England stove works - Summers Heat

[PMaine]

I purchased a Summers Heat stove on 9/28/17 from Lowes, model #50-SHSSW02. This stove is for my remote cabin in the north Maine woods, so access is a bit of an issue.

I brought the stove up and managed to find two locals to help me get it out of the back of the truck and into the camp. It's a heavy stove, over 400 lbs. When I installed the firebricks I figured out that I was missing 4-5 and one was broken. I contacted England Stove Works and sent them a photo of the stove bricks installed, they told me it was no problem to run the stove this way and that they would send me more bricks if I wanted.

Next I followed the break in procedure outlined in the manual. After the break-in fires were completed and stove fully cooled, I operated it in a normal fashion and let it burn overnight. In the morning the glass had a crack from the mounting points- it appeared that these mounting tabs were installed too tightly and when the stove got to full temp and cooled it broke.

I contacted England and they sent me a new glass, and 1 fire brick.

I installed the new glass and made sure to not torque the fasteners too tightly. No issues with the glass now. This is when I noticed a new problem. There is a massive gap between the door and the stove (photo attached)- no wonder it was hard to regulate.

So I called England stove works on Monday and explained the situation. They asked for a photo which I provided immediately while on the phone. I was told that I would receive a call on Tuesday to discuss.

At 4:30 on Tuesday I had not received a call so I phoned them again. I was told that the stove needed to be replaced and that they would call me on Wednesday with shipping details.

At 4:30 on Wednesday I has not received a call so I phoned them again. I was told that the person handling the issue was on another call but would definitely call me back by close of business to let me know what was going to happen. I never received a call.

At 9:00 AM on Thursday I called them back as I had not heard anything. I was told that they were still deciding what to do about my stove and that they would call me when they knew more. I asked to speak to a supervisor, who was not available. I left her a voicemail and am awaiting a call back.

This has been my experience with England Stove Works.

 

[begreen]

That is a bad gap. This is not the first time we've heard about a large gap on the hinge side on this stove. England needs to step up here. This is a serious defect. @stoveguy2esw is this just old inventory?

 

[PMaine]

I understand mistakes happen. The fire bricks missing, the glass being torqued too tightly creating stress points that crack the glass, and the door gap are basic quality control checks I'd like to imagine in building a stove. Hard to understand how it made it's way out of their shop.

However regardless, what is most troublesome, is that they are not communicating with me on how this will be resolved.

 

[PMaine]

Build date on stove is 09/15 and I was told that they made a bunch of these model stoves this way, using the wrong hinges.

 

[begreen]

Build date on stove is 09/15 and I was told that they made a bunch of these model stoves this way, using the wrong hinges.

GTK. There should be a recall for all units with this defect.

 

[PMaine]

I was told that they thought everyone with the issue had come forward by now. Why recall when you can let the consumer figure it out.

 

[begreen]

Guess they thought wrong. Obviously there is older inventory still in the warehouses and channel. And not everyone is going to figure out this issue on their own.

 

[PMaine]

If you read the reviews on Lowes, one guy had his stove replaced for this issue and the replacement they sent even had the problem. It sounds like they do not have their eye on their product.

 

[PMaine]

I just received a voicemail from England Stove Works. I was told that someone would be calling me today. That seems to be a standard response.

 

[firefighterjake]

Well the good news is Englander has at least one employee who is a frequent visitor here at hearth.com . . . so there is a pretty good chance he may see your thread and respond directly to you or through the thread.

 

[PMaine]

May be hard to tell in this picture, but the door is really crooked as well (look at the top of the door compared to the stove top).

 

[firefighterjake]

Built on a Friday afternoon right before a long holiday weekend?

Most folks have had very good luck with Englander stoves.

 

[PMaine]

I will come clean. This is my forth england stove and the first three were fine. This one is junk all the way around and the way they have handled these issues is why I am upset.

 

[firefighterjake]

I understand why you might be a bit peeved . . . I would be a mite bit upset too as this stove seems to be a true aberration from Englander. Generally those these folks are actually very good at communicating with folks and helping resolve issues as they often seem to bend over backwards to help their customers.

I truly hope you get a response from the Englander rep . . . and a resolution to your issue.

 

[PMaine]

Reading the reviews online, I think recently things may be changing over there.

 

[bholler]

Reading the reviews online, I think recently things may be changing over there.

The reviews online are mainly due to no dealer support at all. Customers are sold the stoves by people at the big box store who know nothing about them and the customer gets no direction on operation at all. Now it is clear they are having issues with this particular stove but for the most part they make good quality stoves for the money.

 

[PMaine]

The reviews are reflective of the product and company.

 

[bholler]

The reviews are reflective of the product and company.

Some are yes but if you read them a large percentage are clearly from people who have no clue how to use their stoves.

 

[bholler]

But again with this stove there are clear issues. And their response to you sucks

 

[PMaine]

I wanted to post an update. It's now past closing at england stoves and no one ever called me back.

 

[brenndatomu]

Personally, I would be emailing them too...

 

[armanidog]

Talk to Mr. Hudson if you can get through to him. Jeffrey Bryant is the president. Try either one. The number is probably a switchboard. Closed right now.
Contact: Carroll Hudson
Title: Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (434) 929-0120
I find if I can't talk to the CEO or president, their secretary will usually call the help desk and ask why is this person calling us? You should get a call back.

 

[Gibraltar IV]

I hate to pile on, but when I bought my NC30 two years ago it came with one of the doghouse screws broken off. I called and told them it would have to be drilled out and replaced. Their solution was to send me 2 new screws. I did the work, didn't use their cheapy screws, and they didn't offer anything else. That's not nearly the same degree of problem you're facing, but it's another indicator that while their customer service might not be altogether bad, it could be better. That stove you received is awful, and so has their response so far.

 

[PMaine]

Thanks for the input guys.

I ended up driving about 3 hours tonight and went to a couple lowes stores in a nearby state (these were the only stores to have them). I found out some interesting things.

Of the 4 stoves located, all were made within the same month as mine. All were within very close serial number range to mine as well.

Stove #1: crooked door, seal was better but still not right

Stove #2: straight door, seal still not right

Stove #3: crooked door, seal not right

Stove #4: marked down to $599, door straight and seal pretty good. All fire bricks there but some broken.

I got the store manager to ask why that one was discounted. His reply was interesting.

He told me all about the company who made the stove. He said that 2 years ago he was trained on these new smart stoves. He went on about the aas system and where the stoves were made. I explained I was looking at all I could find because of my issues with the door. He said englander made a batch of these stoves in 9/15 and then discontinued them. Lowes was the only vendor to get them. This would explain why they never added it to the england stove website.

So, from what I learned tonight this stove isn't available anymore once lowes stock is depleted. I don't know if this is true or not but it may explain the delay in response from England stoves.

 

[HDRock]

Did they have any of the smaller 50‐SHSSW01 stoves in the store ?