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Balcas Energy Reviews

4.7 Rating 1,665 Reviews

96 %

of reviewers recommend Balcas Energy

Company Reviews

About Balcas Energy:

Balcas Energy is part of Balcas, a natural leader in the world of timber.
We opened our first sawmill in 1962 and became one of the largest in the UK and Ireland. Our success came from our knowledge of and respect for timber. In our quest to make the most of every precious tree, Balcas Energy was born.

A co-product of our operations is pure sawdust. In 2004, using natural tree resin as a binder, our engineers pioneered the production of high quality wood pellets.

Originally known as brites, our high grade EN plus pellets have since grown to become 50% of our business. In 2016, Balcas purchased the UK’s largest wood pellet distribution company Forever Fuels and in 2019, with growth in mind, rebranded as Balcas Energy. Balcas Energy is proud to employ some of the most experienced biomass experts in the UK and Ireland and thanks to our advanced Combined Heat and Power plant, both of our production sites are self-sufficient.

Balcas Energy’s Invergordon and Enniskillen sites have production capacities of 120,000 tonnes and 60,000 tonnes of wood pellets respectively. Our operations are so efficient that we put surplus electricity back into the grid throughout the year.

Balcas employs over 380 people and an additional 300 are engaged in forest harvesting and haulage on our behalf.

Visit our Online Shop: https://balcasenergy.com/online-shop/

Visit Website

Phone:

02866411001

Email:

energy@balcas.com

Location:

75 Killadeas Road, Enniskillen, County Fermanagh
BT94 2ES

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Balcas Energy 5 star review on 9th February 2022

Balcas Energy 5 star review on 26th January 2022

Balcas Energy 5 star review on 17th January 2022

Balcas Energy 5 star review on 13th January 2022

Balcas Energy 5 star review on 7th November 2017

Balcas Energy 5 star review on 21st June 2017

Balcas Energy 5 star review on 23rd April 2017

1

Anonymous

Anonymous // 01/01/2019

Filter: Rated 1 None 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Stars Helpful

“Have never had any problems with deliveries or customer service, but the prices being quoted these days do not stack up anymore. With oil prices 0.62p per/ltr and falling, I will have to give serious consideration to switching to an alternative. 12years customer.”

Posted 1 year ago

“Balcas energy make a song and dance about how they actually make the sawdust from their own trees into these pellets. Why then has the cost risen from around £180 a pallet to well over £500 a pallet? Yes, big industrial users such as generators may be having to pay more but small users - why are they paying such extortionate prices? There is only one answer - as a manufacturer Balcas are taking excess profits (Oil companies have been hit with extra taxes - Balcas are not). There might be of course some additional costs - but nowhere near 300%. Like all the pellet manufacturers absolutely disgraceful action, they should hang their heads in shame. Once people have paid £10,000+ for an eco boiler then we are trapped. Advice to anyone who is thinking of getting a pellet boiler? DO NOT! You will be ripped off by Balcas.”

Posted 1 year ago

“I have been trying to buy wholesale commercial containers of Wood pellets. I have been dealing with Patrick John on WhatsApp. I keep getting the run around..does he work for your company? Gerry Duncan 226.567.0047”

Posted 1 year ago

Hi Gerry, I have checked our CRM system and it seems you are not a customer of Balcas Energy. To place an order, please click on the link below and this will allow you to order online: https://balcasenergy.com/online-shop-for-wood-pellets/ If you require more assistance, don't hesitate to get in touch with us by emailing energy@balcas.com or calling:+44 (0) 28 6641 1001 or +44 (0) 1628 509690. Kind Regards, Pauric

Posted 1 year ago

“If I could give zero stars I would. Had a confirmed date for delivery but they reneged on it as the driver said didn't have time on the day! Nothing to do with shortage of supply but surely whoever scheduled the deliveries could have foreseen this or is it a case of Friday being a finish early day? Order cancelled. To add insult to injury they required me to pay in advance when I ordered three weeks ago , although the money was not taken out of my card it could be unavailable for days. Other companies don't ask for payment in advance Lost customer”

Posted 1 year ago

Hi Liz, We didn't have a shortage of pellets on the day of your delivery. Unfortunately, we were short of another important part of the supply chain- drivers. We are currently working flat out and our orders remain unusually high. Based on your payment inquiry, that is the payment process when paying with credit cards. We are sorry for the inconvenience this time around. Kind regards, Pauric

Posted 1 year ago

“As a domestic customer, being kept in the dark about when the delivery will be until the day before is utterly poor service. Some of us have to go to work! This company used to be excellent when it was 'Forever Fuels', but since being taken over by Balcas, I have taken my business elsewhere. I am able to book a prompt and reliable delivery with your competitor.”

