Why are my new Ventmatic faucets CRAP????

Just received the following email out of the blue:

PRESS REPLY - NOT NEW: This will allow us to read the complete conversation in one email.


Mr. -----,
Thank you for your four orders with our company. Your patronage is highly valued.

As per your post on HBT.com where you question the quality of our company, I would like to just let you know that the good service and timely shipping you have received on your four orders is what you may continue to expect. We are here for you and we do our best to serve your needs.
I wish I could tell you more about the Vent-Matic situation, but at this time, without having the v.3 in hand, we will refrain from commenting.
I hope that the comments posted by the field test volunteers in the near future will alie any questions you may have with the Vent-Matic Faucet.

Please treat this as a private communication.

Thank you,
Matt
The CHI Company.

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And sent the following one back:

Matt,

I don't own any Ventmatics, so I don't have a dog in the fight either way. I've always recommended stainless Perlicks and nothing else, other than stout faucets, beer machines and cask widges.

It is concerning that you find it perfectly acceptable to trace my HBT username to my email address to review order history with your company... yet simultaneously ask me to respect your privacy when you contact me unsolicited.

I've been recommending your business to friends that I knew brew and am aware that I've generated several sales for you. I've met you in person and conducted cash transactions with you several times. You seem like a genuine person every time I've met you in-the-flesh, so I'm not sure why you think you need to resort to cloak and dagger business tactics on the interwebs. With the speed of communication in the 21st century, calling for secrecy within your customer base just doesn't cut it.

I'm going to assume that you reached out to me via email because your HomeBrewTalk ban prevents you from doing so publicly. I'll also assume that you still have read-level access to the forums and will see my response in the Ventmatic thread you pulled my name from.

I hope you all the best and will continue to consider your company for future purchases, though they may be limited, as my homebrew funds are quickly shifting toward an electric brewery.

Regards,
Jeff

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Brazen! I'm soooo ready for a solution to this problem!


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Well I just got an email saying the replacement v3 faucets shipped to me today. I have high hopes... Guess we'll see in a couple days.

What an interesting turn of events! I'll be sure to keep my eye on how things play out.

Homercidal said:

What an interesting turn of events! I'll be sure to keep my eye on how things play out.

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Agreed... I was excited to get them on Christmas. When I opened and inspected them, I was less than impressed by a few things. The issue is I haven't used any other rear sealing faucets before, so I had nothing to compare it to. But on the other hand, I have a general idea of what a quality machined part is suppose to act and feel like. I didn't feel like I was holding a Ferrari. Let's just put it that way.

The finish seemed to lack quality. There were scratches on the outside. The inside wasn't polished. It had that cast stainless finish to it where it's kind of dull and bumpy. The bonnet didn't seem to tighten the handle, so when I had a tall Handel, it felt like it was going to open. The handle didn't even need to be heavy either.

The action was loose and floppy-not smooth or precise at all. It also seemed like each faucet wasn't consistent with its action around the bonnet. Some were more loose than others, but non felt smooth and precise. I thought maybe it would improve when liquid was inside. I used two of my 6. They were installed on my portable kegerator. All I can say is they poured beer. I wasn't overly impressed just because it didn't feel like a high quality faucet. I felt I like the action of the cheap chrome plated brass faucet with forward seals was better. I can say I didn't have any issues with leaks initially, but I also didn't use the rest after hearing about the recall.

I was going to return them or exchange them, but I decided to hold out for the v3. It's been a long wait, so I hope they got their act together. The emailed asked me to do a survey, so I'll be honest to a fault.

I live in Oregon and they ship from California, so I might see them tomorrow or Monday. I think I get some accessories spout tips to try out too. I hope I do. I have a 3vol saison and a 1.8vol stout I can try out to really see how it all performs.

Well I called Chi company to ask a few questions. They want me to participate in a survey, but there is no compensation. There's no compensation for going through the hassle and long period of waiting (from dec to now) it is what it is. Their customer service has been good. They've stood behind their product from day one, but it's still a hassle on my end.

So what they're doing is sending me my replacement faucets, and asking me to do a survey for them. If I'm happy with them, I keep them and were done. If I'm not, they replace them or refund me the money.

They provided free accessory tips in some of the packages and asked for them to be tested. The lucky recipients were selected by random. The shipper tossed some in the boxes at will. It could be one, it could be both or it could be nothing. Idk

I feel for the trouble and loyalty of waiting it out, everyone should get some free accessories.

