitchen) - we heard the hose hissing and realised it did not fit properly. The failed cycles lasted 10-15 hours so it took ages to find out, as we finally did, that the hose sent with the machine - to connect the pump to the machine, was actually the wrong hose. By that time, the pump had run really hot for hours and we feared it had suffered internal damage. Harvest Right customer service did not take our concerns seriously and diagnosed the pump from their offices as being "fine", although they did offer to extend the warrantee, we never received the confirmation on that. Once the correct pump host had been connected, it was able to achieve a vacuum and ran for another 12 hours before coming up with another error. This time, tech service decided that there must be a cable inside the machine that had been installed incorrectly. This really got us to wondering what else could be wrong with the machine. I mean, paying almost $4000, one would expect it to show up at the very least properly assembled. Interactions with customer service had been so disappointing at this point that we began to wonder if we'd ever get a functioning machine - I mean, if they could not remember to answer an email, or would forgot in between email exchanges what had been said or promised, it really eroded our confidence in the whole company. 

At this point our customer service rep asked us again what was wrong with the machine (having been told already several times, he apparently could not remember) and we asked to speak with management. It took days for management to respond and their response was astounding "our rep tells me your machine is working perfectly and we can't figure out what your problem is because we have thousands of happy customers". This was quite a contradiction, since the rep had told us 2 days before that they had 73 happy customers. 

We completely lost confidence in the company and asked simply to send the machine back for a refund. A few more days of discussing back and forth and we were granted the refund for this machine that never actually worked. Yet they insisted we pay the shipping. This we could not stomach, as we felt having been sent two non-functional machines and it now being almost 3 months since I'd paid in advance for what I had been told by the customer rep was an "easy to use and fun" machine. This discussion lasted for quite a while during which management then ignored us and left us to discuss with the rep. We finally filed a complaint at the BBB, and this is what got them moving. Although the intimidation grew - now they threatened to refuse us any refund at all until we removed the BBB complaint and they insisted that nothing was wrong with the machine at all (forgetting about the cable that they themselves claimed had to be repaired). The manager also told us that using these machines comes with a "learning curve", as described in their "documentation" and that we should have expected a bit of a bump along the way to getting it to work. What?! for $4000 I should expect bumps along the way? The advertising and videos do not mention any "learning curve" i.e. "debugging and reassembling the machine until it works". 

And then promised to send us a "brand new" machine as a special consideration just for us.This came as a surprise - had we not already paid to have a brand new machine sent to us? Why now would we be offered a brand new one? What in fact had the others been?

When we declined removing our complaint, they finally gave in, and after another 2 weeks of discussing, they finally arranged to have the broken machine picked up. The refund check arrived late (promised shipment by fedex was delayed by what they said was "weather" although when we called fedex, fedex said they didn't even have any weather issues in any area along the delivery route. A few days later the check finally arrived. We were so glad to see that machine leave our house. We wonder if they'll be sending the never-functioning machine to someone else. 

It was interesting to see their response to the BBB claim in which they suddenly had "tens of thousands" of happy customers and that if this one unhappy customer (us) would simply have been willing to "cooperate" and "move forward and use the machine" all would have been fine. They did not acknowledge that the machine never did actually function properly. We had to submit a correction to that response.


----------



## sisterpine

tried to go to your page but said did not exist???? and showed error????


----------



## Madinah Slaise

I was thoroughly impressed with my new freeze dryer UNTIL customer service assistance was necessary in an effort to replace a dysfunctional part! In summary, the communication was extremely inconsistent, relied heavily upon customer follow-up/prompting and lacked a true sense of credibility. The "hot potato" run-around perpetuated by the frat house bevvy of "representatives" was astonishing, resulting in a sour experience with the company.

Bottom line, the freeze dryer is magnificent, however the CS is atrocious!! Hopefully a competitor will emerge to force an increased customer appreciation at HarvestWrong.


