by Jim Brennan » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:56 pm
I had a Breezaire in the unit I purchased, and I would NOT recommend them.
I purchased a Vinocraft wine cellar through K&L back in 2003. In fact, I specifically went through a retailer with a track record in order to ensure good support (rather than having to rely on the manufacturer). As it turns out, that was a wise move, but ultimately not quite wise enough (stay tuned).
Vinocraft went belly up perhaps 2 or 3 years after I bought my cellar. No problem. Everything was working great, and I did my best to ensure the unit was level, the air intake regularly cleaned, etc. Plus, I purchased through a retailer (K&L), and based on the research I did before I bought, I expected they would support my warranty claim (if one became necessary).
Flash forward to early spring '08. The wine cellar is some months shy of 5 years (the Breezaire warranty is 5 years, though I pay for parts after the first year). I notice that as the weather warms, the unit is running much more frequently, and lo-and-behold, frost on a portion of the unit inside... Houston we have a problem!!
Call up K&L, they forward me a copy of the receipt which shows that I most certainly am in the warranty period still. I figure my first shot is to call Breezaire and see what they say (noting that I have all my documentation). So I explain the situation, saying that I bought a Vinocraft, so there's that issue, but through K&L and that they've provided me with doc showing that I'm in the warranty period. The person I spoke with at Breezaire gets rather dismissive, tells me that I should go through the retailer (ok, I'm fine with that), but agrees to have their service people call me back (which never happens, big surprise).
In any case since they provide warranty service through the point of purchase, I call K&L as instructed. They tell me that they'll get in contact with Breezaire. Moreover, they note that they had apparently discussed this topic in the past with Breezaire (when Vinocraft went belly-up I suppose), indicated that they expected support, and that Breezaire's General Manager at that time said that they would be supported.
Ok... so it's not solved yet, but I was happy with K&L's response and the plan going forward.
Over the course of a few weeks I make regular contact with K&L. Apparently despite a few calls from K&L to Breezaire's General Manager, Breezaire wasn't getting back in-touch with K&L. After a few more weeks of this, I say "look, it's getting warm, this has gone on a long time, the warranty period is coming to a close... we need this resolved within a week or two."
Shortly afterwards the end game comes -- K&L must not have gotten satisfaction from Breezaire, as they called and offered to sell me another unit at cost. It was fair offer IMO -- the a/c was nearly a 5 year old unit, and Breezaire's failure to support their product shouldn't mean money out of K&L's pocket. However, I declined... why would I want to give more money to Breezaire, a company who clearly doesn't stand behind their product? In my opinion, K&L did their best to support me. It didn't work out, but they did the right thing.
Certainly Breezaire might have some wiggle room based on strict interpretation of the warranty (does the warranty reside through K&L or Vinocraft), but one would think that a reputable company would support their product in that circumstance. Particularly as K&L sold units from other companies that contain the Breezaire a/c.
Basically, IMO, while it's certainly possible that Breezaire was acting within the terms of their license, it's quite clear to me that they can't be trusted to support their products.
Why? Well, I can't say for certain, but I've heard enough stories to question their reliability. Plus, some cellar vendors with long-standing relationships (e.g. - Le Cache) dropped them in the past year or two (quality problems? who knows...)
