Sorry about that I should have proof read better, that should have been Eurostove not Europro. LOL

Keitel - Who was the service company that you spoke with and what town are they in? I would love to chat with them as well.

The company is called Rapid Service Parts & Delivery 7506 Bath Rd Mississauga, ON , L4T 1L2 Phone: 905-672-8480.

Honestly, the more I read about the DIY aspect of the Blue Star, in addition to never having laid eyes on or touched one, in addition to the nearest service guy being an hour and a bit away, in addition to no warranty through anyone beyond a year ... I don't know. Wolf and the 5 year warranty are looking pretty good and it's got absolutely nothing to do with the look of it. For $5 000 I want someone to be directly and locally accountable. I'm driving 25 minutes down the road to the appliance store with my 6 QT saute pan for a make-or-break fitting right now. It's a fascinating topic though, these Blue Stars.

Thanks for the info - this is right around the corner from where I live.

I am also very interested but am having troubles with the thought of buying something that I have never seen or touched for that kind of coin. I am also leaning towards the Wolf for exactly that reason.

Do you happen to know if Grand Chef is going to be at the Home Show in April? I could put off my buying decision til then if I knew that they were going to be there so that I can look and touch....

I have written to the purchaser and owner of Appliance Canada. I suggest anyone else in Ontario interested in BlueStar please do the same to let them know you want this product available locally from a long-time respected retailer.

Check the contacts page at Appliance Canada

I don't expect any warranty issues with a BlueStar beyond the first year. If something is wrong it will probably be seen right away. As long as the service people show up on time and promptly it also doesn't matter that they're an hour away. You don't have to go see them, they come to you.

When the warranty is over you can get it serviced by pretty much anyone. If you find a repair person who doens't know how to fix pretty much all ranges, they likely aren't a very good service person. I don't think this part will be a problem.

Bruno

Hey Bruno, are you in Canada? Do you have a Blue Star? If so, I was just wondering what your experience with it has been.

knitter01, let me know what you find out from Rapid Parts. That's pretty handy being right around the corner, isn't it?

mccall, if I get one, it'll definitely be stainless. I love the commercial look of it.

I checked out the Wolf AG again last night. My 4 QT (not 6) pan fit in no problem. They thought I was a bit nuts bringing it with me but I had visions of forking over $5K, getting home, browning some meat and trying to throw it into my brand new oven and cling ... doesn't fit. Oops. The Wolf actually a pretty big oven. I wonder why they didn't make a truly continuous grate on the top though. There's that little grate piece in the centre but it's about an inch lower than the grates which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The door of the floor model literally crashes down when you let it go. The sales guy said it was put together wrong, but is that the '06 "door issue" for real? I can't imagine they built a door that does that. Any info on just how unsecure that door really was/is?

All of you stove-crazy people should sell these things. It's always a bit disconcerting to know much more about something than the sales people paid to move it with expertise, don't you think? When you ask most of them a question they have to run back to their computer and check the same website available to you and I. Strange.

Dave.

Sent an email to the President of Appliance Canada. He has never heard of Bluestar. I sent him the link to Bluestar, the distributer, the service contract in Mississuaga and to this forum.

His response was that this is just another pro-range and that they weren't interested in picking up another line when they have Wolf/Viking etc.

Sent an email to the distributor wondering if they were going to be at the National Home Show in Toronto in April - he said no - they were there 3 years ago and everyone loved their booth. Doesn't help me get to touch or feel the range.

At this point, I will be going with another range - probably a Wolf.

Marion K.

Ok, so given that I can't actually see, touch, or cook on one could you Blue Star owners please give me a hand here. I'm curious about the versatility of the 22K burners. I certainly understand the power, but what I want to know is whether or not they're one-dimensional. How low do they go? I've seen the Eurostove slide show, but I'd like to hear from someone who regularly cooks on it. Could you cook rice on a 22K burner? Could you reasonably simmer on it or just do day-to-day i.e. non-wok, non-searing cooking on it? If not, I may switch one of the 22's for an 18 or another 15 maybe. Please advise and, of course, thanks in advance.

Dave.

