Wood burning stove - we got burnt

[kormachameleon]

Hi

I posted asking for advice on stoves last November. I've had one installed now and I thought I'd share my experience.

We deliberated between Casa in Dulwich and Westcombes on Lee High Rd. We chose Westcombes because it made sense to use the same company to buy and install the stove. But it turns out we made the wrong choice...

Our initial impression was good - Max at Westcombes couldn't have been more helpful. But it all went downhill from there. After paying our deposit, we spent 2 months chasing Westcombes up to get the stove installed. It was only when we asked for our deposit back that they came up with a date. The installation was done so hurriedly that my husband thought he'd better check the work. He spent some time scrutinising the manual and the stove, then found the installation to be faulty and illegal - a vital part was missing, which put it in breach of Clean Air Act. This was confirmed by the manufacturer - we sent them a photo. We are now into the 4th week of chasing them up to get us the missing part (which we'll install ourselves, we don't trust their installer, Peter, any more). As a small business owner myself, I would be falling over myself to put something like this right, and I would keep the customer regularly updated. But not Westombes - as we have come to expect, they never take the initiative to contact us. We are still waiting for our missing part (which I now suspect will never come) and have to keep ringing up and reminding them. The total price, ?2800, led us to expect a better service than this. This shop really needs to polish up its customer service. And how many other customers' installations have been hurried and faulty I wonder? Not many customers would have the time or expertise to check the installation as we did. I wish we'd gone to Casa in Dulwich.

[Lowlander]

Are they HETAS or similar registered? Usually a threat to contact a trade body gets them going.

Otherwise contact Lewisham trading standards - you don't have to live in the same borough - they're usually very helpful.

Good luck

[dan b]

is Peter the installer you're talking about Peter Connell from Sustainable Fires, who I believe does Westcombes' installations? I didn't have a good experience with him.

[kormachameleon]

The installer is HETAS registered, and we have used that threat, but it didn't galvanise them. It's slightly complicated by the fact that the installer doesn't seem to be directly employed by Westcombes (we had to pay him separately in cash) but Westcombes sent him to us, we didn't have a choice. So really we have 2 grievances - against Westcombes AND their installer. Incidentally Westcombes defended their installer and said no-one had complained before. But so what? Most people wouldn't know how to check the fitting as we did and then find out the DEFRA kit is missing. There could be lots of illegal stoves polluting the air in the Lewisham area.

I might contact Lewisham trading standards - thanks for the tip.

[kormachameleon]

Yes, it was Peter Connell

[Lowlander]

Do get in touch with HETAS, some advice here:

http://www.hetas.co.uk/consumer/complaints-policy/

[Huggers]

Shouldnt Westcombes have included the defra kit with the sale rather than the installer?

[kormachameleon]

It's all a bit of a mystery. After Peter the installer had gone we found bits of the DEFRA kit in our front room. Did Peter just pocket the rest of the kit deciding he couldn't be bothered with the fitting which is a bit fiddly? We could ask the manufacturers of the stove, Stovax, if the DEFRA kit was packed in with the stove, but are really hard to get hold of - they don't answer the phone, and took 2 weeks to answer an email. It's all been a bit of a pain, with no-one being helpful. The good news is that Westcombes have obviously seen the bad feedback I left them on the Yahoo review website, and this has galvanised them to contact us, yesterday, after several weeks of silence. Somewhat co-incidentally, an excellent review of Westcombes has been posted immediately after my bad review. Hmm...

[jj55]

I really feel for you. Sorry if this makes you feel worse but just in case anyone else is thinking of using Casa on Bellenden Road. We had our stove sourced and installed through Casa and I couldn't recommend them more. Matt at Casa was great - we visited him about 3 times for advice and he visited out house (to see size/setup etc) before making a decision. Matt helped find a chimney sweep (family run business - they had records of cleaning our chimneys as far back as the 1940s which for some reason appealed to me). He advised on the stove knowing what we were looking for and our budget. He then manages the team to install it. Steve installed it - spent time showing us how it worked and what to do for the first 'burn', lovely guy - he also removed the old fireplace surround and plastered the wall as part of the job.

