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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:03:21 AM EDT
[#1]
If you did in fact do something that voids the warranty, then you are screwed. Other wise, BBB.
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:04:27 AM EDT
[#2]
Did you follow their directions?
 Burning coal will do that to any stove not rated for the heat of coal. Mine specifically stated the need to burn "well-seasoned wood only" and to NOT use any other item. Beyond that I have no clue. 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:06:26 AM EDT
[#3]
I'd say that if you didnt do what they say you must have you've got some grounds for complaint.
Contact the Better Business Bureau and search for Consumer Reports of the same problem. Good luck 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:07:44 AM EDT
[#4]
DID YOU? |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:08:33 AM EDT
[#5]
I've burned a variety of local woods in various states of seasoning, but none green. I've also burned cut-up forklift pallets. Don't know what kind of wood they are, but it's hard and dry. They tend to burn very hot, so I suspect that was the problem, but I don't see how it could be considered "improper fuel".
There's never been anything like coal in it. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:10:03 AM EDT
[#6]
You melted a hole in a woodstove?
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:14:15 AM EDT
[#7]
Not the outside, but a part inside the firebox burned through. Now the glass front gets sooty and doesn't burn clean, and we can smell cumbustion odors when it's going. Here's the same pic I sent Regency, it's of the top of the firebox just inside the door: 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:17:16 AM EDT
[#8]
BBB is as corrupt as it comes. They themselves are a company, and if you are buddy-buddy with them, you get rave reviews and all complaints against you are dropped. They've ignored companies that are pyriamid schemes, scams, and the non-for-profit lame shit. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:30:03 AM EDT
[#9]
The pallets I have seen are made from oak. That should be no problem. If that's all you burned then you have a valid claim. Getting them to agree may take some doing, by the sound of their reply. How much time and effort is it worth to you? It sounds like a matter of principle to me. 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:40:16 AM EDT
[#10]
It is a matter of principle, since they advertise a "lifetime" warranty and this thing is less than four years old. But it's also the practical matter of a $1,200 stove that I heat my house with, and winter's approaching fast. I'm going to get a woodstove one way or another before the prices go up in the fall. If I have to buy a competitor's product, I'm going to make sure Regency at least hears about it from the BBB or something. They're a Canadian company, so I'm not sure they really care what the BBB thinks, though. BTW, some of those pallets were oak, but some of them are very hard wood that I can't identify. I assumed it was some Asian/Africa/tropical species from where ever the pallets were originally shipped. They would burn down into very small amounts of almost "fluffy" ash. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:54:03 AM EDT
[#11]
Stand on your dealer a little?
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Posted: 7/31/2006 6:54:11 AM EDT
[#12]
It's wood, isn't it? I would assume the instructions with the stove did nt preclude specific types of wood though, as other posters mentioned, coal would be too much. Suggested strategies: 1. Check the Federal Trade Commission website for anything involving warranties. I believe (haven't looked at it in a while) they have some responsibility for warranties. Usually, they have a form (on-line) for you to fill out. Then they ask the company for their side. JUst hearing from them on official government (read that "We'll get involved with a snowstorm of paperwork!!!") gets action. You may need to find a US distributor, though for the FTC to have any "threat." 2. Write a (paper) letter to the company. Stress that all instructions were followed. Show the photos as you posted. Stress the "smell combustion gases" part. "This may be a Consumer Product Safety issue." (Ditto on the paperwork.) If a faulty product were to leak gases such as CO into the living area, the sale of these things could be banned. Giving you a new one, as well as being sure any product issues are addressed, is a better alternative. 3. If you can find a US distributor or agent, small claims court. It happened in your house, therefore your County would be the appropriate jurisdication. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 7:02:09 AM EDT
[#13]
I say DECLARE WAR! WHO IS WITH ME?!?!? (crickets) 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 7:06:55 AM EDT
[#14]
Wild-ass, quickie guess from the pic: Looks like a joint that was supposed to be an overlapping one, but the ends butted instead. Although the amount of expansion seems extreme to me, it looks like some sort of expansion might have caused the warpage. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 7:17:44 AM EDT
[#15]
I know you probably paid cash, but if you did finance it with a finance company that Regency uses. Call the finance company and tell them your story.
Honestly, it does not look like a wood fire did that to me(which means exactly jack shit of course), did you use any chemicals to enhance ignition? |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 7:29:14 AM EDT
[#16]
The only thing that could have happened was the pallets had some stuff on them. Our pallets on the docks would be soaked in all sorts of combustable materials. Gasoline to kerosene, oil, hydraulic fluid.
