The internet is a wonderful tool for researching what products are available, nationwide. There are however, grave dangers in buying expensive products directly from an internet seller.

A buyer’s contract is with the person or company from whom the product is purchased. The guarantee that you have is only valid as long as that company is honest and is still trading. It is very easy and often legal to close down a company and open up a new one.

If the goods turn out to be faulty, there is no obligation on the manufacturer to rectify the fault; it is solely the responsibility of the seller.

Our Stowmarket showroom, where you can come in, see the stoves up close and speak to an expert.

We carry out our installations ourselves, to be sure that the work to the highest standard.

Specialist installations and complex jobs are all in a day's work for our expert team.

Many of the more reputable manufacturers will not supply their products to internet sellers. The sellers get around this by purchasing through a less scrupulous intermediary. If a fault develops even within the guarantee period you will have great difficulty obtaining replacements or spares as they have to come through the same supply chain and nobody in the whole chain is really interested in correcting problems. They are selling solely on price and can cut profit margins because they do not intend to provide an after sales service. If you ignore this warning decide that price is the most important factor, are you sure that know exactly what you need and will get what you actually wan or need? Can it be fitted in your house or is there a size/output/safety problem?

Will you be able to a get registered fitter to install it? If not then you will need to obtain planning permission for any alterations to a chimney, flue, heating appliance, or fireplace. You may fall foul of several other regulations and possibly finish up with an illegal installation. You will certainly not get a valid HIPS certificate, which becomes very important if you wish to sell the house and will mean at least having to pay for a commissioning and at worst having the item uninstalled. You may also invalidate your house insurance.

Many reputable installers will not install items purchased directly from themselves and cannot legally install them with the relevant manufacturer’s fitting instructions. So, having succeeded in buying the item and getting it installed what happens when it develops a fault? The seller blames the installer; the installer blames the manufacturer; you are caught in the middle. Buying from the internet is a gamble. Buying expensive, heavy or bulky goods is a high risk gamble. It is very difficult or impossible to get them returned unless you pay the costs.