----------



## Madinah Slaise

Email exchange with Harvestright:

I have phoned and spoke with various representatives (Jared, Cody, Colby, etc.) consecutively for the past four days, requesting a tracking number for the replacement vacuum pump.

Having received no reply, erroneous tracking information and failed assurance that I would "receive the information via email," the level of customer service demonstrated has been abysmal.

I anticipate receiving the correct tracking information for the replacement vacuum pump today, 26 May 2017, as my business has been directly impacted by the promise that "it will cross the other vacuum pump in the mail"- Colby Turner, 22 May 2017.

If I do not receive the information, as promised by the aforementioned representatives, I will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and move forward with legally rectifying the situation.

Having been truly excited about my freeze dryer in the past, I am very disappointed with the customer care "run around" exhibited.

Madinah Slaise, MSN, RN-BC 
Captain, US Air Force

****

I am floored by the total disregard of basic customer appreciation demonstrated by Harvestright.


----------



## Janie Kehr

Montanalife said:


> (I posted this response in another group and then realized I should start my own thread. sorry...nubie here...)
> 
> I am regretting that I ever purchased a Harvest Right. Our has not worked properly from about 3 weeks after we bought it. Our experience with customer service has been dreadful and is turning into a nightmare! I don't want to elaborate the whole story here but since June of 2015 we have only been able to complete about 50 batches running the dryer every day.
> 
> After months of diagnosing by email and phone and trying new parts, it looks like we bought a lemon. I would be OK with that if the company would replace the freeze dryer. It looked like we had an agreement to get a new one but when the replacement arrived it was a very old, used, dirty unit. I have tried appealing to Harvest Right but they are very difficult to work with and fail to see my point of view.
> 
> Here is a simple question that expresses our point of view: If you bought a new car that started having problems a few weeks after you bought it, and for months the manufacturer tried many things to fix it but could not, then they agree to replace the car but send you a model that is a few years older, dirty, with lots of use and miles, would you accept that?
> 
> I wish I had something good to say about their customer service but it has been awful. They have tried several times to weasel out of their responsibility. It pains me that I need to warn others about Harvest Right but I now feel it's the right thing for me to do. Buyer Beware.
> 
> Otherwise, it's a great day!
> 
> Larry


----------



## Janie Kehr

I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one getting ripped off and the maximum run around by these people.

I bought a "new" harvest right and it came and the box was perfectly intact also. After the driver left, we took it out of the box only to see, after looking closely, that the frame was bent. That was on Friday night, so on Monday, when we called, we were told that since the driver had gotten away with no damage report, there was nothing they could do, because that was the deal with the freight company they had. Any damage had to be reported before the driver left or the customer stood the loss.

Finally, after much arguing, they send a new top panel and a side panel, (for the wrong side). We were expected to make the repairs ourselves. Not a great beginning after spending well over $2,000 and receiving damaged goods.

The noise is horrific and the time it takes is beyond long. But I liked the food and the way it reconstitutes, so I moved the unit to a "storage" bedroom. It worked for a couple of weeks, during which time I lost more sleep than I can count due to my concern about the unit spraying oil all over my house when it shifted to vacuum. Each time it made the shift, I was awake and there. I had bought 2 gallons of oil, and filtered and added new oil as necessary.

I estimate I was able to run about 6 batches of food before I noticed oil on my floor while the vacuum was running. It was dripping from the fully closed drain. I called Harvest Right and they were willing to ship another oil diaster to me. I Had learned about the oil free vacuum pumps by that time and asked about one of those.

I was told they would have some coming in in about 2 weeks, and tried to pay for one then. Cody, (ever unhelpful), told me he would call me and get one headed my way when they arrived. I called repeatedly every couple of days and he told me repeatedly that they hadn't come in yet. I called last week and they came in and went out ALL of them. I wasn't even given a chance to buy one for a MERE $1,300, on top of the the over $2.000 I'd already spent.

Now, Matt tells me at first the new batch will be in the first part of May, then later in the SAME conversation, the middle of May and yet later in the SAME conversation, the end of May.

