Bass Pellet Heaters in Launceston, Tasmania has closed it’s doors. I wrote a few posts about some of their pellet heaters they sold and overall I thought their range of pellet heaters were a good buy. Their prices were on average about $1000 less than their competitor, Pellet Fires Tasmania, and they also sold wood pellets at good prices. If you ever visited their store in Launceston you’d see they were in a prime location. There’s a good chance the owner closed simply because they wanted to retire but the business was also for sale at one point but clearly no-one bought it. So, what went wrong and why did no-one decide to purchase the pellet heater business?
Their Heart Wasn’t In It
If you’ve read my article on whether or not you should buy from Bass Pellet Heaters, at least when they did exist, I made a point towards the end of the article that it just didn’t feel like Bass was interested in selling pellet heaters. Besides basic information on models and prices, there was very little information on the website. To me this was a red flag because so much more information about pellet heaters could have been provided, like Pellet Fires Tasmania does, but it seemed like they setup the website with as little effort required as possible. There’s a good chance this was done to keep costs low but it still created a very poor experience.
Now, this might ruffle some feathers but I’ve visited the store a few times and Bass just didn’t want to sell pellet heaters. I’ve visited the store a few times and it may have just been me but it just didn’t feel as though they were interested in selling pellet heaters. Now, I believe selling pellet heaters was not their main line of business as they were situated in a metal workshop kind of business, but it felt as though they didn’t even try to sell pellet heaters if you went into their shop.
As you most likely know I run some Facebook groups for pellet heater owners and Bass rarely, if ever, engaged and posted in the group. I know Facebook isn’t for everyone but if I ran a pellet heater business I’d be doing what I can to help and interact with pellet heater owners in a Facebook group to promote my business. In all fairness though, most businesses in Tasmania do not interact with the group, despite many being members and knowing about it. That has always done my head in. Why wouldn’t a business selling pellet heaters be engaging with a group that is dedicated to pellet heaters?
What Now?
So what does it matter if Bass Pellet Heaters is gone? Well, anyone who purchased a pellet heater from Bass is now without warranty and parts from an official source. Bass was the direct importer of the pellet heaters they sold, so were responsible for honoring the warranty and providing parts. However, the company is now gone and with it warranty and parts. Now, I know pellet heaters are easy to fix and most likely the parts for the Bass heaters can be purchased online, but there are plenty of people who don’t want to do this which is now a major problem.
The good news is the contractor Bass used for pellet heater servicing is still able to service Bass heaters and sells spare parts. However, obviously any warranty is not dead and gone with the business and that means no free parts if they failed under warranty. However, Bass used to resell their pellet heaters through other retailers, which obviously is no longer possible. These customers, despite not buying from Bass directly, will probably be up the creek as well as Bass would have been responsible for the warranty.
The Future of Pellet Heaters
I think pellet heaters will continue to grow in popularity but the impact of Bass closing shop is something people need to be aware of. If you are a DIYER, happy to do your own servicing and don’t mind pulling parts from other pellet heaters or buying them online, then it doesn’t really matter who or where you guy your pellet heater from. However, for many this isn’t something they want to do and would rather buy a pellet heater that is backed by a warranty and servicing.
This is why I always recommend buying a pellet heater from a retailer that has skin in the game. Be sure to ask questions before buying your pellet heater. They should have a fairly good website with plenty of information, stock parts in store that you can buy without waiting for them to get shipped in and also offer in-house servicing. The more skin a retailer has in the game the less likely they are to shut doors and cease trading one day.
An example of this is the post I wrote on where to buy a pellet heater in Australia. That article is about a year or so old and I visited the retailer website links the other day only to find that a large majority of the links no longer work or websites are completely gone. Many of the retailers still exist and are trading but you can’t find any information about pellet heaters on their websites. It was very worrying to see so many broken links because it means the retailers aren’t serious about selling pellet heaters.
Right, enough waffle from me. Bass Pellet Heaters is gone and now Tasmania, at least in the north, is left with Pellet Fires Tasmania in Launceston and Central Coast Heating in Ulverstone. This isn’t the first time a pellet heater business has come and gone and definitely won’t be the last. Happy heating.
