Oops...corrected my typo!

what a coincidence! i ordered the kobe ra something-or-another. uh, it's an undercabinet 36" width, 750 cfm, with baffle filters. i ordered it from, none other than, ventingdirect.com. well, i hadn't heard after 1 1/2 weeks from the vendor about shipping. so i called them. nicole said, " it was supposed to have been delivered already." how, when no one has ever contacted me about shipping(shouldn't i be home to sign for it?)?? she called their freight company, yellow freight, and found out that it is scheduled for the following tuesday...and someone from yellow freight will call me monday to set up a time. someone, a very unenergetic someone, calls me, that they'll come between 9am and 6pm the following tuesday--hmm, can you narrow it down some? i mean, i have...a life. she checks (shuffles some papers), "looks like you're one of the first deliveries. maybe before noon." great, i think, maybe my contractor will have time to install it. today WAS that tuesday and no one came to my house!!!

i called ventingdirect at 2 pm this afternoon to inquire. they get yellow freight to call me 30 minutes later: "it will be delivered in the next two hours." i'm leaving to pick my kids up from school, but my contractor can sign for it. please have your guy come to my back door where he is. i return by 4 pm. no delivery.

ventingdirect is the cheapest deal on the internet. i wanted to buy from naturalhome.com, where i got most of my information about kobe vents. i even called them once and got the feeling i was talking to the owner. it's a nice and informative site, and they are very enthusiastice about kobe. but they are more expensive, and the bottom line won out. (maybe ask if they can't give you a more competitive price?)

since i'm not in a hurry to get the vent, the sloppy delivery doesn't affect me so much. ventingdirect.com themselves, the people there, actually seem nice and helpful. they readily answer the phone and call me, email me back promptly. but i will reserve judgment until the vent actually arrives and all is as it should be. i'll post a follow-up if you wish.

Wow nolamom, that is what I was afraid of with ventingdirect.com. I sure hope your saga ends with a happy outcome!

Anyone else who has a Kobe tell me where to purchase from? How about another hood recommendation that is comparable to the Kobe that I posted above (30")?

I really need to make a decision soon - contractor is getting anxious to install.

I ordered my Kobe hood (CH2230SQ) from ventingdirect.com without issue. I called and placed the order 9/19/08, it shipped 9/23/08 and was delivered 9/29/08. Everything went fine for me.

I ordered mine from the Natural Home building source. They were extremely nice to work with BUT they use Yellow Truck for delivery. Yellow Truck is slow for residential delivery.

I emailed ventingdirect a question, they called me right away and I spoke with a representative who said she would do some research and get right back to me. Well that was around 3 weeks ago. . . never heard from them again (and the hoods I was looking at were over 1,000, probably worth their while no?)

Is there something fishy about this thread bashing one site in particular in weird ways, is it just fishy that the thread promotes one other site?

I have been to the promoted site and seen it is only a referral site -- it has *only* links to other sites and it makes its money by sending clicks to all those referrals.

On the other hand, those posts were submitted by people who were signed in long ago.

?
scratching my head.
-david

I've bought two hoods from Venting Direct, an Independent 42" in late 2006 and a Kobe hood last summer. The Independent took forever to ship but that wasn't Venting Direct's fault; at that point the home appliance market was sizzling and the Independent factory was way behind on orders. They told me to expect a delay when I ordered it over the phone. I think this was when Independent was still making the hoods for Wolf as well.

The Kobe hood we ordered this summer for our beach place shipped quickly and arrived in perfect shape. The price was unbeatable. When I placed the order online, though, it didn't give me the free shipping for some reason. I called and talked to Juan in customer service who adjusted my invoice immediately.

My service was excellent and I'd order from them again.

In response to davidro1's reply, there is nothing fishy about my initial post.

I learned about ventingdirect.com from this forum and had been looking to buy from them. I don't know if the naturalhomesite is affiliated with them in any way.

After doing more homework and reading reviews of their site I started to question the purchase so I posted to get feedback and advice.

After reading more I have decided I will not risk a headache and will buy elsewhere. It is not only here that I have seen the negative feedback - it is also on Bizrate and Shopping.com. For every positive review there seems to be a negative review as well.

