Okay, so we are a Specialist, Hetas Registered, Stove Showroom est 1990, offering the full service and could be seen to be biased. However, we get feedback from abandoned buyers and the manufacturers who are being swamped with pleas for help from internet buyers.

We find it staggering that people will spend huge amounts of money on something as technical and potentially lethal as a woodburning stove, from someone without an address or even a land-line telephone.

Listed below are some of the issues we have experianced.

• Not one of the manufactures listed on our Stoves Homepage sanctions discounted Internet selling.
• Any of our stoves listed at discounted prices are being offered by rogue non-authorized dealers.
• Our manufacturers are taking legal action to remove their products / images from rogue traders' websites.
• The guarantee is supported by the Authorized Dealer not the manufacturer.
•  Websites may claim that warranty issues are handled by the manufacturer. They are not. The manufacturers have no responsibility to you, the end user,  that is down to the selling retailer.
• Websites appear and disappear faster than double-glazing companies and for the same reason - "If you can't find us again, you can't give us your problems".
• For the same reason, Internet stoves may arrive with serial numbers erased and data plates removed - to hide the identity of true supplier.
• Some websites have addresses which are merely accomadation addresses many miles from the actual supplier - See the theme developing here?.
• Lists of "Qualified Fitters" often turn out to be spurious. We get many calls from desperate internet buyers looking for installers. Sorry, won't touch them!
• Obsolete stoves and foreign sourced stoves are traded on the internet. These may look the same but not be supported in the UK. This will only be exposed the first time parts are needed, resulting in the stove becoming worthless.
• There are cases where totally unsuitable stoves have been bought from websites due to the absence of qualified advice.
• Cheap deals on the internet often involve sub-standard parts which look just like the real thing.
• There is cheap foreign flue pipe supplied "free" on the internet, looks the same, but half the thickness of British products - this is a major safety issue!
• Cheap flue-liner commonly sold on the internet often fails during installation, or shortly after..
• Weren't told you needed a liner? Should have gone to a registered showroom!
• Stoves damaged in transit, broken glass, chipped enamel, missing parts, all can result in grief for the buyer, whereas if bought from an approved dealer, should be little more than a minor inconvenience.
• If you do buy on the Internet, who are you going to get to fit it, bearing in mind Hetas regulations? We, like most showrooms, will not touch Internet stoves under any circumstances.

Have a look at Our Internet Policy.