Why are some dealers not good business people?

[South of Boston]

I've been on this post since early December '08 it seems that one of the reasons people are finding this forum and site are due to stove dealers not caring about post business. I am a product of this poor business. Am still waiting for parts promised to be delivered. My dealer has told me several times to come and get the parts but three times when I went the product was not complete. My biggest mistake was purchasing the stove 50 miles from my house. They were the only ones to stock back in August. The local dealers told me April was when the orders would be delivered.
My dealers (partners) have been very "cold" to me when I have called or came by. I installed myself under with their blessings since they do not cover my area. They told me how to install and said it was easy. i did but when I had a venting problem and had the exhaust fan seized they have giving me the take a hike attitude.
THis forum has taught me how to fix and maintain my stove. Still waiting for a gasket since Thanksgiving . I emailed them and they said to come get it. Went down on the next day it wasn't there.
I better stop typing before my BP raises even more.
Is it time to expose these bad businesses?

 

[chrisasst]

Wow sounds like my dealer. As long as they get the initial money, they don't care about you or your problems.

 

[mark d fellows]

Some of the delears don't care because there is no consequence for them. Pellet stoves are so popular that they will continue to sell them. Now if there was a way for people to know that a dealer was into shadey business like some care dealers, people might shy away from them.

 

[vgrund]

My suggestion would be to make use of yelp, BBB, etc.

 

[webbie]

Lots of complaint boards on the net - also, you can post your experience on our stove ratings - that covers your dealer experience also.

 

[kinsmanstoves]

There is someone bad in every field (i.e politicians, general contractors, auto mechanics, roofers, dry wallers, car salesman, stock brokers, and you name it). One of your jobs at buying anything is to research. Look into what you are spend your money on and spend it wisely. If half the people on this board asked their stove dealer these questions, could the dealer answer them? Would we have more time to post funny jokes and talk about beer? I have not seen a board such as this for new Chevy cars. The people that are here every day or every other day like to answer the questions. Some of the advice is out in left field but it is up to you to make a decisions and do that.

My advice


Eric

 

[silvermander]

I've heard so much about bad dealers here. Ours isn't bad, just inept!

It's a decent sized plumbing and heating supply place that most caters to professionals.

We noticed one day driving by that they had the stove we wanted listed much cheaper than other dealers in the area who were treating us like poop.

We bought from him, installed ourselves as having him do it wasn't even an option and are going from there. While we feel we're on our own - before finding this forum - we have not really felt treated bad. It's not that Jeff doesn't care, he just doesn't seem to have a clue about what to do for us. It's almost a comedy of errors.

My feeling is that with so much demand for these stoves that the suppliers are just doing it for the extra cash and are not learning what they need to help us out. They have little vested, so why bother. Not the personal feeling I get from our supplier, but from all the others we met before actually buying our stove.

 

[save$]

who would know from the start that picking out a dealer was nearly as important as picking out your stove. When we got our first wood stove, we got it from a furniture dealer. That was it. Brought it home, installed it, had the fire dept look at it, and ran it for years.
Being older now, we started off just trying to not to end up in the poor house by having to pay excessive heating bills. The pellet stove seemed a reasonable alternative. Never had any idea that these stoves needed so much maintenance. Did talk with several people who had them, but didn't get the impression that there were so many issues.
Because of insurance concerns, we food a local company that sold fuel and furnaces. We bought the stove from them and had them do the install.
That was when the "fun" stated. Delayed delivery. Calls not returned. Delivery without parts. Cut the inside wall pipe hole, then the cut the outside pipe hole a foot off to the side! then overcharged installation by $300. (bad math). Didn't leave me with the stove manual.
But then I found this forum. What a learning experience. If only..........................................