Just to hold my place to get one of the oil free, I've spent over an additional $1,000 and counting, and haven't had a freeze dryer for over 6 weeks, used the one I have only about 6 times, and all I have for about $3,500 is a giant anchor in my spare bedroom. I'm feeling like a GIANT fool.

I told Matt they need to buy some integrity since they obviously don't have a shred of any. I also told him the more they continue to operate this way, the sooner someone with some integrity will open shop and put them out of business.

I will update if I ever get anything for my additional $1,300 and how the "all new" oil free pump works, if it does.

Thank you so much for starting this post. The only thing they seem good at is eliminating any complaints from the net.


----------



## mnn2501

Montanalife said:


> That would be simple. Regretably, we were driving through Salt Lake and stopped to make the purchase and paid in cash.
> 
> Larry


Too late now but thats why I always use a credit card for major purchases - I learned the hard way too once.


----------



## Aiki

Montanalife said:


> Hi Sis,
> 
> When the Harvest Right freeze dryer actually worked, we were thrilled with the ability to preserve our food. There are some other technical issues that they need to work out. It could be a great product if real customer support was there to take care of you. I'm still investigating and looking for others that have been burned by Harvest Right.
> 
> I've decided to put up a website, www.harvestrightsucks.com, in order to have a central place to post my and others trouble with them. I really hate that it came to this, I'm not a mean or vindictive man. But justice is important to me and since it has been 7 months of hassel, I think it is now appropriate so other people don't get ripped off.
> 
> Blessings to you Sisterpine,
> 
> Larry


We have had an analog machine for several years with very little trouble until we bought an oil free vacuum pump. The machine would draw a vacuum but had no heat to dry the food. I contacted the company and they sent a pigtail connector to connect from the circuit board to the heater trays. Nope, this didn’t work out. Then I sent the tray in and they sent a new tray. Still didn’t work. I kept asking if this was a common problem with the circuit board. One person would say maybe and another said they would get a supervisor to talk to me. Finally I got to talk with Nate, an alleged supervisor who told me that the analog units were breaking down and they had no way to convert them to digital yet. I asked about converting the machine to digital and he suggested I buy a new machine! No, I want the original machine fixed. I was told that they “might” have a conversion kit in “several months”... after that, no returned calls. I am going to file a complaint with the BBB, Utah Attorney General and possibly the FTC. They knowingly upgraded to digital and made the choice not to support the analog units hoping to sell more machines. Our machine has been down for 6 months. Disgraceful!


----------



## Aiki

Montanalife said:


> (I posted this response in another group and then realized I should start my own thread. sorry...nubie here...)
> 
> I am regretting that I ever purchased a Harvest Right. Our has not worked properly from about 3 weeks after we bought it. Our experience with customer service has been dreadful and is turning into a nightmare! I don't want to elaborate the whole story here but since June of 2015 we have only been able to complete about 50 batches running the dryer every day.
> 
> After months of diagnosing by email and phone and trying new parts, it looks like we bought a lemon. I would be OK with that if the company would replace the freeze dryer. It looked like we had an agreement to get a new one but when the replacement arrived it was a very old, used, dirty unit. I have tried appealing to Harvest Right but they are very difficult to work with and fail to see my point of view.
> 
> Here is a simple question that expresses our point of view: If you bought a new car that started having problems a few weeks after you bought it, and for months the manufacturer tried many things to fix it but could not, then they agree to replace the car but send you a model that is a few years older, dirty, with lots of use and miles, would you accept that?
> 
> I wish I had something good to say about their customer service but it has been awful. They have tried several times to weasel out of their responsibility. It pains me that I need to warn others about Harvest Right but I now feel it's the right thing for me to do. Buyer Beware.
> 
> Otherwise, it's a great day!
> 
> Larry


I do have an update. After complaining to BBB, I received a call from Dan at Harvest Right. He seems to be the only one who has credibility. Anyway, we are working on a solution and the company is shipping out a new vacuum pump. He is now aware of how bad the customer service has been and hopefully things will improve. In the meantime, I am keeping the BBB file open until all is resolved.