I responded on your other thread but I have to ask you have you been to the Eurostove website and watched their slideshow on the range? it shows the burners in action both high and low. I think the Bluestar site may have a slide show now too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bluestar slide show

I'm having as hard a time deciding as everyone else, it seems. Am looking at a Wolf DF tonight (sounds like I'm in your neighbourhood, keitel). My issues are that I would like an open burner and really like the BS burners, but thought I wanted DF to get around poor baking performance. If I thought I could get something other than hockey pucks for Yorkshire puddings from a gas oven, I think I would lean over to a BS and make the drive to Ottawa to see one. Can anyone comment on the potential for better gas oven performance than an 18 year old Caloric? As well, I will have to do an LP conversion, does anyone have any observations about performance? Thanks.

I have had excellent baking performance with my RNB Bluestar. I have baked a variety of cookies cakes, breads, muffins etc. I hav not done Yorkshire pudding, oh have done custards and souffles. I Love the oven on this range. some times I use the convection fan sometimes not.
HOpefully you can find one hooked up there and go cook on it. that is what I did at Eurostove.

hey there rodeo. where in ottawa could i find one? i'm going there for easter ... but i need to decide on my cabinet openings saturday. aaarrrgggghhhh! the problem with the wolf is that the best deal i can find is $6 400 CDN including island trim, tax, and delivery on the 30" AG and the Blue Star 30NB would be about $4500 for same. that's a huge difference.

There is a retailer in Gatineau (across the river) according to the distributor.

Send them an email asking - they have been very responsive to my inquiries

I'm in Canada. Just 10 minutes away from Appliance Canada actually. If I had a BlueStar already I wouldn't be writing to Appliance Canada asking them to carry it. :)

6400 for the 30" Wolf AG? Wow, pass. It's decent looking with the new door, but not anywhere close to the DF model. It's not a $6000 CAD range. It's not even a $4000 range.

I can understand Appliance Canada's position on BlueStar since it's not a very well known brand yet. I wouldn't touch a Viking though and as mentioned, Wolf just doesn't deserve the money they're currently asking. The margins on these lines must be very sweet indeed. With a $6000 CAD retail that range has to ship out of the manufacturer for under $3000.

Bruno

Bruno, the $6 000 was with taxes and island trim in. $5339 was the price of the range itself. Still, a ton of coin for 30" of stove.

The reason I was asking if you owned one (even though I did understand that you were petitioning Appliance Canada and logic would dictate that you therefore didn't have one) was because you speak so knowledgeably about it.

Dave.

Hi Dave. I was referring to the dealer in Gatineau mentioned in an earlier post. Saw the Wolf last night. Door on the AG was ridiculous. Saw the new hydraulics on the new DF. Lovely. But at twice the price of a BS, it is killing me. Especially as the DF has the sealed burners. My biggest problem is in fact my kitchen design. The placement of the small oven on the 48" range on the Wolf is more suited to my intended location. The BS is opposite (of course!) That would put the large oven door opening up towards my island cupboards instead of the aisle in between. I just can't do that.

Info on the dealer in Gatineau for those you that want to make the trek....

From Ottawa :
Follow Hull direction.
You are on the Highway 5 North.
Next, follow highway 50 East ( Gatineau )
Next, take the Boul. De la Gappe exit.

At the intersection, turn left and keep going straight to BRAULT & MARTINEAU dealer.

Brault & Martineau
500, boul. De la Gappe BLVD
Gatineau, Quebec
1-877-755-2555 or 1-819-561-5007

They have both 30 and 36 inch units on the sales floor.

From Grand Chef....

Now I have to decide if I want to drive up there one Saturday and drive home to see one of these. If I do it, it will be in May some time....

Marion K.

I just ordered the 30NB so I can order my cabinets tomorrow and then SEE the range at Easter. All out of order, but what can I do? I decided to finally take the leap after the following things:

1. I got a quote from the place in Hull. The 30NB is $5139 without delivery vs. $4250 (delivery included) from Magic Chef.

2. I spoke to Rapid Parts & Service (the warranty providers for one year) again in Mississauga. They get the parts generally overnight. Their turnaround time on a service call (and I'm an hour west of them) is usually 1-2 days. BUT, they have done VERY FEW service calls on Blue Stars and have had no experience whatsoever with shipping damage. She assured me that they are great units and in their experience (over the past few years) have been very reliable.

