Today has been really hectic but at the same time very nice we have done all our local deliveries today including dropping off our last Firefox 5 stove we had in stock to Lincoln.
This was followed by trips to Leicester, Hinckley, Burton upon Trent and Belper. I have been to collect some large oak timber tops we use for our timber surrounds as we had run short and have a batch to finish for orders that are due to be dispatched next week so eventually both vans were back at the Factory being loaded for this weekends delivery runs to London. Nearly forgot about customer coming at 4pm to view Firefox 8 Stove and then taking it away after viewing it in our showroom
Now I am sat back in my office at 5.35 feeling shattered I am glad I’m off tomorrow and Rhian once again is in charge (not that she never isn’t I just get told what to do) it is another day out with the lads watching Forest at Middlesborough so for once there are no viewings on Saturday but we still have some spare time on Sunday Late afternoon for anyone wanting to come over.
We do have a Mr Stone travelling from Cardiff in the morning to collect a chamber suite for a stove that his local shop told him was eight weeks to get into stock now im not sure who was delivering that as we had one in stock ready for him to collect within 48 hours but again we do try to please all our customers that is why we have a regularly updated Comments Section where our previous customers can leave their views on our products and services just wait till early December when new update goes live it offers even more options to leave feedback.
Anyway im off to pick up a takeaway and have a few beers so I will post again soon with details of some very special offers we have coming online
Archive for November, 2009
Customer Comments Section leave your feedback regarding our Fireplaces and Service
Friday, November 20th, 2009Gallery Stoves and Fireplaces are going up in price on our Website
Thursday, November 19th, 2009It is that time of year again when im afraid we have to start raising the price on all of our products every year in October we have a new brochure and a new price list and we have till the 25th of this month before our trade price increase.
Now we have had price increases on Granite throughout the year and not passed any of this on and now we have had new pricelist as is usual all the prices have again risen.
We work on very tight margins here at Castfireplaces and im afraid will have to pass this increase on as will all other websites and shops.
Cast Iron Combination fireplaces are worst hit and a lot of these will increase from between £10 and £65.
The main reason for this price increase is due to oil and metal prices and the weak Pound against the Dollar which is the currency used for buying fireplaces and granite etc.
We can not avoid raising our prices and have started to impliment this on our new update which goes live in early December so in the mean time from the 25th we will be removing the discounted VAT reduction as a stop gap, but the real price increase will come when new website structure goes live in December so if you are looking for a new fireplace or stove try and buy before then and save your hard earned cash but believe me when i say Castfireplaces are one of the most competitive fireplace companies online and with our great service nobody comes even close to offering a better service and we will endeavour to keep our price increases as low as possible to benefit you our customers
Customer contacts us to supply Bolton Fireplace back after terrible service
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009So the ugly head of the fireplace company bandit raises its head again today as we were contacted this morning by a man in Manchester who had ordered a Bolton Fireplace from another company online somebody we are aware of and have heard numerous complaints from customers and have read bad feedback on various review sites about them.
They failed to deliver the cast iron back and this is what was emailed to me
“I’ve Bought A Gallery Bolton Cast Iron Fire From Another Retailer Who Has Failed To Deliver The Optional Back Which We Need In Order To Get It Fitted Before Christmas. Whilst I’m Fighting With The Other Retailer (who Won’t Return Calls) Is There Any Way I Might Be Able To Buy This Seperately From Yourselves Whilst I Try And Get A Refund From Them? If So, When Would You Be Able To Deliver To An Address In Manchester And For How Much?”
I replied by email straight away as i was sat at my pc working through delivery notes for Tomorrows trip to Norfolk and he repied saying
“Thanks for your quick response – not something I’ve been used to in
this debacle!
I’ll seriously have to consider doing this if I don’t get any response
from them by the end of this week as I have a whole front room to
decorate around the fire before Christmas so need it fitted sharpish.
Its a shame as the service we got at their showroom was excellent but
since then it’s all been downhill!”
Now this we hear all to often it is ok having a showroom and ideal for serving customers face to face but online retailing is a specialist business and not every one is good at cutomer service and responding to peoples needs and requirements and having the infrastructure to deal with any problems that arise.
Yes we do have a showroom but we are mainly online retail based and whilst we do have a good flow of people visiting our showroom most are local to us and come because they have found us online and wish to simply view products before purchase.