----------



## Aiki

The new oil free pump was received and so far so good! It appears that the only way to get the attention of customer service is to complain to BBB. I was also “assured” that customer service will improve.


----------



## Kwirky

Your lack of details really raises red flags for me. Plus the fact that you modified it. It's like you took an engine apart, put it back together in a different way and when it stopped working you blame the company for making a crap engine. They probably made a perfectly fine engine, but you don't really know because you changed what they did to something of your own. Yeah, this one is one you. I can tell you are having a hard time accepting personal responsibility on this, but they were more than generous giving you a refurbished unit (or engine...).


----------



## Aiki

Kwirky said:


> Your lack of details really raises red flags for me. Plus the fact that you modified it. It's like you took an engine apart, put it back together in a different way and when it stopped working you blame the company for making a crap engine. They probably made a perfectly fine engine, but you don't really know because you changed what they did to something of your own. Yeah, this one is one you. I can tell you are having a hard time accepting personal responsibility on this, but they were more than generous giving you a refurbished unit (or engine...).


A “perfectly fine machine” shouldn’t require a complaint to the BBB to get customer service to act. After CS finally took care of our pump and heater problem, the machine has worked fine. Machine good, customer service bad..


----------



## Ray Pope

Montanalife said:


> Hi Sis,
> 
> When the Harvest Right freeze dryer actually worked, we were thrilled with the ability to preserve our food. There are some other technical issues that they need to work out. It could be a great product if real customer support was there to take care of you. I'm still investigating and looking for others that have been burned by Harvest Right.
> 
> I've decided to put up a website, www.harvestrightsucks.com, in order to have a central place to post my and others trouble with them. I really hate that it came to this, I'm not a mean or vindictive man. But justice is important to me and since it has been 7 months of hassel, I think it is now appropriate so other people don't get ripped off.
> 
> Blessings to you Sisterpine,
> 
> Larry


I bouhht the biggest stainless beast they had. Fought it for 4 years. Terrible customer service. Found out they had a bunch of bad vacuum pumps. Had to pay FULL price for a replacement. After a dozen phone calls and a month of waiting. They send the wrong one. I called 5 times today tryyto get someone that knows what they’re doing. My rep “Steve” doesn't follow through with anything. Worse customer service ever. I have $6000 tied up if a piece of useless junk. And a pantry full of spoiling food I can’t package. Save your money. Harvest Right SUCKS


----------



## joniemenz

BarbadosSheep said:


> You are the rare exception. I am a very active member on three harvest right groups on facebook as well as on a chef forum. A small handful of people have experienced problems, but you are the first who is still unhappy. I know of one other person who got a lemon machine but was shipped a brand new replacement. I can't speak for harvest right but I'm curious who you spoke with up there?


Hello! My harvest right is brand new. I had some issues with power failures, but have it plugged into its own breaker outlet now. I haven't been able to test if this has solved the problem because the screen is frozen telling me to change the oil. I have changed the oil, but the unit doesn't seem to recognize this and still is frozen on 'change oil' screen. I have unplugged everything and rebooted, and have also tried re-calibration trick and it won't recalibrate anymore either. Have you seen this issue before? I would love to hear your feedback.


----------



## Kelly Craig

To be fair, there are many problems talked of on the sites.

Though HarvestRight doesn't build them, an example would be that several problems appear with pumps. Back to that "to be fair" thing, some problems are simple fixes. Ones such as, pulling the check valve bearing and replacing it with filter material to stop moisture misting, but which seems to be a problem only for a few. There is moving the pump lower than the FD (I forget what problem that was)

Other problems, like a recent one, is the relay someone had trouble with, which, generally, is not a consumer level repair.

There are things that should be stated right up front in the manual. Especially if it's a PDF version, so can be easily edited. A notice to owners (on the owners to keep emails up to date).

