ah, here goes.....my disclaimer here is that I as well sell, service, install and repair pellets stoves, as well as sell pellets. The short answer is, I think Scott should be paid for the first call and the first call only, because the tech in question really should have gotten this on the first call, regardless of how good or bad they are...the homeowner and/or US stove shouldnt have to pay for something again that should have been repaired first time out.
There are ALOT of good points above, all equally valid and standing on their own merits, although it must be understood that all of the opinions will be clouded by the posters' station in life and past experiences. Myself, I sell em and service em, so, my opinion falls there.
Originally, it was the homeowners' fault. Excessive fines, probably from a damp bag, should never have found their way in there. Wasnt an equipment failure, but a failure of the user. Period. The stove didnt need new parts, the clog happened because the owner wasnt diligent enough.....this shouldnt come out of US Stoves' pocket, or Scotts. That being said, well, the original tech messed up in not checking for the obvious, and what is pretty obvious really, to any tech, if not the homeowner.
There are bad products, bad pellets, bad dealers, bad technicians, and, well, bad owners. Thats a problem today....people never seem to take ownership of their shortcomings, as a rule. Scott admits his tech made an error. But will the homeowner ever allow it was also, at least in part if not fully, their fault? Or, is it ever the owners' fault? We do get the occaisional "my bad" from owners, and I appreciate that. They may not like the fact that their error cost them money, but in most cases, they wont make that same error again.....those are stand-up folks. Then there are the folks who want to blame anything and everything, other than themselves, for the issue at hand. Dealer didnt tell me that, not in the manual, shouldnt be like that, whatever.
I hear alot of folks asking things like, "what if the original dealer goes out of business?", "what if the dealer is too far away?", "what if the dealer offers no service (big boxes)?", all VERY good questions. Some manufacturers deal directly with the end user, like Englander, and thats fine too, as long as the end user is willing to do repairs, should they be necessary. If not, its up to the END USER to hire, AND PAY, an independant technician to do the work. get an idea what the labor charges will be ahead of time, etc. But, if you call the guy, pay the guy. Someone above mentioned a single mom with kids....heck, I know of several, and that bias that a mom cant be minimally technically adept is offensive. Thats no excuse.
Then there's the argument that stove warrantees should be like auto warrantees.....do the auto guys come to your house and do house calls? Not usually.
well, sorry folks, and thanks for listening to my rant.......fact is, not everyone should own/operate a pellet stove because they simply are unwilling to do the work associated with such items.....
