First you might want to clarify if you're talking about Ontario, Canada, Ontario, California or somewhere else entirely. :) I'm in the midwest, not close to either, but I, too, had a local dealer stop carrying Bluestar due to service issues, about two years after we bought ours from them. I've read at least one other similar story here, as well.

I've read "it's so simple, anyone can fix it here" here more times than I count and, as an owner, I always roll my eyes. Sure, if YOU'RE an appliance repairman, or have one in the family, you can maybe do it yourself, but you still gotta get the parts from Prizer Painter. Which has, every single time we've needed some, been a HUGE hassle. Average delivery time for even the simplest item, like an ignitor -- and this is as recently as last year, for PAID parts, not Bluestar warranty repair -- is 6-12 weeks. Yep.

The shortest repair timeline I've had in my ownership has been three months from report to repair. Also, be aware that, simple or not, most appliance repairmen won't accept a call for a brand they don't know, and Bluestar is still very much a niche product. Finding service, even though we're just outside a major Midwest metro, has always been a challenge; every single time. Made even worse by the parts delivery timeline, which makes service people that worked on it once real hesitant to work on it again, since they don't get paid (by our extended warranty company) until the repair is complete, and when you're waiting three months for parts ... That's a long wait. I've also been told more than once that Bluestar charges for parts when you order them; not when they ship. So the company is not only unpaid for their time, but out the cost of the parts, too. I was also told, and I have no idea if this has changed since it's been a long while, by repair people in the Bluestar warranty period that the rates they paid were quite low; below industry standard, at least for my area, making in-warranty service even more difficult to find. (Again, this could have changed, just reporting my 2007-08 experience.)

My Bluestar RNB is now eight years old, but it's needed a LOT of service. Probably 20+ calls total. I'd say we average 2 a year now; a lot more in the early going. In fact, I just had to call for service again, because the spark module -- not the ignitor, the main electrical box that services multiple burners -- seems to have gone out, again. We replaced both boxes (one serves four burners, the other two), at least one multiple times, in the early going, but haven't had an issue with either of them since year two, until now. The other night I went to light a burner and nothing. No click, no spark, nada. And the same for the one behind it. Checked the wires, the connections, the breaker, made sure nothing was touching the drip tray, etc. No go, while the other burners and oven work fine, and these burners/ignitors, if swapped out with the working ones, work and spark normally.

I won't go into all our other woes (there have been a lot), but the long and short is, when the Bluestar works, it's pretty great, at least the range top (I'm less enthusiastic about the oven overall, but it's not bad, per se), but getting service for it, and it's needed it often, has always, every single time, been a real pain in the patooty, to put it mildly.

Sorry, Ontario Canada. Ottawa to be specific. There is another distributor here that also sells in Toronto as well and there are a number within the Toronto area but I'm concerned about the servicing issue. A large part of the reason I want the Bluestar is because of the lack of electronics and parts that can break down. I've got a real hate on for the 'throw away' economy currently and I'd like something I can fix myself.

Was Bluestar simply out of the part you need or did they just take that long to fulfill it? What other issues have you had if you don't mind me asking.

I'm curious what the expected life is of most of the stoves out there, 8 years seems like a good haul for most electronic appliances but not what I would expect from something that is supposed to be built well.

What calls are you making regularly these days?

Thanks

Andy

I'll post links to some older threads I've already commented in, so I don't rehash here. In short, I experienced just about every Bluestar problem that was out there at the time. These days, most of the issues have been ignitor related, which wouldn't be such a big deal -- they are easy to change yourself, even though I'm not handy -- if 1) I could easily get the needed replacement parts and 2) the ignitors didn't rust to the burners because Bluestar doesn't use stainless screws or 3) the wires melt making the ignitor impossible to remove. The did change the ignitor design last year to a solid ceramic tube, instead of a hollow one, which has seemed to help, a lot. Knock wood, I haven't had a cracked ignitor in about a year ... Which doesn't matter if the ignitor module itself isn't working to make them spark.

