Ecoteck Issue - Why you shouldn't buy from anyone going out of business

Why would the distributor not honor any warranty claims on a product that was obviously defective from the manufacturer?

hemlock said:

Why would the distributor not honor any warranty claims on a product that was obviously defective from the manufacturer?

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Like, seriously?

johnnycomelately said:

hemlock said:

Why would the distributor not honor any warranty claims on a product that was obviously defective from the manufacturer?

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Like, seriously?

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Like, yeah.

If someone buys a product of ours 1000 miles away, and has an issue with it that turns out to be a manufacturer defect, then they are able to return it to any authorized sevcice centre for warranty repairs. Thats kind of how it a warranty works....

smwilliamson said:

That's what is wrong in the world of pellet heating. Happens more than you would care to know. If you buy a stove on the internet new...who comes out to your house to inspect a warranty claim and authorize it? I will not go out there for a $45 credit. Already had to eat $271.00 for a service call on a Napoleon internet purchase were the guy stopped payment on my check after he found out Napoleon was not going to reimburse him for my service fee. Nice.

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I could sort of understand the reluctance from an internet pruchase (there no real way to verify the integrity of the product), but if a product was sold by an authorized dealer, then I would say that good business ethics would suggest that the warranty should be valid and transferable, regardless of whether or not an individual dealer went bankrupt.

Wow, that's disappointing. They're real nice looking stoves though. Kind of like the new Fiat 500, all show & no go.

smwilliamson said:

I Have a customer who took advantage of Northland Distribution's clearance sale of Ecotecks. Northland was the importer and distributor for Ecoteck, but is filing for bankruptcy protection. While all new stoves come with warranty from the manufacturer, the new distributor is NOT honoring any warranty claims from Northland.

Here are the issues the stove I looked at yesterday.

Very shotty welds. The weld for the door seal flange was in the way of the door hinge causing the door not to seal in the upper left corner....so we had to cut the hinge to get it to lay flat. The ash drawer will not close because the welds for the pass throughs are too high...so we had to grind those down. Lastly, the door striker would not close the microswitch for the door because the hnager for the Mojelica panels were mounted too far forward, so those needed to be relocated. Not bad for a $4200.00 stove.

Oh...one more thing....the burnpot expanded on the first fire and could not be removed from the air box. During our investigation we found 4 machine screws that were completely stripped within the frame of the stove. Nice.
$365.00 service call to go through the stove and get it to work properly.

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I shouldn't comment but can't resist, sounds like made in china sub assemblies. Debatable metal, poor welding, and out of tolerance assembly.

Now if I could find a European import database I might be able to find out if that is indeed the case. Follow the metal.

I also bought an Ecoteck from Northland. Mine is working perfectly, and the construction quality is first rate. These stoves are made in Italy. I can't imagine how this seemingly one example of a crappy problematic Ecoteck was born????? I suspected that my warrantee may be essentially non-existent when I bought mine a few months ago, but I can deal with fixing these things, and was wiling to accept that for the significant discount on the price. The only real replacement part problem might be the control board...there is no way to get one through aftermarket channels....

It was probably "built on a Monday". %-P

Pelleting In NJ said:

I also bought an Ecoteck from Northland. Mine is working perfectly, and the construction quality is first rate. These stoves are made in Italy. I can't imagine how this seemingly one example of a crappy problematic Ecoteck was born????? I suspected that my warrantee may be essentially non-existent when I bought mine a few months ago, but I can deal with fixing these things, and was wiling to accept that for the significant discount on the price. The only real replacement part problem might be the control board...there is no way to get one through aftermarket channels....

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PA_Clinker said:

It was probably "built on a Monday". %-P

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After a few bottles of vino!

