Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/17/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Beginning in February 2023 we emailed Time ******** Sales Manager for Jotul in *************, 13 times and left a voicemail asking for help to resolve problems with their dealer, i.e., send a competent and qualified technician to fix the stove. No response from ********************. ******************** of ***** ** sold ** a Jotul 500 **** woodstove. In October 2022 GEO owner ***************************** came in to fix an air leak top plate was loose. He immediately downplayed the seriousness of the problem by telling us all stoves leak air. Really? A new factory inspected Jotul? That means Jotul and their dealer ************ Options did no quality control before installing the stove. The ownwer Fleishmann tightened the loose top plate. When we used it days later we saw that the problem got worse: burning wood faster than before, found pieces of cement fall from the front of the stove and noticed smoke coming out from under the top plate, worse than before. We did an air leak test (incense stick) and found air drawn into the stove below the top plate. Contacted ************ Options by email and certified letters with pictures, several times. ********** emailed us 7 weeks later saying the stove is "functional" and If you are dissatisfied, I would suggest asking, rather than demanding. Undaunted, we called, emailed, sent certified letters for an appointment. They refused give us an appointment.4 months have now passed. ************ Options will not ************ we have another serious problem, the ashtray door has an air leak too, between the top plate leak and the ashtray door a lot of air enters the stove from two sources, causing a high fast burn that already has warped the ash grate. Because of possible further structural damage to the stove, we stopped using it. We have a serious problem. The stove is under warranty. Jotuls dealer ************ Option of ***** ** refuses to respond to our inquiries. Were asking Jotul NA to fix the problems.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/29/2023

  I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint.

  No response of any kind from seller ******************** of ***** **
  or Jotul NA in *****************. Emailed 15 employees at Jotul NA. Not one
  responded. Called and left messages.  No response. Jotul NA
  management had a telephone receptionist tell us that GEO owner ****
  **********, aka ********************* is legally responsible for the
  repairs.  Sent emails to the ************ Options employees and
  owner ***************************** too. No response.  However, on 2/14/23 ****
  ********** showed-up unannounced at our residence and yelled and
  threatened my wife. His actions confirms what we suspected, GEO
  never intended to repair the installation and stove damage, just
  ignore us until we give up. Now those problems have become worse, 
  so that we stopped using the stove. We also found out that ****
  ********** and his employees are not certified in wood stove
  installation and maintenance, although an employee (*****) told us
  otherwise; which shows in the poor quality work we encountered.
  Ironically ************ Options' website states they they provide
  "perfect customer service." That is not our experience -  its been a
  nightmare dealing with them.  Fact: ************ Options never
  returned a phone calls, responded to emails, or answered certified
  letters. We first notified GEO of installation problems on 3/12/22 -
  as of this date (55 weeks later) nothing has been done. Owner
  promised to fix the damage he caused to our stove on 10/11/22 - as
  of this date (23 weeks later), nothing has been done. These facts
  are uncontested.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Jotul dealer in ***** ** who sold ** a 500V3 **** in March 2022 came to ** in October 2022 to fix an air leak top plate was loose. We've used wood stoves for 20+ years, know something about them. He downplayed the seriousness of the problem by telling us all stoves leak air. No they do not. Not a new factory inspected $4.5K Jotul? He tightened loose top plate. Problem solved! Nope. The next few days we saw pieces of sealant cement fall from underneath the front of the top plate. Then noticed smoke coming out from under the top plate, worse than before. We did an air leak test (incense stick) and found air drawn into the stove below the top plate and the stove was burning double the amount of wood than before. We double and tripled checked what we could. Contacted dealer again by phone and email with pictures. He responded 7 weeks later and wrote the stove is "functional", and If you are dissatisfied, I would suggest asking, rather than demanding. We were always polite. Its a new stove, he damages it, makes the problem worse. He gave no date when he would address the problem. Winter is at our door and we have a damaged stove. We emailed and called for an appointment but they would not give us one. That was over 4 months ago. No repair insight. In February we emailed the Jotul *********** manager, **********, at his Jotul email address several times asking for help in getting the stove fixed, hoping he would send a competent and qualified technician. No response. The stove is under warranty. Were told if we have a non-Jotul tech guy come in it negates the warranty. Were stuck between a rock. The dealer is being very difficult. What to do? Jotul *** please help us, please have someone fix the problem because your dealer will not. We dont deserve this. No one does.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I purchased a Jotul 370 from The ********************************************** November 2021 for $6554.98. I believed I was buying a top-of-the-line product. Unfortunately, because of Covid issues and delays, the propane stove wasn't fully installed and operational until January 10th of, 2022. I called ChimneySweep in December of 2021 to schedule a service appointment for an ongoing issue with the unit. The tech determined there was a bad control board, and it needed to be replaced. I was then told my team was out of warranty and had to pay $254.15 for the board and $150.00 for labor. The board needed to be ordered, and the repair was made on 1/10/23. I was e-mailed an invoice yesterday, 2/6/2023.Chimney Sweep told me that after the repair, the warranty goes into effect on the date of purchase, not when the unit is installed and operational. They said there was nothing they could do. By this logic, had the stove been on back order for a month, I would have lost a month of warranty before the unit was even in the hands of the Chimney Sweep. I feel this is an underhanded way of conducting business. I purchased a car that took three months to arrive at the dealership; my lease and warranties started the day I started driving that call. I bought a refrigerator from Lowes. It took three weeks to be delivered. The contract started the day it was installed. I paid for a top-the-line product from what I believed to be a reputable manufacturer, and games of technicalities are now being played.I believe it's reasonable for me to have the ****** refunded and the stove fully repaired.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/19/2023

  I have not heard from the business in response to my complaint.