Harman Owners unite

[kyburnr]

Don't know if this will do any good, but may be worth a try...

It seems like all Harman owners have one thing in common, all hate the fact that there is no "direct to end consumer support", no consumer support or tech support by e-mail or by phone. There is a link on their web sight that takes you to a survey, there are many areas that offer room for comments. I have filled these out from my work and home computer both and included comments on the need for such support.

Like I said before, may not do any good, but if they get this response on a majority of their surveys, maybe it will get someones attention.

http://www.harmanstoves.com/ and there is a link that says "Take our new survey"

I guess this is there only way to get feedback directly from their consumers.

 

[flashbang]

Done.

 

[Jester]

I informed them about being refused parts or support from our local dealer since the stove was bought used and imported from several hundred miles away, as well as thier refusal to help me transfer the warrenty. I just dont want to have to drive another 300 miles to a stove shop just to get the dealer to help me transfer the warrenty.
I was looking at a log set for my stove there as well. They looked up the price and I told the lady that I would be up to get it. She said she'd put it aside for me, then started asking me my information. ( I thought so she would know who is calling) She asked if I bought the stove from them and when I said no she very politely said"Im sorry, we only sell parts to our customers"
Maybe the log set was a blessing in disguise, as there havent been too many warm and fuzzy threads here about them

 

[crausch]

filled it out and posted my remarks. Had a few other things to say also ;-)

Very satisfied for the most part with the stove, but I did recommend direct customer service.

 

[nhdblfan]

Just filled it out myself.
You are correct,in this day of customer service to have no email/phone available for people who purchased their product is unheard of.
BTW I have no dealer who is close enough to service my new XXV,I bought mine with the understanding he would handle the parts and I would do the labor if/warranty comes up.

Great idea kyburner we should all write them!

 

[tinkabranc]

Just posted my .02 too.

Friend of mine bought a used Accentra and needs parts to get it running again.
So far, not one dealer in the area will sell him the parts he needs
because he didn't buy the stove from them.

That drives down the value of a used Harman, doesn't it :exclaim:

 

[Bxpellet]

Put in my 2 cents, Very happy with the stove, but it goes down hill after that, If I treated my customer's like that we would be out of business

 

[djarseneault]

Just posted my .02 too.

Friend of mine bought a used Accentra and needs parts to get it running again.
So far, not one dealer in the area will sell him the parts he needs
because he didn't buy the stove from them.

That drives down the value of a used Harman, doesn't it :exclaim:

PM me, I can help your friend get his parts.
It amazes me that you can't get a dealer to sell you parts. I think the reason most dealers won't take on warranty work if they didn't sell the stove is that Harman pays very little to it's dealers to do the warranty work. There is no money in it at all. But there is money in selling parts, so that does not make sense.

As far as direct customer support goes, just wait a bit. I believe it is in the works. Harman is owned by Hearth and Home Tecnologies now. Slowly but surely they are re-vamping the way Harman does business. Eventually they are sure to have direct customer support just like the other HHT brands do (Quadra-Fire, Heatilator and Heat n Glo).

 

[richg]

The closest Harman dealer to me is a thief, and I wouldn't urinate in his mouth if his teeth were on fire. I have ordered spare parts from other Harman dealers with no issues. Harman had to cut off direct customer contact because during the last pellet panic (post-Katrina), people were calling there constantly, "Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove?" Don't expect Harman to devote resources to direct customer support, as they are putting everything they've got into building stoves.

 

[kyburnr]

Just posted my .02 too.

Friend of mine bought a used Accentra and needs parts to get it running again.
So far, not one dealer in the area will sell him the parts he needs
because he didn't buy the stove from them.

That drives down the value of a used Harman, doesn't it :exclaim:

Is there a shortage on parts? Does it take to long to get parts (like the stoves) so they are saving them for their own customers and their own repairs?

You would think there would be a good profit margin selling the parts.

They must be hoarding them They must be Pellet Part Pigs

 

[tinkabranc]

They must be hoarding them They must be Pellet Part Pigs

This must be the reason- I should have thought of that.

 

[escobarmj]

I just completed the survey also. I am sure Harman will notice a surge in survey responses.

 

[itworks]

Let's rename this thread to what the Harman people worked hard to achieve, WE HATE HARMAN. I realize they put the survey online, but do you really think they care about our responses? They subscribe to hearth.com, they field calls and letters every day, they just don't give a $hit about us. I have a P68 since 2004, and I'm just lucky that I bought it from a knowledgeable, caring dealer. The Harman gold guaranty is only as good as your dealer. Harman builds good stoves, but that's it. I can't really explain it, but I think it's part of their business plan to upset customers. Eventually all things that go around, come around and they will go bankrupt again.

 

[trogers]

I bought my Harman in another state (not in NH) because I could not find a Harman insert anywhere in New England. I found one about 8 hours away and drove to get it. The Harman dealer in Amherst, NH would not install it because they did not sell it to me. This did not make sense to me because they said that they could not get me a stove until at least May of 2009, but still would not take my $800 to install it. Well, I need to heat my house this winter, so waiting for a stove wasn't an option. I went to buy an OAK from them and was told that they wouldn't sell it to me becasue I didn't get the stove from them. I called a dealer in Jaffrey, NH that a guy from work had bought his stove from and they sold me a OAK that day. More importantly, they didn't talk to me like I was a criminal for buying the stove outside of their area like the guys in Amherst, NH did. The whole Harman dealer network seems a bit like the Mafia to me. I understand that the franchise has the right to a certain geographic area for new sales, but when they won't have any stoves to sell for a whole year, consumers shoud be able to buy a Harman from whoever has them available.

