Dean Innovations

Who wants to pay more for less ?
That’s exactly what you’ll end up doing if you buy your wood from Dean Innovations.
It’s a long story but to make it kinda short Before just showing up, I called and spoke to this guy earlier in the week to order a full cord of wood for delivery. Due to their limited supply what I previously ordered a ½ soft/​hard mix wood and ½ premium hard wood mix $ 420 delivered was not available.(first time around things were good and the delivery guy was very kind). This time after the guy on the phone explained to me my options of what was available, I decided on ½ cord of their desert blend and a ½ cord of juniper. I was ready to pay and set up a delivery at that moment. (because I didn’t want us to run out of wood) But he suggested I stop in to look at the juniper since I wasn’t sure if I would be satisfied with ordering the majority of the cord as juniper, being its a denser wood but still a soft wood. (when this is our main source of heat in our home). I agreed and said if I like it then we can just pick it up while we are there this weekend. Yes said yeah sure. When we get there on Sunday we were told by the same guy I spoke to on the phone we couldn’t pick up the ½ cord of desert blend because it could only be delivered. WTF !! You would think he would have mentioned that during our phone conversation earlier in the week. Nope. He didn’t mention it. Now we are here to check out the juniper and pick up, the full cord of what he suggested, because yes we did like it. But the desert blend can ONLY be delivered.
So, because we need wood I suggested paying for a full cord of what he recommend ½ cord juniper and ½ cord desert blend. But take a ¼ cord from the juniper home with us today since we were almost out of wood and I wanted my husband, myself, and our 5 children to stay warm. Then have them deliver the ½ cord of the desert blend and the other ¼ cord of the juniper. He’s answer was,“no”. We felt like he could give damn wether we stayed warm or had enough wood. He said he couldn’t do a sell like that because he couldn’t split up a load like that, I said why doesn’t it matter if it’s ¾ of a cord. You guys delivery ½ cords and full cords. Then, he said ok he could sell us ¼ of juniper which would be at a higher price but we could take it today. Then another ¼ of juniper and ½ desert blend to be delivered. The problem is when the wood is sold ¼ increments it’s more expensive. All because he didn’t want to sell us ½ cord of juniper and let us take, ½ of that ½ of cord home with us so we can stay warm (until next Tuesday which was when they could deliver the rest)
He said that’s how they do their «pricing». Can you say BULLSHHHHH…
Yeah and I can think of 1000 other things to say as well. I even asked if he could call the owner or whoever was in charge to see if they could make an exception. Since he forgot to mention to me the desert blend had to be delivered.
Nope, he didn’t wanna do that either.
Who would have thought a big company like Dean Innovations would try to squeeze every penny they can out of a returning customer, damn we spent $ 420.00 on our last order. I guess thats how they got BIG…
Sorry, but we will NOT be paying MORE for LESS! Less wood, less appreciation, less service. NO THANK YOU.
People often take the time to write good review about companies which is awesome. But for those of us who have been wronged, after you get past your anger write a honest review maybe you’ll save a fellow human being some time and a whole lotta money …
Peace and stay warm…

My husband Brian had ordered a half a cord of mixed firewood for our wood burning stove, which serves as our primary source of heat in the winter months. When we tried to burn the wood the day after receiving it, we found that it was damp on the outside and would not light. My husband wrote a letter to the company explaining our predicament, and the very next day Dean Innovations called and offered to come out and test the wood (measuring the amount of moisture). The man who came out was very diligent in pulling out up 10 – 15 pieces of the wood and chopping it open to test each piece with a moisture meter. The cores were within the acceptable standard, but the outer edges did test outside of the standard. He explained the way we were storing it (outside, tarped tightly on a retaining wall) wasn’t providing adequate circulation, and the extreme rains and flooding wasn’t helping either. He then gave us several wheelbarrows worth of super dry, high-​quality juniper and kindling to hold us over until the outside of the wood had dried more. Dean definitely went above and beyond to ensure we were taken care of and demonstrated genuine care for their customers.

