So I get a call yesterday from a customer who has been buying Turman pellets from me for 4 seasons now. She will never buy anything BUT Turmans. She has a Harman stove and she does about four tons per season. She tells me that the pellets that she bought this season started out great and as the season is progressing, they are becoming increasingly worse. She continuse to tell me that they will not burn completely, are falling out of the burn pot half burned, the flame is dark orange and lazy, the inside of the stove and the glass are getting all "sooted-up" and at times, has trouble keeping bthe fire lit. (Now, it is also worthwhile to note that I get this type of call many, many times a year and it is with every brand of pellets that i sell. )
I know right away that this is not a pellet issue and that it is most certainly an airflow issue and that something is wrong with the stove. I tell her this and she is very adamant that there is no stove issues, because "her service guy has been out five times and swears that the stove is fine and that it must be the pellets." If I had a nickel for every time a repair tech could not figure out the real problem and just "passed the buck" to me, I could retire on some sunny island somewhere to never see a pellet again!
What I usually do in situations like this is to offer to swap them out for a brand of their repair tech's choice all the while telling the customer that this will not solve their problem. It is an expense that I eat, with the only real benefit is an "I told you so" to the lousy repair tech before he is then forced to fix the "real issue." But where this gets tricky is this certain stove shop is a store that I have a very good business relationship with, so I must tread lightly. I call the stove shop and discuss the situation with them. They swear it is the pellets, I swear it is not. I have a repair tech that I refer who is one of the best in the business. I know that I can send him out there and he WILL fix the real issue. But before doing this, I tell the store to take 5 bags of her pellets and give her 5 bags of their Turmans (which they buy from me to burn in the show room) They are to both burn each others pellets and see if there is any change. It is also worthwhile to note that since April, I have sold over 2200 tons of Turman virtually without incident. We will now wait and see. Any wagers on this one?
I know right away that this is not a pellet issue and that it is most certainly an airflow issue and that something is wrong with the stove. I tell her this and she is very adamant that there is no stove issues, because "her service guy has been out five times and swears that the stove is fine and that it must be the pellets." If I had a nickel for every time a repair tech could not figure out the real problem and just "passed the buck" to me, I could retire on some sunny island somewhere to never see a pellet again!
What I usually do in situations like this is to offer to swap them out for a brand of their repair tech's choice all the while telling the customer that this will not solve their problem. It is an expense that I eat, with the only real benefit is an "I told you so" to the lousy repair tech before he is then forced to fix the "real issue." But where this gets tricky is this certain stove shop is a store that I have a very good business relationship with, so I must tread lightly. I call the stove shop and discuss the situation with them. They swear it is the pellets, I swear it is not. I have a repair tech that I refer who is one of the best in the business. I know that I can send him out there and he WILL fix the real issue. But before doing this, I tell the store to take 5 bags of her pellets and give her 5 bags of their Turmans (which they buy from me to burn in the show room) They are to both burn each others pellets and see if there is any change. It is also worthwhile to note that since April, I have sold over 2200 tons of Turman virtually without incident. We will now wait and see. Any wagers on this one?