So maybe your pallets had some extra accelerants in them and burned real hot. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 7:32:27 AM EDT
[#17]
Legal Zoom>Small Claims Court>Victory!
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Posted: 7/31/2006 7:57:55 AM EDT
[#18]
Over fired, as in too hot. A good wood stove with good draft can generate temperatures more then enough to melt/deform cast iron and steel plate. Burning Pallet wood is a sure way to have a meltdown if you do not keep the burn under control. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 8:08:13 AM EDT
[#19]
I'd say it's 50/50 whether I start fires with paper/birch bark/pine kindling or those compressed wax/sawdust firestarters. The latter I usually break in thirds or fourths, so I can't imagine they were a significant factor.
I'm pretty careful about not burning anything that might be unhealthy, or even that might damage my saw blades. I just grab the cleanest pallets.
This is what I think is most likely, too. Don't know if that should void the warranty, though. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 8:19:36 AM EDT
[#20]
got a link to their warrantY policy?
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Posted: 7/31/2006 8:26:09 AM EDT
[#21]
Here's their website: www.regency-fire.com And here's what it says about their warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty When you purchase a Regency, you own an award winning product designed for great looks, ease of use and superb performance. Quality is engineered into every component, from heavy duty steel to genuine gold plating. Each Regency is backed by the most comprehensive warranty program in the industry. The Regency Limited Lifetime Warranty covers: Firebox, ceramic baffle, glass, convector airmate, castings, ashdrawer and all gold plating Ask your dealer for more information or read your owner's manual for full warranty details. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 8:30:24 AM EDT
[#22]
Hmm...
Does you're manual say what [explicitly] you can not burn? "...most comprehensive warranty..." doesnt seem that way to me
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:22:00 AM EDT
[#23]
Here's the latest email from the company:
"Respectfully, you are not being blown off, but I do have other things to attend to. I have been in meetings. However, as I said earlier, there is no warranty on this part. This doesn't change any. Warranty is against manufacturers defect and this is clearly not a manufacturer's defect." |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:26:33 AM EDT
[#24]
Quick question--I know nothing of you, so please don't take this wrong--
Did you use the stove with the correct type of fire? They are to have wispy flames only, and a good bed of coals. A big roaring fire, as in a fireplace, is NOT proper for a wood stove. The door is to be closed except when tending the fire, adding wood, etc. and the damper(s) are to be regulated to provide for a "wispy" appearance to the flames. YMM-not-V on this. 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:34:59 AM EDT
[#25]
Looks like you killed it with fire.
 It sucks that they are giving you the runaround. Hopefully they'll honor their warranty.
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:37:04 AM EDT
[#26]
Contact your local Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division.
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:42:47 AM EDT
[#27]
I haven't burned it with the door open, but it has gotten too hot a few times when I didn't close the damper soon enough. It's a welded-steel, non-catalytic type, that introduces fresh air right in front of the glass door to re-ignite the gases before they go up the pipe. So you get a series of small, "dancing" flames going from top to bottom right in front of the glass. I had an Avalon brand welded-steel stove in my previous house, and it did the same thing. Never had any problems with that stove, or a couple cast-iron ones before that. This stove doesn't re-ignite the gases in front of the glass any longer, either - now the glass just gets sooty and doesn't burn clean. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:48:29 AM EDT
[#28]
Well, IMO--I'm just a consumer and have NO knowledge beyond that--they are just a crappy company, and likely in their death throes. The "meeting" referred to in the e-mail reply above is probably one of "WTF are we going to do about all these failing stoves??" If every stove that got a little extra hot before being damped went TU there wouldn't BE any stoves in use.  I think I'd buy a new stove and move on--or go to war against them, though it sounds as though there is little to be gained by that. FWIW, I think you are right and they are wrong--but that's small consolation. 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 11:29:30 AM EDT
[#29]
Your approval is all I want, TBK. That, and my $1,200 back. 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 11:34:15 AM EDT
[#30]
I thought of one more thing you might do: Decide which stove you might buy next--and call them. Lay out the story and see what they offer. You may find a way to get the warranty honored and you may find they have one foot in the grave as a company and aren't about to honor a warranty. If the company you are considering is helpful, then it may tip you to buy from them. I would lay out all the facts and see if they can offer some direction. Good luck! |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 11:39:56 AM EDT
[#31]
GET A VERMONT CASTINGS NEXT TIME
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Posted: 7/31/2006 11:57:49 AM EDT
[#32]
I was going to suggest the Vermont stove as well. The one with soapstone on it?
