How does one file a complaint with Jotul??

[Tucker6]

Long time lurker here, who is now ready to take the plunge into the dark underworld of wood heat. After reading a lot of threads/info here, I've decided upon a Jotul. However, I'm having a problem and I hope I can get some help here.

A month ago, I attended a home show, and a wood stove outfit a mile down the road from my house was exhibiting Jotul. The wife and I fell in love with the Oslo, and it fits our needs. After talking to the co-owner (brothers in business together), we went to their showroom, and talked to the other brother. We were told they'd call the next business day to set an appt. No call. A week goes by, and we call. Appt set for a few days later. No one shows! We call next day, and receive less than satisfactory explanation nor do we get an apology. They don't even ask for another appt. Two weeks go by, so we call again and set another appt. Guess what, another no show tonight. I think this was the last straw with this dealer.

Amid the above travail, we went to another Jotul dealer in the area, and we asked for someone to come over to bid the job. No can do. Verbal estimate only. He wouldn't even take our name and number. I don't understand.

Mind you, these are the two biggest wood stove dealers in an area of 750,000 people. I went onto Jotul's site to ask for a competent dealer, but Jotul must not allow for customer feedback as I could not find a phone number or email address. Can someone direct me to Jotul so I can buy one of their friggin stoves from a competent dealer?? FYI, I am in the Allentown, PA area.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Frustrated in PA

P.S.: Love this site very much. You guys have educated me on wood stoves beyond what some "experts" I know think they know about wood heating.

Tom

 

[jadm]

You might have to write a letter. Address is:

Jotul North America
55 Hutcherson Dr.
Gorham, Maine 04038

Phone: (207) 797-5912
Fax: (207) 772-0523

Good Luck!

 

[downeast]

Try going to the top:

Brett Watson, President
Jotul, North America
800.797.5912

Be polite, persistent. You may not get to Brett, but someone to handle the demand for their stove. Their customer service is excellent.

Good choice on the Oslo; not perfect like all products, but, well made, high quality, does the job, looks pretty.
Those "dealers" may just not do their own installing. It's usually outsourced or DIY like some of us. Ask them who does their wood stoves and chimney systems.

 

[begreen]

Hi Tom, welcome aboard. Sorry to hear about the dealer hassle. Seeing you are dealing with the principles, it sounds like time to move on. Actually it may be a blessing in disguise if this is the attention they are giving their customers. (Maybe they are deep into setting up hot tubs and awnings right now?) You might try a smaller shop. Often they provide more personal attention. Best of luck!

 

[Tucker6]

thanks Perplexed. I will contact them in the morning. Funny that your name is how I feel.. PERPLEXED!

 

[Tucker6]

Hi Tom, welcome aboard. Sorry to hear about the dealer hassle. Seeing you are dealing with the principles, it sounds like time to move on. Actually it may be a blessing in disguise if this is the attention they are giving their customers. (Maybe they are deep into setting up hot tubs and awnings right now?) You might try a smaller shop. Often they provide more personal attention. Best of luck!

Thanks. I manage a customer services group, so I am sensitive to poor responsiveness. I normally don't give second chances unless they try to redeem themselves, but the wife complained that I wasn't compassionate enough, so I did. The silver lining is that my wife trusts my instincts a little better now. As I always say to her (and you did to me), the level of service you receive is usually very consistent throughout the selling process. If you receive poor service on the quote, you will often receive the same during delivery/install. Follow through. Follow through. Follow through.

Thanks for the advice.

Tom

 

[Tucker6]

Try going to the top:

Brett Watson, President
Jotul, North America
800.797.5912

Be polite, persistent. You may not get to Brett, but someone to handle the demand for their stove. Their customer service is excellent.

Good choice on the Oslo; not perfect like all products, but, well made, high quality, does the job, looks pretty.
Those "dealers" may just not do their own installing. It's usually outsourced or DIY like some of us. Ask them who does their wood stoves and chimney systems.