Dean Innovation arrived promptly with my order. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding. I have a garage but the driver said he would have to dump the wood in the shared access road and he could not dump in the garage or help me put it in the garage or deck due to back injury. I am a 63 year old woman who is not up to moving that much wood.
The good news is that Samantha and Shaun at Dean Innovation say I will receive a refund in a few days.
I will miss the wood but THANKS FOR SUCH A GREAT BUSINESS PRACTICE.
I would highly recommend Dean Innovation but you must be able to stack and move own wood.

I can’t say enough nice things about this business. This spring I got about 15 bags of organic soil from them. What was impressive was how warm and informative the woman in the office was. I discussed prices and ordering hard wood from her at that time and kept that in my pocket until October. In October they showed up within the hour of the time they said they would. The driver was a sweet young man and managed to negotiate his truck in a very tight space. He dropped the wood in such a way that it did no damage to my driveway or yard and close to where I needed to stack it. The wood was chopped into nice manageable pieces and I won’t have to split any of it. I am very pleased with their service and am now enjoying nice crackling fires in my fireplace.

Well. That was easy.
I called up yesterday and the staff helped me select the right type of wood and had it delivered in 24hrs. Dumped it about 2 feet from the garage where it was going. Could not have been easier. Looking forward to setting it all on fire.

I did a tear out of my entire front to replant with a better landscape of native /​low maintenance plants. A couple different friends recommended Dean Innovations for the «White Lightning» soil, that it was «amazing». I ordered 4 yards of this soil and 2 yards of their «Planet Earth Compost» (all organic compost) to use as a top dressing. The order went smoothly, delivery was good, the driver was super nice. The problem (BIG) happened after I had done all my planting, used all the soil, and spread all the compost over the entire front yard. Slowly I noticed bits of plastic and metal wire. Then I realized that bits of hard plastic, metal wire, shredded plastic bags, small stickers from fruit, etc. were EVERYWHERE throughout the compost. There isn’t a square foot where I can’t find tiny plastic and metal debris. I sent them an email to make them aware of this issue with their product. They first called and told me this could not be in the compost. I told them that it was. They then offered a refund of the delivery charge and asked if I would feel alright with that. I was a bit stunned, because I hadn’t been thinking about anything other than what an un-​reversible problem this was now. I told them they should do whatever they feel is right. After sending a picture of a sample of the material I found (about an 8oz. glass worth spread over a sheet of paper), they offered me a full refund.
However, this material is everywhere, and I find bits of it everyday. There is no easy way to get rid of it at this point. They told me they would stop selling this product, but it is still listed on their website. Below is a description of the product:
«Planet Earth Compost»: A medium fine textured compost Dark Chocolate to black in color. Consistency and size range from oatmeal to cornflake. Planet Earth is organic; it consists of composted fruit, vegetables, leaves and grass and yard debris.
***If you order this, carefully check a shovel or two first before you unload it.***

We have just used Dean Innovations for the 3^rd time and they continue to impress. Generally we get compost from them, but needed top soil for a fill project. Delivery was on time and the driver was great. He offered to put the dirt in the most convenient spot for our project and even landed the whole load on a tarp for us. We continue to be satisfied with our experiences with this retailer.

We bought two mixed cords of wood from Dean Innovations and will definitely order from them in the future. The wood is dry and makes an excellent fire. The wood is much better than the wood I purchased last year from another dealer. The Customer Service person I spoke to was great and the delivery driver was courteous and friendly. I would recommend Dean Innovations. Premium prices, yes, but I think it was worth it. Thank you.

