VALLEY FIREPLACE & STOVE LLC

We went to a small business expecting that if there were problems, they would stand behind their work. We had the owner come out and measure everything so we could be sure the new stove was the right choice and would fit. In retrospect, he was probably too eager to make the sale. The installation process was so disorganized, it's not worth going into details. Bottom line, the installers were repeatedly late, failed to show for one appointment entirely, and had to come back to finish the job because they didn't have the right materials. The stove did not run as advertised, and after much back and forth, and after we noticed that the installation manual left behind by the installers specified that our chimney should have been at least 8 feet taller than it is, they installed a chimney extending pipe temporarily. This helped, but in the end, they also gave us remedial training in starting and running the stove appropriately, because no we are not wood stove experts! It was then running perfectly, as advertised. They then removed the extender because they were not allowed to leave it up and said everything should be fine. The stove's performance decreased significantly and they became even harder than before to get ahold of and to get a straight answer from. The owner and his lead sales guy came out to look and started off condescending and annoyed. They gave multiple reasons (excuses) for why the stove isn't running the way it was with the extender. As we pointed out the logical flaws in each excuse, they fell back on "well no, it's running perfectly, running as intended" and acted like we were crazy. We felt that since they were responsible for installation and failed to say a single word about the height of the chimney or any other risks with installation, they should make it right. They acted as if we had started a giant scheme to try to get something for free. Of course, we can't get our old stove back now and we can't get our money back and they don't care that they installed the stove without following the manufacturer's instructions. They didn't even offer any kind of compromise even though they own a masonry business and could have offered to do the repairs for materials cost only. They just dismissed us and kept trying to tell us we were crazy. Best of all, they offered to reinstall the pipe extender that they earlier said they had to remove for safety reasons. Finally, they finished their visit by telling us that (a) we were lucky that we went with them since no other stove company would have tried to fix it at all and (b) that if they stayed overnight, there would be hot embers in the morning. Needless to say, we will not be doing business with them again and we will be looking to hire a reputable mason to make the necessary repairs to the chimney.