Best place to buy stove online

shazzafly

Thanks so much so far to the people on here who have offered me such great advice.:rotfl: My hearth is being fitted 2morow and now had 3 varying quotes.

One quoted me £999+VAT just for a 8 metre standard liner, I almost fell over. Another £1821+VAT to fit without a stove

Anyway now have a lovely HETAS fitter, am happy with his price I just need now to buy the actual stove.

So looking for cheapest, most reliable shop for a stovax stockon 4 multifuel please. I don't need a flue and bits just the actual stove.

Come on guys without you so far I would still be living with a dreamworld budget and have an wrong sized hearth, etc etc

thanks:j:j:j:j

rustyboy21

I don't think you are going to find anyone selling a stovax stove online much cheaper than what you can get them for in shops TBH.

Stovax have a dealer trading terms in place, which forbid any dealer from devaluing their product by selling it online at a cheaper price than instore. This is done through EU legislation ( bricks and mortar law)

Anyone purporting to be selling the stoves at a really cheap price compared to anyone else, you will more than likely find they are not a stockist and you could be buying off a scam site, meaning you won't get your stove) Most dealers sell at the listed price offered by stovax, from which they will get a set discount. If you don't have a showroom, you won't be able to supply the products.

It is one way fire/stove dealers are stopping unfair pricing on the net and supporting the retail showrooms.

A._Badger

rustyboy21 wrote: »

It is one way fire/stove dealers are stopping unfair pricing on the net and supporting the retail showrooms.

Or, alternatively, using the EU to reimpose anti-competitive retail price maintenance, which was abolished in the UK decades ago, to the benefit of the consumer and the wider economy.

You wouldn't be stove retailer, would you?

A._Badger

shazzafly wrote: »

Thanks so much so far to the people on here who have offered me such great advice.:rotfl: My hearth is being fitted 2morow and now had 3 varying quotes.

One quoted me £999+VAT just for a 8 metre standard liner, I almost fell over. Another £1821+VAT to fit without a stove

Anyway now have a lovely HETAS fitter, am happy with his price I just need now to buy the actual stove.

So looking for cheapest, most reliable shop for a stovax stockon 4 multifuel please. I don't need a flue and bits just the actual stove.

Come on guys without you so far I would still be living with a dreamworld budget and have an wrong sized hearth, etc etc

thanks:j:j:j:j

Stovesonline ( www.stovesonline.co.uk ) seem to have a good reputation. I haven't used them myself (I've bought from both Chase and Harridge and both were OK) but I see stovesonline say they sell Stovax.

Hope that helps.

rustyboy21

A._Badger wrote: »

Or, alternatively, using the EU to reimpose anti-competitive retail price maintenance, which was abolished in the UK decades ago, to the benefit of the consumer and the wider economy.

You wouldn't be stove retailer, would you?

If you read my other posts Badger, you would see that I don't sell them. I don't really see all the hype about them. I am in the trade, however.

I would say, however, that if the likes of perfume companies, Bose, Motor vehicle co's,Electronic co's etc, can all get away with some form of legal price fixing, why shouldn't any other manufacturer do it. Retail showrooms have been proven to cause less problems for manufacturers with their sales , than internet dealers do. Why shouldn't they make it beneficial for showrooms to get a better deal and restrict internet sales ?

A._Badger

rustyboy21 wrote: »

If you read my other posts Badger, you would see that I don't sell them. I don't really see all the hype about them. I am in the trade, however.

In the trade. That's the answer then.

rustyboy21 wrote: »

I would say, however, that if the likes of perfume companies, Bose, Motor vehicle co's,Electronic co's etc, can all get away with some form of legal price fixing, why shouldn't any other manufacturer do it. Retail showrooms have been proven to cause less problems for manufacturers with their sales , than internet dealers do. Why shouldn't they make it beneficial for showrooms to get a better deal and restrict internet sales ?

You're entitled to your opinion as a trade member, I'm entitled, as a customer, to mine.

If a retailer genuinely adds value to a product I don't mind paying a reasonable extra margin to provide for that.

My experience as a stove buyer is that I've yet to find a stove retailer who added anything but confusion to a difficult buying process.

And I've tried. For my most recent purchase I must have visited half a dozen showrooms, hearing slander about products not stocked, technical misinformation, switch selling - just about all the shabby retail tricks you'd expect to find on a used car lot.

Now it's perfectly true, there probably are good stove retailers. I just never fund one and neither have many posters on this forum down the years. Compared with that experience, the advice and helped offered by some online companies (stoveonline to name just one) seems to offer a far better prospect.

rustyboy21

A._Badger wrote: »

Stovesonline ( www.stovesonline.co.uk ) seem to have a good reputation. I haven't used them myself (I've bought from both Chase and Harridge and both were OK) but I see stovesonline say they sell Stovax.

Hope that helps.

Works out to approx £18 cheaper than list price. This includes delivery to your front door, however if you bought it from your local stovax dealer, he would most likely deliver it and unpack it in the room of your choice and take the pallet away with him.

rustyboy21

A._Badger wrote: »

In the trade. That's the answer then.



You're entitled to your opinion as a trade member, I'm entitled, as a customer, to mine.

If a retailer genuinely adds value to a product I don't mind paying a reasonable extra margin to provide for that.

