Hate this stuff. But, this needs to be said. I have used Dixon quick disconnects for 30 years. Never had a failure like this. Brought it to my local distributor; Associated Hose, and Dixon. Warned them I would be bringing this to your attention. Their response is below.
These components were installed on the CIP line on our fermentation vessels and brights. We have been doing this for 15 years. We installed a new brewhouse and several new tanks in May-2015. Bought 10 stainless Dixon quick disconnects at that time. Associated hose knew it. We had discussions about the new system and what we were doing. Started having trouble maintaining pressure on these tanks in about October-2016. Finally had several failures and nailed the problem down in December-2016. These components are $23.75 each. They should last longer than 18 months!
It is my opinion that Dixon is letting the quality slide by using a sub-standard stainless. I never had these problems before this. This is a warning to anyone using or planning to use these components. They will rust and fail. I will let you all evaluate Associated Hose Products in Portland Oregon, and their performance in this situation. I can tell you that they are no longer on our approved vendor list!
Ken Johnson
Fearless Brewing Company
----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Rodney Evans [mailto:rod@ahphose.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 2, 2017 11:26 AM
To: kj@fearless1.com
Cc: cjarman@dixonvalve.com
Subject: RE: FW: Dixon 2F stainless quick disconnects
Ken, We don't need a week. It's unfortunate that you are unhappy with your misuse of this product. We stand behind Dixon Valves quality and so do they. The quick connects are long past their warranty period. It's unfortunate that you are causing so much of an issue over $95.00 dollars worth of products that you used for a year and a half incorrectly. We have sold hundreds of these couplings to breweries all over the country, we have had no other issues regarding this product. We are sorry that you feel you have been wronged, but there will be no credit or replacement for this product. If that causes you to not want to do business with Associated Hose Products Inc. in the future than so be it.
Regards,
Patrick Evans.
P.S. By the way we never took vacation.
________________________________________
From: Ken Johnson [kj@fearless1.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2017 2:09 PM
To: 'Chris Jarman'
Cc: Rodney Evans
Subject: RE: FW: Dixon 2F stainless quick disconnects
OK Fellas,
Our vacations are over. Production is back in swing. New employees are trained. I can get back to projects now. This situation is one. So everyone wants to ignore this instead of treating it as a chance to learn about our customers and how to better serve them. You’d rather be right than take an opportunity to display excellent customer service to your employees, your customer base, and the industry in general. OK, I understand.
That just isn’t the way I do business personally. If a customer complains about a keg or a can of beer, I replace it or give them their money back, period. I may bitch about it to myself, but it gets fixed cheerfully at the time. I used to be in the automotive aftermarket industry. Same deal. We did what it took to take care of the customer. I didn’t sell components I knew were not right for the application. Not because I couldn’t have. But, because it isn’t honest! That was my job to make sure the customer got the right component. My customers didn’t build engines or grind crankshafts for a living. I did! Even if they didn’t know better, I did. It’s called integrity. Look it up. That’s just the kind of businessman I want to be. It certainly hasn’t hurt me in the end. Sometimes it stings at the time! But, I look in the mirror and like who I see. The goodwill has followed me all these years and comes back in spades!
I want you to know that brewers tend to gab about work as much or more than any industry extant. We tend to make a big deal about stuff and people that work. And, about stuff and people that don’t. I’m going to take these photos of my connectors; assembled and disassembled, and share this with the world specifically targeting my industry. You can hide behind this inferior stainless you use and how you disclosed this and how I should have known. But, you know better. You shouldn’t be selling these inferior components to the brewing industry. You both know it. I will give you both till the end of the week to fix this.
Ken Johnson
Fearless Brewing Company
These components were installed on the CIP line on our fermentation vessels and brights. We have been doing this for 15 years. We installed a new brewhouse and several new tanks in May-2015. Bought 10 stainless Dixon quick disconnects at that time. Associated hose knew it. We had discussions about the new system and what we were doing. Started having trouble maintaining pressure on these tanks in about October-2016. Finally had several failures and nailed the problem down in December-2016. These components are $23.75 each. They should last longer than 18 months!
It is my opinion that Dixon is letting the quality slide by using a sub-standard stainless. I never had these problems before this. This is a warning to anyone using or planning to use these components. They will rust and fail. I will let you all evaluate Associated Hose Products in Portland Oregon, and their performance in this situation. I can tell you that they are no longer on our approved vendor list!
Ken Johnson
Fearless Brewing Company
----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Rodney Evans [mailto:rod@ahphose.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 2, 2017 11:26 AM
To: kj@fearless1.com
Cc: cjarman@dixonvalve.com
Subject: RE: FW: Dixon 2F stainless quick disconnects
Ken, We don't need a week. It's unfortunate that you are unhappy with your misuse of this product. We stand behind Dixon Valves quality and so do they. The quick connects are long past their warranty period. It's unfortunate that you are causing so much of an issue over $95.00 dollars worth of products that you used for a year and a half incorrectly. We have sold hundreds of these couplings to breweries all over the country, we have had no other issues regarding this product. We are sorry that you feel you have been wronged, but there will be no credit or replacement for this product. If that causes you to not want to do business with Associated Hose Products Inc. in the future than so be it.
Regards,
Patrick Evans.
P.S. By the way we never took vacation.
________________________________________
From: Ken Johnson [kj@fearless1.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2017 2:09 PM
To: 'Chris Jarman'
Cc: Rodney Evans
Subject: RE: FW: Dixon 2F stainless quick disconnects
OK Fellas,
Our vacations are over. Production is back in swing. New employees are trained. I can get back to projects now. This situation is one. So everyone wants to ignore this instead of treating it as a chance to learn about our customers and how to better serve them. You’d rather be right than take an opportunity to display excellent customer service to your employees, your customer base, and the industry in general. OK, I understand.
That just isn’t the way I do business personally. If a customer complains about a keg or a can of beer, I replace it or give them their money back, period. I may bitch about it to myself, but it gets fixed cheerfully at the time. I used to be in the automotive aftermarket industry. Same deal. We did what it took to take care of the customer. I didn’t sell components I knew were not right for the application. Not because I couldn’t have. But, because it isn’t honest! That was my job to make sure the customer got the right component. My customers didn’t build engines or grind crankshafts for a living. I did! Even if they didn’t know better, I did. It’s called integrity. Look it up. That’s just the kind of businessman I want to be. It certainly hasn’t hurt me in the end. Sometimes it stings at the time! But, I look in the mirror and like who I see. The goodwill has followed me all these years and comes back in spades!
I want you to know that brewers tend to gab about work as much or more than any industry extant. We tend to make a big deal about stuff and people that work. And, about stuff and people that don’t. I’m going to take these photos of my connectors; assembled and disassembled, and share this with the world specifically targeting my industry. You can hide behind this inferior stainless you use and how you disclosed this and how I should have known. But, you know better. You shouldn’t be selling these inferior components to the brewing industry. You both know it. I will give you both till the end of the week to fix this.
Ken Johnson
Fearless Brewing Company
Comment