If you do end up with a Bluestar I highly, HIGHLY recommend the longest extended warranty you can get. My overall take is, if you don't need service, you'll probably be fine. If you do, it's a PITA.

Some thread links (with various Bluestar service experiences, good and bad; mine and others) ...

Bluestar Range Top vs American Range

Consumer Reports Not High On Bluestar

Bluestar Quality Issues

Bluestar Door Issue

Bluestar Service

Bluestar Oven Door - Glass Panel?

Bluestar Platinum Owners - How Is Your Range?

... There are probably many more, but those are the ones I could find quickly, and might give you a decent overview. This forum is very Bluestar-centric -- it's where I learned about it -- so you're likely to find a lot more as well.

I have found their service responsive. I'm in the Detroit area. I bought my RNB and electric wall oven from a family owned appliance store about an hour away. The RNB had no rea issues. One of the cast iron bowl/trays wobbled a little. I emailed BS a video and the sent me a new set via UPS. The electric wall oven rook 5 months from order to delivery. Then the touch screen display wasn't working right. They had new control panels made. So that took 4-5 weeks. Shipped it to my store with instructions for relaxing mine. John at BS ket me informed via email and was responsive to my emails every time. The panels got to my dealer last Friday. Today (Tuesday), my dealer called to see if I was available and came out and replaced the panel. So far it's working perfectly. Also, the manual said to initially wash all the racks in the dishwasher. So I did. They no longer glide. I asked john at BS about that too. He UPSd me a new rack which will be delivered tomorrow. I have had no trouble with service from BS or my dealer. So far.

I'm glad there was responsive service but the fact that you had three issues upon arrival is more then a little ridiculous to me. You don't pay 4k+ for a product and have to have things fixed on it instantly. I really, really want to like the Bluestar but how can something that expensive have that many issues coming out of the factory? Do all the upper end niche appliances have these issues coming out of the factory?

I'm certainly happy that Debbi's issue seems to be resolved, and her oven is absolutely beautiful from the pics I've seen but I don't know if I could be as sanguine as she is that it took a month, after previous shipping delays, to repair something so expensive that didn't work from day one. Of course, I believe Bluestar's first-gen wall ovens were all recalled, I think due to fire hazard (???), so a non-working display is better than that.

Andy, honestly, if you're gonna be upset if you have to deal with out-of-the-box issues I say sincerely that Bluestar might not be the way to go for you. I've seen similar service and build issues crop up again and again here with Capital, too. Which is a real shame since I often thought if we replaced our Bluestar we might look that way, but I think I'm now convinced, no matter how tempting the specs, to go mainstream next time out, and stick with the tried, true and service focus of Wolf.

Read through the threads and you will see lots of little (or not so little) issues, even from those who, like Debbi, love their Bluestar's. Since I've had the issues with mine I have, I've noticed that those who seem to love theirs most are those that don't mind self service and enjoy tinkering. Could just be my misperception, given all the hassles I've had, but that's my general take. I know I certainly didn't expect to have to be a handyman to get/keep my $5k range working.

I think we hear more about BAD experiences than the GOOD ones on these boards. I have a BS RCS 30". I went with Bluestar for the open burners and the ease of replacing parts. There are so few parts to break on these units that most people could easily replace them. I've had one valve replaced due to a small gas leak on my range. Service here in CA is not a problem. BS was responsive and my local service dealer was also. My door is NOT an issue nor anything else. I take the online reviews with a grain of salt, Consumers Reports gave my FIAT a bad review too, and 1.5 years later no issues at all. My experience is the opposite with both my car and my range, not saying don't do the research but not all reviews are created equal. People that are buying Wolf and Viking are looking for something different than a person looking at Bluestar, American Range, Capital Culinarian etc. I looked at all of them before making my decision. This is a stove that I liken to a tool, it needs to be maintained/cleaned on a daily basis if being used. If and when it needs to be worked on it is quite easy for anyone with a little mechanical sense about them to access all of the working components. I think the BS ranges are NOT for the faint of heart in the general market place of ranges. The Bluestar brand is not "mainstream". If mainstream is what your looking for the BS is probably not the range for you.....