That really does appear to be one really Achilles Heel of the pellet stove route. The manufacturers don't really reimburse the dealers for the service calls properly. Basically, they DON'T STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT. To pay $45 for a service call is crazy. They should have a realistic set rate per mile to go to the customer and then a flat rate book like the auto industry has for repairs. It wouldn't be that hard. If the screwed up auto people can do it, a relatively simple stove should have something similar. IMHO, pellet stove manufacturers are shooting themselves in the foot. When one steps forward and supports their product properly, the word will get around and their sales will skyrocket.

tjnamtiw said:

PA_Clinker said:

It was probably "built on a Monday". %-P

Click to expand...

After a few bottles of vino!

That really does appear to be one really Achilles Heel of the pellet stove route. The manufacturers don't really reimburse the dealers for the service calls properly. Basically, they DON'T STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCT. To pay $45 for a service call is crazy. They should have a realistic set rate per mile to go to the customer and then a flat rate book like the auto industry has for repairs. It wouldn't be that hard. If the screwed up auto people can do it, a relatively simple stove should have something similar. IMHO, pellet stove manufacturers are shooting themselves in the foot. When one steps forward and supports their product properly, the word will get around and their sales will skyrocket.

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AFAIK auto makers tell the dealership what the warranty reimbursment is going to be.

When your an auto technician on flat rate pay its awfully tough to make money on warranty repairs.

Ask me how I know.

smoke show said:

AFAIK auto makers tell the dealership what the warranty reimbursment is going to be.

When your an auto technician on flat rate pay its awfully tough to make money on warranty repairs.

Ask me how I know.

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From what I've seen, you lose on some and win on others.

No, I meant for the auto repair industry, win some and lose some.

Having worked for several different manufacturers in the hearth business let me point out a few things.

1) The new distributor is the importer not the manufacturer.

2) Warranty claims are not paid mileage to keep dealers in their areas.

3) No dealer is obligated to work on something the dealer did not sell. If they were, everyone would be buying off the internet. The servicing dealer could not keep their doors open.

4) Some dealers beat the manufacturers to death over warranties.

5) No manufacturer can afford service techs all over the country.

6) If a servicing dealer ends up with a nightmare caused by the manufacturer most good companies will negotiate a fee before hand.

When I was a retailer if I pitched a product to someone and that someone bought it somewhere else. I would not work on it or install it. If I did, I made the same amount as if I sold the product in the first place.

Just my .02

Could be worse, they could a have bought a new SAAB with 3 years free maintenance from a bankrupt company.

IronFire said:

Having worked for several different manufacturers in the hearth business let me point out a few things.

1) The new distributor is the importer not the manufacturer.

2) Warranty claims are not paid mileage to keep dealers in their areas.

3) No dealer is obligated to work on something the dealer did not sell. If they were, everyone would be buying off the internet. The servicing dealer could not keep their doors open.

4) Some dealers beat the manufacturers to death over warranties.

5) No manufacturer can afford service techs all over the country.

6) If a servicing dealer ends up with a nightmare caused by the manufacturer most good companies will negotiate a fee before hand.

When I was a retailer if I pitched a product to someone and that someone bought it somewhere else. I would not work on it or install it. If I did, I made the same amount as if I sold the product in the first place.

Just my .02

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It's unfortunate the hearth business operates that way. It will probably be a stumbling block for it. In my business (construction equipment), the warranty follows the equipment. So long as it was sold by an authorized sales/service centre, the warranty is valid at any authorized service centre (how it should be). It can "suck" for the dealer that did not sell it, but in the end, it is our problem. Why should a customer be on the hook for a defective piece of equipment?
From what you are describing - warranties on hearth equipment are not worth the paper they are printed on. They are a dealer warranty - not a manufacturuer warranty - and they should stop advertising and selling them on "warranties" that really don't exist in the first place.

IronFire said:

Having worked for several different manufacturers in the hearth business let me point out a few things.

1) The new distributor is the importer not the manufacturer.

2) Warranty claims are not paid mileage to keep dealers in their areas.