2. Spoke to a local appliance company with a repair/service department that I really like. They would have no problem understanding / working on the unit but were concerned about how to get parts. i.e. If they came here to diagnose the unit and then I had to order the parts myself from Magic Chef then the service call would require potentially multiple visits plus an extended period of time and hassle. Slightly disconcerting.

3. I spoke to Jean at Magic Chef about it. They offer no extended warranty, however, they stock all parts and will sell them to any company and ship them right away. i.e. There is no difficulty in your local company buying parts from them. I'm sure there will be some kind of markup on them but a) if the units are as reliable as said it shouldn't happen at all or often and b) at least you can have the unit serviced fairly easily by someone local and accountable.

I really hope this thing is worth all this time and effort.

Dave.

Marion, I emphathize. That Ottawa drive is my least favourite, and yes, I have done it there and back in a day too, more than once. I wondered if anyone closer to Toronto who's bought one would be willing to let us take a peak, given that they say they are shipping that many units here each month.

Remember when you talk about parts, there are not very many to worry about there are the igniters and there had been some faulty igniter modules, but that was a couple years back and it was not just Bluestar it was a Mexican company that makes them for many companies, anyway that is old news now. There are no electronics in it at all only fan and light and igniter switch. So not as big a worry as on a more complicated range.
Welcome to the Bluestar club [there is a secret handshake you know]LOL

I've been doing enough research on ranges over the past few months that soon I'll jjust be able to build one myself. :) If I'm even borderline considering a particular product I like to know as much as possible about it.

I've always loved star shaped burners (Thermador's are also nice) but was leary of the BlueStar primarily because of its appearance. As I did more research to find out how it worked and how it was put together, I relaxed on that issue a little bit. Its pricing was also quite attractive when compared to many other ranges.

Of course in Canada we seem to be getting the shaft as noted by the street price from the dealer in Québec. It seems liek Grand Chef is stiffing their dealers twice over. Once by selling to them at a hugher price than is typical so the delaers cannot offer a fair price to their customers and again by selling directly to the public themselves, undercutting their dealer network. Sounds like a real class act.

I still have plenty of time for final decisions, but when it comes down to it, if I absolutely must go with Grand Chef then that's what I'll do (if going BS). At the same time I'll make certain to tell Appliance Canada they just lost a significant amount of money because they dismissed the lesser known product.

Interestingly I haven't received any replies from Appliance Canada at all. Time to email Tasco.

Bruno

I also previously forgot to mention... Grand Chef sent along two photographs of the new RCS model (which includes a window) and I noticed something I haven't seen mentioned here before. The top front edge of the range is squared off. It no longer features the angled finish. In other words, the front facing edge is perfectly vertical and at a 90 degree angle to the top, where as previously it used to be on an angle sloping inward so it made a sort of V facing toward the front.

Has anyone received new stock yet to confirm this?

I'll just include the image below:

Bruno

It looks to me like they have just added the window to the old 18K burner model. RCB I think it was. Since it has not got the center grate and as you say it has the squared front.
The RNB's still have the V type front pc and the center grate of course.

Bruno - who did you email at Appliance Canada? I emailed the president one night, had a reply by 9 and then a couple of times through the day as we chatted back and forth about Bluestar ranges.....

I'm thinking hard about that road trip to Ottawa to look at one.....

Marion K.

Marion,
Try to find one that is hooked up that you can demo. I am surprised that more owners up there have not chimed in.

I would love to try one....I posted a similar thread last week and Bruno and I were the only ones on it....

I am hopeful that maybe some folks from Ontario will find this thread/forum and chime in.

I am so torn.....I want to experience a Bluestar before I buy (am going to a Wolf demo later in April to see that unit in action) but haven't yet come across someone in Ontario that can give their experience with the unit. Will probably do the road trip to Ottawa to see the unit at least - so that I can see/touch/open doors/play with knobs before I make the final decision.

Sudden brain wave (it's been a really long week!!!) Dave...when is your unit being delivered and when are you getting it installed. Would you be open to having someone like me check out your range?

Reply to me offlist if you would like....

Thanks,
Marion K.

Hey Marion, I'm not getting the unit until some time in June. The only reason I've immersed myself in this madness now is because I had to make all range/hood decisions for designing cabinets tomorrow morning. And of course, this whole building a house thing came rather suddenly as well, thus the very condensed timelines for a decision that I would have liked to have taken months to make. Anyway, I would absolutely be open to you checking it out; it's just that it's a few months away.

