Repairmen

[MommyOf4]

Is there a way to find a list of stove repairmen in a certain area (I'm in Southern MD)? The more comments I read, the more I don't want to pay the ridiculous fees my guy will charge if it's not a warranty issue. Also, do we have to use the repairmen from the dealer that we purchased from to get a warranty issue fixed for free?

 

[ekarlis]

Mommy of 4:
Usually the mfg will supply the part & not the labor. I suggest that you read your warranty & ask your dealer.
Some Mfg's are fussy & want certified tech's working on their equipment. If the mfg supplies parts, look for a
retired HVAC guy (that's heating ventlling & a/c) or some one that knows how to trouble shoot to install the parts.
I am retired & charge a flat $35/hr & guaranteey work. Look in Craigs List or put an add. Be careful & get reffernces
before you let some one in the house. I hate to see women get ripped off(monmtery wise).If you need help or
advise, there are enough good people here to give you an honest answer.
Let know how we can help,
Ed

 

[smwilliamson]

DONT LOOK ON CRAIGSLIST! Mostly that's where people go to get "cheap" work or find customers who are willing to have just about anybody out..as long as they work cheap.

Cheap means unlicensed, uninsured, unskilled, untrained and unruly!, in most cases. I work behind these hacks all the time. I would suggest looking in NFICertified.org and find an NFI trained and certified pellet specialist.

 

[smwilliamson]

do we have to use the repairmen from the dealer that we purchased from to get a warranty issue fixed for free?

Chances are yes. You have an HHT stove so you need to find an HHT dealer. Goodluck finding one that will work for free after you deprived him of the profit from your stove...not my sentiment but thats how a lot of these guys think.

 

[MommyOf4]

Chances are yes. You have an HHT stove sop you need to find an HHT dealer. Goodluck finding one that will work for free after you deprived him of the profit from your stove...not my sentiment but thats how a lot of these guys think.

Our stove guy said that if our stove issue is a warranty is then the parts AND labor would be covered. I should probably stick with our guy then, huh?

 

[MommyOf4]

Mommy of 4:
Usually the mfg will supply the part & not the labor. I suggest that you read your warranty & ask your dealer.
Some Mfg's are fussy & want certified tech's working on their equipment. If the mfg supplies parts, look for a
retired HVAC guy (that's heating ventlling & a/c) or some one that knows how to trouble shoot to install the parts.
I am retired & charge a flat $35/hr & guaranteey work. Look in Craigs List or put an add. Be careful & get reffernces
before you let some one in the house. I hate to see women get ripped off(monmtery wise).If you need help or
advise, there are enough good people here to give you an honest answer.
Let know how we can help,
Ed

I've realized that they will try and rip women off, but that's when I get my husband on the phone and tell him everything with the person next to me. I've had prices drop from $900 to it being covered under warranty. It helps having a husband who's an electrical engineer, but what doesn't help is him working all the time. lol

 

[stovelark]

Hello- Nothing is more frustrating to folks than your dilemna thats why its not always good to go with just prices especially on pellet stoves and not finding out about the dealer service before you buy from. In your case, it may not have mattered. I've only worked at dealers here in CT, don't understand why the attitude exist not to help a customer regardless of where they bought their stove?? If its warranty work you need to go through the dealer you purchased from, that makes sense. Most dealers will want you to go through the dealer that you purchased from as Scott said above because you gave them the profit on the sale. We've done warranty work for other dealers but its not the norm. If you have a good working relationship with the mfr or distributor, sometimes they'll let that happen. I stress helping anyone anytime you can, I'm not being a great guy only, I'm hoping to get you as a customer, for a cleaning or help down the road too. There's a lot of good techs out there, hopefully your dealer has one. Good luck

Stovelark
Enviro EF3 FS pellet
Enviro Empress FPI AC pellet
Enviro 1700 Kodiak FS wood

 

[latichever]

I've found that having a repair from the dealer does not guarantee competency. The service manager from where I purchased my stove knows his stuff, and is NFI certified. But the actual people they send out--not so much. When I was having a problem with my stove--fan speed not changing--I had to show the guy they sent over how to turn the stove on. When the fire went on but the fan speed did not ramp up, he said the stove was fine, that I should live with it. So I went on to learn how to change the control board on my own, and then went to one of our favorite independent techs.