Thelin Hearth Products

Review: .Facts : I purchased a Thelin Parlour 3000 Pellet stove in November 2010. The stove cost me just under 5000.00 and was suppose to be one of the best and most expensive stoves on the market. This was important to us as we live in Canada and this would be our primary heat for our home.The stove was an issue from day one. it was so noisy that you could barley stand to be in the same room. The squealing fan was unbearable. We contacted the warranty depot where we purchased the stove and they agreed, stating the Thelin's are loud and they would be happy to trade it in for the newer models coming in the next year. We were happy with the heat output and were not in a hurry so waited. Unfortunatley I tried to contact them regarding new problems with the stove and follow-up with the trade in and unknown to us they were out of buisness. The reason for this complaint is that in 2013 my stove started to have numerous issues,the outside is broken, the fan is even louder, the pellets don't always feed. the stove quits and has to be restarted over and over again and one night it did not shut down properly and we were awoken to a house full of smoke. It is just not running properly and quite frankly falling apart. Something I certainly don't expect from a 5000. dollar stove ! I contacted Thelin direct to ask who was now the warranty depot was told to contact the warranty depot - that they do not deal with the public ??? This same question and response repeated frequently until I finally asked " are you even reading my email ? That is my question, I have no warranty depot ?" I was told by Thelin the closest service depot to me was someplace in Alberta ????? Seriously?? I live on Vancouver Island British Columbia - I asked if they were going to pay their service depot to travel 2 days to come check out my stove ?? No response.Thelin did offer to send me a part ( for one of the problems when this first started at my cost but wanted to know who would install it as no more warranty if not their dealer.Desired Settlement: Resolution : warranty is void if someone other that an authorized dealer completes any repairs closest one is 1500 km away. Asked if they would put in writing my warranty would still be valid if I have another service repair. No response I am done trying to deal with Thelin and quite frankly believe this company should take responsibility for their products and, I the consumer should not suffer due to their lack of service.I have had no proper heat since September and have a broken 5000.00 stove and a 700.00 hydro bill for 2 months it is cold here !!I purchased this stove in good faith and it came with 5 year warranty that you cannot provide, therefore I believe you have breached the terms of the purchase contract and I am requesting a refund for this stove.

Business

Response:

Company rep. called Revdex.com office after being contacted by consumer regarding status of case and provided the following statement:

We found a notification in our email spam folder. When we saw the misspelling of the word 'conncern' in the subject line of the email, and we thought it was spam. Upon calling into a Revdex.com to confirm whether or not the email was spam, it was confirmed. We then deleted the email. After speaking with a Revdex.com case handler, it has been clarified that the emails were indeed legitimate. The case handler will be emailing us a new notice, which we will be responding to.

Business

Response:

At Thelin Hearth Products we diligently work to meet customer expectations and to provide quality products to consumer through our dealer network. We have received a Complaint through you regarding warranty issues raised by Ms. [redacted]. We have attempted to provide Ms. [redacted] with options for service during a series of telephone calls and e-mails she has sent to us. She has been resistant to the options we have provided to her.

Attached is a letter that we have recently sent to Ms. [redacted] further explaining our warranty and which parts may still be covered under the warranty. The letter provides her with two options to receive service on her stove for the items under our warranty. We await her response.

Please let me know if you have any questions or require further information to close this matter.

Thanks,

Accounting Manager

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because I have received the letter from Thelin Hearth products and, had a telephone conversation with [redacted] CFO. I still am in dispute and refuse the options provided as they are completely unreasonable and quite frankly ridiculous. I would expect more coming from an organization as this.

Our phone conversation was a complete waste of time as all Jim did was play word games and repeat what was in the letter – again options that are unreasonable.

Based on these facts below I am still disputing this claim with Revdex.com and also the Attorney Generals Office who have contacted me also. Here is what they have offered:

1) they have offered that I ship my stove - at my expense from Vancouver Island British Columbia Canada to their facility in California where they can service my stove and ship it back – at my expense! Are you joking??? I have a quote on this shipment cost and it will be approx. 1431.61 EACH WAY for a total of 2863.22 not including broker fees ( no idea of this cost ) to cross the border and any applicable taxes and dollar exchange …..this is over half or close to what the stove cost new !

2) Then the second option – this one was really a joke as this is the issue that started this in the first place – I can call a technician in my area to service the stove and they will cover a 50.00 charge .