An example of things that should be explained up front would be, keeping the drain hose out of the drain bucket so the vacuum does not cause cruddy to be sucked back into the unit.

Mine hasn't arrived yet and I haven't made it through the manual, so I don't know how extensive the trouble shooting section, or up front directions to avoid trouble shooting, are. For example, the common, but simple to cure, issue of changing the serial number.

What "I" am doing is, collecting such information and dumping it into a manual, which will also contain shared experiences of FD any and everything under the sun [and not, like shrooms].

In the end, and even before getting a FD [in a few weeks], all the info on room temp, oil changes and filtering suggests these critters are not for those unwilling to put a lot of work into what, very often, is the ultimate food storage. You won't be able to drive it to QuckLube and have the oil changed. You will need an environment friendly to its operation. You'll need counter space to work the product. You'll want to consider short cuts (pre-freezing, to speed up the process, AND to take load off specialty equipment.

It isn't like HARVESTRIGHT is a mega corporation with millions to spend on research and constant improvements. Add to that, from my time with the biggest "corporation" in the U.S. and several states (that is the U.S.), even brilliant engineers don't think of everything right up front.

As it is, I'm willing to be a little frustrated, from time to time, if I can enjoy the experiences more than 75% experience. On the other hand, I spent a little more money on a lemon back in the day. The dealer played games (the brakes pulsed and you couldn't turn a sharp corner or the engine would die (carb)), and I enjoyed making it pay dearly for it, as well as eating the car.


----------



## Ablinkin

I found your forum searching for Harvest Right reviews. My own story is about a machine we bought in 2018. After 3 years of successfully running many loads through it, the condenser fan (heart of the refrigeration system) started to squeal. An email to customer support went unanswered for about two weeks. Meanwhile, a shot of oil temporarily relieved the squealing. when HR finally answered I told them things appear to be OK for now. After another week or so the fan locked up and the machine would shut down after 10 minutes. Again an email to customer support went unanswered for about 10 days. I finally called them directly and they had no clue as to the price of the fan. I got an email finally from the worker who originally answered the phone and she said she found out they don't sell the fan!!! Then I got a slew of emails from the tech dept offering "tech support" for $45. Looking on Amazon I finally found a large muffin-style fan that seems to work fine. Boy talk about a job getting the old one out and the new one in. It's working fine now again but I dread the day something else goes wrong with it. The customer support is virtually non-existent or at best "hit or miss" depending on what employee you happen to connect to. I'm still getting emails from them offering to sell new machines with a two-month or higher delay after a $1000 down payment. I question their honesty. You would think anything on the freeze dryer would be available for purchase. I suspect they purchase the refrigeration units assembled by another company and install them into the cabinets. I really like the machine but man what horrible customer service.


----------



## paulyn

I agree that the HR freeze dryer is good when it works, but mine is a total disappointment. I’ve used it for four months and have had four major problems. First, it kept blowing fuses in my house. My electrician checked my home and said the problem was the pump, I replaced the pump and all was well for a month when the panel froze up. I got that repaired, and a month later the new vacuum pump stopped holding a vavuum, leaked fluid and blew black soot out of the front panel. I got another pump last week and just tried to dry a batch of pre-frozen food. When I turned it on, machine made a grinding sound and has been “freezing” for 6 hours, h and the panel says it is too hot in the room. The room temp is 63 degrees!
CS has been so frustrating that I just load up my equipment and drive it to Utah each time something breaks down. Most of the staff appear to be young college kids who are clueless but who want to be helpful. It really isn’t their fault that the machines keep breaking down. I have a lemon but have heard that I’m not the only one. The owners must think they can ignore us and we’ll eventually go away.


----------



## momi

If you're thinking of buying a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer, I believe they still have quite a few kinks to workout. This is my opinion as I just purchased one and live in a residential area with neighbors in close proximity. 