Dave.

P.S. I also find the comments made by Jean at Magic Chef about 10-20 units a week to Ontario amusing. If those 10 or 20 people didn't find out about Blue Star here then where? There is mention of it on Chowhound but mostly people just point to this forum. And if it was here, where and who are they? I hear crickets ...

At first I thought Grand Chef had mentioned shipping 20 units per month to Ontario which would have still been respectable. But I did check my email and they definitely said 20 per week. I have a VERY hard time believing even 2 per week.

I did email the president at Appliance Canada as well as the main purchaser and purchasing assistant. I didn't receive back any errors/bounces so I assume they got the email. Were they closed for March Break? ;) Maybe they simply thought "damn, not another BlueStar person."

If I had already been looking (with interest) at BlueStar in January, I could have passed by a few stores. I drove all the way from Toronto to Québec City (and back) which would have given me a number of opportunities for short side trips.

Hopefully the people at Grand Chef aren't reading these threads or we may just find out we've been banned from buying BlueStar in Canada if/when the time comes.

Is the place near Ottawa the closest to the GTA? Nowhere closer in the US? Buffalo isn't exactly what I'd consider a hopping high-end market so I won't hold my breath. If I had to cross at Windsor it probably wouldn't be worth the effort to go that direction.

mccall, are you sure the lower end models (RCS and RPB) had the flat fronts in th epast as well? I thought their only differences were burner configuration, convection and previously the lack of a window on RCS. The current images on BlueStar's site do seem to show an angle on RNB and flat on RCS.

Anyway, I think both look acceptable. What bugs me the most are the vents on the bottom panel and that the fascia, where the knobs are atttached, is framed on each side instead of being one smooth panel.

Bruno

Bruno - I checked with the USA distributor because a drive to Buffalo is very reasonable for me - unfortunately the nearest retailer in New York is East Syracuse - about a 4-5 hour drive from home - so Ottawa is just as reasonable without the customs challenges.....(unless of course you were going to make a weekend of it and then that's a different story).

Hey all... Love reading the message posts. We are struggling with the purchase of a stove, too. My hubby loves to wok cook and therefore is enchanted with the Blue Star.

I wanted to let you know that there is a distributor north of Chicago called Oakton Distributors for the Blue Star range. They appear to have competitive prices.

I know it is a hike - but Chicago makes a much more attractive weekend vacation than Buffalo.

We are planning on making the drive in person too. There is also a Wolf working kitchen display in Chicago that we are going to hit.

Good Luck!

Also, for looks... there has been a lot of talk about them upgrading their "finish". The website prizer-painter.com has a new slide-show with a 2007 copyright down at the bottom. There are a lot of close-up pics in the slide-show and the finish looks much better than previous models. Good news...

Hey what the heck fly down to Boston and you can pop out to Eurostove and actually cook on one and get the most accurate infor out there. These people know the machine. They actually have had people fly in from all over and they may even have some fly in info for people at this point so many have.
Anyway that could make for a nice trip at least in a few weeks when Spring actually arrives here.

I love Boston - one of my favorite places in the US. And I would much rather make a weekend trip there than go to Syracuse or a random town in Québec solely to look at the range. Thanks for the tip, it might make a fairly addordable long weekend away - with a bonus.

Maybe I should bring a trailer with me in case I decide to drop the money while at Eurostoves... ;)

Bruno

I just got a message from Grand Chef that I'd like to share with the forum. I normally wouldn't bother bringing up anything from an email, but this is generic enough and outlines company policy and practises. There's no information based on any personal relationship.

But there are enough possible untruths and speculation that I thought it was important to share.

In my message I thanked them for getting back to me quickly with pricing information and then included this paragraph:

Bruno wrote:
I'm just a little concerned that your price, being distribution, is already a bit higher than the US suggested retail (and typical street prices in the US). I also know that stores/dealers in Québec charge over $5000 for the 30" RNB which is very much over SRP. At those prices most people will seriously consider Wolf and Viking, where as in the US, everything else being equal, BlueStar beats those brands on price by a large margin always.

I then mentioned I'd love to see one in person without driving 5 or more hours, let them know I still had a good amount of time before having to make a decision and thanked them very politely again for the help and information.