Posted 2 years ago

Hi, Since your last delivery (2019) we have made many changes to our distribution system including customer communications. As you are probably aware there is currently a shortage of wood pellets in the marketplace caused by a shortage of imported pellets (mainly from Russia). As the UK's largest local producer, we are trying to ensure that we can continue to supply our regular customers. Thanks Pauric

Posted 2 years ago

“I asked for my delivery to be delivered on Friday (yesterday) and nothing turned up , which means I’ve no heating system …. It was order a week before this …”

Posted 2 years ago

Hi, I am very sorry to hear you did not receive your wood pellet delivery. Delivery to your area is between 7-10 working days (Saturdays & Sundays don't count as working days). You can login into your account to see when your order is out for delivery or contact us and a member of our customer support team will help deal with your query. Thanks Pauric

Posted 2 years ago

“From order to delivery things went ok, But could you please tell your delivery people to give me 24hrs notice, my previous load had to be returned as I was not at home at the time, my recent load arrived and luckily I was around. Please let your delivery company to inform me well in advance and not as they are about to arrive. Regards Dessie.”

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Dessie, Apologies for the issues you have encountered and thanks for making us aware. If you drop an email to: energy@balcas.com with your area details we can have a look to see which third-party haulier was involved so we can prevent this for future bag deliveries. Thanks Pauric

Posted 2 years ago

“No, not so much about your product. The problem here in this part of the world is trying to get somebody to service the boiler…trying to find a plumber who knows the first thing about pellet boiler. If the services were better more pellets would be used. There is an element of the Wankel about pellet boilers.”

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Ken, Thanks for the kind feedback on our wood pellets. We can potentially point you in the direction of a service engineer. Please contact me via email - pauric.kettyles@balcas.com Thanks Pauric

Posted 2 years ago

“I asked if Balcas could empty and clean my pellet store between Christmas and New Year since we had a problem with the pellet delivery system (Vacuum) that need an engineer to fix the problem. We had no heat or hot water. They said it could only be done towards the summer. I was very disappointed with their response. I have since moved to a more customer-friendly supplier.”

Posted 2 years ago

Hi Paul, We are very sorry you had issues with your wood pellet boiler. Due to the combination of the time of year being our busiest time and Covid impacts we didn't have the people available to fulfill your request. We can offer service plans for customers through local service companies we work with but obviously didn't have anything like this in place for you. It is obviously a bad time for your boiler to break down but we hope we can work with you again in the future. Thanks Pauric

Posted 2 years ago

“I'm really angry that once again you've allowed me to run out. I put in my order 10 days ago to ensure no holiday period problems. Apparently no one scheduled a delivery. So now we face new year with dodgy supplies - in our seventies - in a pandemic. Still no delivery date. Like I say I'm really angry.”

Posted 2 years ago

“My one star is not for Forever Fuels but for Balcas since they've taken over. Placed my on line order on 24th Jan. Had the usual "thank you for your order email" but then no follow up email with a confirmed date. I phoned them on 28th Jan to be told my delivery was scheduled for Tuesday 5th Feb. I asked if I should do anything now due to the second confirmation email not arriving and the lady told me everything was ok and booked in for that day. After waiting in all day and having no delivery I called them at 3pm and was told there's no one available to deal with my order and that I'd get a call back. I asked if it would be on that day and was told yes. Needless to say no call was received. I've now been told my delivery is due on 7th or 8th Feb but I'm not holding my breath and if it doesn't arrive I shall be without fuel and they will be without my future custom! Very unreliable and that's not what you need when you rely on this fuel for the running of your home.”