So please when choosing your new fireplace be carefull who you buy it from and there all some terrible companies online who just take your money and then deliver shoddy goods and have even worse customer service.
They know who they are and if you ask me i will tell you who they are but i do not think it is fair to name and shame them in our article section so if you do want to know just contact me
We Offer Late Night Viewings at our Fireplace Factory
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Customer service comes as standard when shopping at Cast Fireplaces and we do go out of our way to make sure our customers are happy.
As alot of you may know we do offer viewings at our Showroom which is based on North Street in Langley Mill by appointment only which makes sure you have our full attention and we can dedicate as much time as you need sorting through your fireplace options i dont think there is anything worse than a showroom with loads of customers and no one to offer them advice in choosing a fireplace or stove which will be the main feature of your room.
It is a big purchase and once fitted you have to look at it every day there may be questions you need answering thats why when you visit us at Cast Fireplaces you will only ever get Mark who will explain all the options available to you.
I have numerous years of knowledge of the fireplace trade and im 100% confident there is not much i do not know about our gallery fireplaces so i can always give honest correct free advice.
As part of our exceptional service we offer late night viewings and tonight at 7pm when other showrooms and fireplace companies are closed i will be at our factory showing customers a Pembroke black gas and solid fuel package they rang earlier today enquiring about viewing and he said he had read some of our articles about viewing after hours.
So if you do wish to come and see us please make an appointment so we can help you source the Fireplace of your dreams and create a focal point for your room
Firefox 5 Stove taking pre orders for December Delivery
Monday, November 16th, 2009As i told you the other day there is now a problem with the amount of Firefox 5 stoves we have in stock to be truthfull we know have none left we do have some on order with our suppliers and they are due in to stock around the first week in December between the 1st and 4th they are due to arrive.
This happened last year with this stove and we are now taking pre orders for this stove for when it arrives.
We do only have 12 of these coming to us so it really is first come first served, this system worked very well last year and we did manage to delivery over 50 stoves in 7 days all over the uk so you can rest assured as soon as we have the Firefox 5 back in stock it will be sent out straight to you.
I do know they are trying to source extra stocks of these little stoves so hopefully thing should be back to normal asap but as i am writing this we do only have 12 available to sell so please bear this in mind for delivery.
As last year it is pointless thinking im going to wait untill they come into stock as im sure they will all be sold before they arrive so click on the link in this text abd it will take you straight through to the item.
Thanks for bearing with us on this and make that 11 for sale now somebody must have read my mind and ordered one on our website whilst i was loading this blog
How weird must get them to do my lottery numbers on Wednesday
Do i have to have specialist Fireplace Fitter for Electric Use
Sunday, November 15th, 2009When i returned from London today after delivering all our fireplaces and stoves the 1st call i took when back in the office asked me if they had to have specialist fitter to fit a limestone fireplace for electric use.
Now there are no rules governing the fitting of an electric insert as they all come prewired and have a 13 amp plug on them to plug straight into a socket so with that it mind the answer is No
You can fit this fireplace yourself as you are not likely to be gassed by any toxic fumes form solid fuel or gas use as the electric fire does not need a flue and these are the reasons we never recommend DIY jobs for solid fuel or gas.
So in reality it is ok to fit this type of fireplace fo electirc use but to ensure a good job you must be competent at diy or we would still recommend having it installed by a proper fireplace fitter and be prepared to haggle on the fitting price as they do not have to commision and conduct spillage tests on this item or test the rest of your system and also there is no certificate to produce so it should be cheaper than insattling for gas or solid fuel if fitting electric yourself gives us a ring we can help you out
Gallery Fireplace Firefox 5 Multi Fuel Stove Shortage
Saturday, November 14th, 2009It looks like the Firefox 5 Multi Fuel stove is again going to be in short supply in the run up to Christmas we are due a small delivery at the end of November and we have sold the last one we have in stock to a customer in Lincoln on Thursday we did have over 20 in stock in the last week of October but they have now all been sold in we are awaiting them arriving from China.
We did double the amount of Stoves we have in stock but sales of the Firefox 5 have again gone mad and left our suppliers without stock too even after they had ordered extra in too after last years fiasco when we ran out of all stoves.
Luckily this year it is only the Firefox 5 upto now which is in very short supply.
We do have plenty of Firefox 8s and 12s in stocks and also have plenty of the Tiger Classic and Tiger Plus so it is not all doom and gloom on the stove front yet but the way things are going i expect to run short of all of those too before santa arrives.
