Harman Service

[Orthoman]

What has been your experience with Harman Service?

I tried to buy a new Harman XXV but as you know, they were unavailable. The dealer did have a floor model and, rather than wait until January, I decide to buy the floor model. My mistake. It was missing a few parts and the dealer isn't very helpful in obtaining them for me. Harman doesn't have a direct E-mail or phone number -- everything has to go through a dealer. If this is the service and warranty type of back up I can expect, then I'm in trouble.

Any suggestions??

I like the stove but couldn't tell you if it works or not.

 

[DOBS]

How is this Harman's fault??? I'd stay a billion miles away from that dealer

 

[Orthoman]

Harman took their product line away from another store and gave to the current dealer. I think Harman has some obligation - at least in providing some means of communication above the local dealer level. And, their web site directs you back to the dealer for any problems.

 

[djarseneault]

For as long as I can remember Harman has refused to talk directly to the end consumer, and has referred everyone back to the dealer. As part of my work I routinely talk with the tecs at Harman stove, and this policy has actually helped me because when I call in to Harman, I identify myself and can talk to someone and get answers quickly. In contrast, when I have to call Quadra-Fire, because their tecs will talk to end consumers, I usually end up on hold for extended periods of time. When I worked in the field, fixing stoves, it was nice to be able to call Harman from a customers house and get help quickly. I could never do that with Quad as it just took too long to get through.
The good news, however, for you as consumers is that now that Harman has been purchased by Hearth and Home Technologies (parent company of Quadrafire, Heatilator and Heat n Glo) this is sure to change. Harman's way of doing business is in the process of being changed to the HHT method, for better and worse.

What parts are you missing, by the way?

 

[tinkabranc]

If the dealer could not sell the floor model with all parts in tact, they
should not have sold it retail. It should be the dealers responsibility to get the
parts needed to run that stove properly or keep it for display purposes instead.
Harman refuses to deal with the public directly.

 

[CygnusX1]

It's a dealer issue. It's like buying a car and finding out they left out the brakes.

How could they sell a stove with missing parts and not back it up?

This is the sorry state we're in with pellet stoves. The demand for them has created so many fly by night dealers and installers.

 

[Orthoman]

As far as I know, I'm missing the room sensor, the gasket for the exhaust manifold (my term) and the bolts/screws that attach the exhaust manifold to the stove.

 

[webbie]

That dealer should take care of you PRONTO. No excuse.

This is not something that is the responsibility of the factory. The dealer took the parts off........

TO answer your question more accurately, yes...that is the type of service you can expect when something goes wrong. It has been noted here for years that Harman (and many other companies) do business exclusively through their dealers, and I have always cautioned people to keep this in mind - it would not be unusual to wait weeks for parts and service if it broke down. Same goes for most other brands also.

 

[Jim H.]

if you are looking for a top vent kit attachment by chance, it comes with the parts you mentioned.....new gasket and bolts/screws.
jim

 

[crausch]

I recently felt that I needed to speak with a Harman person for a technical question I had with stove. Same thing I have found, no way to contact Harman. I knew that the dealer would not have the answers as their primary buisness is selling John Deer Tractors. The dealer did contact Harman. The answer I got though was incomplete and it appeared as though the person at Harman was not going to put any effort into finding out something they didn't know.

The question was off topic from this thread, but I'll share their response:

I bought a battery backup/UPS for my Harman Advance to protect from surges, purify voltage input and add battery backup. My problem was wether the UPS "sine wave" output would be compatiple with the Harman electronics. The UPS docs all say to check with the manufacturer of an appliance (manual or person) for compatability. The guy at Harman responded "I don't know anything about sine waves. Our stoves are only approved for the Harman Battery backup". Their battery backup requires DC/AC converter (relabled for Harman) and a separate marine battery sitting around. I don't want the battery sitting in my house nor do I want the extra component and wires. The box I have is a typical UPS all in one unit and it looks nice. Since they are making their stoves with electronics in them. They ought to learn how they work. If I output they proper voltage and sine wave, there is no reason that other UPS and converts won't work. They just want me to spend hundreds of $$ on their product.

 

[tinkabranc]

I recently felt that I needed to speak with a Harman person for a technical question I had with stove. Same thing I have found, no way to contact Harman. I knew that the dealer would not have the answers as their primary buisness is selling John Deer Tractors. The dealer did contact Harman. The answer I got though was incomplete and it appeared as though the person at Harman was not going to put any effort into finding out something they didn't know.

The question was off topic from this thread, but I'll share their response:

I bought a battery backup/UPS for my Harman Advance to protect from surges, purify voltage input and add battery backup. My problem was wether the UPS "sine wave" output would be compatiple with the Harman electronics. The UPS docs all say to check with the manufacturer of an appliance (manual or person) for compatability. The guy at Harman responded "I don't know anything about sine waves. Our stoves are only approved for the Harman Battery backup". Their battery backup requires DC/AC converter (relabled for Harman) and a separate marine battery sitting around. I don't want the battery sitting in my house nor do I want the extra component and wires. The box I have is a typical UPS all in one unit and it looks nice. Since they are making their stoves with electronics in them. They ought to learn how they work. If I output they proper voltage and sine wave, there is no reason that other UPS and converts won't work. They just want me to spend hundreds of $$ on their product.

Beleive it or not tho, you would get the same kind of answers from the UPS mfr too. UPS are only recommended for use with actual PC/servers even though we use them for other things. If something should go wrong with your equipment while hooked up to the UPS the warranty on that UPS would be void.

 

[crausch]

lol...that would be ironic to get that response from a UPS mfg., but I would not doubt it. I don't want to start a discussion here about UPS's but I disagree with your commnet "UPS are only recommended for use with actual PCs" though. My warranty does mention other connected devices.

As for the original topic, Harman's service, I would like to see all the manufacturers of stoves offer some level of customer service or tech support. It's their product but they seem to be willing to place their reputation in the hands of the dealers who may have other primary sales agendas. An unresponsive dealer acting as a proxy, kind of leaves the end user with a bad taste in their mouth.