Being late in the year and a couple of bad experiences purchasing firewood through craigslist, I reluctantly paid premium prices for wood from Dean. I was assured this is seasoned (dry) firewood as it mentioned on their web page. I opted for a cord of soft/​hard mix for 287, with a $ 60 delivery charge. At $ 347 for just one cord of wood, I expected gold leaf on a few pieces at least. In general, the wood is fair to good. First, the «mix» is not a mix, it’s one scoop of this pile and a couple of scoops of another pile placed in the truck. The wood is not randomized for ease of stacking and burn mix. Not a big issue, I just picked pieces as i circled the pile in the driveway to randomize the mix. The surprising part is the harder woods. In every fire so far (4×10hrs) the hardwood sounds like bacon frying. First you hear the familiar wet wood sizzle, then you look in to see the steam, followed by locating the water bubbles on the end of the log. Not all of the hardwood is wet, but a good portion definitely is. I expected perfection for the price paid. Maybe I just received an inferior selection late in the season and had to take what I could get (end of dec), but for the premium price, I expected a premium product. Dean has a great reputation so I assume my experience is not the norm. I will plan ahead next year and locate good wood in June/​July to avoid paying premium prices.

Dean Innovations takes yard debris now.
Don’t go there.
It is limited. I don’t believe they should offer that with their terrible customer service.
I walked into the office and didn’t see anyone at the front desk. There was a young woman at the back desk. she ignored me and continued speaking on the phone.
I decided to get the dumping out of the way and return to pay after. At wich point another older woman showed up and voiced her displeasure with what i had done.
They charged me for 1.5 yards for a penalty.
That is terrible customer service and i will make the longer drive to McFalrans where their operation is right.
I am sure they know who this is and I Do not care. I want my $ back.
However the white lightning soil is a great product. I used to spend plenty of money on quality product there.

Just reordered for this year’s crazy Portland winters and I can’t wait for that juniper smell. These guys are great– friendly, helpful and a fantastic resource for wood. It will see you through the rainy season. Can’t recommend these guys enough and I just got my mom to order some too.

I already knew Dean’s «White Lightening» soil was the best in town, but I didn’t know that would also describe their Service!
I kinda of «bocked“at the idea of paying extra for each type of soil delivery, but soon learned the value and reason behind it. Your second and third type of soil takes up the space for a complete new delivery.
But that’s beside the point. I borrowed a friends 2 yr old trailer. It drove nice. But when I got to Deans, Robert was concerned about the Bearings. The trailer seemed wobbly. He highly encouraged me to check it out at Les Schwab saying, «I just don’t want you to have a very bad day». So I trotted, trailer in tow, to LS. They said they’d «seen worse» but were even more concerned about the tires.
I opted to take both their advice, went back to buy bags of White Lightening and proceeded to order 8 yds of 1 step lower than White Lightening and a beautiful dark brown compost.
When it delivered, I got White Lightening
How nice!
Back to my point. They probably DID prevent me from having «A Really Bad Day» or even saved my life and that of others! My friends hubby (who probably didn’t want his wife’s friend to borrow it in the first place) was at first a little offended that I didn’t use the trailer after borrowing it, but he shot down to Les Schwab, bought new tires and had his bearings packed. If Robert didn’t save lives that day, he saved my friend’s family’s life, I’m sure. They planned on using it for soil the next day!
Need I say more? Forever a Fan!
And I’m going to have the best Flippin’ Garden you’ve ever seen this year!
I feel I should just add that they were out if the blend that I ordered, and upgraded me. Please don’t Expect the Upgrade, but it was sure appreciated!
Kathie

I went to Dean Innovations to get some firewood for my outdoor fire pit. The people that helped me spent time explaining the pros and cons of each type of wood. As well as I found that they had a wide range of landscape products. I ordered some topsoil have planted some plans in it. I can not believe how well my plants are doing!!! Thank you Dean Innovations!!!

