Harvest Right Freeze Dryer Reviews

I have a brand new freeze dryer with the oil-free pump option. I cannot tell you how loud this thing is, not to mention all the pretty ads have these things in a kitchen...for real!?! Try having a conversation over the top of a running vacuum cleaner, and then also add a noisy freezer.

Plainly stated in the instruction manual is "use only in well-ventilated area". Well, I assumed my open concept kitchen/living room area would be well vented enough...it's NOT. The manual further notes not to sleep in a room where a freeze dryer is running. And we soon found out why!

Whatever is exhausted from an oil-free pump is still enough to give us all headaches (freon maybe??). And why is there no exhaust tube on either the oil pump or the oil-free pump to run an exhaust outside? Other vacuum pumps I have owned have exhaust tubing to run out-of-doors. I ran one load and hope-to-God they take it back without taking an arm and a leg too. This thing is miserable.

The HarvestRight Medium freeze dryer is pretty much a $3,000 hunk of junk and basic customer service is lacking. We purchased it from Ace Hardware in mid June 2022. After 3 days of use, the unit began leaking oil. It was clearly a bad part. We went back and forth with customer service many times. Our point person was not responsive and no one else could find any notes from previous calls. It was like starting over every single time. And rarely did anyone follow through with promised call backs. Many weeks later, HarvestRight finally agreed that the original part was bad and said they would send us a new one. The catch, its back ordered for an unknown period of time. So two months later after just three days of usage and far more time put into just trying to resolve the issue with HarvestRight, there it sits. Will it ever work again? I hope so, because so far the usage cost is running at $1,000 per day.

Didn't work right out of the box. Couldn't even get past the vacuum. It could be an easy fix. It could be an o-ring. But after the experience I had with customer support, and seeing all the reviews telling future Harvest Right owners that your machine WILL stop working pretty quick into the experience, I decided that this was not a headache I wanted to deal with. So I asked for a refund.

Yep. I pay shipping - hundreds of dollars AND they want to BILL ME for being unsatisfied via some fictitious "restocking fee".

Maybe Harvest Right is a good company who just isn't ready to mass produce and stand by their product the way they should.

OR. Maybe they are scammers and they're just gonna take advantage of people when they are scared for as long as they can.

I have no idea. But time will tell. I will say this - when you are charging a "restocking fee" It's because you're getting so many people who are unsatisfied, you actually start losing money. Paying shipping - it's a bad move. But at least it's a REAL cost.

Restocking fee? That translates to "We know our product is bad and we're going to make you think real hard before you send it back for a refund".

Just my 2 cents.

Terrible. Machine breaks after a few weeks or months. Customer support cannot solve most people's issues. No refunds.

Purchasing a Harvest Right freeze dryer is one of our biggest regrets in life. Horrible waste of $3,000.

Please look at their page at the BBB. Awful.

Now there are Facebook pages dedicated to how horrible Harvest Right is.

I wish I had read reviews before spending over three thousand dollars on a Harvest Right Freeze dryer. Everything you read about their lousy service is right. My new F.D. failed after 6 weeks. I requested a service technician contact me. I have been instructed to rewire the unit twice.

I have sent several reports via thumb drive trying to trouble shoot the problem. One of the problems was a coolant leak. I sent the unit back to Utah and they recharged it, but did not fix the leak, so when it came back of course it failed on the first batch.

It has been six months of headaches and it still doesn't work. It's going to the dump.

Greetings! We have been using our Harvestright mid-sized freeze dryer for nearly a year when we experienced a vacuum error. The first thing we noticed was the error message on the display, so we checked the batch of fruit we’d been processing and it seemed to have a bit of moisture still present. Of course I blamed my sweet wife for over-using the machine and she blamed me for being born in the wrong century.

We contacted Harvestright by email and submitted a “ticket”. The next day a young-sounding woman with a charming name called to ask us about our issue. I’ve forgotten her name, but they each had clever and delightful names. I’ve come to the conclusion that all the service representatives are brothers and sisters and were named by the same parents.

Chad and Humberto were able to guide me to perform a series of tests on our unit and send them the data I collected on a thumb drive. Logically, they sent replacement parts that were the most likely, but least expensive, culprits for the vacuum leak.

At first, although they said it might be my vacuum pump, they sent me new gaskets and valves. More test data. Megan took over the diagnosis mission at that point and based on the test data, she immediately sent a replacement vacuum pump. It cleared up the vacuum issue completely and immediately. I had to retract the accusation I made at my wife in the beginning. However, she continues to insist that I might have fit in better if I had been born in the Nineteenth Century.

