The original Vermont Castings company made great (for their time) wood stoves. Since the first bankruptcy of the company it's been all pretty much down hill. The most recent bankruptcy illustrates an increasingly common practice in too many businesses; what's being purchased is the company name and the residue of its good reputation. The current owner of VC seems to have little interest in wood stoves and is concentrating on the gas barbeque end.

As for flooding the internet, the sad story of Vermont castings has been widely known for a long time - check out www.hearth.com for the whole history. I think your complaint should really be directed at the dealer. You should have been warned about the issues - they were certainly known when you bought your stove.

You will also probably be able to find a replacement part for your stove online.

had a problem myself with vermont castings products and zero customer service form either them or the dealer. we had the winter warm series which was engineered well, but made with the cheapest material possible. every time we used the damn thing it simply roared away, no way to control the flame and the steel warped and twisted. i never had one call or email returned from vermont castings, and while the dealer was all too happy to sell replacment parts, had nothing else to offer, except for their opinion that we didn't burn wood properly.
in fact, they claimed we were the only people who had ever had a problem with the unit, only to find out with a little research not only were we not alone in having those problems, but that dealer had had problems before with this unit as well! they lied when they said we were the first people who had bought that stove from them, and again when they said they had never heard of anyone having problems with it either!
this past summer i tore the damn thing out and sent it all to the scrap heap.
never again--vermont castings is only a name from the past, no longer a quality vermont product. and i will not be buying anything ever again from the vermont dealer who has stores in montpelier and williston. buyer beware! !
it's really too bad.

I will try to keep a long story brief.We bought a new mod.V/C encore cat/noncat We put it in mid Nov.2010. Mid Dec. 2010 we started to try to use it around the clock. We can only get 4-4.5 hours of burn time. I went to The dealer late Dec. He said could be my wood so I tried two different wood sources . Than they said to check the gaskets "the dollar bill trick" No problem . the dealer said he would get the regional distributor involved and it would take a week or so. A week later the dealer called and said 7-10 days.On day 9 we woke up to a cold stove ,As usual also a broken fire brick .Now Evan my wife is upset so we went back to the dealer .we were not happy and the dealer was not happy with us. after the first exchange he told us he had said 7-10 days and it was only 9 whats are problem. I pulled out of a bag the broken fire brick.He still wasn't moved. I'll wrap it up.The reg. dist. called that day He asked that I try a few things and we would talk again in a few days. When we did he had spoken to V/C they told him Other stoves in the northeast are having the same issue and they had a fix . It is now March and the stove is still not fixed. Worst $2,500.00 we ever spent we are burning twice the wood and the dealer called me a liar. I will never buy a V/C stove or any other Monessen Hearth product. Do not go to the stove store in Plymouth Mass. Good Luck

Sad to hear all this talk, but good information to note. We're building, and plan to have them integrate a 2nd flue for WB Stove downstairs. With everything else going on right now, it will take awhile to swim through all the news & information before we have the chance to choose. Stories like this help - thanks.

Any positive posts on resolutions that can be shared? We too are now faced with cracks in the fire brick . . . GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR Working with the store that we purchased our VC-non-cat-Encore back in August of 2007 . . . We'll keep you posted of our progress or lack thereof.

I purchased my first wood stove a new Dutchwest 2478 Non-cat stove in 12/12/2008 (Vermont castings company), only to learn it was defective in manufacture.
the air gap between the glass on the door and the downwash baffle is one credit card thick as opposed to 5 cards measured on a another new stove. i have been the the dealer numerous times and had been told it was my error, i extended the chimney, than insulated it to increase draft, it was only till i consulted independently that i photographed and videoed in detail and presented to the dealer who went to distributer and the answer i got was it is not covered under warranty ? and offered no proper repair paid or other wise to fix my defective stove ? He told the company went bankrutp and the canadian company does not have to honor any warranty I did get a new "shoe" which is a firebrick component at the bottom of the fountain assembly when it crumbled. The stove is such a struggle to get going and control. Why did i not buy that Jotul ! or something made in China at half the price.