Reply from Grand Chef:
We are in Canada. If you look at the retail pricing in stores in Canada, you will notice that everyone has a different price than U.S. Sir, I am taking care of 80 major retail stores in Canada and over a thousand sales people over the country. You also probably know that a Viking and a Wolf have a higher price than the same units in a retail store in Canada than in the U.S. It is also true for many different products, electronics, food, etc. It is also true that we pay freight, customs (often). Did you forget about the money exchange ? For Warranty issues, in the U.S. , it is 1 year Parts and 3 months on Labour. We have to pay for warranty issues to cover service for one full year on your unit. Nothing is free and BlueStar knows that, we know that and you know that. Also, a unit that has been bought in the U.S. has no CSA or C UL approval. No Canadian gas supplier will accept to connect your unit if it has no attestation from Canada. Your Insurance company will not insure your house without these attestations. I also noticed when I travel in the greater Toronto that dealers sell the same Viking and Wolf unit 15 % to 20 % at a higher price than dealers in Quebec for the same unit. I am travelling a lot across the country and I can see many things. I am also travelling in the U.S. and I can see the different pricing (MSRP and Dealer Pricing) from New York, California, Michigan (Chicago) , etc.

As you probably noticed also, if you read the Departure article written by David Rosengarten from Food Network, the Bluestar is by far superior to the Viking and Wolf product. I am not the one who wrote the article, Mr. Rosengarten is the one and I trust this man who spend sometimes 12 hours a day in front of a gas range to do some cooking.

What do you save ? I already gave you the dealer price that I give to my dealer who buys truck loads from us and also, you only pay G.S.T. (no P.S.T.) and the freight is included. Not to forget Canadian economy of course.

I believe there are many ways to justify the price premium for being in Canada, but comparing to the current consumer electronics market is not one of them and certainly neither is food. Take a look at the price of televisions and game consoles sometime. Exchange rates are at their lowest in a long time, even though some companies, like my previous employer continued to sell in Canada at highly inflated rates.

So, everyone who has posted about their US warranties, are you all incorrect? Grand Chef claims you only have a 3 months labour warranty. The funny thing is that Prizer-Painter doesn't agree because they state very clearly their products carry a 1 year parts AND labor warranty direct from the factory.

A unit that has been bought in the US has no CSA nor C UL? Interesting. First of all, if something is UL approved it's UL approved, period. You don't need it to be approved by UL in Canada. Is Grand Chef trying to imply that units that are imported into Canada are specially certified one by one by CSA? That's BS. The product line is approved. If the units in the US don't include the CSA sticker, it's only the sticker that's missing. The units are the same and carry the same approvals. This is true for pretty much every product out there.

No Canadian gas fitter will install it? BS.
My insurance company will not insure the house? BS.

These would be true if I bought some random item that had no approvals at all. Or if I built something from scratch myself and didn't get it certified.

So he freely admits that he sells to the public at the same price he sells to his dealers! Wow, aren't we lucky. In fact the consumer is just getting the shaft along with the dealers.

I would not be surprized if Grand Chef is a one man operation that puts in small orders with Prizer Painter. Too small to get the same pricing higher volume distributors in the US get. And on top of that takes a good slice of profit for themselves before selling to local stores. They have a hard time selling to a large number of stores because they not able to offer real wholesale pricing so they must sell directly to the consumer as well. This causes competition for the stores and perpetuates the viscious cycle.

The last line is classic. Do not forget the Canadian economy. Which he obviously has no clue about. What popint was he trying to make with this I wonder...

I also pay no PST because I'd be buying out of province, not because he's a distributor or giving me some special discount.

I run my own business for a living. Do retail sales in global along with my own importing and exporting (including freight from China and Hong Kong).

As much as I can ever love this product line, Grand Chef is really making me want to stay away. The amount of slime i feel coming from just this one message alone leaves me so worried about BlueStar in Canada.

Bruno

To forwhatitsworth,

Just an FYI --

I'm in the Chicago area and when I spoke to an Oakton Dist. rep last week, he said that they don't have demos on the weekend, so I would have to make a weekday appt.

You should call to confirm this yourself, but I just wanted to let you know what I was told, in case you need to adjust your travel plans accordingly.