Building a fire that burns through the evening is not an easy task. At least that’s what I thought until I got myself some Juniper and Pine yesterday from Dean Innovations. I drove over to their lot to check out the wood and the prices, and to get some help on what I was doing wrong. Turns out what I was doing wrong was burning crappy wood that my dad had given me. Nigel talked me through the different wood types, the benefits of each, then he split some down for me so I had a good mix of small, medium and large pieces. Success! I couldn’t be happier with this dry and well-​seasoned wood. I finally know how to build a warm fire that lasts all evening! It takes more than a match and crumpled up paper. Yeah, it’s all in the wood.
Great customer service and great product, you can trust these guys.

Thanks Paul, Sue, and company! I bought a nearly a cord of NW Hardwood mix over the weekend. Wood was well seasoned and beautiful. (Make sure you stack and measure wood or you’ll end up short).The staff was professional and provided excellent customer service. Thanks again, see you next year…

I would never recommend Deans Innovations. We ordered sand & gravel from them to be delivered. After finding out they will only take a debit card 3 days in advance, going to the bank to get cash or a money order, they delivered the materials at a time not specified by us. I called them the AM of the delivery and told them when to deliver. They did not deliver at the agreed upon time. They unloaded the materials onto a city side walk. After calling about the delivery, I was told to hire a neighborhood boy to move it. We do not have any «boys» in the neighborhood more than 6 years old. Lousy service. I am almost 70 years old and had to more the materials myself. I would never recommend this company.

So more on the not calling for updates…
A couple of days ago one of their trucks pulls up in front of our house and starts to unload bundles of firewood. I told them they must have the wrong address but they assured me the wood was indeed for me. They explained that they were giving me 6 bundles of Juniper since I did not get any Juniper in my blend. Um, awesome! Super stoked to finally get some Juniper in the house and thought it was really sweet of them to make the special delivery. Such a pleasant surprise. But still, it was a surprise. A call for a heads up would’ve been nice. What if I wasn’t home? Nonetheless, that earned them an extra star.

See my earlier review (below)
After a week or so, I was contacted by Dean Innovations regarding the problem with my order. To their credit, they «made it right» and did so with a smile. Paul (their representative) was easy to work with and understood my frustration.
Really Appreciate the follow-​up and will use Dean Innovations again.
Kudos!
PREVIOUS REVIEW***********************
Ordered 1 cord of firewood — half Tamarack, half hardwood.
The Good: Delivered on time, at the right address. A true «cord» of wood (no shortages)
The Bad: The wood is fairly wet through and through. The Tamarack isn’t as bad, but the hardwood is definitely not seasoned. One piece of hardwood still had bark and FERNS shooting out from it (yes, live, tiny plants growing in the supposedly «dry» hardwood).
The Mediocre: I was a little disappointed that the driver didn’t put a tarp on top of the pile, too, since I left it near the delivery point and asked for him to cover it due to the rain. I realize that was an «above and beyond» request.
At the end of the day, I tried Dean Innovations in the hope that spending more money would mean a better quality product. Unfortunately, I would have been better off gambling with Craig’s List. I see Dean reads these reviews — perhaps they’ll make it right.

I found them online, prices were competitive though I had to do all the work. ¼ cord mixed with a bundle of kindling just over a $ 100 and I stacked it in my car, then over the 6′ fence at home and then restacked in the yard.
Now, sitting with a beer infront of the fire waiting for dinner to finish. Wood was dry, lit relatively easiy (first time with this fireplace) and I’m happy.
Enough said.

Ordered a cord of 2 year seasoned Juniper ($ 267). They were able to deliver the day after I ordered it. (Additional $ 50 for delivery to close-​in SE Portland) The delivery driver was very nice and communicated clearly about where he could dump the wood.
The wood itself was so dry that after we stacked it all, there was a huge amount of small pieces and bark that had come off the logs to use for kindling. Glad I didn’t buy more than one bundle of kindling. I don’t think we’ll need it all Winter. I think the guys here err on the side of generosity because it looks like more than a cord to me. Good value for the money.
I recommend the Juniper. It burns slowly enough that you don’t have to throw logs on every half hour like softer wood, and it pops and crackles a lot. Also, order before November 1^st if you can, because prices go up after that.