New Woodstock Progress Hybrid in my neighborhood

Yep, got a call this morning from my neighbor and good friend who lives just down the street a piece. His son was one of the muscled young men that helped me get my Fireview placed in my living room. Real nice folks, and I might have mentioned to him one day how much I liked my new stove and told him a bit about Woodstock Soapstone. He called last Thursday and says, "hey, how do I get to this place up in Lebanon?" Tells me he's going up with his wife to look over the stoves.

He's had some old smoke dragons, and he's been burning for years. He's got a large raised ranch and has had these stoves installed with 6 inch SS in his chimney in his finished basement/family room. They have horses and a big John Deere and he cuts his own, but he's pretty basic with the whole thing.

So anyway, I give him directions and tell him to say hi to the folks up there for me. He calls me this morning and says "ROAD TRIP" and wants to know if I want to go up Monday and pick up his new PH with him? (Does a bear chit in the woods?! ) So he isn't positive about Monday, they told him they were waiting on cats or some such.. he's calling Monday morning to make sure they have their color choice available. They want the brown frame.

So, of course I'll be more than pleased to help him get up and running. He's got a nice walk in basement, and and enclosed trailer to tow it home in. I can't wait! Of course I fully intend to document the whole damm shooting match for your amusement.

So, there you go, ...Woodstock sells an Fv to customer, said customer says oh I prolly should have got the PH, so WS gives him full refund on the Fv, and sells him the sale price PH. Then they spruce the Fv up and sell it to me. Next this happens, I let on how pretty my new stove is and how pleased I am with the whole thing and a few nice words about the company, and Woodstock gets another $PH sale out of thing.

....yeah.. what a dumb policy that is.

PS this guy gets around and is a building contractor for high end homes, in Mass and Maine.. he'll tell his friends and customers.. now that's good solid marketing.

 

There's the power of good PR policies in action.
So, I know it's only Sat., but........

 

I know.. I'm excited like it's mine!

He called me a few minutes ago and now wants to go looking at some local stove shops, "just to feel like he's looked around a bit, and making an educated buy". He asked me to come along. So I guess it isn't a done deal yet, but he fell in love with the PH and it also passed the WAF. (wife acceptance factor).

I'll keep you guys posted.

 

He called me this morning to say he had put a down payment on it, and that they told him they would call him when it was ready but it wouldn't be till next week and could be the end of next week. So it could be the 19th or 20th before we do the road trip.

Apparently he got sidetracked a bit by looking at a BK Chinook pics on the internet, because they kind of like modern too and that looked modern to them, and I guess they thought it would be a lot less money being steel and all and 400lbs. But after a couple of calls what he found out was no one (of the Mass or NH dealerships) has one in stock, but they will gladly order you one for the price of $3500 and shipping. To be honest, I had no idea they were that much money! Are they really?! What does a BK King cost? (is it really a secret how much they cost, try finding the cost anyplace on the BK site)

So at that point I guess the price of the 700 lb hand built Soapstone Progress Hybrid looked a little bit more reasonable.

 

My thoughts as well but there are a lot of choices out there these days. I can see how someone that just figures it's time to buy a new stove can feel like their head is spinning after just a little bit of research around the Internet, or a few strolls through a stove store.

 

Next thing you know, they'll be running out of stoves with all this good PR

 

Well the good thing about looking around, when he gets to Woodstock, he'll really notice how heavy duty the stoves are built and the ease of running the stove and cleaning the cat... You'll have a ball going back and chatting... I know the more I went back the more fun I had.. It's like coming home in a sense to see all your family!

 

Speaking of Woodstock. I went to a friends farm yesterday and walked into their mudroom with my back turned to some massive heat... I turn and look and there pumping heat out like no tomorrow is a 25 year old Woodstock Fireview classic.... He's replace the top stones and a few other parts. I could see some fire through the side door lip a little so I imagine the draft is just closed and things just kind of cruise along.. . He then lifted the top and it's all open to the bottom... Wow can that thing hold some wood, no cat just cast iron and stone... What a stove... He had a damper in the pipe so I believe the old girl is not as airtight as it once was... He said from down in the mud room it heats their whole farm house... didn't ask how big it was but a good size...Heat must rise up from the mud room to the rest of the house as that was at basement level walking in... So there's an old girl still going strong... Should have taken a picture... Get this, they're the second owners...

 

There is a waiting line. He had to put down a deposit to "get in the que" and it's two weeks out.

It's not an assembly line for sure. Each stove is put together by craftsmen, and they want them done right. I have a feeling that the Ideal Steel is going to change them a bit. If they really come in on the low side of that estimated cost, I think they may be doing higher volumes than they traditionally have been doing.

Still I don't think there's a down side to that, but they may need more help. That's not a bad thing by any means. Especially when they get all the sales guys for free.

 

Bet they'll just hire more people for the the Steel Stove... I'm thinking maybe that stove will be quicker to assemble... but like you said, they're all about taking a little more time and making sure that every stove comes out 100%...

 

It will be fun doing the road trip and getting this one installed.

 

Tom from Woodstock said they went through a very lengthy computer intensive process analyzing the design of the new stove, the length of total welds, where bending the steel made more engineering and economic sense than cutting and welding, etc. This stove has been very carefully CAD designed for best most efficient function but also to be the most economical.

 

Wonder what the build time is on the Steel stove verses the other models? Which model takes the longest time verses the shortest time?

 

No idea. Maybe Dennis will chime in.

 

Having seen the PH half put together, I can tell you that is going to be the longest time for sure. it's like a stove within a stove.

 

$3500 + shipping thats crazy! Papadave priced the Ashford 3400 OTD. Sounds like BK still has a big east cost pricing problem.
Looking forward to your neighbors install pics!