3) No dealer is obligated to work on something the dealer did not sell. If they were, everyone would be buying off the internet. The servicing dealer could not keep their doors open.

4) Some dealers beat the manufacturers to death over warranties.

5) No manufacturer can afford service techs all over the country.

6) If a servicing dealer ends up with a nightmare caused by the manufacturer most good companies will negotiate a fee before hand.

When I was a retailer if I pitched a product to someone and that someone bought it somewhere else. I would not work on it or install it. If I did, I made the same amount as if I sold the product in the first place.

Just my .02

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From your statements, I can get a sense as to why you no longer are a dealer.
Warranty claims should include a mileage reimbursement from the manufacturer up to the radius to the next closest dealer.

A manufacturer doesn't have to personally support/hire service techs 'all over the country'. They are the dealers that the manufacturer has made arrangements with to sell and SUPPORT their product.

If a customer comes to your store for advice and to learn about pellet stoves and then goes elsewhere to buy one, there's a reason. Either you didn't give him a decent price or he got a bad feeling about your ability to service the stove or your knowledge of the stove or maybe your trustworthyness (sorry).

Just as others pointed out, if a manufacturer wants to stay in business, he must insure that the warranty is supported by any service center. If I move, my stoves will probably go with me, but then who would service them? My cars will still be serviced at the new location. My refrigerator will still be serviced locally. My TV will be serviced locally. My stove will still be serviced locally so why not my stove??? It's stupid policy!

Your last statement pretty well sums up your overall feeling about supporting a product and trying to help out a potential SECOND purchaser. If he comes to you to install a stove he got somewhere else, maybe second hand, and you tell him to go scratch, he sure as heck wouldn't ever come back to you. He'd probably tell his friends to steer away from you as well. Maybe that's why you are out of business!

tjnamtiw said:

Your last statement pretty well sums up your overall feeling about supporting a product and trying to help out a potential SECOND purchaser. If he comes to you to install a stove he got somewhere else, maybe second hand, and you tell him to go scratch, he sure as heck wouldn't ever come back to you. He'd probably tell his friends to steer away from you as well. Maybe that's why you are out of business!

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Did you read what I wrote? I said if "I pitched a product and they bought it somewhere else." My store was in a ski area with a lot of second homes. So people who had there second home in my area came into my store. I pitched them the product they then went back to the major metro area and cash and carried the product. Usually coming back to me pulling out my quote and saying we want you to install it for what you quoted here. Never happened. My fixed costs were much higher at a ski area than at the major metro area where they cash and carried it. Get it?

I never installed used product.

Finally who said I went out of business? That store is still there and I still sell my ex-wife product.

tjnamtiw said:

From what I've seen, you lose on some and win on others.

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I am assuming you have first hand expierence to back up that statement?

From what I've seen, you lose on most and win on few. But what do I know.

Regarding the auto industry.

smwilliamson said:

I Have a customer who took advantage of Northland Distribution's clearance sale of Ecotecks. Northland was the importer and distributor for Ecoteck, but is filing for bankruptcy protection. While all new stoves come with warranty from the manufacturer, the new distributor is NOT honoring any warranty claims from Northland.

Here are the issues the stove I looked at yesterday.

Very shotty welds. The weld for the door seal flange was in the way of the door hinge causing the door not to seal in the upper left corner....so we had to cut the hinge to get it to lay flat. The ash drawer will not close because the welds for the pass throughs are too high...so we had to grind those down. Lastly, the door striker would not close the microswitch for the door because the hnager for the Mojelica panels were mounted too far forward, so those needed to be relocated. Not bad for a $4200.00 stove.

Oh...one more thing....the burnpot expanded on the first fire and could not be removed from the air box. During our investigation we found 4 machine screws that were completely stripped within the frame of the stove. Nice.

$365.00 service call to go through the stove and get it to work properly.

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If he saved alot more that $365 on the sale price then it was well worth it! Right?