Sometimes hard to get hold of as often out and about but if you go to the shop you can chat direct to him.

I know you're chasing Westcombes to sort a bad job but if you're worried about safety etc contact Matt - he or Steve might be able to help?

Hope you get it sorted soon.

[kormachameleon]

Yes, we had Steve to clean our chimney. And we had Matt from Casa come to do a survey. We were going to use him but then we went to Westcombes to chose our fire - they have a good range on display. The man in the shop, Max, is lovely, very helpful. We had confidence in him. Unfortunately it's the boss (George) and the installer, Peter, who ended up letting us down.

[PCO]

Morning Jane,

Pete here from Sustainable Fires.

Most importantly, human error on my part, I did forget to install a part for your stove, my fault entirely. I confirmed this in my e-mails to your man Shaun on the 6th & 8th Feb, once again I apologise.

Your stove had 2 parts to the smoke control kit, we fitted one but not the other, again I apologise for this error on my part. I agree with Shauns e-mail of 6th Feb.. "you have left it off or have forgotten to do it"- nothing malicious, my mistake.

We were running late the day of your install, we started at 12.45pm and finished around 6.00pm, so the three chaps we had on your job did rush a tad, finishing the job in about 5 hours. I apologise for this.

I have offered to install the missing part, you have made it clear you don't want us back round at yours, I have also offered to pay another installer to fit the part,that offer still stands. I understand Shaun has fitted it himself.

In response to Lowlander, I provided Jane & Shaun with the HETAS complaints no' in my e-mail as I realised they were not happy, here's the no' again- HETAS Complaints- 0845 634 5626.

In response to Dan B, Dan, need to pick up the rubbish from your front garden and give you a data plate, I believe this summarises your lack of a " good experience". How's the fire going ? Perhaps you could mention the additional works we carried out at no cost to yourself ?

Jane, I don't like the insinuation in your post that "There could be lots of illegal stoves polluting the air of Lewisham", I guess the flipside of that is they could all be spot on and thats why no one else has voiced concerns ?

Also " we had to pay him separately in cash" conjures up a lovely image. As a fellow small business owner Jane you'll know cashflow is important. I've provided you with a receipt for your cash payment.

We tried our best and it didn't work out, once again I apologise.

Pete

[Alex K]

Ah, Pete. Gertrude Stein, THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALICE B TOKLAS. "She always quotes his answer to any student excusing him or herself for anything. He would look reflective and say, yes that is just like our cook. There is always a reason. She never brings the food to the table hot. In summer of course she can?t because it is too hot, in winter of course she can?t because it is too cold, yes there is always a reason."

Installation of bits of kit forgotten, long and late hours for the team, there is always a reason. But the food never comes to the table hot and the stove installation is always bungled. And there is always a reason.

No one cares about the sodding reason. All that one wants is the stove properly installed, the food hot. But.

[lpool]

I've used Westcombes and Pete in the past to fit a new hole in the wall fireplace and did an excellent job including coming back few months later to replace burner which had a manufacturer fault. Also about the tidiest workman I have ever used.

[dan b]

Pete, yes to clarify, the stove installation work you carried out was fine - no complaints about you work on that. What was disappointing was the job not being finished - you left us with a front garden full of rubble which you had said you would remove and dispose of the next day but did not (and various texts and messages were not returned), so eventually we had to take it all down to the waste disposal on OKR ourselves, and you not returning to fit the stove's data plate.

[kormachameleon]

The story is nearly over now. I was too harsh in my feedback on Westcombes and would like to retract what I've said about them. Max (from Westcombes) has made every effort to put things right and has arranged for my installation to be checked by another HETAS engineer. The problem was not with the Westcombes, but with the installation itself. If I were to buy a stove again, I would go to Westcombes. I'd get Matt from Casa to do the fitting though.