We checked around for a place to buy a stove and County was recommended by family and friends. What a mistake. Kathryn seemed friendly and helpful in person when we were still figuring out what we wanted in a stove. But once we started ordering, the signs were there and we should have bailed on them.
It took almost 6 weeks for County to tell me that the first brand of stove we requested was not available. Then 4 days to call about the next preference. It took another 5 weeks to obtain a stove with the features we were happy with. Finally on Dec. 22 they showed up with the stove. But County's delivery people cinched the belts so tight around the stove that the oven glass shattered when they loosened the belts - there was glass all over the main floor of the house while the stove sat in the hallway. They removed the oven door and put it in the garage. The stove was hooked up to the gas so I had a working stovetop but no oven. They didn't even put the oven in straight (it was out by an inch on the right side) and there was no filler piece for the gap (no one had asked about whether this was needed - I hadn't bought a stove before and didn't recognize the need).
The short version of the rest of the sad story is that County, especially Jeff and Kathryn, made very little effort to get the oven door fixed or obtain a filler strip for the gap at the back. They made little effort to return my calls. I had to call them and the repair company every week to find out what, if anything, was happening. Jeff of County would tell me that the door was on order but it never arrived. Endless promises and almost 3 months without a usable oven. We finally wrote them demanding that they remove the stove and refund our money. And so it sits in our garage. That's yet to be sorted out. Never pay them a cent unless everything is OK. No deposit - you risk losing a lot if there's a problem. I found Jeff and Kathryn evasive and unresponsive when their delivery people had screwed up. They blamed the weather and the manufacturer for everything (no, ovens don't shatter because it's -10 C). The service/repair person they sent checked out the damage and said it was niether the weather nor a manufacturing defect - just poor delivery practices.
I've now seen Sears deliver a new stove within 5 days and handle it with care, never stressing the piece with tight straps. Wish I'd gone there in the first place.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,500.00