Posted 5 years ago

“Rang to order pellets but lead time was 3 weeks at earliest. Told them I wanted more definite date but they will only confirm once you have paid them which is rediculous. After paying I had to chase them for a date and they were very unhelpful. Totally out of touch with customer experience so won’t use them again. Ordered elsewhere cheaper with a quick phone call rather than this rediculous merry go round.”

Posted 5 years ago

“The delivery has been rescheduled 3 times 1) your lorry Broke down and NO PHONE call from your company to advise the delivery was not being completed 2) The second attempt - my housekeeper waited in ALL DAY I then called 4 times to find out where the driver was and i was told the delivery would not take place on that day - we had to call 4 times to find out this information at 4pm in the afternoon 3) Third attempt - successful”

(Avonmouth) - Posted 5 years ago

“I don’t understand why this company has such good reviews. Our experience of them has been average at best. Their web ordering service offers fictitious dates that they can never meet. They deliver when it suits them and not when you need fuel. They communicate a cut off date for Christmas deliveries, tell you by phone it will arrive in time but won’t confirm it! I phoned them today and was told my order can’t be delivered until the end of the 1st week of Jan. Over two weeks after they said they could guarantee delivery and 5 weeks after my order was placed.”

Posted 5 years ago

“Very poor quality pellets that have blocked our boiler twice with dust. Our boiler is new, this is only the second delivery we have had! Non existent customer service and no replies to my calls and emails. Very disappointed, I will never use this company again”

Posted 5 years ago

“Charged for 5 tonnes, not the 4 agreed verbally (twice) over phone”

Posted 6 years ago

“Have had 2 great years with forever Fuels,but the last delivery was full of dust and poor quality and my heating engineer said I should tell them. Which I did they tested the sample they keep and said that they were within spec,wish I could tell my boiler this which as broken down twice due to excessive dust. They then said they could do a test on site, which if proven was in spec would have cost me not far from a £1,000 ponds.when I complained about this I was told that this is the correct procedure.Also when I phoned the sales an marketing person she did not get back to me. I have now sent two e-mails to the M.D who said he did not respond to defamatory remarks,this is due to me saying in my position I am in touch with various people in media and asked him what he would do in my position,he as now blocked me from contacting him which I find very unprofessional .just as a final point we also have bagged pellets from the same company and when you compare these to the blown pellets they are far superior,shame nobody from forever fuels wants to come and see the difference. I do not know what as happened to this company but with the quality and customer service we shall be voting with our feet.”

Posted 6 years ago

As Mr A says, he had "2 great years", had his fuel-store modified, and then experienced problems after the modified store was filled up. The obvious explanation is that something was wrong with the modifications, but Mr A chose instead to believe the plumber who made the modifications, that the problem must be the fuel. He contended that there was a change in the fuel, although it was from the same source as his previous three deliveries from us. Regardless of how credible a complaint may (or may not) be, we will always follow the proper procedures to establish whether there was a fault with the fuel, and will take responsibility if the fuel is shown to be out of spec. We therefore had the reference sample for Mr A's delivery tested, which showed that the pellets were in spec. Mr A remained adamant that his plumber was expert, infallible and impartial, with a better ability to determine the quality of pellets by inspection than by a laboratory test. In cases such as these, all that remains (if conditions allow) is to take a representative sample from the fuel-store and send it for analysis, to see if the contents had deteriorated so much during delivery that they did not meet the 4% fines limit for delivered ENplus A1 wood pellets. The pellets have to be removed in order to take a representative sample. On the upside, if the client is experiencing problems, they may wish to have the pellets removed anyway. On the downside, that is very expensive. Nine times out of ten, the representative sample from the store will confirm the analysis of the reference sample, that the pellets were in spec. So the cost would have been incurred even though the product was compliant. We cannot and will not carry a cost that exceeds the margin on all the sales we are ever likely to make to that customer, in order to prove once again what has already been demonstrated by analysing the reference sample. We therefore require the cost to be allocated fairly. If the analysis of the sample from the store shows that the pellets are out of spec, the cost is on us. But if the analysis confirms that the pellets are in spec, and the expensive process of removing the pellets and analysing the sample was a waste of time and money, then the cost falls on the customer. This should encourage them to give more careful consideration to whether they should believe an equipment installer who swears blind that the problem doesn't lie with the equipment they installed, even though the reference sample of the fuel has already been tested and shown to be compliant. Mr A is relying on the advice of his plumber that the pellets are definitely out of spec. As we advised Mr A, if the plumber is as certain as he says he is that the pellets are faulty, he should be willing to indemnify Mr A for the non-existent risk (according to him) that the pellets prove to be in spec. If he did, Mr A would have no risk of incurring cost - either the pellets are out of spec and we incur the cost, or they are in spec and the person who misled him about the quality incurs the cost. If the plumber won't do this, Mr A should take with a large pinch of salt his assertion that the pellets are faulty. Mr A finds this unreasonable. We find Mr A unreasonable. As Mr A has posted a one-sided version of events in this review, we have made copies of the correspondence available - http://www.forever-fuels.com/time-part - so people can judge for themselves who was being unreasonable.

