Harman customer service WHAT A JOKE!

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Pallet Pete

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Yesterday my tl300 started making a whistling noise and it got very loud so I called my dealer to see what it was. He ran down a list with me and discovered that there was a bad gasket on the burn chamber ( already !!! ) . So he called harman for the gasket who in turn called me to ask about the stove and what do you know I voided the warrenty by taking the back heat shield off. The dealer said it would not void the warrenty I made very sure of this. Now my dealer will not call back and harman wants 129 dollars for a gasket they installed wrong at the factory ! When I called again and got someone else they said there wasn't any record of my stove being sold except I registered it and have the receipts but they won't work because the dealer didn't report the sale!!! This does not add up you can't make a stove disappear excpecially a high end stove. Has anyone got experiance with Harman customer service that can steer me in the right direction. I know for a fact I did not void the warrenty but know one is willing to budge for a stupid gasket and I will not pay for there mistake.

Pete
 
Keep after them Pete. I know my local Napoleon dealer is a totall A$$hole. You can't stand to even be AROUND him. And, as luck would have it, you cannot deal directly with Napoleon. Luckily, when I bought the new Napoleon fireplace, I bought it out of Denver, for a WAY better price, and that guy is honoring my stove I purchased from the local dealer as well. He's treating me as if I had bought it from him as well. Without him, I would be up "sh#t creek" with no paddle. So stay after them if it was their mistake, worst-case scenario get in touch with the Better Business Bureau in the area where the dealer is and where Harmon is headquartered. Start pushing buttons. Go after the dealer AND Harmon. It really pisses me off how these multi-million dollar companies will not stand up and take accountability for their shortcomings.
 
In addition the stove is fantastic when it works right I havnt used hardly any kindling this year because it holds coals for so long. I just wish Harman would be honest this is the 3rd issue so far that they have avoided with me and I am quite frankly ready to sell this stove already because the dealer and Harman stink.

1st issue the upper door gasket came off and needed to be fixed in the first week. ( dealer told me how to fix it after berating me for tearing it out ) Harman said I was lying and that couldn't happen.
2nd issue the damper would not close ( the dealer fixed it free after I had a nuclear explosion in the dealership and cost them a sale because they wouldn't talk to me )

Pete
 
http://www.bbb.org/ They've helped me with a few things over the years. At least others who do research will know about this problem. Search for Hearth & Home near 55044 zip, You will see that 12 people have reported problems with products or warranty. They have a B+ rating and are not accredited. Based on history< it looks like you have a 50/50 chance of success.
 
Scotty Overkill said:
Keep after them Pete. I know my local Napoleon dealer is a totall A$$hole. You can't stand to even be AROUND him. And, as luck would have it, you cannot deal directly with Napoleon. Luckily, when I bought the new Napoleon fireplace, I bought it out of Denver, for a WAY better price, and that guy is honoring my stove I purchased from the local dealer as well. He's treating me as if I had bought it from him as well. Without him, I would be up "sh#t creek" with no paddle. So stay after them if it was their mistake, worst-case scenario get in touch with the Better Business Bureau in the area where the dealer is and where Harmon is headquartered. Start pushing buttons. Go after the dealer AND Harmon. It really pisses me off how these multi-million dollar companies will not stand up and take accountability for their shortcomings.

Scott I called all the other Harman dealers in the area and they are horrified with this situation. They are willing to send out someone to look but can't do warrenty work because I didn't buy from them in stead I bought from the only platinum dealer in Michigan. I have reported them to BBB I will never buy from that dealer again. If this does not get resolved I may be loading it up calling my lawyer and returning this stove to them.

Pete
 
It appears that the "manufacture's warranty" is actually a dealer's warranty. And the dealer gets reimbursed from the mfg. -- after the dealer submits the claim to the mfg. So it seems as if the owner/dealer makes an error, ie removing the heat shield, voiding the "warranty" between the mfg>dealer>customer.

IMHO - you should upset with the dealer, and ask for the original dealer to "eat" this one for the bad advice of removing the heat shield.

I do not believe this warranty relationship structure is unique to Harman, but common to the wood stove industry.
 
madison said:
It appears that the "manufacture's warranty" is actually a dealer's warranty. And the dealer gets reimbursed from the mfg. -- after the dealer submits the claim to the mfg. So it seems as if the owner/dealer makes an error, ie removing the heat shield, voiding the "warranty" between the mfg>dealer>customer.

IMHO - you should upset with the dealer, and ask for the original dealer to "eat" this one for the bad advice of removing the heat shield.