There you have it, you’re in good hands with the tech staff at Harvestright! Thanks guys!

Doug Barnes CF

My experience mirrors other disgruntled Harvestright freeze drier owners, wonderful food, terrible customer service. When th3e machine works it is a wonderful experience but if you expect it to keep working you had better line up with people outside of the Harvestright organization. If you are patient enough the "tech support" people will eventually call and talk to you. This has been my experience, talk only, no logical troubleshooting steps just sort of throw out some words and maybe something will stick. Find a group that will support you in your efforts to keep it working, that may be your only hope.

We have had a Medium Harvest Right Freeze-Dryer for a little over 3 years now. We love it! We have had a couple minor issues (control board shorted out) but they replaced it for a minor fee even though we were out of warranty.

If you realize this is a rather complex machine that needs regular maintenance, you will be fine. We built a back-flush for our oil pump that works great and is much easier than the manual filter system that comes with the unit.

If you are expecting something that is plug and play, this may not be for you, but it you recognize it needs some attention and you are willing to think outside the box to tweak a few things, it is a lot of fun and it preserves food wonderfully. We love ours and highly recommend it.

My mother and I both purchased a Harvest Right Freeze Dryer this past year. We are absolutely loving the machines. Easy to use and work very well. Hers has not had a problem at all. Mine has given me a couple of error messages.

I contacted the company and their customer service was timely and helpful. They had to send my info to a technician. It took a couple of days but he called and helped me with my problem. He also answered all my questions and explained everything very well.

With all the machines they have out there now I expected slow or bad service but I am very pleased with my experience.

I am very happy with my HarvestRight. I've done all kinds of snacks and prepared for disaster as well. Worth the money spent for a solid product.

The food is awesome. The cost is out of this world, which seems to be where they get their customer service agents.

I was shipped a bent unit concealed in a perfect box and since I didn't know to check everything before signing, they told me I was just screwed. They did finally send replacement parts, gurdgingly, and it was up to me to replace them.

The unit worked for about 2 weeks when I finally got it put together, and the oil pump started leaking. I wanted an oil free after seeing first hand how MUCH work was involved with the oil based. I was told I was in line (near the front) for units coming in in April. I called and called. Not in yet, Not in yet, then in May All gone. None left

Then I was "put in line" for ones coming in in May. I pre-paid $1.300 to make sure I would get one since I'd been waiting for over 2 months already. I started calling again and again. No in yet. Not in yet. I was desperate as it had been going on over 3 months at that time.

I emailed Jill at commonsensehomesteading (FB). Within 15 min, my new pump was on the way. Before the pump arrived, 6 months of my 1 year warranty was used up by Harvest Right. A 1 yr warranty for a unit costing $3,500?????????????

I'm 70 and have challenging health so I need to have affordable, easy prep food set by for my later years, or I NEVER would buy the unit. I'd wait for their competition.

If you need or want one now, DO NOT BUY DIRECT FROM HARVEST RIGHT. Buy from Jill, so you have someone who can get results on your side

I, too, read this review prior to purchasing a Harvest right unit. Presently, I am terribly disappointed with the customer service exhibited by the company and sincerely wish that we never made the purchase.

As a valued customer, veteran and small business owner, I have experienced a horrific journey with receiving a replacement vacuum pump for the dysfunctional unit that arrived with the freeze dryer. Today, after an extended non-resolution period, the following email was sent to Harvest right:

I have phoned and spoke with various representatives (Jared, Cody, Colby, etc.) consecutively for the past four days, requesting a tracking number for the replacement vacuum pump.

Having received no reply, erroneous tracking information and failed assurance that I would "receive the information via email," the level of customer service demonstrated has been abysmal.

I anticipate receiving the correct tracking information for the replacement vacuum pump today, 26 May 2017, as my business has been directly impacted by the promise that "it will cross the other vacuum pump in the mail"- Colby Turner, 22 May 2017.

If I do not receive the information, as promised by the aforementioned representatives, I will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and move forward with legally rectifying the situation.

Having been truly excited about my freeze dryer in the past, I am very disappointed with the customer care "run around" exhibited.

Madinah Slaise, MSN, RN-BC

Captain, US Air Force

**end email**

Having researched BBB reviews, I noticed that a complaint was filed which mirrored my experience without deviation.

Don't believe me, visit the BBB site and insert the following info:

Company: Harvestright.com

Location: North Salt Lake, Utah

Don't be fooled by the fancy youtube videos and website, harvestright is the worst company that I have ever encountered.