Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  02/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 6/30/22 we paid a total of $7,890.29 for a ******** 3.3 Wood Stove. Value of the stove was $3,362 and the balance was for a new liner and related installation. We have been customers of this company for more than 40 years and we have never had anything like this occur. Our first issue was related to the ash tray and was reported on November 21, 2022 and it was was determined the "stop tabs" had not been adjusted which they fixed. On 12/22/22 we had a very scary and hazardous incident when, with the door fully closed, there were several loud bangs followed by sparks and flames shooting out of the closed door. This was followed by a rapid rise in stack temperature to approx. 650 degrees. I called Matchless and a technician was sent to inspect the unit. This was followed by a call from Aaron G. who told us to use a smaller amount of wood and to try and take a video if it occurred again. He stated MS will "stand behind their product." On January 13, 2023 I called MS again to let them know ash continues to blow out of the door area as well as the fire would just disappear to be followed a minute or two later by the loud explosion noise and the rapid temperature rise. I explained that as a result of the previous reco by them we were using 3 pieces of wood at a time. Aaron G. visited on January 17 to observe and take videos . Again he stated management would stand behind their product and replace the stove & gave us a brochure of the replacement. I was able to capture the fire dying out, etc. and emailed them. On January 20 Aaron called that management had met and he was reporting they would NOT honor the commitment to replace the stove. I requested copies of the documents related to the inspections and a memo from the company of their decision. On January 29 I again requested this info by email & have yet to receive any response. Since then we have had at least 5 additional incidents. We are of the opinion the air intake operation is faulty.

  Business response

  02/28/2023

  To whom it may concern, Responding to customer complaint # ******** 2/20/2023 Matchless Stove & Chimney did not in any way or at any time offer to replace the customers wood stove, *** 3.3 # *** installed on 6/26/2022. We did, however, at no charge, test the unit in the customer's home, several times with 3 different trained professionals. It is our opinion that the wood stove is operating exactly how it was built. Therefore, at this time we feel there is nothing wrong with the wood stove nor are we obligated to perform any further service. Regardless of the truth that the stove is in perfect working order we will, however, go above and beyond what should be expected. This will bring incurring financial loss to our company, but we will replace the wood stove with another *** 3.3 Free Standing Stove. We will not be able to resell the customer's old stove as by their attached letter they have used it daily and wood stove dealers are now prohibited from selling used stoves.We are dedicated to our business but in the end this transaction will cost us several thousand dollars to replace a working wood stove with another working wood stove. These stoves have been on back order for the past 23 weeks with the next stove shipment available to us in roughly 10-12 weeks. When the next shipment arrives, we will contact the customer to replace their working stove with another working wood stove. Wanda M*****CFO/Vice President

  Customer response

  03/14/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below. We reject the Matchless offer they have proposed. We continue to have the same issues with the woodstove as originally filed in our complaint. The latest shut down/explosion restart occured as recently as Saturday, March 11. After several more incidents, we are more convinced than ever that the problem lies within the ashtray/vent lever area related to air exchange, possibly due to a poor weld or installation of the components. How does replacing the current stove with the same model resolve our concerns of safety? If Matchless would replace with the ******* **** model they recommended (see Janaury 17 attachment) on a pedestal base that would be an acceptable resolution. Also, Matchless has yet to provide us with any of the documents regarding the stove that we requested on January 20th (see attached memo). What is their issue that they are not responding to this request? *** * ** *** ****** Regards, ****** * ** *** ******

  Business response

  03/22/2023

  BBB spoke to Wanda at the business and the following was relayed:We stand by our original response.  

  Customer response

  03/23/2023

  Better Business Bureau: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Regards, ****** * ** *** ******

*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. ↩