My opinion on the price of Bluestar in Canada is that it is unfair, but not likely because the distributor is gouging in any particular way. True, they have an essential monopoly, but there are cometitors in other ranges. I was originally scared off on price, but after comparing the cost to get one through a US distributor, it came out nearly equal, but with Grand Chef I got local service (if you can call it that). It is also less money than any Wolf, Viking etc, for what I consider a superior cooking machine (though an inferior looking machine).

I have needed service on my range, and so far, Grand Chef has been reasonably responsive. I've had better service elsewhere, but also worse. I would rate them slightly above average, and in the category (distributor selling to an individual) a bit better than that. Then again, it helps that I'm not put off by "sales talk" that sometimes includes stretching the truth (UL listing IS sufficient for insurers in Canada for the most part). To me, it is just like buying a car.

In the US, there is more competition, so service is a way of differentiating between vendors. As a result, some seem to have a great rep (Eurostoves) but there are other stories I've read that tell me they are not all that good. My thinking is that the email response you received was perhaps a bit hastily written, and a bit defensive, but it wouldn't put me off in the decision making too much. In the end, it does come down to comparing what you can get in Canada, and without importing your own (a considerable hassle IMO) I still think the Blustar is the better deal for serious cooks.

I did notice that a new distributor has been added in Alberta, and I wonder if there are now exclusive territories. My thinking is that Prizer-Painter has tooled up for an expansion, due in no small part to the attention the product has received on this and other forums.

If Prizer-Painter were gearing up for an expansion, surely they would line up a distributor in Metro Toronto, and they would have put their western Canada distributor in Vancouver or Calgary. The new Edmonton distributor does not even have that most basic of marketing tools, a website. That said, and not yet having had my BlueStar delivered, I'm so far pleased with GrandChef in Montreal. The price I was quoted for a 36" RNB with griddle last July, $6000 CDN, includes delivery to Calgary and GST and has not changed though I keep postponing my delivery date. Also, I am now getting one of the "new" models with custom paint and Island vent for the same price. They have had my $1000 deposit for some time, but aren't making much money out of that at today's interest rates. I asked whether I should now be dealing with Edmonton and the answer was no.

I will now await with much interest to see whether the promised 5 weeks from notification to delivery is for real.

mrzed - how long have you had your range, what did you need serviced and how long did it take for you to get the service ( I know that you rated them slightly above average but what does average mean to you.....)? Did you buy the range sight unseen? What delighted you about the range? What disappointed you? What didn't live up to what you have been hearing from the forum/the website....?

Dave.....I might impose myself some time in the future to see your range.....my kitchen reno now looks like it won't start till late June/early July so the timing might work (if you're still up for a visit....).

Marion K.

Marion, no problem on the visit. There is one other thing to consider when looking at that email Bruno received. While it may have been hastily written and a bit defensive, it's also written in a second language as everyone I've spoken to at Grand Chef is French. This sounds like a small detail, but its effects (particularly in the toneless, faceless world of email) cannot be overestimated.

mrzed, even if you think the Blue Star is overpriced in Canada for a variety of reasons, it's still soooo much cheaper than a Wolf and from what I've gathered here, and seen in the showroom, that's the closest comparison. $4600 to the door with castors, island trim and taxes for the Blue Star vs. $6425 (not including delivery) for the Wolf. That's huge.

The price directly from the distributor isn't a huge difference over the price from the US. I don't think importing from the US would save any money at all in this case.

But the fact this is the price the Canadian distributor gives to their local dealers is a huge rip-off. BlueStar's distributor price in the US must be under $2000 for a 30" RNB if the final retail price is going to be about $3500. If Grand Chef were in fact doing the volumes he mentions to Ontario, he should be able to get the same distribution prices with freight not being too much more that it is within the US.

There would be no duty and the GST paid at import time is a credit against that collected from their dealers or consumers. In other words it's a non issue.

The people getting taken for the biggest ride are those interested in being local dealers. Trying to maintain their margins they will be no match for another high volume appliance dealer selling Wolf and Viking. They will be able to get a Wolf out the door for less money. Whether they will sell one to YOU at less money depends on your negotiation skills (and persistance) and how much else you're buying.

But comparing against a Wolf on price is not fair in any case since that product line is all about brand awareness. it's the only reason they can command the price they do. And you can bet Prizer-Painter is working on getting BlueStar up to that level and dollar figures.

