Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/14/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hilltown pork lost power during the storm and 30 people lost livestock they had killed up there, thousands of pounds of meat that farmers and their families rely on for food and income. I lost 10000$ worth of saleable heritage pork and thousands of dollars in time and feed personally. This is a huge hit to me as a start up first generation farmer. Richard the owner refuses to do anything about it, claiming "well thats farming". It's obviously not farming and a fault of the owner for not having a backup generator as I'm sure this isn't the first time losses have occurred, and it's the exact reason for having insurance. I conversed with him on the phone and upon asking him questions he immediately flipped out and started screaming and yelling at me as I remained calm. He refused to claim insurance, he started screaming when I asked about why he didnt have generator. He insisted that even if he called me to come get my pork I wouldn't have driven the hour to pick it up, which I would have obviously. The animals were under his care, they should he his businesses responsibility and now I and about 30 other small farmers are at a loss. I would like a refund for at least the price of the pork. Being a start up farmer that was 10k in gross towards my AG tax exemption and was supposed to help repay the feed cost and infrastructure money spent to raise the pigs.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/14/2023

  Good Morning,

  Please let me begin my response to the above com*****t by ex*****ing that the person who filed this com*****t is not a customer of ours.  They used a third party in order to gain a slaughter slot, and therefore are a customer of a customer.  We have no business relationship with them now or in the past.  Any correspondences to the matter they are referring have been discussed in detail with our actual customer, ***** **** ****, with the expectation that they would be in contact with Mr and Mrs *****.  The letter that is attached is the recent update that was sent to ***** **** **** in regards to this matter showing that there has been an insurance inquiry and possible reimbursement is being researched at this time.  

  As far as the complaint itself, it is filled with lies and slander.  Not that it is actually the business of the complainant but there were only 3 customers affected by the act of nature that led to the loss of the carcasses in question (not 30 as the complaint claims).  As far as the phone conversation that the individual had with one of our owners (Richard), the complainant called and began screaming at Richard without giving opportunity to respond or explain  This phone call was witnessed by the owners wife and was relayed to the owners of ***** **** **** after the phone call was complete.  Had the complaint allowed for a conversation to ensue they may have learned that the loss was completely unavoidable due to the timing of the power outage and the strict HACCP regulations that we must adhere to as a USDA Inspected facility in order to avoid possible contamination to the public.  We do not allow the possibility of someone getting sick, it's that simple.  

  Please read the attached letter explaining the loss and the steps being taken to help any farmers affected mitigate their loss to the best of our ability.

  Thank you,

  Ben B*******

  Business Response

  Date: 09/21/2023

  Good afternoon.

  This will be our last correspondence regarding this matter as we are already in the works to help our customers mitigate losses that occurred during our power outage, but feel maybe this complainant and/or the BBB needs some final clarification so we can all move on from here.

  1 - There was at no time any negligent behavior on the part of Hilltown Pork Inc.  Hilltown Pork acted under their USDA HACCP plan and in accordance to all Federal regulations and laws to ensure that no compromised food products reached any of our customers or the general public.  Therefore Hilltown Pork Inc's actions were the opposite of negligent.  Continued use of that term toward Hilltown's actions could be considered slander and harassing.  There are no USDA regulations that require back up generators, and the suggestions that employees or owners should have been traveling in a very severe weather event in order to check on the facility is ridiculous and a real indication of lack of character of the complainant.  The safety of our staff and family is always first.  By the time the weather event (which lasted for multiple hours) had subsided we were there to check on our facility and evaluate, which is when the condemned carcasses were deemed unsafe for consumption.

  2 - Insurance was filed as soon as it was able to be.  The complainant seems confused on when that was able to happen.  No the claim was not immediately filed because in order to file a claim all losses must be discovered and evaluated, which took several days.  As stated previously, the complainant is not our customer.  There was an appointment booked by ***** **** ****s for pork slaughter (Kill Only/no cutting), ***** **** ****s arranged transportation of livestock, the product was to be picked up and paid for by ***** **** ****s.  We did not even know the name of the com*****ant until this com*****t came to us.  So therefore all information regarding this matter and insurance claims has been directed to ***** **** ****.  As far as the amount claimed, we had to make a claim for the market value by pork carcass (not retail cuts) as that was the product we were handling.  If the com*****ant feels they lost revenue from the incident which would have come from the possible sale of retail cut pork products (which were to be processed by ***** **** ****, not Hilltown Pork) they should consider filing an insurance claim with their own business' insurance company as other of our customers have.  We cannot claim potential lost revenue of their business on our business' insurance, especially when they are not our customer and there is no way to prove the monetary amount they are stating considering that they made the statement of monetary amount before even knowing how much the carcasses weighed after slaughter, nor the final cut weights.  As far as the examples of pricing they included there was no mention of the actual cuts of pork.  To assume that things like fatback, feet, and other lower end cuts would price the same as pork chops, ribs, or tenderloins is very misleading but that is something they can take up with their insurance company.  

  3 - Please keep in mind this was an act of nature.  At times of crisis, especially in the tight knit agriculture industry, people come together to help support one another.  All 3 of our farmer customers affected by this unfortunate event fully understood and have been very kind and helpful.  Between those 3 customers they have over 125 years of farming experience collectvely.  It is unfortunate that the com*****tant does not understand such a situtation as well, but we wish them well on their continued farming experience.