My Experience With Obadiah’s Woodstoves
There are many places that sell things, but I have never encountered one like Obadiah’s Woodstoves. They have the best customer service I have encountered in a long time. I had been looking through woodstoves online and in catalogs. After much research, I decided I wanted the Vermont Bun Baker. Of course, I wanted the best price, too; and that is what brought me to Obadiah’s Woodstoves. They had the lowest price, from what I could find online.
I called them because I had several questions regarding the Vermont Bun Baker. I was pleased to find when I called, that I was able to speak to a live person, instead of a recording that you get so many times now days. After getting my first set of questions answered, we decided we would purchase our Vermont Bun Baker through Obadiah’s. I called back with a new set of questions in regards to payment and delivery of the unit. I again spoke with a live person, who was very helpful and returned my call with all the answers to my questions. Once this call was over and I had order and delivery confirmation I thought my interaction with Obadiah’s would be over.
When our woodstove arrived, we had a broken piece of soapstone. We noted this on the paperwork we had to sign upon delivery. I called Obadiah’s in regards to the broken soapstone. They asked me to take pictures and send them via email to verify the broken piece. I was happy to do this. I received a prompt reply to my email, stating that another piece was being shipped out.
During the next several months that passed, we had more questions, in regards to the operation of the woodstove. I emailed Obadiah’s many times, always getting a prompt reply. It seemed that no matter what my question was or how many questions I had, they were always willing to go out of their way to make sure I understood what to do or how to fix my problem. For example, during one conversation it was discovered, by what I was saying, that our telescopic stove pipe was professionally installed upside down. This was verified by sending lots of pictures through email. Obadiah’s told me what I needed to do in order to correct the problem. My husband and I were able to reinstall the telescopic flue pipe correctly with the information we acquired from Obadiah’s.
Obadiah’s has some of the best customer service I have seen in a long time. I would recommend Obadiah’s to anyone who wants to not only get a good deal on a stove, but also have someone there to talk you through any problems or questions you may have.
– Wrangler Jane.
My wife and I could not agree more about the service we received from Obadiah’s and their knowledge of wood stoves. When we started shopping for a wood cook stove, we wanted one with wood handles and a top and front load. We decided on the Pioneer Princess. While there are more fancy stoves around the Pioneer Princess is the perfect one for us. It is a breeze to light and the damper control is awesome. We are in our third year with this stove and love it.
Lord willing this summer we are going to get rid of our Ashley air tight stove downstairs and put a proper wood stove there. Obadiah’s will be our first contact.
Bureaucratic Nightmare
I think it is important for me to recognize & honor the exceptional treatment I have received from Obadiah’s regarding my purchase of their Kitchen Queen 380.
I find the measure of any business or person becomes evident when the “shyte”/ problems hit the fan.
For 2 1/2 years I researched wood cook stoves of ALL kinds of prices & quality in Europe and N America for my remote lodge above the tree line in the Coast Mountains near Whistler BC in Canada. Slowly it became apparent that the KQ 380 was head & shoulders above any other stove in the world: Safety, BTU heat output, construction quality, latest technology, robust construction, durability, long lasting fire, low fuel consumption, oven; also of particular note, when I research the many (60) customer reviews this was the only stove that I have found that did not have anything negative to report…. with one exception it was not the prettiest stove on the market… but clearly the best of the best.
In March of 2014 I purchased the stove from Obadiah’s in Montana. After it arrived I began arranging a helicopter to bring the stove to the remote chalet, along with finding the installation regulations here in British Columbia to ensure the building could be fire insured. Whhhhoooops……. now the story & bureaucracy began to escalate, to get complicated.
The insurance company here in Canada said that for them to insure the building the stove and its installation would have to be inspected and if I were to avoid untenable installation requirements the stove must have Canadian ULC (Underwriters Laboratory of Canada) Certification. The stove didn’t have the Canadian certification but certainly had the UL for USA certification, which the same as in Canada. It was obvious to the Canadian inspectors that this was indeed the safest stove they had ever seen but non-the-less still needed the ULC from Canada certification for the manufacturer, which costs upwards of $30,000. Again the onerous installation restrictions without Canadian ULC approval would leave my stove installation impractical Yet this was the absolute best stove for my needs.
I contacted Woody &and his staff from Obadiah’s, they suggested that I/we contact the KQ manufacturer directly to see if they had plans to get the ULC approval for Canada. KQ balked a little but after pressure from myself & Obadiah’s they agreed to get the certification done. Time dragged on.. no certification happening. During this time Woody of Obadiaha’s clearly said that if you cannot wait, that at any time you can return the stove for full financial reimbursement. Finally in early September the ULC certification document arrived at my doorstep. Presently I have the helicopter arranged and is ready installation inspector approvals.
The Kitchen Queen now has ULC Canadian approval !
At no time during this awkward difficult time even after several dozen phone calls & countless emails did I feel frustration or anger from the staff … only the commitment to get this done to “my satisfaction”. This has been an outstanding customer service event !
NOTE: This memo only reflects but a portion of the many repeated efforts by the Obadiah’s staff to get me through this frustrating bureaucracy.
Thank you Woody & Larry !
Sincerely Don Worthington
http://www.arctic-tours-canada.com Phone 604-984-7430