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Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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Posted by ellen76 (My Page) on Thu, Jun 4, 09 at 21:21
| After reading a lot of posts on this forum, I am interested in buying a Blue Star cooktop for my remodel, but the company is so hush-hush, that I'm concerned. For instance, their website lists only one dealer in my state (Arizona), and that dealer is 120 miles away from my home (Tucson), yet the website also says that there are other dealers in the state, but I have to call to find out where they are.
Next I went to Eurostoves on line to see what I could find out about the price, ballpark, even. No luck. I have to call for the price.
The need to make all these calls is particularly a problem for me because I am hearing impaired.
Also, all this secrecy makes me wonder what they are trying to hide and whether I should go with a company that operates with more transparency. All their competitors are happy to post a complete list of dealers and the suggested price. What's going on with Blue Star?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| I conducted most of my dealings with EuroStoves via email. I found them to be incredibly responsive. I have always had my email turned around in a day and sometimes within minutes. I get faster response and better service from them than I do from local dealers. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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The distributors in your area are probably wrestling with what dealers are supporting Bluestar or not. I see these appliance lines change hands fairly quickly. Bluestar may be sorting out dealers and that's why you would have to call to find out. Lot's of other retailers give prices on line if you goggle the cooktop you want. Remember they have the 'rangetop' that they also sometimes call a 'cooktop' and also the
'drop-in' cooktop style. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| Thanks, Alexr, One thing that concerns me about this is service after the sale. I learned the hard way to never, ever, buy a major appliance if there wasn't a local firm willing and ready to fix it. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| Sub Zero/Wolf and other Mfgs do not allow internet sales and post no pricing, they want you to see a retailer and BlueStar is down playing Internet and may discontinue Internet, not because the dealers on the Internet are evil but because the non-internet dealers complain about the internet dealers and there are far more non-internet than internet. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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Guadalupe...
You must represent an internet retailer. I take offense to your remark regarding "non-internet dealers complain about the internet dealers and there are far more non-internet than internet." I am a retailer that wants to represent products whereby a fair profit is achieved. Competing with internet retailers is unfair in that they have a competitive advantage by not having to charge sales tax, whereas I do for sales in my state. On top of that, most of "you" drop the pricing due to the competition between internet retailers. Please do not whine about "MY" complaining. One day (hopefully soon) BlueStar will follow in the paths of Viking and Wolf and prevent their products from being sold via the internet. At that time, the customers, who spend hours in my store being educated on the products, will have to purchase it from me or one of my "local" competitors. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| Not listing prices online is pretty typical for expensive items. Honestly though, I'm surprised you couldn't get a price online. When I did a search online for Bluestar ranges, I found several sites that listed prices to give me a ballpark of what they cost. With regard to the distributors, remember that Bluestar is a relatively small brand compared to Sub-zero or Viking. From what I saw, they leave the distributor to manage local dealers, particularly in certain regions where they may not be as well established. In my experience that's actually a good thing because you can actually contact the distributor directly in many cases to resolve any issues. With the large national brands, you're pretty much left with dealing with the local dealer or calling the 800 number. I found Bluestar service and distributor to be responsive and personal. The issue of servicing is not really an issue. AFAIK, Bluestar doesn't hire their own field service people. That's not necessarily bad since I've had mixed experience with dedicated field service people. In the end, one of Bluestar's strengths is that it is a very simple machine. Any good appliance repair person would be able to service a Bluestar range. The one Bluestar contracted person I've dealt with in my area was extremely capable and I had no question about his ability to service my cooktop. One more thing about service.. Almost all companies today large or small use contracted service people. Just because they show up with a Viking shirt and cap doesn't mean they are employees of Viking. Decor is by no means a small brand today and even they use contracted field service rather than hire their own. Bluestar is not trying to be secretive. In fact by exposing their distributors to you, they are more open than any other larger brand. This is simply a case where they may not have a permanent dealer in your area and they sell direct from the distributor. If so, they'll probably send out a Bluestar contracted (certified) field service person to install the unit which I bet will be better than the 17yo kid installer the local dealer will send out. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| pro_member, I actually didn't read guadalupe's post the way you did but then I'm not a retailer dealing with what you describe. I do know that what you describe does happen but I think in the appliance space, it's less of a problem than with computer products for instance. I personally did all of my research online and ended up buying locally. I spent no more than 30min at the showroom and most of that was filling out the forms to make the purchase. So it is a two way street. In my case, the internet retailers might complain that I used their site that they spent time and money to put up and maintain but didn't see a cent from me. My local dealer didn't have *any* useful information about bluestar on their website.. other than their logo on the "brands we carry" page. I bought locally not because I felt there was any greater risk buying online or that I'd get better service one way or another. It was simply that the local dealer was able to give me a similar price and they had a free "white-glove" installation deal that week. At the end of the day, local dealers would stop carrying a brand if they got too much competition online and manufacturers eventually have to decide if they can make more profit by building up local dealer support than they would lose if they cut off internet dealers. I know of some dealers that simply refuse to carry any brands that allow internet sales. Are they evil? No, that's just business. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| I want to welcome newbie Pro Member.You know not what you have started. Now I going to step back a bit. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| I would love to have bought from a local dealer. I live in one of the largest metro areas in the country (Los Angeles surburb) and NO dealer in the Sothern Cal area had a Bluestar cooktop on their floor. They did have a range that I was able to look at. To make matters worse, I called the distributor for
So Cal and Arizona to ask them and their answer was "Bluestar does not make a drop in cooktop" They have been making for over a year!! If I were Bluestar, I would fire my distributor, find someone who is willing to invest in some marketing (like the Northern Cal or Seattle one) and take this market by storm. I suspect there are as many high end kitchens in
So Cal as anywhere in the US. As a result, ordered from Eurostar. Price is exactly what local dealers quoted. No discount from anyone. Thanks Trevor and Karen |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| We bought a 36" Blue Star from Eurostove. While we were able to travel 2 hrs to get to their showroom, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for internet sales. As to finding someone to service the stove, our unit arrived with an electrical problem with the simmer burner so it had to be lit manually. Blue Star gave us the name of an appliance repair business to get the warrenty work done but we were out of their normal range of operation and would have had to wait awhile for service. A repairman we used for other appliances had worked on Vikings and Wolfs so I called Blue Star to see if he could do our warrenty work. Blue Star had me send them the contact info, they spoke with the repairman, and he is now authorized to do work on the stoves. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| We also bought from Eurostoves. Everything went great. Installing was simple because the Blue Star is simple. We have had our 48" Heritage for about 18 months now and couldn't be happier. I think what Guadalupe was talking about was what is commonly called "channel conflict." I own a software company and we have to deal with "channel conflict" all the time between our in-house sales staff and our resellers. It comes with the territory. |
RE: Blue Star, Why So Secretive?
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| Trevor from Eurostoves is shipping my 60" Blue Star range tomorrow 6/22! Can't wait to get it! It's coming all the way across the country... from MA to WY! |
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