Over the years I have looked at VC as a case history in how to and how not to do things. I have never been directly affiliated with VC in my business. This is my view only but it goes back a ways, to the mid 70's. I had a stove shop back in the late 70's. I did not have access to VC as I didn't have the right set-up, let alone the right budget. There was a competitor up valley that had VC and they did really well. The product was excellent and worked really well. I did stoves for a couple years and then took the business into the mechanical contracting side of things. I lost touch with the industry through the early to mid-80's and came back to it as a manuf rep in New England. I came to know the VC dealers across the area and the VC line was just strong, strong, strong. The thing is though, I came to realize, the strength, while the product was very good, really came through based upon the knowledge of the dedicated VC dealers and their employees. Along about the early 90's VC decided it was time to expand distribution and went into the Big Boxes. From experience I can say without questions that this is a really touchy time for a manuf and their dealer base. This was especially so with the VC dealers and their reaction to this "betrayal" was, very professionally, to not get mad, but to get even. The dealers had big investments in VC. The VC brand was so strong that they could not drop the line. That said, at the point of sale in a dealers showroom the knowledgeable dealer can almost determine the product sold in up to around 80% of the cases, and VC sales began to be converted. I think that over time that percentage was very high simply because these people were dedicated to the business and had a vary high degree of competence which really told in a face to face presentation. As well the competing stove manuf saw blood in the water and their sales increased. I would make a sales call on these VC folks and just listen to them talk about the past products, parts, methods, fixes, etc and just marvel at them, and it was consistent across the territory. I knew my business, but I was regularly taken aback by how detailed and capable they were. That passionate support is what VC lost and to my mind what reduced the company to just another brand, and with the ownership changes the relationships continued to weaken.
I do wish the new owners well and hope they can bring the brand back to greatness. I also hope my 2550 Encore holds up.
I do wish the new owners well and hope they can bring the brand back to greatness. I also hope my 2550 Encore holds up.
. My only answer was that if it was installed to code and inspected by a good inspector, it would pass. However, I don't know of a 'good' inspector. The two I have experience with both made serious errors.
