MadMacaw Posted August 6, 2015 Posted August 6, 2015 Forumites, I have received reports regarding Oak Wood Barrel Co. One of our clients ordered and paid them in June with the company guaranteeing delivery in July. They still have yet to receive their order. They have been contacted numerous times via E-Mail and landline. The client has been given a lot of excuses the few times they could actually reach them. Now they no longer answer their phone but instead have a service that when you call they tell you that they are in a meeting. They have yet to be called back. At the minimum they are operating their business poorly, at the maximum this could be a scam.
jimchas Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 These guys are definitely a scam. I have talked to several groups who have been waiting on orders from them for weeks. They are using johnny-on-the-spot customer service to string everyone along so no one blows the whistle too soon and they can keep bringing in money for as long as possible. If you google any of the folks from their website, NONE of them have any history other than what is on the site itself. Total shysters.
Skaalvenn Posted August 15, 2015 Posted August 15, 2015 Unfortunately with distilling being a booming industry it's going to draw in the smooth talking storm chasers and the shady crooks. Everyone should be a little cautious when dealing with newly emerging suppliers.
Beerdealer Posted August 20, 2015 Posted August 20, 2015 A buddy of mine brought barrels from these guys a some months ago and I repurchased the barrels from him. Don't what's going on now with this company, I'm thinking a serious supply and demand problem.
PeteB Posted August 21, 2015 Posted August 21, 2015 They are still "active" I received a very quick reply to an email I sent.
Beerdealer Posted August 24, 2015 Posted August 24, 2015 My buddy ordered 30 gallons a while back from this company and was happy with the barrels. He sold me the barrels after his use and the quality was pretty good. Don't know whats going on now , must be a supply issue.
HedgeBird Posted August 25, 2015 Posted August 25, 2015 My buddy ordered 30 gallons a while back from this company and was happy with the barrels. He sold me the barrels after his use and the quality was pretty good. Don't know whats going on now , must be a supply issue. Pardon my skepticism, but I cant help notice that you have no other posts on this forum and that your account was created less than two weeks ago. This leads me to think that your post may not be entirely truthful and that you may be part of the scammers running this site. Feel free to prove me wrong. 1
jz81 Posted September 1, 2015 Posted September 1, 2015 I created my account on this forum just so that I could respond to this post. I do believe this "company" is a scam. Thank you MadMacaw for starting this thread. When I read your post I was actually in the process of finalizing an order with them. After finding this thread I attempted to call our "salesman" but the line we always used was disconnected. We did eventually get a response by email saying there was a supply chain issue and they were going to work with us. When it became clear we were not going to pay upfront they stopped responding. I was really lucky to find your post, thank you very much.
LordOfGin Posted March 16, 2016 Posted March 16, 2016 Hi all, Has anyone had any further experience of these guys? We placed an order in July '15 which was never fulfilled and we have been waiting over 6 months on a refund. To me they are a total fraud outfit who continue to try and sell products that dont exist.
fending Posted July 24, 2016 Posted July 24, 2016 We also fell victim to these clowns, and started the process of chasing down the money. I'll give you the entire timeline and email correspondence, if only to see how they operate. When we get resolution, I'll detail how that went down. First, an email from my partner, who found them online and did a pricing inquiry back in February 2016, without finding this ADI thread On Thu, Feb 25, 2016 at 4:15 PM, Jason wrote: Hi there, Please tell me more about minimums, and shipping of your 15gal French barrels. Looking for Medium+ (very light +), and toasted heads. Thanks! Jason. They replied a couple of days later, and my partner forwarded it over to me in March 2016 On Fri, Mar 4, 2016 at 11:09 AM, Jason wrote: Begin forwarded message: From: "OakWoodBarrels.com" <info@oakwoodbarrels.com> Date: February 27, 2016 at 1:34:52 PM EST Subject: Re: 15gal French oak barrels Pricing update. Some of our new and used oak barrel prices have changed: See pricing below for new and used American white oak bourbon barrels. Also, see char and toast levels below. Yes, we ship to any place in North and South America, Canada, Australia and parts of Asia. Additional Discounts will be applied on orders of #5 Barrels or more. We'll apply discounts and/or price breaks on each barrel or total cost. We also have freshly dumped barrels that were used for Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace, Woodford Reserve and many other popular brands of bourbon and whiskey. White Oak Bung Included with all barrels. Prices for New American Oak 5 Gallon - ( 100.00 US $ ) – In Stock *Low Stock 8 Gallon - ( 105.00 US $ ) – In Stock 10 Gallon - ( 110.00 US $ ) – In Stock *Most popular 15 Gallon - ( 120.00 US $ ) – In Stock 23 Gallon - ( 125.00 US $ ) – Low Stock 30 Gallon - ( 180.00 US $ ) – Low Stock 53 Gallon - ( 210.00 US $ ) – In Stock *Most popular 60 Gallon - ( 225.00 US $ ) – In Stock 80 Gallon - ( 255.00 US $ ) – Low Stock Prices for Used American Oak 5 Gallon - ( 50.00 US $ ) – In Stock 8 Gallon - ( 70.00 US $ ) – In Stock 10 Gallon - ( 90.00 US $ ) – In Stock *Most popular 15 Gallon - ( 100.00 US $ ) – In Stock 23 Gallon - ( 105.00 US $ ) – In Stock 30 Gallon - ( 110.00 US $ ) – In Stock 53 Gallon - ( 120.00 US $ ) – In Stock *Most popular 60 Gallon - ( 150.00 US $ ) – In Stock 80 Gallon - ( 170.00 US $ ) – In Stock The price of New French Oak Wood barrels starts from: 5 Gallon - ( 160.00 US $ ) – In Stock 8 Gallon - ( 175.00 US $ ) – In Stock 10 Gallon - ( 210.00 US $ ) – Call for availability 15 Gallon - ( 220.00 US $ ) – In Stock 23 Gallon - ( US $ ) – In Stock. Call for pricing 30 Gallon - ( 310.00 US $ ) – In Stock 53 Gallon - ( US $) – In Stock. Call for pricing 60 Gallon - ( US $) – Call for availability and pricing 80 Gallon - ( US $) – In Stock. Call for pricing French oak –or- ( European oak only if requested). White Oak Bung Included with all barrels. Oak Wood Options: American oak, French oak, Chinkapin oak, Sessile oak, Appalachian oak, Hungarian oak, Eastern European oak. Our stock is very limited and constantly changing. Email order@oakwoodbarrels.com for more information. Oak Barrel Char and Toast levels – No additional charge: Light - Mild aromas; fresh vanilla flavors Medium - Toasty aromas; more complex flavors Medium Long - Slightly spicy; longer toast over a lower fire Medium Plus - More intense vanilla & spice; rich flavors Heavy - Smoky, peppery; sweet roasted flavors (coffee) Toast levels – charred to your liking. Request Toasted heads at no additional charge. The various levels of charring have different effects on the compounds and so flavors the charred oak imparts to the maturing spirit. Heavy charring will cause cracks in the surface of the oak giving it an alligator skin-like appearance. Thanks - Robert Jasin OakWoodBarrels.com, Sales Staff photo Email: info@oakwoodbarrels.com Website: oakwoodbarrels.com Address: Florence, KY Upcoming Easter Sale! Just over a week ago (July 15, 2016), I pulled the trigger on ordering some barrels for a small-batch R&D experiment On Fri, Jul 15, 2016 at 9:54 AM, Brian wrote: We are interested in ordering the following: 15 gallon - French Oak w/ Medium Plus - qty 5 Please advise payment terms, qty pricing, ship methods/costs, fulfillment timeframe, and how to proceed with order. Within a day, follow-up from OWB On Jul 16, 2016, at 12:28 PM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: Hi Brian, Sure, I can have the order submitted today and get the barrels shipped on Monday. (5) - 15 gallon - French Oak w/ Medium Plus char. Total Shipping of around $45.00. I need the full shipping address before I can prepare and have the order submitted. Also, is this for our New or Used French oak? Thanks Robert photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. Order placed July 16, 2016 On Sat, Jul 16, 2016 at 1:17 PM, Brian wrote: Thanks. This is for new FO, w med+ char. Please advise total cost (pro forms invoice fine) prior to shipment, here is the address: [...] A Square invoice was issued ($1000 for five barrels) and I paid it, then On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 10:24 AM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: Payment received order being prepared for delivery. I'll keep you posted. Please note: Our phone lines are down this morning and should be back up by noon today. Thanks photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff (800)-631-4337 • sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. A couple of days later, I hadn't heard any details of the shipment, and was expecting them any day On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 1:24 PM, Brian wrote: Please let me know if you have freight window or tracking on that shipment. Need to staff for receiving even though it's a small shipment. Then it started getting weird. On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 2:58 PM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: The driver's name is Paco his truck cell direct number is 562-246-9598 . You can give him a call or text if he's driving and he'll provide an eta. All that may be required when they get there is a clear area to unload the barrels. The truck is equipped with a forklift. Thanks photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff (800)-631-4337 • sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. And 60 seconds later, another follow-up email On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 2:59 PM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: Just checked and he's still on the road. photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff (800)-631-4337 • sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. Okay, I'll talk to Paco then. I started Googling and found this ADI thread. I'm not broadcasting my suspicions yet, but did hint that I was googling phone numbers. On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 3:20 PM, Brian wrote: Thanks. Called and left a message. If you can give me the day, even, that would be great. CA number surprised me, had to google it. Then no useful info in his reply On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 4:01 PM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: Ok thanks. I'll also keep you posted. Thanks photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff (800)-631-4337 • sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. End of the day my time, and I'm really getting nervous. On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 4:08 PM, Brian wrote: Thanks. Just left second message. Next time you speak with Paco I need estimate date and time. Twenty-two minutes later, promise of a BOL and that Paco would call me "for