Okay, A Few Words About the Harman Company, One of Its Dealers, and One of Its Stoves….
Hi all,
The above subhead lists the topics in this section of my Mega-Query: Which Woodstove to Get? series.
Two years ago, I was very interested in the Harman Exception steel convection stove. I still think it’s one of the coolest designs I’ve ever seen, functionally. However, the company won’t publish the fire box capacity (either in lbs. or cu. ft.) and neither the factory nor the dealer could or would tell me. I’ve since learned from a Harman dealerthat it might be 2.7 cu. ft., but this same dealer also told me the following:
Indeed—the stove was not even on his floor, but out in an outbuilding, and not even completely assembled.
And this was the GOOD Harman dealer, not the one I had the problem with!
Ahhh...that dealer. Well, I was never so rudely treated by both the mfr. and a Harman dealer (not the Harman dealer quoted above), as I was by the Harman people. So…apologies to Harman owners, but that was my experience. Which is a shame, because the Harman Exception is cool in that is it not only an optional top loader, which is a rarity today (though the top door is rather small) but that top door comes out, and an optional, stainless steel grill can be inserted, for grilling indoors, with the smoke allegedly being sucked back into the stove, depending upon the position of the bypass damper, like on those old “Jenn Air” commercials. What a shame Harman works so hard not to sell them….
What do I mean by that? Well, after the (bad) Harman dealer refused to call me back, as promised, with info they didn’t know, (like the friggin’ firebox capacity??!) I called them, and was, ultimately hung up on, after being insulted and ridiculed by the owner. This occured AFTER HE BROKE INTO MY TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH THE SALES PERSON, after admitting he’d been EAVESDROPPING!
You see, the firebox capacity was apparently too tough of a question for them, and they were supposed to call me with that information, the following week. That's right, I was shopping for a stove fully three hours away from my home, and willing to buy a stove and haul it three hours, but they didn't have the info. So I said "No problem, can you call me with it next week? I can always come back upstate for the stove, some other time." But...apparently they couldn't be bothered to followup with the factory to learn what they should already know--the firebox capacity in cu. ft. Nor did they call me back.
Well, fair enough, so I called them back. And that's when their eavesdropping, rudeness and hanging up on me occured. I think it was because they still didn't have the firebox capacity, so they kind of lost it. And all this even though I was nothing but calm and professional in my total demeanor (I worked for years in customer service and I know what “reasonable” is—I am extremely nice to customer service people, as a result of working in that field and knowing what a tough job it is, yet this dealer was OUTRAGEOUS to me and my girlfriend.
Well, figuring I'd just found the one bad apple of a dealer, I figured I'd get the firebox capacity directly from the factory--because I still wanted the stove that much. So...I called the “800” number on the Harman brochure—you know, the one that says “For Customer Service, call 800 blah blah blah.”
So I called it, and this is what I was told, by the Harman factory:
“You can’t call this number—it’s for dealers only.”
“But your brochure says this number is for ‘Customer Service’”
“Well, that…that’s a mistake—you can’t call here.”
“Okay, but since I’ve got you on the phone, can you just tell me the firebox capacity?”
“You’ll have to ask the dealer—I can’t help you.”
“But I did ask the dealer—they didn’t know, said they’d call you, but then hung up on me—they didn’t have the firebox capacity.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you—I can’t help you—you can’t call this number.”
“But why is it on your brochure? And I just want to know the size of your woodstove….”
“Well, the number shouldn’t be there, and I can’t help you. Click.”
Welll, that was my Harman experience. And a friend of mine loves her Harman woodstove (not sure which model). But if the firebox really is only 2.7 cu.ft. as the (good) Harman dealer claims to know, that's a little on the small side. And if he's telling the truth about their internal backing plate failing (which I have no idea about) then I'll definitely give it a miss.
I will be buying something in the coming weeks. Any and all comments and feedback will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!
I will also probably post another, short section, with specific questions on the above stoves, if I think of any, based on your responses.
Thanks you all, for your patience and energies, wood-fueled and otherwise!
