Wood Heat

This has been a nightmare dealing with this company. It started when I ordered a stove in Feb '22. I contacted them 3 times in April, June and August, each time, the production date moved back 2 or 3 months. You had to stop into their showroom because calls were never returned. They told me in late Sep. that it would not arrive until "maybe" early 2023 so I bought a different one ( Jotul Oslo F500 V3 ) that was in stock and cost $1300 more. After waiting until 1 PM for an installation that was scheduled for 9 AM and several unanswered phone calls to the showroom, a third party sub contractor arrived to do the installation. They had the wrong stove with them so we had to wait another hour until the correct stove arrived. It was brand new in a crate but defective from day one, with a door handle that was extremely hard to close. Also, a few weeks later, we noticed that the welds that hold the stove together were coming loose! They tried to fix the handle three times over a period of three months but were unsuccessful. Now with the added welding issue, they said that they won't take responsibility for correcting this and to contact the MFR! The parent company is in PA so we have filed a complaint with PA Consumer Affairs.

Excellent! Great Service. Competent and friendly installation crew. Prepped and protected work area. Cleaned up.

Product and installation were great, but it ends there.  
Before my pellet stove was installed I called to inquire about the compatibility of a programable thermostat I wanted to purchase.  Sue assured me it would work without asking any questions about it.  When I asked to speak to someone else, she refused.  It was only after calling one of their competitors that I was told this particular thermostat wouldn't work due to a voltage differential.
Another problem I encountered was when I purchased a ton of pellets (50 bags) from Tim.  Tim assured me that I did NOT have to take delivery of the entire ton and that I could come by and take as many bags as needed until I reached my full amount.  This was a serious concern for me as I have no basement, shed or garage to store 50 40lb bags.  I took 8 bags with me that day.  When I returned for some more, Tim told me he is not in the pellet storage business and that I already paid for my bags and should take them all.  I currently have bags of pellets stacked up in my living room and kitchen.  
I was left feeling that after they got my money, I was swept under the rug.

Their products are good (better than most you see around)  as is the installation work.  Be prepared to do all your own leg work when it comes to permits, inspections, etc.. and do not expect any help from these guys should you have issues.

I would highly recommend Wood Heat if you are looking to install a wood stove in your house. They made the whole process of selecting a stove so easy and it was great not having to hire a 3rd party to perform the installation.  

 

It all began when I walked into the Woodheat store in Flemington, NJ in September 2010. I was greeted promptly by a sales representative who was very informed and helped me chose what I wanted.  After I chose what I wanted I paid for it and scheduled an install date with Bob (the store manager).  I do a lot of traveling for work so it was important for me to stick to an arranged schedule.  Well about 2 days before the scheduled install I get a call from Bob saying the installers have an opening and he would like to do it today. I was really caught off guard but the fact that I would get it earlier was appealing so I arranged to work from home that day.

Bob also scheduled to looked at the job (actually I asked him to come look at it, it was not offered)  and "scope it out" prior to sending his installers to do the job. He came over and lets just say he made A LOT of promises that didn't pan out in the end. One being that his installers would be able to hide the power cord coming from the unit another being that the sheetmetal surround for the unit would be flush with the existing masonry. He also said that the chimney would have to be swept prior to install but that if I threw the installers a $50 that they would do it rather me paying a chimney sweep $100.  This really concentred me because I just spent over $4000 on the unit and install, you think they would throw that in, but they did not.

The installers came and installed the unit. The install went fairly smooth except the fireplace surround was not sitting properly on the rock masonry that was around my existing fireplace.  It just didn't look right.  There were gaps all around the edge where the surround would meet the masonry. It looked awful.  So I called Bob the next day to take care of it. He scheduled a visit that he missed. They rescheduled another visit that he didn't make. Finally he made it back to the house (called me on his way over so almost unannounced) and he brought clear silicone caulk and proceeded to fill these HUGE holes with it. Keep in mind that the aluminum surround is black and the masonry is gray. Again it looked AWFUL and as soon as I lit the next fire the caulk came off the masonry and it looked even worse. I called Bob yet again and asked him to come up with a solution. He said he would have a surround specially made for me and it would take time.  That was in January 2011 and he never game me an anticipated completion date so as time went on and 3 months passed I figure I should give him a call in March.  He said the surround was in (I am sure it had been in for a while) and he would send someone right over to put it on. 

In Jan of 2011 I tried to reach the company owner of the company Todd Ackerman on his cell phone to express my concerns about the install services. I called and left a few voice mails and never received a call back. So I called their second store location and asked if the owner was available and that person just suggested I call management back in Flemington location.  I was just handed off in a circle of phone calls and voice mails with no concern from the owners. Todd knew he had a concerned costumer who was leaving him voice mails and never attempted to call me.

Bottom line is when Bob did his initial walk through of the project he made a lot of promises and made me believe the end result would of been much more visually pleasing.  Also they were very sporadic with their scheduling.  I don't see how you can hire someone to manager a store who has no capacity to schedule around his costumers. There were a couple times where I took off work only to have him reschedule.  Bob consistently seemed frazzled and unorganized. So while Wood Heat sells good products they really need to reconsider who is managing their Flemington store. I have learned to live with the final result, but it was not nearly as nice as was promised. If you do purchase from them I suggest you go outside for an installer.  Oh and the "install team" was Bob's brother, talk about all hands in the pot.