I do not believe this warranty relationship structure is unique to Harman, but common to the wood stove industry.

I will never defend a dealer who doesn't take care of his customer, but the reimbursement rate from any manufacturer is horrible. Some are making it easier but usually there is too much paper work.
 
Wow. What a nightmare. I don't remember for sure but it seems the stove is less than 2 months old and this is terrible. Pete is too nice of a guy for this to happen to him. Go after them Pete.
 
Sorry about the problem

Hey let us know who the dealer is so we all can stay clear.

Customers are gold and if you do not take care of them you have no business having a business.
 
nice stove....i hadn't been famaliar with them. i went and looked at their warranty policy (harman). i didn't see anywhere that it said that if you removed a part, particularly the back shield, it would void the warranty. i did find it interesting that in the splash page a claimed 4300 sq ft heating capacity and in the install manual it said 1500-3000...thats a pretty big difference between the two claims. good luck, aint gonna be fun.

cass
 
HighHeat22 said:
Sorry about the problem

Hey let us know who the dealer is so we all can stay clear.

Customers are gold and if you do not take care of them you have no business having a business.

The Kernel Burner out of Saginaw MI don't go near those jokers.
 
Hearth and home technologies is the parent company of Harman and Quadrafire. I'm going through a warranty related issue though mine costs a lot more ha! Not as rough as you but it's going on a long while. My dealer has been great so far. Last I spoke to Quad they said they would work through my dealer to resolve. So I'm just here waiting being persistent and patient.... Though it's getting to be a little much now...
 
Pete1983 said:
HighHeat22 said:
Sorry about the problem

Hey let us know who the dealer is so we all can stay clear.

Customers are gold and if you do not take care of them you have no business having a business.

The Kernel Burner out of Saginaw MI don't go near those jokers.

Pete, is this the guy on Bay Road?
 
Harman does NOT have a customer service line that im aware of ,they deal only with the dealer in most cases.Whenever i called their Mfg facility they kept referring me to th clueless dealer.
Try visiting the dealer in person rather than calling them. THe dealer is the place you will get your service if any, not the Mfg. My harman has worked flawlessly for 3 years,knock on wood.
 
$129 for a gasket? What is this thing, gold plated? Does that include replacement labor?
 
Pete, sorry to hear of your problem. Unfortunately everything I've seen on this forum points to Harman being horrible with customer service and warranty issues. It is sad that your dealer won't stick by you - all you can do is spread the word about them.

It seems important to either find a company that is responsive (like Woodstock or Lopi) or a great dealer, or else you are stuck if anything goes wrong. I would focus your energies on getting the dealer to make things right, because all evidence points to Harman leaving customers in the cold no matter how much you contact them. In the end, that's a good reason to not recommend their stoves, no matter how well they are built.
 
Thought about buying a Harman Oakwood, but after driving to Clovis (nearest dealer-100 miles) and seeing just how much the dealer didn't care, then talking to Harman and learning how much THEY didn't care, I decided that I didn't care. Sure glad I came across Woodstock. Could not be more pleased with them and their help. They are my only source of help other than Hearth. This is not part of the country that's big on woodburning, so WS and this board have been the difference--no question about it. THANKS y'all and Woodstock!!
 
Pete,

Sorry to here about your stove issue and like Dennis, BackWoods Savage posted, go after the individuals for their lack of Customer Service! What is it with the lack of Customer Service after one buys a product, especially an expensive purchase such as your stove Pete?

My dad was a Produce Peddler all his working career. I remember as a young boy, working with my dad, he bent over backwards to satisfy his customers. No matter if they were right or wrong my dad always gave his customers awesome Customer Service. He finally retired last Christmas Eve after fifty five years peddling produce to his customers door to door.

I hope everything works out for you Pete. You are to nice of an individual to go through this hassle...


Fredo
 
The dealer is really the most important link in this chain.
I worked with many manufacturers (in fact, most...the exception being VC in their early days) who had customer service which needed a lot of help. But the customer almost never knew about it, because I - as the dealer - shielded them from it.

I think things are pretty much the same today - the customer will rarely get perfect service from the maker, but if they have a decent dealer they'll never know about it.

To be a bit more clear, I always considered my job as a dealer to ADD SOMETHING of value to the chain, and one of those things was to shield the manufacturer and end user from each other. We considered that we failed at our job if the customer ever called the maker (very rare).

The business model for most of the hearth industry is based on the dealers and distributors making a big chunk of change in exchange for what they bring to the table. Our manufacturers actually made this pretty clear to us. Sure, we lost money on warranties - but it was negligible compared to our profits.
 