As far as the faucet itself goes, he said nothing has changed other than the seals. The body is still the same. This means they probably didn't fix their finishing issues, so I'm not feeling too confident.

Can anyone tell me if the perlick insides are polished? I also want to know if the perlick bonnet cap part is SS? (The part the screws over the seals and has the lever coming out of it) I know the Ventmatic ones are cp brass. My handle scuffed it and it's showing yellow.

So are they sending the new seals and such to everyone who bought the faucets or do you have to call and ask for them?

I bought 3 towards the end of Nov or Dec I think, right before they stopped shipping them. I have heard anything about it from CHI lately.

disney7 said:

So are they sending the new seals and such to everyone who bought the faucets or do you have to call and ask for them?

I bought 3 towards the end of Nov or Dec I think, right before they stopped shipping them. I have heard anything about it from CHI lately.

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Mine were purchased dec 6th as a Christmas gift. I called and talked to them about it back in jan/feb.

Your best bet is to call. At first they said seal kits would go out. Then he told me everyone will get all new v3 faucets. But he asked me to email my info with a particular subject to get put on the list for replacement.

So.... I don't know, but I would assume you would in fact get a replacement.

They sent mine out already. It's in the mail. I expect to see them no later than Monday. But I also got an email about being a tester. I think they have 20/25 people testing them first to make sure they're good. So I think we get ours to test for a week. If they get the ok, they will start selling them again. He told me they've already gone through testing, but Chi wants to do one more set of tests to make sure 100%. I believe that's when they will replace all the others.

But again, call them to make sure. Don't email either. Just call.

I received my V3 faucets a week ago. I was asked to do a private survey and not release any info until after the week was over. I never agreed and after opening my faucets, I posted a review... Quickly I was asked to remove it. I spoke with Matt (owner of chi) and decided to oblige. He said after the week was over, post away... Here's my post:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/brand-new-vent-matic-v3-faucet-review-466758/

Finally I'm hopefully getting some resolution. Called CHI and am getting a pre paid shipping label to send the crapmatics back on a straight exchange for some Perlick 630SS. From what I was told is that when the new manufacturer of the Ventmatics started producing the problematic faucets they were building them based off of patent drawings that were released when they bought the rights to start manufacturing them. The problem was that the patent drawings apparently didn't match the specs of the tried and true design. From what I was told the new manufacturer of the ventmatic faucets has sourced an original faucet and is going back to the drawing board and basically reverse engineering an old version to hopefully get it right. I also learned that the field test of the V3 faucet failed and there was only a 60% success rate. Too little too late for most, I'll never consider ventmatic faucets again unless there are no other options out there. If that's the case... I may just start bottling! Lol


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FYI, we just received a shipment of these from the manufacture and we tested them thoroughly. We did not have any leaks during the testing, so I believe the new washer material has fixed the issue. We just listed them for sale and did a posting in the Vendor section.

KegconnectionLLC said:

FYI, we just received a shipment of these from the manufacture and we tested them thoroughly. We did not have any leaks during the testing, so I believe the new washer material has fixed the issue. We just listed them for sale and did a posting in the Vendor section.

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Shipment from who? I want to know who manufacture them now.

Chi company pulled them, and they're suppose to be going through an entire re-design from the ground up. There was WAY more issue than the leaks. Their castings were terrible. Their Quality control was non existent...etc.

Who cares if they're leak free when the finish on them is horrendous. Unless you're selling them at $20/ea, I'd save yourself the hassle.

I had 6 "version 2". I was given 6 more from "Version 3" all of them had pits in the metal, horrible threads, scuffed up to all hell... Evrything felt loose and floppy. The screw for a tap handle was like 1/4"... Point Blank... They were plain awful.

I got them swapped out with 6 perlick 630SS (and I kept two of the ventmatic v3 to throw onto my portable kegerator since I don't care about the finish on that. It'll get scuffed up anyway)

The Perlick faucets are BY FAR superior. Period! They're polished and absolutely beautiful. The inside is fully polished (ventmatics are rough casted on the inside)

I asked Matt at Chi to put me on his list to re-test the new ventmatics when (if) they come out...

Look at this post I made about the V3 faucets I received:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/brand-new-vent-matic-v3-faucet-review-466758/

If that's the type of quality product you peddle, I'll stay clear of your website for any of my needs.

+1 for the Perlick 630SS replacements from CHI. Sooo much better quality. I'm not putting my money down on a chance that they got it fixed, I had already given them 2 chances and the Ventmatics were still problematic. Even with revised seals the finish and action of them are inferior to Perlick.


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