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Posted: 7/31/2006 8:43:37 PM EDT
[#33]
The situation just got a little weirder. The tech support guy I've been exchanging emails with finally said he'd contact the stove dealership and see about getting a rep to come out and look at the stove. I sent this email thanking him:
"Thanks for looking into this. After the info in our emails, I think it would be enlightening if someone physically looked at the stove, smelled it when it's going, and looked at the types of wood in my woodshed." Then I got this one back from him: "As promised, I will talk to them, regardless of how tasteless and inaccurate your statement was online." ?? ??Did he somehow completely misinterpret my email and twist it into something negative? Is he an ARFCOMMER who read this thread? Everything I've emailed to him and posted here has been not only accurate, but restrained - especially considering the run-around I'm getting. It appalls me to be treated that way. I have a feeling this is going to get pretty ugly. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 8:53:21 PM EDT
[#34]
I got this kind of treatment with a furnace company years ago when it croaked and they wouldn't honor their warranty, and it took an extraordinary campaign of complaining and threatening to scorch them on every internet forum and site I could find before they made right.
By the end of it, I was so worn out from bitching I probably should have just written the fucker off and been happier with my life. I feel for ya. |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:24:31 PM EDT
[#35]
He probably just has you confused with one of the other 3000 people who are emailing about their POS stoves 
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:39:35 PM EDT
[#36]
The saga continues. The guy just sent me this one, past midnight. (Makes me wonder if something's going on in his life that he's taking out on customers.) After he made the "tasteless and inaccurate" comment, I suggested that we would both be happier if he passed this case along to someone else.:
"I am a man of my word, and as the person in control of the department dealing with your enquiry, will not be passing this along to anyone else to handle. There is no point. The decision is my responsibility. I told you I would speak to the dealer and I will. My decision will be fair and consistent with the warranty policy and passed to you through the dealer. No-one has been unjustly dealt with in the past, and no-one will in the future. If this is a product defect it will be treated as such through the dealer, if not, I will let you know also through the dealer. We stand behind our warranty and our product 100%. However, I want to remind you that warranty covers manufacturers defects and your picture in no way indicates that this is the case with your product. Your email even mentions that you burned pallet wood. This is treated wood which when burned, causes problems in steel stoves. If the dealer can convince me otherwise, I will review the original decision. Thank you." I fired this one back: "Joe, I'm so perturbed by all this and especially your last email that I'm still awake. Perhaps you're aggravated as well, since you're working on company business in the middle of the night. Where do you get off calling a customer "tasteless" and "inaccurate"? What have I said anywhere that wasn't polite and restrained? If our roles were reversed, what would you be thinking? You've completely ignored my concerns about the combustion gases I smell. I've asked about it three times without a response. You leaped to the conclusion that I've burned "improper materials". (I'll send you a sample of the pallet wood if you like. I haven't burned much of it , and I don't believe it's treated with anything. I have a much older Avalon stove burning the same firewood, and it's doing fine.) As for "standing behind our warranty and our product 100%", re-read the emails you've sent - you've been essentially telling me "tough luck" from the start. Here's my position: I bought a big-ticket item from a company that advertises "quality engineered into every component" and "backed by the most comprehensive warranty program in the industry". It failed. The dealer assured me it was covered under the warranty. I waited weeks while they told me they were exchanging phone calls with Regency. Feeling very jerked around, I finally contact you directly. Now I don't just get jerked around, I get insulted to boot. Do you treat your dealers the same way you treat your customers? Now I know why weeks went by. Again, if our roles were reversed, what would you be thinking? I get the feeling that you don't have any intention of making this right. I want someone who is objective and civil to hear me out. If that isn't going to happen, I'd rather just buy a competitor's product and express my frustration to consumer protection agencies and product review web sites than put up with more of this. Sincerely, " |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:44:43 PM EDT
[#37]
Sounds like the stove is a piece of shit if it cannot handle all types of wood...
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:50:10 PM EDT
[#38]
Call them and let it be known you are a member of a very powerful internet forum, and if they do not comply their company name will be ruined for years to come.
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Posted: 7/31/2006 9:52:58 PM EDT
[#39]
Excellent. If it gets worse, tell him you'll spend the rest of your natural life reposting his correspondence and photos of their bad product on every home improvement forum and review site until there's no one left who doesn't fear doing business with you. It worked for me.
