Stoake Ltd

We're very sorry this sequence of events has caused you distress and led you to have such a low opinion of us. We always try to be respectful and courteous to our customers and we take pride in the high levels of customer service we provide. We’ve carefully read your complaint and would like to outline how our understanding of the situations differs from yours: We as a company supply and install stoves. We also install stoves that have been supplied by our customers. The stove in question was supplied by yourself for us to install. Before you bought the stove we gave you a site visit free of charge, and we gave you impartial advice and recommendations on the type of stoves we thought to be most suitable for you. You made a decision to purchase a Morso Squirrel from a third party. This stove comes in several different models and although your supplier had intended to dispatch a Morso Squirrel 1430 they actually delivered a Morso Squirrel 1412. The difference between these stoves is that the former is Defra approved to burn wood in smoke control areas and the latter is not. This does not mean the installation was illegal. The stove in question is classed as 'multi fuel’ which means it’s suitable for burning Defra approved smokeless fuels in smoke control areas. At the time of installation we were not aware that a mix up had been made and assumed that the stove delivered was the stove to be installed. As soon as you told us the wrong model had been delivered we liaised with your supplier and came to an arrangement with them to install the new stove at no cost to yourself. We also made arrangements to remove the old stove, repackage it and send it back to your supplier on your behalf. We did this as quickly and efficiently as we were able with no additional charges to you. We feel this is an example of the high level of service and after sales care we provide. We always notify HETAS when we install a stove. They notify building control and they are responsible for posting a certificate of compliance directly to the customer. Immediately after you told us you hadn’t received the certificate of compliance we rang HETAS to investigate. They told us they’d posted you the certificate several weeks before, but it wasn’t sent with recorded delivery and they agreed to send you a second copy post-haste. The chimney sweep was itemised in our written quotation as a sweep with inspection camera. This means that the sweep will clean the chimney and also carry out a CCTV survey to ensure that there are no obstructions in the chimney. It turned out that he didn’t need to use the camera as his experience with his chimney rods told him it was a clear flue. We pass these savings on to our customers as standard and this is why we charged you less for the sweep. We use a sub contractor for this service and we apologise if he caused any confusion by giving you the invoice directly. The Morso bag was taken out of the new stove and handed directly to you. We have no idea how it came to have holes in it but again this was a purchase made by yourself from a third party. When you raised this with us we swapped the bag with the old one from the stove being returned. We understand that having a stove installed in your home is not only a practical decision but is also an emotional investment. We are sincerely sorry that your experience has been such an unhappy one. We also feel that we have behaved with respect and done everything in our power to resolve any issues as they arose whether our responsibility or not. If you have any reasonable requests of us to reconcile this situation we will consider them. And writing as Marcus: I personally apologise for not saying hello when I helped Nigel to switch the stove. I was a little nervous as the last time we'd spoken on the phone you shouted at me for quite some time. I didn’t have an inclination to subject myself to that again, but I also didn’t understand how much my visit would mean to you. Sincerely Marcus Hodgetts and Nigel Meyers Directors | Stoven