So in summary, the price from distributor to consumer is not terribly "unfair." But the same can't be said for how local dealers or want-to-be-dealers are treated. It will be a long time before BlueStar really takes off in Canada if Prizer Painter don't find some new distributors who aren't trying to keep the fat margins all to themselves.

Bruno

Bump.

The Prizer website now lists a bunch of retail outlets in Ontario, including Tasco.

So, I called the Dufferin St. store (Toronto) and the salesman had never heard of them. He talked to a colleague, who had also never heard of them. Not a good sign on a number of levels.

But, they're in the system there. He told me a 30" RNB would retail at @ $4900. Which is about $400 more than Grand Chef quoted me several months ago when the dollar was lower/ exchange rate was higher. (Note - from memory, but I think it was in the 42 - 44 range. Mightv'e been the RNP though, but I don't think so). Sigh.

And Tasco doesn't have one in their store. Sigh.

They told me they could order one for me, but the sales guy didn't know when, if ever, they might have one on display. Sigh.

I, like some others, am hesitant at plunking down that kind of $$$ sight unseen.

And, the difference in price between th US and here is also a sticking point. The list price in the states is $4320. With exchange, that comes out to about $4700 Canuck. Add a couple hundred for customs hassles, shipping etc and 4900 doesn't sound unreasonable. Except that Universal has them for $3500 US, and Select for 38-something. In other words, 5 - 8 hundred less than list. If I know that someone is capable of selling them for $800 less than list and still (presumably) make a profit, I'll feel I'm being played for a fool to be charged list plus some change for border issues.

I'd like to buy a Bluestar. I really would. But ...

Has anyone else found any of the stores listed as dealers of Bluestars in Ontario on Prizer's website that actually have one?

Does anyone know if Grand Chef can still sell in Ontario?

Thanks!

i hear there are a lot of new dealers coming on-line in the Toronto area - dealer direct, no distributor ala grand chef. but, it may still be too soon for very many displays to be up. the proverbial good news, bad news. if touchy-feely is a must you might try contacting each one that is within a reasonable drive since the territory is new. or contact the factory to see if they can steer you to a display near you....

I have to drop by the Tasco in Mississauga today or tomorrow to reschedule my appliance delivery - my reno start date is delayed by a couple of weeks.... :(

I will check to see if they have a Bluestar in the showroom and will post...

What an annoyance though.....when I was looking at appliance in April, I talked to them specifically about Bluestar and whether they would be bringing them in as a product line.......they said no.....

Oh well....I am certain I will be happy with my Wolf as I couldn't bring myself to buy the Bluestar sight unseen from Grand Chef...

Marion K.

Same here ... I asked Tasco about Blue Star in May ... never heard of them. All still seems a bit sketchy to me.

I went through the same deal with the Blue Star people in Quebec, and in the end bought a Capital Range instead from TASCO. Although the Blue Star is a nice Oven, it doesn't have the features that I have on the Capital, including the WOK Burner, and the Rotiserrie.

They carry Blue Star at Caplan's Appliances in Toronto.

Just called - they've got the 30" range RNB304BSS for $3699.

Hope that helps...I'm thinking of buying one myself :)

Please see Tony at Total Appliance in Mississauga on Dundas Street West (I have no vested interest, other then being a new client). He'll get you a unit, delivered for a lot less then some of the prices being quoted here. I just ordered a 30" unit for my soon to be completed house reno ... I was a bit taken with the lack of bells and whistles, but the more I read, the more I'm convinced I made the right choice.

I only just now noticed this thread, on the same day as our BS 60" range top is to be delivered to my office (as the house is not ready for it yet).

We purchased directly from Grand Chef after going to their showroom to see a working model. The price we paid is significantly less than any price I saw anywhere online, and well below the price from authorized dealers here in Montreal.

My only suggestion to all of you is that you should indeed negotiate with them. They have the ability to offer the lowest price, regardless of whether they offer it at first.

Caplan's has them, and their price for a 36" AG RNB is competitive with the US price, though I don't know how it compares with the price at Total Appliance or buying direct from Grand Chef.

got the 30" range RNB304BSS for just over $3500 from Tony @ Total .... tell him Fil sent you ;) ... great guy, nice to deal with .... let you know how the "after delivery" experience is in a month or so ... hope it's everything everyone says it is.