1st- I purchased the oil less pump because their description stated it was quiet. This statement is false... it is extremely loud, especially during the drying process. Decibel reading during drying cycle 85.8 (Loud, over 85 dB for extended periods can cause permanent hearing loss). 2nd- While in use, water puddles, I mean lots of water flows out from the front of the freeze dryer. When I called customer support, I was instructed to slightly lift the front to allow the water to drain to the back (they no longer provide/include the door pad with your purchase). 3rd- You need small hands and arms to be able to grab and lift the tray holder out of the drum, otherwise you scrap the inside of the drum. My husband cannot fit his hands or arms in. 4th- When placing the tray holder back into the drum (another reason needing arms to squeeze in) you need to make sure the electrical wire doesn't kink, or the tray doesn't get caught on the wire 5th- There are no guide rails to place the tray holder on, thus you scrap the inside of the drum, and you also cannot tell if the tray shelf has been placed level into the drum. 6th- This dryer and pump runs hot and where I live humidity is high. Even though I have my doors and windows open I still get a message stating warm temperature, drying time may be longer, thus I turn on my air conditioner, so I don't have to run the freezer dyer any longer than necessary. 6- Used it for the third time and found oil splash on my wall from the valve on the oil less pump. 7th- During the drying cycle the pump began making a loud scrapping noise, the fan in the pump was scrapping/hitting metal within the pump. I then place the pump, on my table at an angle and the noise stopped. I emailed and left a message at Harvest Right and am still waiting for a response. 

Product and company response is not worth the cost of the Harvest Right Freeze Dryer.


----------



## tmcgough

Aiki said:


> The new oil free pump was received and so far so good! It appears that the only way to get the attention of customer service is to complain to BBB. I was also “assured” that customer service will improve.


It hasn't - same song same verse - didn't better only got worse.


----------



## Kelly Craig

A few thousand hours of freeze drying in and I did have a problem with a pump. It was working, but was leaking oil. I contacted HR and they sent a new pump. It all went smoothly.

I had a vacuum problem, but that turned out to be a cockpit error. I learned I had to manipulate the cable so the tray rack could go all the way back in, leaving about 1/4" gap between the rack and the door gasket.

Everything else has gone fine and I'm tickled at the build up of my stores.

All that aside, we had a discussion about this on a web site. A valid point brought out is, I don't spend a great amount of energy bragging about the good results I get with a product. Like most, I get REAL loud about problems. 

Here, it is more than understandable people are ticked, considering what's paid for the machines. 

Meanwhile, hundreds of others, like me, didn't take a bullet on the purchase or the service after the fact.


----------



## Jacobin

Add another to the list saying HR customer service is sorely lacking. They make you go through useless hoops before they say the machine is not working properly even when you have an hvac technician tell you what is going on. They won’t take your word for it but it just tends your downtime as your without a working machine. Fed ex drivers-say they are returning many machines as they are not working. I have never seen such a messed up company. After they sat on my machine for over 3 weeks they shipped it back without the pump Which they requested to be sent back to them. So another week without the use of the machine as the harvest season was now in full swing. Last year the oil free pump went out that was only 2 months old.
Now Iwill say when the machine works it is good, however there is way too much downtime due to their faulty equipment. Sales people answer their phone but HR service people if you can get hold of them are horrid!
I have documented everything and I know of several people who were wanting this machine have now said no way due to the hassles They have seen us go through.
I *would not* buy this again knowing what I do now.
All of this is due to Harvest Right’s louse customer service and their faulty equipment they sell.


----------



## Rebrokerjan

I was so excited about purchasing a Harvest Right….ready to pull the trigger…then…the negative posts. So I am taking pause to make the decision to purchase. Can anyone tell me about how they feel their electric bill was effected by using this product? It seems since it takes so long to process it might be a energy monster.


----------



## HarvestedMyMoney

Montanalife said:


> Thats a great question! Harvest Right is a company that makes home freeze dryers.
> 
> Harvest Right Home Freeze Dryers - The best way to preserve food
> 
> Larry


I'm not sure that they "make" them so much as import them from China then modify them, lol. I am not a fan. Bad company.