Well as I have told Thelin over and over again the warranty shop they had here (only one) is out of business the closest one is in Portland Oregon.

I have already contacted the local dealers here that service stoves and they will not have anything to do with Thelin products! They will not sell or service them.

So again I am in a real crappy situation here with a 5000.00 stove that is only 3 years old and broken and no options to service it.

I will again ask that this be resolved by either

1) Thelin return my money for the stove and have it shipped back to them AT THEIR EXPENSE

2) Thelin return at the least 50% of the cost of the stove and I will sell the stove to try and recap the rest so I can at least by another one. I do not believe as a consumer that it is my fault that this company has nobody to service their products and as a consumer they should honour my request.

If Thelin is not willing to either of these options then I will proceed with my complaints with the US Attorney Generals office. Contact the media and also track down the other unhappy Thelin customers that I have found on the net and look into small claims court and or, a class action lawsuit.

Review: We've been attempting to obtain a replacement part for a Thelin wood stove for weeks. Thelin would not sell us a part directly, even though there is no longer a dealer in or near our town. We found a dealer willing to work with us, but Thelin has been very unresponsive to their communications. It has taken weeks for Thelin to finally tell the dealer working with us that the supplier for the part in question is no longer in business, and they gave no further information on whether or when we might be able to obtain a part. At the dealer's suggestion, we're trying other avenues to prompt Thelin to be respond in a timely fashion. Meanwhile, we can't use the stove, have $500 worth of pellets that we can't use, and are paying very high heating bills.Desired Settlement: We'd like a replacement part as soon as possible. We'd like to be able to deal with Thelin directly if at all possible. Going through the dealer is a waste of their time and slows everything down, but if it's absolutely necessary to work that way, we want Thelin to respond promptly, fully and truthfully to contacts from the dealer (Buell Fuel in Syracuse).

Business

Response:

At Thelin Hearth Products we diligently work to meet customer expectations and to provide quality products to consumer through our dealer network. We have received a Complaint (ID 9921028) through you regarding the manner in which we provide parts to consumers. It is our understanding that our Dealer has furnished the parts to Ms. [redacted], so we believe this matter is now closed. I still wanted to close complaint with your organization and explain our policies.

It is our policy to direct consumers to a dealer in their area for parts and service. Our products require service from technicians skilled with pellet, wood and gas stoves. We feel proper service from skilled technicians provides the consumer with the best experience with our products. It is therefore our policy to only provide parts through our dealers and service organizations. Ms. [redacted] wanted to buy parts directly from us, which is not our policy so we directed her to a local dealer to provide her with the parts she required. We always try to ship parts to our dealers quickly, but there are times when a part is on back order.

In this situation Ms. [redacted] desired to purchase a part on back order, we supplied the part to our dealer as soon it became available.

Review: Dear Sir/Madam,

First I would like to say that I am a first time customer of Thelin Company, and Thelin Company product. Unfortunately will probably be my last time purchasing a product through Thelin. The experience that I have had with Thelin and Thelin’s product is repulsive. Allow me to explain my circumstances on why I am so opposed to Thelin’s product.

My wife and I purchased a Thelin Parlor Pellet stove from a local company, and paid a large amount almost $3,500.00 for a pellet stove. Unfortunately the company that we purchased it through is no longer in business. This winter we have been noticing that the pellet stove glass continuously becomes dirty, now that just maybe from the company that we purchase pellets through, however, the other day, and this is now the second time this has happened the pellet stove went out, there was still pellets in the hopper, electric was still hooked up, but the entire pellet stove just stopped, and our entire house filled with smoke! Thank goodness our children were at school when this happened otherwise we would have a bigger problem. Over the past year, we have done nothing but replaced, and replaced, and replaced parts on this pellet stove. First the auger motor did not work, and had to replace that. Second the mother board went, and we replaced that, then the air fan went, and we replaced that. Did I miss any pieces? I must say at this point I do not have a pellet stove; I have rather a large paper weight. I have been reading over the past year nothing but negative reviews on your product, and more people who are experiencing the same problems. With the amount of people experiencing the same problems obviously there is a flaw. I have written numerous emails, letters, and phone calls, and yet I have had no response. Furthermore, today The Pellet stove caught fire and the whole house filled with smoke. There was a fire inside the pellet hopper. Thank God our kids were not home, and we were at work.Desired Settlement: For a large costly product I would like a full brand new replacement, for a product that has only lasted a few years definitely has an issue.