sure" On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 4:40 PM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: I can get a copy of the BOL and send over. Tried calling the driver and I got no answer as well. He may be driving but he'll return the call for sure. photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff (800)-631-4337 • sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. I need to talk to a human now. On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 4:25 PM, Brian wrote: Can you please furnish a customer service number? I have a few questions about the shipment. If we had a copy of the BOL, I could take most of it from there. He points to the 800 number, which I had called. On Jul 20, 2016, at 4:56 PM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: Are you able to connect to 800-631-4337.? They have been doing some troubleshooting to the line yesterday morning and some calls are starting to get through. photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff (800)-631-4337 • sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. I pushed again for a direct number. On Wednesday, July 20, 2016, Brian wrote: Sounds good. If you could also furnish a phone number for your business that would be great, and may cut down on the correspondence here. Okay, really quite worried. I wound up sleuthing addresses and calling mailbox service company. On Wednesday, July 20, 2016, Brian wrote: "The owner of this system has not yet activated" is what I get when I call your 800-number. Further, the address on your square invoice is an office park, but the suite number is not noted. There is a mailbox service at the address, but you are not their customer, according to the young man I spoke with there just now. If I do not get a refund, credible bill of lading, or speak to the driver in the next 12 hours, we are going to have some serious issues. "Kicking the can" via email is not sufficient. Please take an action toward resolution. NOW he's giving some detail, but disregards the fact that "Robert" signed both the 2/27 and 7/16 emails. But "requested a full refund be sent back". On Jul 20, 2016, at 7:35 PM, OakWoodBarrels.com Sales <sales@oakwoodbarrels.com> wrote: I'm actually a sales rep located in California. I'm not the owner but I requested a full refund be sent back. The company as far as I know switched over to this number only less than a week ago. The driver is a private hired on operator that makes most deliveries for the company. The address listed on the invoice should've been updated photo OakWoodBarrels.com Sales Staff (800)-631-4337 • sales@oakwoodbarrels.com • Florence, KY • oakwoodbarrels.com Big sale: Used 53 Gallon American white oak - $105.0015% Off All Used Barrels. My polite reply, noting that the refund hadn't been processed. On Thursday, July 21, 2016, Brian wrote: Thank you. I appreciate your candor in disclosing those details. I have not seen the notification from Square. We also use this service, so I am familiar with how refunds are issued. If I do not see the notification within six hours, I am opening a case with my card company. I will not be driving the bus at that point. Thank you. // At this point I held true to my word and opened a fraud case with my card company. Square (their payment provider) only responds to requests from card companies re disputed charges. It'll be at least 7 days before the case is resolved, but I'm pretty confident we'll be seeing the money back. It's now three days later, no more emails, no phone calls (from "Paco", "Robert", or anybody else), and all I can do is further getting the word out. In all, I hang my head in shame for falling for this, especially in light of what you all went through AND THEN DOCUMENTED HERE. A little vetting goes a long way, is the lesson.
anaxagores Posted February 22, 2017 Posted February 22, 2017 Hi there, I have not posted in these forums before, as I am a home brewer of beer, but I wanted to mention my experience with Oak Wood Barrels. I can also confirm they are most definitely a scam. I am from the United States, and I did some research into this company and they do not legitimately exist as a physical business entity. The Better Business Bureau has also given them a poor rating for not responding to their contacts. I also investigated the company itself, which supposedly has a head quarters in Ontario, Canada. They do not; however, and by tracing their IP addresses, and looking at their domain registration, I found they are actually located somewhere in Europe. If you contact them, they will respond immediately but note also how they have virtually no contact information on their web page, aside from the one e-mail address. If you investigate their LinkedIn profile, you will see they are very suspect, and all "leaders" of the company have strangely uniform profiles. Also there is a lot of inconsistent information about the company, with wildly different numbers. It is easy to see they are not legitimate if you look into it. Unfortunately I did not look into them ahead of time, and I did fall for their scam because as a home brewer, oak barrels at a good price sounds like an excellent deal. I determined they were a scam after placing my order, but canceled it immediately. They claimed to refund my money, which they did not do, even after several days of waiting, and going back and forth with them via e-mail. Eventually I was forced to get my credit card company involved, and did eventually win a dispute against them to get my money back. But that said, I wanted to post here to warn others of this scam site; you will never receive your order, and might have difficulty getting your money back.