So basically my advice is if you are thinking of buying a Multi Fuel Stove please bear this in mind and order as soon as you can both toget it delivered and also to ensure it can be fitted in time for Christmas too i know it sound daft but fitting dates are running short too and we only have 3rd week in December left now for all our local fits.
We are taking forward orders for the remaiing firefox 5 stoves we have coming into stock so we will again be taking forward orders on Monday when i know how many we have available.
Just to add insult to injury the price of the stoves are due to rise 1st week in December as we impliment gallery price increase across the whole range so take advantage of our pre ordering of the Firefox 5 stoves and we will honour the price at the time of order
Firefox 5 Stove Orders being Taken Monday for December
Why is there no heat from my Multi Fuel Tiger Plus Stove
Friday, November 13th, 2009There is no heat from the wood burner my wife rang to tell me today I was a little confused to say the least.
On Wednesday I had delivered a load of logs, which for the 1st time ever I bought and at £65 for a load was quite cheap, I had stacked all these in our woodshed forgetting to stack new logs at the bottom so I have made the fatal error of covering all our seasoned dry timber with unseasoned wood.
Now unseasoned wood will burn if placed on a bed of coal so it has some heat base to dry it out and a good source of heat to ignite it.
Without doing this it burns very slowly and gives off minimal heat, which is kind of useless.
Anyway I have been and fetched a couple of bags of coal until I get chance to uncover the seasoned wood.
Now I should know better selling Fireplaces and Stoves for a living and often giving advice on what type of fuel to burn and I have even written a previous article on storing and seasoning timber so I now feel really stupid for my error.
Believe me they are well buried so I may order a ton of coal and use this batch of logs this way I am sure it would be easier than trying to uncover these seasoned logs.
So when ordering in your logs make sure you season them before you intend to burn them for a few months and don’t make the same mistake as I have done I know have them stacked all around the sides of our stove and lay in front on our hearth to get them dried enough to burn.
So just have a smile and think that even people in the trade can get it wrong sometimes but hey that’s Life.
Mr Wing Adds his Edwardian Fireplace and Kingston Marble to our Gallery
Thursday, November 12th, 2009 Having supplied two fireplace orders to Mr Wing from Peterborough who i met on the last delivery early in the morning to deliver a Henley and Kingston Marble Package to i was very impressed by the Edwardain fireplace he had installed in one of his rooms.
Living in a lovely victorian house as he does both these fireplaces we have supplied him look fantastic now they are fitted.
Here below are the comments he left for our website
Dear all at Cast Fireplaces,
I would like to tell you how happy I am with the fireplaces you supplied. Excellent and friendly service both with order, delivery and advice. Both fireplaces top quality products at a very reasonable price.
I would not hesitate in recommending your company. 10/10
Andrew Wing
Peterborough
As you can see he is very happy with his fireplaces and i commented on seeing the Edwardian as i delivered the Henley that it looked really good he told me he had fitted it himself which we normally do not advise.
A few days after delivering i recieved photos of the Edwardian and also a picture of The Henley and Kingston have a look at the following pictures and see what effect can be achieved by having a fireplace installed.
Both Fireplaces we have supplied are for solid fuel use (Real Fire) and he has taken a photo of the both burning away very nicely so hope this gives you some idea of another fireplace and how it will look fitted in your home
Granite Panel and Longford Jura Stone Modern Fireplace
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009This Granite Panel and Longford Jura Stone package is getting to become very popular it has really sold well over the last couple of months so i thought i would feature it as one of our featured fireplaces.
The Longford Jura Stone Mantel is made from sheets of marble and then has a durable finish applied to it with a realistic cold to touch feel of natural stone.
It is stain and scratch resistant and is a fantastic alterantive to real stone and lloks great with cast iron inserts or as featured here with a simple Granite Panel and Fire.
The granite we supply is 100% solid 1st grade black the best you can get it is polished and is very smooth and offers a really modern sleek look to any room.
We supply this suite with options for solid fuel gas or electric so you can have this great fireplace in a multiple of choices.
What makes it even better is when choosing the fret and trim you can choose from five different frets in a varity of finishes including Black,Brass,Polished,Diamond Black all with a trim to match this means you can personalise this package to match any decor that you have or want to match with
Take alook at this featured modern fireplace and click on the photo to take you straight to the item