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Posted: 7/31/2006 10:12:21 PM EDT
[#40]
If you've never had a wood burning stove before, it's not TOO hard to get one going that's way too hot. I used to see it all the time back home, with people who went to the "Local fireplace store" And just bought whatever "looked nice and the salesman recommended". Again.... --> Then, we're talking about people with more money than common sense who were constantly "Keeping up with the Joneses" etc etc etc... Can't just buy a stove and toss some wood in and leave it to it's own... I've literally seen them GLOWING RED on the sides because the owner didn't have a clue, how to use it safely and properly. They just kept on tossing wood in there when they thought "It looked empty". Meanwhile, there's a NICE HOT bed of coals sitting under all that fresh fuel getting ready to start melting stuff. Seen more cracked clear through cast iron stoves than I can remember. I can think of one right off the top of my head that had a good foot-long crack, clear through the side wall.. You could SEE the light from the flames through it ! These dumbasses had the baby's playpen sitting about 4 feet from it... I guess dead babies from carbon monoxide poisoning, never occurred to them... The dope even admitted to getting headaches a lot when sitting there watching tv...... You really need to know what you're doing, especially with a stove... Fireplace is a lot "easier" since you can pretty much SEE an out of control fire... Inside a closed box with a little bitty window, most people just roast away, careless and clueless.... Dangerous stuff. It's entirely possible that you got a bad stove, but it's NOT that hard at all to get a too hot fire going either.... You probably had one or more, burning the pallet oak, too much at once.... Oak gives a VERY hot burn. You really have to damper it down to keep it from burning too fast... Might've been what happened. Who knows..... At least nobody got hurt.... That's the really important thing, when you get right down to it. Property is replacable. Loved ones aint... |
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Posted: 7/31/2006 10:34:29 PM EDT
[#41]
In any case pallet wood is a VERY BAD IDEA. You have no idea what has percolated down to and soaked into the wood. Even if it doesn't burn hot, the gases could be really nasty to you, yours and the stove.
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Posted: 8/1/2006 7:54:03 AM EDT
[#42]
Okay, after I fire off that last rather scathing email, I get this in response:
"I have contacted our sales rep who has the stove shop and he is talking to them re the problem. I will wait until he gets back to me and let you know the outcome of his discussion." The guy has what I call "Abused Dog Syndrome". If I'm nice, he's vicious. If I get aggressive with him, he cringes. Nothing to do now but wait and see. If they hired a consultant to figure out out to alienate customers, they couldn't have come up with a better technique.
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Posted: 8/1/2006 8:18:51 AM EDT
[#43]
As someone who's family owns a business, I can tell you that the service he is giving you is crap. The products we make are 100% guaranteed, even if the customer breaks it.
It's good that you are standing your ground I hope it works out for you. My wife and I were thinking about getting a woodstove this fall. We were going to buy it in the spring, thinking they would be on sale, but the place in town said that, in fact, their only sale was in September. So, if you're thinking about getting another stove I'd check with your local dealers to see when they have their sales. It may not necessarily be spring. Speaking of stoves, what are good ones? I heard that Jotul is supposed to be good? Sorry for the hijack, but it sounds like you might need brand recommendations yourself.
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Posted: 8/1/2006 8:28:37 AM EDT
[#44]
Urg ... I own a Regency stove too (3 year old), and don't like to hear that you having trouble with them. Mine's been good so far though, and we burn all Winter, pretty much from Mid-November to April ... I do stick with just local cord wood though, but remember specifically that MY dealer told me that she goes around to lumber stores and shipping docks collecting up scrap wood and pallettes to burn just as you do.
I guess I'd better pick up a CO detector. |
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Posted: 8/1/2006 8:39:05 AM EDT
[#45]
get his boss's info and talk to him.
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Posted: 8/1/2006 2:48:29 PM EDT
[#46]
It might be a great company, and maybe I just hit the one asshole who works there (that's kind of how my luck goes - I got stuck with EB, didn't I? ). I'm reserving final judgement until the end game. They could have used this opportunity to easily create a loyal customer. (And it's always easier to keep and old customer than to find a new one). Instead - and it's sad because it was so unnecessary - at this point they could deliver a brand new stove to my house with a brass band, and there'd still be hard feelings. Maybe if there was a brass band AND dancing girls I'd get over it. |
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Posted: 8/1/2006 4:00:33 PM EDT
[#47]
1. Contact Attorney General
2. Sue them in small claims court 3. Put up a website bitching about their product |
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Posted: 8/22/2006 8:46:57 AM EDT
[#48]
Update: After exchanging a series of very unpleasant emails with Regency (they insisted that I must have been burning "corrosive materials", and I threatened to contact the BBB and state attorney general's consumer protection division and take them to small claims court), Regency sent a representative out to my house. He had instructions to inspect my woodpile as well as the stove. Very nice fellow who said the stove was defective and that they'd repair or replace it.
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Posted: 8/22/2006 8:50:37 AM EDT
[#49]
Good--and about time. 
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Posted: 8/22/2006 8:51:53 AM EDT
[#50]
Good. They still suck. Don't install it, sell it and buy a better brand or a model that suits your needs. |
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