Have you tried emailing Harman about your experience with this dealer. May not get you anywhere, but if enough people complain about him, they may pull their line from him.
 
The problem here is that the link appears to be broken. Yes a dealer should be responsible, and it's great when you have a responsible dealer that delivers good customer service. On the other hand, not all dealers are great and a bad one can really spoil the system. If the dealer is trying to burn the candle (or the customer) on both ends by making a good profit and then saving by denying service, then the system doesn't work. Unfortunately, if he sells a lot of stoves, that makes the mfg. happy and they may continue to back him.

This has come up before. IMO Harman should have an option for direct customer tech support when the dealer fails to provide good service. It's inevitable that some defects are going to roll off of the assembly line and the mfg. should have a good process to deal with them. By establishing a brick wall between the company and the customer they can never really hear about customer issues in a meaningful way. They will always be filtered by the dealers, some good and some not so good. That's not a recipe for success in my book. In the least they should have a customer web form that is actively monitored by a qualified technician.
 
I have owned a business for over 25 years and have always bent over backwards for my customers. If you take care of your customers they will take care of you and always come back, as well as spread the word about your good business. You would not believe how much business comes from word of mouth.

Its pretty simple. But, seems to have gotten lost in these days.

That's why I wanted to know earlier who the dealer was. All of forum should boycott his business and let him know he is being boycotted until he cleans up his customer service.

So Kernal Burner of Saginaw, MI be warned. If you follow the forum tell your side of story. If not to bad.
 
Webmaster said:
Sure, we lost money on warranties - but it was negligible compared to our profits.

Thanks Craig for clarifying the warranty process.

My ? -- Money lost on warranties was due to ... ? Not being reimbursed by the mfg? If yes, explains why there could be feet dragging by the dealer.

The other comment I would make is it seems as though the claims/advertisement of warranties by the manufactures is misleading if the claim lineage involves the dealer to absorb the costs of warranty work.
 
They determined that because I ( untrained ) could not find a leak it must be a backdraft problem and that they would SELL$$$ me a auto damper to fix it. What the heck! This is possible and might happen but unless they come look we won't know for sure. I will not put a mechanical part in my flue unless I am guaranteed it is necessary.

Thanks for the support guys
Pete

madison the Harman warranty is done by Harman but covered by the dealer from my understanding so I believe your right.

Bonzo I agree I was duped by them as I see now.

Dennis I am gonna get em this is ridicules.

HighHeat22 Thanks this is a real mess for sure.

tcass I saw it in operation at 3 places and was impressed by it. The stove is a nice stove and problems are bound to occur on a new stove but the customer service is terrible. The stove sq ft claim is a little odd but the gun club near me uses this stove and it heats 3000 sq ft fine.

iod0816 I hope you get your problems resolved as well I am not patient I expect problems to be resolved quickly and proper when I fork over hard cash for a product.

Randy They do have a customer service line as long as the dealer gives it to you. You will need the dealer direct number and the dealer ID along with the sale number and you can deal direct with Harman ( Supposedly )

BeGreen THATS WHAT I YELLED IN FRUSTRATION :lol:

Branchburner so far the customer service issues are true.

Texas boy I can honestly say they build a great stove it astonishes me they won't back up the product however I will never buy a Harman again.

Fredo my friend good to hear from you! How have you been as of late? I am very frustrated with Harman they tried to sell me a auto damper for 600 dollars even though they do not do direct dealings with customers!!!! This is very odd to me. They really do not seem to care about there customer base at all. This is a sad situation and I am done with Harman at this point once this is resolved I will be selling the stove I think and buying a woodstock. We purchased this stove after researching its quality well as we couldn't wait for a couple of months on the progress. Our furnace runs constantly and gas hits the upper 400's sometimes low 500's in the winter which is ridicules so we burn and keep warmer anyway. Its silly that a 800 dollar furnace cost more than the purchase price in one year and a wood stove pays itself off in a couple months :lol:

Craig I would have loved to have you as my dealer judging by your post. They do not shield from the dealer at all they say call the dealer cuz we can't help and the same in reverse its so pathetic.

egclassic that would be pointless as both the dealer and Harman are avoiding any help to us.

BeGreen Right on !!

Highheat22 I put there name up and am not ashamed I feel they need to improve! If they wish to dispute bring it on I will own them!!!!!!
 
Your reputation is your most valued asset... Wonder how some companies continue to survive. Maybe sometimes the availability of the unknown keeps them going longer than they should.
 
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