Sincerely,
Peter
Hi all,
The above subhead lists the topics in this section of my Mega-Query: Which Woodstove to Get? series.
Two years ago, I was very interested in the Harman Exception steel convection stove. I still think it’s one of the coolest designs I’ve ever seen, functionally. However, the company won’t publish the fire box capacity (either in lbs. or cu. ft.) and neither the factory nor the dealer could or would tell me. I’ve since learned from a Harman dealerthat it might be 2.7 cu. ft., but this same dealer also told me the following:
Indeed—the stove was not even on his floor, but out in an outbuilding, and not even completely assembled.
And this was the GOOD Harman dealer, not the one I had the problem with!
Ahhh...that dealer. Well, I was never so rudely treated by both the mfr. and a Harman dealer (not the Harman dealer quoted above), as I was by the Harman people. So…apologies to Harman owners, but that was my experience. Which is a shame, because the Harman Exception is cool in that is it not only an optional top loader, which is a rarity today (though the top door is rather small) but that top door comes out, and an optional, stainless steel grill can be inserted, for grilling indoors, with the smoke allegedly being sucked back into the stove, depending upon the position of the bypass damper, like on those old “Jenn Air” commercials. What a shame Harman works so hard not to sell them….
What do I mean by that? Well, after the (bad) Harman dealer refused to call me back, as promised, with info they didn’t know, (like the friggin’ firebox capacity??!) I called them, and was, ultimately hung up on, after being insulted and ridiculed by the owner. This occured AFTER HE BROKE INTO MY TELEPHONE CONVERSATION WITH THE SALES PERSON, after admitting he’d been EAVESDROPPING!
You see, the firebox capacity was apparently too tough of a question for them, and they were supposed to call me with that information, the following week. That's right, I was shopping for a stove fully three hours away from my home, and willing to buy a stove and haul it three hours, but they didn't have the info. So I said "No problem, can you call me with it next week? I can always come back upstate for the stove, some other time." But...apparently they couldn't be bothered to followup with the factory to learn what they should already know--the firebox capacity in cu. ft. Nor did they call me back.
Well, fair enough, so I called them back. And that's when their eavesdropping, rudeness and hanging up on me occured. I think it was because they still didn't have the firebox capacity, so they kind of lost it. And all this even though I was nothing but calm and professional in my total demeanor (I worked for years in customer service and I know what “reasonable” is—I am extremely nice to customer service people, as a result of working in that field and knowing what a tough job it is, yet this dealer was OUTRAGEOUS to me and my girlfriend.
Well, figuring I'd just found the one bad apple of a dealer, I figured I'd get the firebox capacity directly from the factory--because I still wanted the stove that much. So...I called the “800” number on the Harman brochure—you know, the one that says “For Customer Service, call 800 blah blah blah.”
So I called it, and this is what I was told, by the Harman factory:
“You can’t call this number—it’s for dealers only.”
“But your brochure says this number is for ‘Customer Service’”
“Well, that…that’s a mistake—you can’t call here.”
“Okay, but since I’ve got you on the phone, can you just tell me the firebox capacity?”
“You’ll have to ask the dealer—I can’t help you.”
“But I did ask the dealer—they didn’t know, said they’d call you, but then hung up on me—they didn’t have the firebox capacity.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you—I can’t help you—you can’t call this number.”
“But why is it on your brochure? And I just want to know the size of your woodstove….”
“Well, the number shouldn’t be there, and I can’t help you. Click.”
Welll, that was my Harman experience. And a friend of mine loves her Harman woodstove (not sure which model). But if the firebox really is only 2.7 cu.ft. as the (good) Harman dealer claims to know, that's a little on the small side. And if he's telling the truth about their internal backing plate failing (which I have no idea about) then I'll definitely give it a miss.
I will be buying something in the coming weeks. Any and all comments and feedback will be GREATLY APPRECIATED!
I will also probably post another, short section, with specific questions on the above stoves, if I think of any, based on your responses.
Thanks you all, for your patience and energies, wood-fueled and otherwise!
Sincerely,
Peter
