Yup, sure do remember that year, I was running weeks behind on installs, parts were hard to get. Too many factors went into that perfect storm!cac4 said:not "online", per se, but I bought mine from a distance during the great pellet-panic of '08. (remember? when heating oil was $4+/gallon, and forecast to stay that way permanently? )
All local stock was depleted. too bad, so sad. So, I had to take the calculated risk of buying from afar. Southern Hearth and Patio was happy to sell me the stove I wanted, and ship it here, cheap. But, by doing that, I pretty much sacrificed any warranty. (I don't think they're "supposed" to do that--sell beyond their service area; but they did).
The business model in the stove industry is nuts, imo, but thats the way it is. The dealers take all the risk for a flaw created by the factory. hence, the markup. If my stove fails, and the local dealer comes out to fix it, they won't be reimbursed by the factory, because I didn't buy the stove from them. No way the dealer in Chattanooga is sending a tech up here to MA to fix one of their stoves, so...
Imagine if the auto industry worked this way? crazy.
One of the MAIN reasons I switched over from a Avalon stove to the Englander....I now have an almost direct line to Tech service and warranty issues, and some parts are stocked right in Lowes/Home Depot.mrplumber said:thanks for all the info, sometimes the truth sucks
balls of fire said:I'm not disagreeing that your local dealer may be higher priced, however they have to make money to be able to stay in business. Hopefully they will give you service after the sale. You also might want to check out how that online purchase if going to affect your warranty, also might want to consider if you will be able to get a local dealer to service your stove that you purchased online. Sorry if I sound negative about this but it's tough to maintain a brick and mortar store, tougher than most people think. Retail cost isn't based solely on what a retailer buys the product for, there are many other factors that go into determining that price (rent/mortgage, insurance, parts inventory, vehicle maintainence, etc.)
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