----------



## HarvestedMyMoney

hickerbillywife said:


> And you seriously titled this Buyer Beware of Harvest Right. You modified the front panel. Have you tried this on other appliances and then asked for a refund? You know like something you bought from Sears or Lowes. Give me a break! I put oil in a pump and then realized I had ordered the wrong size. Guess what, they would not take the pump back since I had poured the oil that came with it into it. I was a little miffed but I understand a company having to have a policy for returns. The fact that they even sent you a refurbished model after that speaks to the good character of the company. I imagine they sent you one from their factory that they have used. Not a reject from another customer. I am leaving this thread and won't look back as it has taken an unfortunate turn for the worst. I have nothing else to say to someone who seriously thinks they can modify the front panel, the control panel, and then demand a replacement. And then bash the company. Good Luck to you, you will need it.


Sounds like another Harvest Right employee or groupie. Harvest Right machines have A LOT of problems and bad customer service. It is not a "RARE" occasion to have unresolved problems. Look at BBB Utah/Harvest Right and around internet. There are many unhappy customers. 

Those that complain the loudest are cherry picked for resolution. Most positive reviewers are usually paid affiliates. Aggressive HR trolls usually gaslight complainers with comments about "user error," "you are doing it wrong", "you're the exception", etc. on forums like these. I've seen it. Whether or not this person modified something does not justify your aggressive comments. Truth hurts - Harvest Right SUCKS! We need to warn other potential buyers of this company.


----------



## Texas23

I have no dog in this “fight”……..I don‘t have a freeze dryer and have no plans on buying one.
Just sharing.

New company making / selling a freeze dryer for the DIYer.









Freeze Drying at Home


It is easier than ever to freeze dry food at home with Stayfresh home freeze dryer. The small freeze dryer is perfect for drying fruits, vegetables, and meat, and even candy.




stayfreshfreezedry.com





I make no recommendation for or against.


----------



## tarbe

Interesting how many posters in this thread came here only to post about their problem with HR.

Almost like they were recruited.


----------



## Alice In TX/MO

Conspiracy. Yeah. About freeze dryers. LOL


----------



## HarvestedMyMoney

Thanks for your post, I was like you for two years - no trouble at all. Freeze dryer worked fine. Not sure why you would think it wasn't HR I called. That's odd. I spoke to the exact same person who sold me the machine and had answered all my questions when I bought it so, yes. He was very nice, but my machine was not fixed. Trouble happened when I "updated firmware" as advised by their email. It never worked again. 

I'm glad that you are doing well with yours and will keep my fingers crossed that you don't end up like me and many others who did not receive good service. I am a big fan of freeze drying (when I have a freeze dryer that works, lol). I would really like to see everyone have a freeze dryer in their kitchen like we do with all other appliances. It is a great way to preserve leftovers and save money on food. I look forward to more companies entering this niche market to raise the bar on service/repair. Hope you have a great weekend!


----------



## RJ2019

It's a few dollars per day to run it. NOT economical if you are trying to keep the electricity bills low


Rebrokerjan said:


> I was so excited about purchasing a Harvest Right….ready to pull the trigger…then…the negative posts. So I am taking pause to make the decision to purchase. Can anyone tell me about how they feel their electric bill was effected by using this product? It seems since it takes so long to process it might be a energy monster.


----------



## Stop the madness

tarbe said:


> Interesting how many posters in this thread came here only to post about their problem with HR.
> 
> Almost like they were recruited.


Haha, you're a funny guy.

Yes, this is my first post in this forum, and yes, I only came here looking for other folks' opinion on Harvest Right freeze dryers. Indeed, I was 'recruited' by HR to post my experience here!