Coriolis Posted July 18, 2017 Posted July 18, 2017 Have these guys now changed their name to DirtCheapBarrels.com? I found them online a while ago and requested some pricing. Got a reply email that I have just realised is exactly the same (format, pricing etc...) as the one posted above by @fending Bullet dodged I think!
anaxagores Posted July 18, 2017 Posted July 18, 2017 @Coriolis I did a quick check, and it appears that dirtcheapbarrels.com as well as oakwoodbarrels.com are registered through the same domain registrar (Domain Trustees UK Limited). So I am guessing there is a very good chance they are one-in-the-same scammer. You did dodge a bullet! Cheers! 1
MichaelAtTCW Posted July 18, 2017 Posted July 18, 2017 The address listed on the dirtcheapbarrels.com website is 570-598 4th St, Santa Rosa, CA 95401. That's our hometown! I'll stop by there tomorrow on my lunch break and let folks know what I find.
MichaelAtTCW Posted July 18, 2017 Posted July 18, 2017 I went to the address listed on their website. Here's what I found: There were no businesses here except for Ralph's Courthouse Classic Hot Dogs. Ralph would not sell me a barrel—although I offered him a very good price. He just has hot dogs. I would go back to Ralph for hot dogs, but I would think twice about buying barrels from a company that does business from Courthouse Square in Santa Rosa. 1
anaxagores Posted July 18, 2017 Posted July 18, 2017 lol @MichaelAtTCW thanks for the picture and follow-up! I believe this proves that the suspicion is true. So anyone who reads this thread, please beware of dirtcheapbarrels.com! They are otherwise known as oakwoodbarrels.com, and both are not legit! All you will get for your money is endless empty e-mails, no barrels, and not even a tasty hotdog!
n8kraft Posted October 27, 2017 Posted October 27, 2017 Emailed the customer service and haven't received a reply for a few days and went to track down their phone number... Only it doesn't exist. Looks like I got scammed too. Shoot. Time to call the credit card company.
Micah Nutt Posted October 27, 2017 Posted October 27, 2017 If you look at the 4 stacked barrels at http://oakwoodbarrels.com/#about they are the same barrel photo-edited together. They don't even look like real barrels and, if so, poorly constructed. Most of the photos look like they've been yanked from other sources.
anaxagores Posted October 28, 2017 Posted October 28, 2017 8 minutes ago, MDH said: The location on their website shows several Christian churches, a Church of Scientology, a Chiropractor and a coffee shop at an intersection. Plus, their linkedin page claims they have 501-1000 employees. Seems legit. Lol Hopefully that is sarcasm, as they are most definitely not legit, and in fact have conflicting information across their various profiles. We now have multiple confirmations they are a scam, from different sources. Do not buy from this company, and save yourself some stress and a call to your credit card company to revoke their transaction.
jasonk Posted November 10, 2017 Posted November 10, 2017 These bastards. First time I’ve been scammed like this but it looks like the bank is going to give me my $ back. Same story as previously reported by others. All seemed to be well and then they kept kicking the can down the road and then it occurred to me what was happening. I’d still gladly trade my $133 for a new 10 gallon barrel though!
MDH Posted November 11, 2017 Posted November 11, 2017 Not sure how my post could've been taken literally. I hope these people are found and imprisoned. Having a track record this long certainly goes beyond the realm of all legal plausible deniability.
jasonk Posted November 30, 2017 Posted November 30, 2017 I just got my barrel from barrel mill out of MN after my debacle with oak wood barrels. The bank gave me money back but dumbass me didn’t request a new card and a week later I had the exact same amount of money ($140) worth of transactions put through on my card. Luckily fraud alert picked up on it. By by the way, the barrel from barrel mill looks fantastic and they were great to deal with as well.
GeekSpirits Posted December 4, 2017 Posted December 4, 2017 On 11/30/2017 at 6:19 AM, jasonk said: I just got my barrel from barrel mill out of MN after my debacle with oak wood barrels. The bank gave me money back but dumbass me didn’t request a new card and a week later I had the exact same amount of money ($140) worth of transactions put through on my card. Luckily fraud alert picked up on it. By by the way, the barrel from barrel mill looks fantastic and they were great to deal with as well. My experience with Barrel Mill as well, great to work with.
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