Craig, what should I count when it comes to dealer responsiveness? Weeks? That aside, posting it here is between me and my friends here. I have not named my dealer by name or town so there is no "overkill" IMHO. And I am exceedingly polite and conscientious when I engage them because, unfortunately, I am at their mercy since they are the only game in town. Dealer service, warranty, etc. are very common topics here and this thread attempts to portray one man's experience, as it unfolds, and allow others to follow it, add advice, or even challenge my 'tactics.' It's OK with that that you have disagreed with my motives as long as it is OK for me to respond in my defense.
AND when you say
you have at minimum agreed to be responsible for many aspects of the stove. You can’t have it both ways.....
frankly, that sounds like 'dealer speak' if you ask me. I take it you were a dealer. Well, I'm not asking him to fix my puffs of smoke in the house, my downdrafts, my messy ashes. I understand the difference between what is suspected as a possibly assembly issue and an installation issue. I am pursuing my concerns about a possible assembly/warranty issue professionally with them, and ranting a bit about it here. Big difference, and I ask you to not insinuate otherwise.
That said....I stopped by there after work. I looked at the floor model for 15 full minutes without being approached. I eventually engaged a service guy assembling a stove near me and chatted about stove assembly issues that we thought relevant. The guy who said he would call stopped by and I asked him if he heard back from Jotul. He had (not sure when, not sure when he was gonna call either). He said Jotul said it was normal. I asked him "How did you describe my problem to them?" and he said "I don't remember." Now, that strikes me as odd. Mind you, only a couple days have gone by, and apparently they do not make a lot of service calls to Jotul. He could not remember a single technical detail. I asked if he minded if I talked to Jotul myself in case I remembered something additional to tell them, or they had further questions and he said "go ahead" and I could find them on the internet. He seemed a bit peeved that I discussed technical aspects of this stove on the internet and did not take his word as the final authority on everything. Eventually I was given a 1-800 number.
Finally, the problem may seem 'minor' only in that it is not a 'major' safety issue. But my stove does seem to run colder than most and missing half of my reburn
could be the cause. It is worth pursuing, especially given all I learn along the way here from everybody. I could have a leak or something and an obvious colder part of my stove is the best clue I have. I paid ~$2,000 for a wood burning appliance and feel it reasonable to pursue the last 10% of efficiency and heat I seem to be missing.
No offense intended to you, Craig. You have a darn nice resource here and I appreciate your efforts in providing it. I grow increasingly confident with my stove given all I have learned here.
I knew I was dealing with the only show in town and I paid full price (and apparently more!) in a moment of weakness!