The funniest part to my experince was that when I asked the guys what I was supposed to do about getting a Harman, he said that Harman was the best stove and that I should wiat until 2009 and buy it from them becasue "it was the right thing to do". Well, I'm going to buy another Harman for my upstairs next spring...and I already have my name on the list with the shop in Jaffrey, NH. I realize that I am just one customer, but I will tell at least a feww dozen people about my experience with the shop in Amherst, NH that was so difficult to deal with.

I will complete the survey.

 

[tumbles]

You people are making me happy I didn't get my harman. Service after the sale is key to any pellet stove as everyone knows or is finding out. I hope Hearth industries channges things around for the better. What's it like to deal with Quad? Are they the same way? Would you have still bought the stoves from a far away person (dealer) if you knew what know now. I too could have bought from down south (my neighbor did), but after reading some of the posts on this site I decided against it. Hope it all works out for you all. :red:

 

[ilmbg]

Is it possible to do class action?

 

[itworks]

And you would be suing them for making one of, if not , the best stove on the market?

 

[trogers]

The stove is great...The service just sucks. I'm not sure that it rises to the level of a lawsuit.

 

[BurningMan]

Holy Moly,
All of this is making me re-think my idea of getting a Harman unit.
I got a taste of this "dealer-territory" stuff yesterday.
I went to a couple of dealers in my area, after the first visit to my "closest" dealer left me feeling uneasy with his pricing tactics.
So I went to someone else, a little further away (a few miles).
I felt comfortable with this dealer (good knowledge of product & decent pricing), an overall good impression.
When I started to ask about possibly ordering the stove, I told them my hometown.
After they found out I was out of their "servicing area", I became a noncustomer.
They basically "referred" me to the other (closer to me) dealer. What kind of BS tactics are these?
I felt like my freedom of choice was being manipulated.
And having read all this stuff about Harman, ...I don't know now.
I feel very confident in my abilities to work on my own stove.
But not being able to get parts for it when needed, because I didn't buy it from the "correct" dealer is a deal breaker for me!
Maybe I'll go back to a good old wood-stove.
Something that doesn't need a lot of replacement parts or so-called "professional dealer" service.
Thanks for the insight all.
I need to re-think my plans.

 

[freebird77]

Done

 

[tumbles]

I have to agree with you burning Man. On top of that, Hearth industries hasn't proven that they will build a harman stove (they way they used to be built). Too many issues for me and that's one of the reasons I wasn't willing to waite for them. There are other good stove companies out there so people should explore those too. If this many people aren't happy, I don't think it bodes too well for any company. The consumer will ultimately decide what happens. I hope all the harman owners get some recourse. Good luck to you all.

 

[tinkabranc]

I just had to add to this to make myself clear.

I LOVE my Harman stove and probably would purchase another.

My gripe is HHT should release the reins a little to let ANY Harman dealer
sell parts to anyone that needs them regardless of where the stove was
purchased. If I do not like a local dealer I should be free to go to another
to get what I need. BTW, my buddy did end up finally finding a dealer about
1 hour away that was willing to sell him the parts he needs.

 

[kyburnr]

Did not intend for this to be such a negative post. I am real happy with my XXV and real confident that if I have a problem with it, that my dealer will come through for me. If you are thinking of getting one, please visit your Harman dealer first, you may be very pleased with the dealer and the product. My reasoning behind this is that it would be be nice to have some support to answer questions if your dealer is unavailable or to double check the answer they give you. Now, I see that to me, it's just an inconvenience but to others a REAL problem. Hopefully Harman will realize that not all their dealers are the best people to deal with and give the end user, the foundation of their business, options to become a satisfied Harman owner.

I think every one who uses this forum regularly, are thankful to have people on here who makes their living in this business, Like Eric and many others on here, to help us out. It would really be nice if the stove manufacturers would have a customer service/tech person monitor this forum regularly to answer questions and help out as well.

 

[BurningMan]

The closest Harman dealer to me is a thief, and I wouldn't urinate in his mouth if his teeth were on fire. I have ordered spare parts from other Harman dealers with no issues. Harman had to cut off direct customer contact because during the last pellet panic (post-Katrina), people were calling there constantly, "Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove? Where's my stove?" Don't expect Harman to devote resources to direct customer support, as they are putting everything they've got into building stoves.

Were these parts a warranty issue?



If what I'm hearing is...
My (under warranty) Harman has a problem, and I take that "problem-part" to a local dealer for warranty replacement, and that dealer refuses to help me because I didn't buy from him?
That's crazy! Is this Harman telling their dealers to operate like this?
Because...
It's a win-win for ALL!
I'm happy... I got my stove fixed.
Dealer that helped me out is happy... he should get a little something from Harman for the warranty "service".
AND
Harman makes out... they didn't have to pay for a "service call" on a stove that's under warranty, ...that I fixed myself!

Is this the case with warranty situations or are dealers not selling any parts to anyone who didn't buy from them?

 

[Jester]

The stove is great...The service just sucks. I'm not sure that it rises to the level of a lawsuit.

I believe they advertise that thier warrenty is transferrable with a nominal fee, that you should go to your local dealer. I did that and was told to drive 300 miles(rt) to where I bought the stove used. Fraudulant advertising I believe does raise it to the level of a lawsuit.