I purchased a medium size HR FD last year. No real issues with that one. I wanted to increase my FD capacity but I was reluctant to wait the ten weeks to get one. Then I got an email from Tristan T. promoting a 'scratch and dent sale' where one could purchase a HR FD at a discount and it would be shipped within two weeks. Great I thought so I ordered a large freeze dryer. Tristan told me, "I'll make sure that they pick a good one for you." Right. The unit didn't ship for three weeks. I figured they were running it through whatever process they have for quality control. Turns out I was very mistaken. What I received was a machine that CLEARLY had ZERO quality control before being shipped to me, to the point it's blatantly obvious. The glaring deficiency right off the bat is that the cabinet door pull (I have the exact same cabinet door pull on my kitchen and bath cabinets, those cabinet pulls are found at Home Depot, and which HR calls a 'wire pull') was being retained by only one screw not two and therefore it has side to side movement. But the door will still latch and it will still pull a vacuum, so not _really_ problem, right? No, this constant back and forth motion caused by simply closing the door and latching it will eventually result in the lone screw backing out with the result being not able to latch the door at all. I notify HR tech support that I'm missing a screw for the 'wire pull'. I was very clear that a screw for the door latch was missing and I needed another. I was sent another 'wire pull' (cabinet door handle) in a package WITH NO SCREWS!!! What am I supposed to do what a part I do not need?? This solves my problem?? But that's okay (lol) because I find the missing screw on the bottom of the machine...I'll get to that. The next glaring deficiency is that as the door is closed the bottom hinge makes a very loud popping noise, additionally the door doesn't work anything like on my medium, there's clearly something wrong with it. Then the next issue I experienced was a number of error messages which I was told indicated that the plug on the chamber needed to be re-sealed, so now I have to disassemble the cabinet to access the plug on the top of the chamber, this is where my next fun time begins, it took me 1/2 hour to get the top panel off because I surmise when this machine was previously dropped (huge dent in upper right corner, almost to the point the USB port was unusable) that the blow was hard enough to deform the far back tab catty-corner from where the machine has the huge dent (left back corner of machine). I finally got the top panel off (didn't think I was going to be able to) and I was able to salvage and straighten that mangled tab due to my sheet metal skills. Once I'm able get the paneIs off to access the plug on top of the chamber I find the missing screw for the door latch laying in the bottom of the machine! Clearly no one performed ANY level of QC on this machine, to the point of not doing any disassembly, otherwise I wouldn't have found that bent tab on the top sheet metal panel, nor would there have been any issue with the door latch. I follow HR customer support instructions for re-sealing the plug on the chamber. I still error messages. Now they want me to perform more 'tests'. I'm able to see the manufacture date on the machine, it was over a year ago, and the machine has enough dust on the inside that I'm convinced this machine has been sitting in storage since it was shipped, subsequently damaged in shipment and returned. I've concluded that this 'scratch and dent' sale is a means of dumping their junk on unsuspecting customers. There was no notice in Tristan T.'s email promoting this 'scratch and dent sale' aka "we're dumping our junk!" sale that any buyers would be taking on a do-it-yourself project. FWIW I paid the 'discount' I received for the 'scratch and dent' sale is the very same price HR is promoting for their current 'Black Friday' sale.


----------



## Stop the madness

Texas23 said:


> I have no dog in this “fight”……..I don‘t have a freeze dryer and have no plans on buying one.
> Just sharing.
> 
> New company making / selling a freeze dryer for the DIYer.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Freeze Drying at Home
> 
> 
> It is easier than ever to freeze dry food at home with Stayfresh home freeze dryer. The small freeze dryer is perfect for drying fruits, vegetables, and meat, and even candy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> stayfreshfreezedry.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I make no recommendation for or against.


Wow, they ship in two weeks. I'm going to give them a call on Monday.


----------



## wingsdreamer66

Rebrokerjan said:


> I was so excited about purchasing a Harvest Right….ready to pull the trigger…then…the negative posts. So I am taking pause to make the decision to purchase. Can anyone tell me about how they feel their electric bill was effected by using this product? It seems since it takes so long to process it might be a energy monster.


 Mine went up 145.00 each month. I would not buy another one from them, mine is only 5 months old and down for 2 months…


----------