Posted 6 years ago

“Have used FF for almost 8 years now and all has always been OK. This latest time the driver accidentally ran over and destroyed a man hole on my drive. I said don't worry, it'll get sorted. Craig - the 'account manager' then emailed me saying that he is aware of an incident and that I need to ensure it is rectified before they attend again !! Customer service NOT! No apology, arrogant *rse ! When I pointed out that driveway manholes do not have the same loading as highways (according to building regulations), it is FF's responsibility to ensure their drivers are aware and that he should have avoided it, as has been the case 2 or 3 times a year for the past 8 years. He quoted terms and conditions at me about a safe site with access as detailed in their T&C. My access does actually meet their criteria, but he never even established the facts. Craig - you should hang your head in shame as you have just lost a, hitherto, loyal repeat customer. Go on a customer service course and get rid of a large portion of your arrogance.”

Posted 6 years ago

We offer some of the smallest pellet delivery trucks in the market, but even our 4-wheelers weigh around 18 tonnes, and a standard 6-wheeler weighs 26 tonnes. We recommend that anyone with features on their access that cannot take the weight of a pellet delivery truck should not install a system that requires blown pellets. If you are committed to blown pellets, you must make sure that the access route (including features like manhole covers) is able to take the weight of a delivery truck. If you cannot make your access safe for a pneumatic delivery vehicle, then you should install a system that is hand-fed with bagged pellets, which can be delivered on smaller vehicles if necessary; or not install a pellet heating system at all. This review is not an accurate reflection of our communications with this customer, as people may suspect. He would like us to pay for the fact that his manhole cover was not suitable for a route used by a pellet delivery vehicle. We refused, and he is seeking his revenge by posting a hostile review.

Posted 6 years ago

“we ordered from them specifically because they promised 24 hour delivery... we ordered on the Thursday... they kept promising phone calls back because we were worried about getting the delivery to the house... twice they promised a call back and never phoned back. Finally managed to place an order on the Friday and paid to be delivered on the Monday. not at our home but at our work address.. we will then have to load it bag by bag into the car and bring it home.. .. not only has it not arrived but yet again they promised twice to contact the courier and find out time of delivery and call back... it is now 9.45 pm and we are still waiting at the arranged drop off point... the new boiler is due to be fired up tomorrow and the engineers are expecting fuel to be there 8am tomorrow... I am disgusted by the service received and lack of customer support.”

Posted 6 years ago

“The latest pellet order contains oversize pellets. these block the auto feeder closing down the biomass boiler. every time it blocks the feeder outlet or pipe the blockage needs to be manually cleared and the boiler re set.”

(Okehampton) - Posted 7 years ago

We are very sorry to hear about the oversize pellets. We will be contacting you for evidence to confirm the problem (e.g. a photo of a long pellet against a ruler). But assuming that it will be confirmed, we wish you had contacted us as soon as you became aware of the problem. Your delivery was in October. You may have had months of this inconvenience. If you had contacted us and demonstrated that you had oversize pellets, that is a clear non-compliance with our specifications, and we would have organised to remove and replace or refund the delivery. We are very grateful that you chose instead to nurse the load through, but you need not have done. Our sales team will be in touch not only to see if you can provide any evidence (so we can take it up with the manufacturer) but also to discuss what we can do to recognise the inconvenience that this has caused.

Posted 7 years ago

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Balcas Energy is rated 4.7 based on 1,665 reviews