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I ordered a Kobe range hood from Ventingdirect.com a few months ago. They were very helpful and my order arrived quickly. I did call in my order, rather than just entering it in online to make sure that it would be shipped out promptly. I would recommend purchasing from them, but if you need anything to go out quickly I would advise you to call them directly (also with a purchase from any of there affiliates - faucetdirect & morehome).

that is interesting about calling directly to place an order, and not online. someone mentioned doing this for purchases at galaxytools. off topic, but i called to place my order for a ticor sink and got a really nice guy to help me. not just nice, but knowledgeable and with authority (to make slight changes without having to get approval from a supervisor). anyway, i was shocked to find the sink at my doorstep this afternoon (less than a week after ordering). so, i agree with your advice, crazyhouse.

i have not received my hood yet, btw. but it is scheduled for delivery tomorrow afternoon. i told the lady at the freight company that if the delivery is botched tomorrow, i'll cancel the order.

preston, i looked back at the prices online for my hood (google shopping), and ventingdirect is only a few dollars cheaper than the next guy (naturalhome is quite a bit more expensive). knowing what i know now, i would pay the tiny bit more and go elsewhere.

I ordered my kobe hood from Ventingdirect. Great price, great service and fast delivery.

Eurostoves.com is always a good place to go

Just an update to say thanks for all the replies and helpful info.

I decided to order online from abt.com. Placed the order this weekend and hope to see the hood this week.

I went with a Zephyr Savona 30".

good luck with your order. a quick post script to my own saga:
i did receive the hood as promised (the thrid promise, that is).
the box was banged up pretty badly, so i opened it up in the presence of the driver. we found no obvious damage, except for a little on/off switch that was not fitted into the hole properly. i noted it on the freight slip and emailed the company to document it further, in case the thing doesn't work right when it's installed. i haven't received any response back. it's a beautiful hood though. and all will be forgotten if it works as it should(!).

This was a very informative thread. I'm looking for a chimney vent hood with a rounded front and high CFM and low noise under $1000. I never would have known about http://www.thenaturalhome.com/ if not for this thread. So thank you. They only offer Kobe hoods, and their prices are better than ventingdirect.com or us-appliance.com or kitchendirect.com. They also have a very detailed explanation of why they offer only Kobe, which I really appreciate. So, thank you for the info.

ribidibi:

i found that naturalhome was a bit more more expensive then ventingdirect (at that time). the naturalhome site is so extremely informative to those considering the brand, and i so regret not having patronized them!

i wasn't sure about getting the rounded vent myself, but am very glad i did. it softens up the lines in my kitchen and also mirrors the handles on my miele appliances. good choice!

I ordered a CH9742SQB Kobe from Venting Direct late in the day April 6th. It shipped April 7th via Pen Freight Union City Ca. Lift gate service in Austin Texas called to schedule deliver for April 15th afternoon delivery which arrived a little after 2pm . Zero problems no damage and everyone was very nice. Removed my old hood installed the new one April 19th deep fried a chicken in ¾ gallon used vegetable oil hood worked well using only speed 3. Hood came out being 30 inches above stove top which is nose tip height to me have butted my forehead numerous times . I am slow learner I hope I finally catch on soon . My wife has suggested gluing tennis balls around the perimeter . I already got enough money in this hood cant afford the tennis balls .

Recently began looking at Kobe hoods (a 30" under-counter range hood, maybe the CH9730SQB) on advice from a kind soul here at GW. Apparently they aren't sold in Oregon -- BASCO hasn't heard of it; even the Arcadia CA company website omits Oregon from its territory (?!). [This is so unfair, especially now that the Ducks are ranked #1; I'm just saying...]

I'm leery of buying something like this without actually seeing and hearing one.

Then I found this thread, which seems focused on delivery and online sources. Can someone who actually received one of these Kobe hoods comment about actually using it in practice -- noise, problems or breakdowns, issues, etc.? Is this a version of Vent-a-hood's design, or something different? At this point, I'm less concerned where to order one (the two online sources mentioned here are linked from the koberangehoods.com website), and more interested in how well it works.

Thanks in advance!