My experience as a stove buyer is that I've yet to find a stove retailer who added anything but confusion to a difficult buying process.

And I've tried. For my most recent purchase I must have visited half a dozen showrooms, hearing slander about products not stocked, technical misinformation, switch selling - just about all the shabby retail tricks you'd expect to find on a used car lot.

Now it's perfectly true, there probably are good stove retailers. I just never fund one and neither have many posters on this forum down the years. Compared with that experience, the advice and helped offered by some online companies (stoveonline to name just one) seems to offer a far better prospect.

As I have said I am in the trade, but do not sell stoves, I sell gas and electric fires and the fireplaces to suit.

I agree each of us is entitled to our own opinion.

I think the problems you have had in the past trying to find a reputable dealer, is unfortunately simlar in a lot of Home improvement sectors. Lately ( last 3-4 years) we have been over ran by double glazing and hard sell sales people who think they are on to a fast buck. You will also find that showrooms are hardened to consumers pumping them for info, then walking away to troll the internet for the cheapest price, then coming a cropper with who they have bought from, all to save a few quid. A reputable dealer won't slate another product, why should they when it is easy to sell the benefits of what you promote in your showroom. I don't agree that online traders are very knowledgeable in what they sell, maybe one or 2. The problems arise when you do buy off the internet and something goes wrong. Manufacturers are now making it harder to get problems sorted, if they are an internet sale. Any faults later on are being double checked if it is found that it is an internet sale. One gas fire manufacturer is now charging up front for a callout in warranty, which will be refunded if a genuine fault is found, with anything bought over internet, as they found 84% of callouts which were assigned to internet sales, were incorrect installation, or user error. It costs them a fortune to do a callout, wheras most showrooms will call out for them FOC first to try and rectify any fault. Stovax are very strict on engineer callouts, and depend on retailers to do their work for them.

I don't sell stoves due to my engineers not being HETAS reg and I don't offer installation of anything I do not sell. Most showrooms work the same way, so a lot of the time you have difficulty finding an approved installer. Always something to bear in mind when buying a fire or stove off the internet.

A._Badger

Some trades seem better than others. Stoves seem to be the subject of a fashion craze and, as such, there has been any number of people wanting to cash-in - and I include many HETAS installers in that.

In fact, I would include the entire HETAS cabal in that.

Manufacturers and distributors using EU regulations to reinstall anti-competitive practices isn't confined to the stove business by any means (I have personal experience of it in another, unrelated, area) but it doesn't deliver better service for the consumer, in my view. If anything it insulates bad retailers from competition.

rustyboy21

A._Badger wrote: »

Some trades seem better than others. Stoves seem to be the subject of a fashion craze and, as such, there has been any number of people wanting to cash-in - and I include many HETAS installers in that.

In fact, I would include the entire HETAS cabal in that.

Manufacturers and distributors using EU regulations to reinstall anti-competitive practices isn't confined to the stove business by any means (I have personal experience of it in another, unrelated, area) but it doesn't deliver better service for the consumer, in my view. If anything it insulates bad retailers from competition.

I do agree with you with most of this post.

Hetas is essentially a money making business, They do not really have the 'Cahoona's' to act as they should do and protect consumers from dangerous practices by bad installers. Same goes for Gas safe really. Both charge a fortune to get registered and then, do not really back up installers or conumers when they should do.

The main reasons why manufacturers are now using this track of route to market is quite simple really. Traders like myself invest large sums of money in property, staffing, insurance, utilities etc in order to run our business well. We also buy displays for the showroom. Manufacturers do not give them to us. Consumers still like to touch and feel a product before they buy. What we are finding is that we go to the expense of setting up a store, for consumers to come and see the product, they then go away and buy it cheaper off the net. I have visited a number of website addresses for retailers online in the past and only 2 had actual premises with warehouse space. Most were working from home and putting a minimal margin on ( one was charging £5 over what he bought them for ). A store doing this would be bust in a few months. So in effect I am paying for him to use me as his showroom. Enough was enough and manufacturers were faced with losing valuable display space or not being listed with retailers. The EU ' Bricks and mortar' law has come along just at the right time for us and has enabled manufacturers to dictate who can sell their product, what they buy it at and how long they warranty it for. Everyone signs up to trading agreements to sell at certain price parameters, this cuts out charlitan retailers and should improve customer service levels with the sale. Britain is the biggest online trading country in the world apart from USA . Europe doesn't really have any issues with internet sales compared to shop sales. The tide is slowly turning, The internet is here to stay, manufacturers are now taking heed of past problems and eventually it will sort itself out, hopefully to benefit us all, consumers and store traders alike.

Williwoodburner

A._Badger wrote: »

Some trades seem better than others. Stoves seem to be the subject of a fashion craze and, as such, there has been any number of people wanting to cash-in - and I include many HETAS installers in that.

In fact, I would include the entire HETAS cabal in that.

Manufacturers and distributors using EU regulations to reinstall anti-competitive practices isn't confined to the stove business by any means (I have personal experience of it in another, unrelated, area) but it doesn't deliver better service for the consumer, in my view. If anything it insulates bad retailers from competition.

I agree with Mr Badger, you only need look at the online prices for new cars, some with several thousand pounds off list price.
Go into a showroom and they wont match the price yet the car is delivered via a UK dealer ????
How does that work ???

Willie.