Thanks Downeast. I will take your sound advice.

You hit the nail on the head with the Oslo. I'm buying because of the high quality construction and utility. The wife because it looks pretty. She prefers the black matte finish. Looks sharp, but she still doesn't hear me telling her it will get dirty once we light it up.
Tom

 

[begreen]

Personally I'm a big fan of the blue-black enamel. It has the nice dark stove look, but is tough and keeps the stove looking great, even after seasons of burning.

 

[Tucker6]

Personally I'm a big fan of the blue-black enamel. It has the nice dark stove look, but is tough and keeps the stove looking great, even after seasons of burning.

The wife liked the blue-black enamel (so did I), but the one outfit said that the enamel color often faded with stove use, and didn't look so hot after awhile. Do you see that?? We are going with black because of that, but would reconsider if I had feedback.

Tom

 

[begreen]

Hmm, haven't heard or seen that with a porcelain finish. I have looked at blue-black Jotul stoves that were 5 years old and still looked great. Our red 602 is going on 25 and still looks good and that was in a sunny location.

 

[Carl]

We had a Jotul 3 for 18 years and the enamal still looks new on it. I would go with enamal without a thought since it looks nice, cleans nice, and is nice. No fading that we can tell.

Sorry you had troubles with the stove dealers. Like another mentioned, they probably can make bigger money on other things right now so don't take the stove sales very serious.

 

[downeast]

Ditto....go with the Jotul porcelain: baked on. It will look fine after many years.

Our blue/black porcelain Oslo is on 24/7 all winter, going on the 3rd winter, a wipe with a damp rag (cold stove!), looks new.

Our red/merlot/burgendy porcelain VC Encore is on its 6th year, and looks new.

We had a green Jotul 602 for our sauna for 12 years: simple wipe and it looked fine. ( Sauna was replaced by a more enjoyable Snorkel Hot Tub ).

Get a porcelain stove. It can chip, but easy repair.

 

[jbrown56]

Hi Tucker, My blue/black still looks great and the enamel won't smoke you out of the house when you first light it like a painted stove will. A big plus.

Jim

 

[webbie]

Sorry to hear about your dealer experiences - on the other hand it is somewhat typical. Jotul and other stove makers (unfortunately) cannot pick and choose their dealers with too high of a standard or they would not have any! I recently went shopping myself and had somewhat the same experience! I would say that about one in five dealers is really top-notch (including most that hang here!), but finding that one is difficult. I assume you have been to Heating Alternatives in Q-Town? They are actually owned by Hearth Technologies (Heat n Glo, etc.).

BTW, it is somewhat typical for estimates to be charged for....house visits, that is. Some places charge and then refund the charge if you buy the product. Others can give a very close approximation of the price without a site visit. When we owned a stove, I would say that we only visited 10% of the jobs beforehand....but things (codes and standards) have changed vastly since then, and these days a site visit is much more important.

I don't think there is much Jotul can do for you. Your best bet might be to start calling their dealers a little further away....OR, to consider purchasing the stove local and having a contractor or chimney sweep doing the installation.

 

[Todd]

Any chimney sweeps in the area? You could pick up the stove from the dealer and have a local sweep install. Some do installation and it would be good to have them check out your chimney.

 

[seaken]

I was thinking the same thing as Todd. Maybe you can ask a chimney sweep company to install it for you. They can also do your site visit and help you determine the cost for the total installation. Unfortunately, not every area has competent chimney sweeps either.

One problem with buying out of your area may be getting service should you need it in the future. Most dealers will resist selling out of their service area and your local dealer won;t want to service your stove if you buy it elsewhere. It's unfortunate that more stove companies do not have a customer service department that consumers can use to get better service. Sometimes you just have to work with the local dealer even though they are hard to deal with.

It will probably be worth the trouble. Jotul is a fine stove. Once you finally get it in and burning you'll be happy. But you may end up shaking your head for awhile about the level of service.

Sean