On November 9th, 2009, my husband and I purchased a Harman DVC - 500 coal stove from Tall Pines Farm in Kingsley, PA. We chose Tall Pines over a closer dealer due to their stellar reputation, etc. We needed to supplement the heat in our home because we had just had our first child on October 1st. We needed something that would keep our house toasty for the baby. Our Stove was installed on November 12th. On December 1st, it shut down. It was only 18 days old. On that day, my husband called Tall Pines to tell them what had happened. He spoke to Deb who said that it may be 2 weeks before somebody could come and look at it to see what was wrong with it. When considering we just spent $5000 plus and it had only been on for 18 days, that was unacceptable to us. My husband told her that if she did not have someone out here by today/tomorrow he was putting it on his truck and bringing it back and she could give us our money back. On that day, they made good. They sent someone out to fix it, which he did. He also told my husband that Harman had been having problems with the feed motors and he replaced it with the better one. The stove continued to work throughout the winter. If you live in Northeast PA you know that could go well into April. At the end of the season we did the recommended maintenance, etc. The same maintenance we had been doing all along as our manual has told us to do so.
Over the Summer, I realize with the baby it is a little harder to work. I therefore decide to finish my basement (where the coal stove is located and is the only source of heat in the basement) and make an office so I can work down there. I am an independent contract that works on a 100% commission basis. Therefore, I take my life savings $18,000 and put all of my money down there so I can work in one room and have the baby in the other, etc. Please also keep in mind that I am the bread winner of the family and need to keep working efficiently no matter what.
The nightmare begins.....this year we fire up the coal stove on December 2nd. On the same day it shuts down. We fiddle it with it over the weekend going over the cleaning, etc., thinking maybe we missed something....still doesn't work. We can get it going but 30 minutes later is starts going into shutdown mode. I call tall Pines on Tuesday and speak to Bill, he tells me check this, do that, etc. So we do. Mind you I really have to wait til Tuesday evening to do this because I now have a 1 year old running around the freezing house and can't dedicate the time to check everything Bill recommends until my husband comes home. On Wednesday I call....they are closed. Which I find so ridiculous in the beginning of winter......Anyway, Thursday I get a hold of Deb, because SHE is the ONLY one who can schedule the service. She tells me the service tech can't come out until December 22nd - which I find RIDICULOUS, but I accept because I just want to the $5000 stove fixed!!!! During this conversation, I mentioned to her that I kind of feel like we have a lemon of a coal stove and she states, I understand how you can feel that way. I say to her if it can't be fixed, what will happen. She says they will make every attempt to fix it and if they can't they will contact Harman and we will go from there.
In the meantime, I call Fisher Stoves which is right down the road. At this point, I am willing to pay out of my pocket for the service call because I know in the long run it is going to be cheaper than my electric bill and propane gas bill. He however, is booked up as well. I understand he has no obligation to us because we did not spend our $5000 there. However, I will say he has been the absolute most helpful of anyway in regards to this issue.
December 22nd comes, Chris who I find the only person from Tall Pines to be helpful, tells me he THINKS the pressure switch is bad. He also states that he is kind of stumped and is pretty sure it is the switch. He also tells me the stove is in great shape and we have taken very good care of it. On his way out the door he tells me if the switch comes in tomorrow, he will be here tomorrow. I want to believe him, but I also understand it is 2 days before Christmas and really don't expect him to be back til Monday. He tells me not to call them, they will call us. That is were I made a mistake. I should have called them on Thursday to make sure they ordered the part and to schedule when he would be here.
The Holiday comes and goes. I do not hear from them. On Monday morning I call and ask for Deb. The person tells me she is not in yet, but when she gets in, she will give me a call. I ask him if he knew anything maybe if the part was in, etc. He looks up my info and says you need and are waiting on a pressure switch. I knew in my heart right then and there the part had not been ordered. I don't push the issue, I hang up and wait for Deb to call. A few hours go by and I still don't hear from here. I call again. This time I get a woman who tells me Deb is off today, she will be here tomorrow. I will have her give you a call.
Tuesday comes, no call from Deb by 10. So I call. Amazingly she answers the phone. I ask her what is going on, is the part in, etc. She says she has to check on it and will give me a call back. I then say to her, when I talked to the guy yesterday on the phone, he kind of sounded like the part was not ordered. She said "oh no, that is not the case." We hang up and I wait for her to call me back........3:00 pm still no phone call. By this time, my husband is home from work and is wondering if I had heard back from her. I say no, of course not. So he calls.
He gets the same run around. I really can't write what their conversation was because I was not on the call. All I know is that she said she does not have a tracking # and that she will call him back and let him know what is going on. Well the first thought in my husband's head is, no tracking # means she ordered it today. He knows this because he works for UPS!!! So we wait for her to call back.....NO call back. She also tells him to call Harman directly if he wants. to. He doesn't call but I do and I tell them the saga. He assures me that he will call Deb and have her call us back and let us know what is going on. 5:00 still no call back, my husband calls her. He asks her to be honest with her and tell him when the part was order, well by golly, they just ordered it today - UNACCEPTABLE! When he asks her why she gives him and answer like well I just can't be responsible or something like that. Well then who the heck is. He then asks her how we are supposed to deal with the fact that we have a $5000 coal stove, with a full bin of coal in the garage, and the fact that we have spent $1000 on propane in the past 6 weeks and we are getting to buy $500 more. He also states the he wants a new stove, because he feels something else is going to go wrong. I am now thinking if it doesn't get fixed am I seriously going to have to wait another 2 weeks for a service call and after the service call am I going to have to wait another week for the part and after that am i going to have to wait another 2 weeks after that for them to come and put the part in. This is just crazy. Why can't they just install a new stove????? Wow maybe they might be out a few $100 dollars but is it really worth their reputation!!!! You know Harman will reimburse them! They are all in it together.
So here I sit, in my freezing basement that I can't work in when my daughter is awake because it is too cold. (yesterday, it was 16 degrees) typing this email praying that maybe somebody perhaps George from Tall Pines might address this situation!!!! In closing, I will say this. I work in sales. It is how we feed our family, heat our home, etc., when I have a customer who has a problem. I take action. I go above an beyond to address and correct the situation not matter how difficult. Tall Pines Farm takes your money and then they are done with you. Buy elsewhere.
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