What’s Going On with Woodstock Soapstone?

Agreed! That 75% efficiency tax credit BS forced a lot of bandaid fixes as well as jacking up the price.

 

What model nippa do you have?

 

The medium W22

 

There are two REALLY messed up things in this quote......

 

Something wrong there I paid less to ship 2 cats

 

Is that the going rate for a "ISUCKIT" nowadays?

Just like journalism in recent years, proofreading has fallen by the wayside!

 

I called Woodstock again today and no one answered. This is in addition to an email that was sent six days ago that has not been responded to. This is concerning.

 

That is concerning. Just checked news for that area and I don't see anything.

 

I called Firecat. They distribute through Condar and Midwest Hearth. Condar said they can do a ceramic cat but need exact dimensions of the Woodstock Cat. I don't want to be alarmist and squawk that Woodstock is going dark. It is the peak of heating season and chances are they are swamped with new business and parts orders.

 

Just did a search of the New Hampshire Secretary of State. Woodstock is shown as being "In good standing". All of these recent posts seem to contradict what we have been accustomed to from this company. Time for Mr. Morrisey {sp} to clear the air for the hundreds of his customers past and present. Debt, tariffs, legal or whatever. Something isn't right!

 

Well, I emailed Tom and Lorin yesterday. Nothing. This is getting disheartening.

 

Website is still up! Dang they have some nice stoves and prices. Hope they can make it.

When you click on "catalytic converters" to order one, every single model cat is "Back Ordered, Ship When Available".

 

I called about the CATs today and they said they were not in yet, which was different than I was told before Christmas (pending welding of flanges). Maybe they used all of them to fulfill new orders.

 

About a month or so ago I contacted them via email regarding wanting to do a "tune up" on my stove- I can't exactly recall what the term was. Refurbishment might be right. Anyhow- they said they would be either to provide me with the information and parts to do it myself or I could bring it to them and they would be able to handle it. I asked for information on how to do it and I didn't hear back, but it is possible that an email slipped through the cracks.
I deal with way too many emails a day, day in and day out and have in the past completely missed something- so I won't be a catastrophist, but I do hope they get through this rough patch. My little Survival stove has been a godsend. I'm not even sure what stove company or model I'd use if I had to replace it.
Flu season in my neck of the woods has been pretty severe this season. Both my kids were hit with it back-to-back going back to the week before Christmas. I've been lucky to have some version of it for the last 10 days and a whole slew of kids at my school have been down with it this year. Maybe it's going around the shop up there. That's not impossible to imagine.
Maybe I'm ignoring too much though.

 

workforce was down 20% in September, attrition rather than layoffs apparently. Who knows what it is now.
Woodstock Soapstone downsizing amid tariff burden - Valley News

A long, long time ago I worked for a company that just stopped hiring when orders slowed down in a recession and it didn't take much of a recession/downturn. They only had layoffs once. Place would ghet real quiet when things were slow and then things would pick up and there would be all sorts of overtime, lots of temp workers, college kids in the Summer, etc.

I hope they're not having cash flow struggles. Been there, done that. That's an awful stress on people.

 

Well, at least they answered your call. I'm 0/2 on calls and 0/2 on emails.

 

I think this article you linked answers nearly every question I had.

 

Sounds like their biggest obstacle was the EPA. Changing the testing methods and requiring new certifications can be hard on a small stove company.

The tax credit was total BS imo. It did not apply to most folks and just jacked the prices. Many people were lured into thinking it was just 30% off the price and ordered a stove then read the fine print.

 

""For example, the business buys some steel from China, which is not produced well domestically, for a specialty part that reburns smoke.". Well there our explanation for the CAT shortage. $300-$400K in orders that can't be shipped because the EPA won't respond. WTF?