Call Kurtis: Fix My Stove

A Tuolumne woman says she's been trying to get her propane stove fixed for months. After getting tired of waiting, she called Kurtis Ming.

Dorothy Wano doesn't necessarily need her gas stove to heat up her house right now. But she says she's been trying to get it fixed since last fall.

"Yes, I'm upset about it," says Dorothy.

She paid Splash Pool & Spa in Sonora $4,850 for the stove last October. The stove had a couple problems right away, so Splash came out to fix them.

"He took one of the pipes off so the pilot light stays on now, but the fan still runs and won't shut off," says Dorothy.

The stove goes on and off according to a thermostat. So when the fire goes out, the fan should follow. But Dorothy's fan keeps running, forcing her to turn it off and on manually.

She could leave the fan on, but is afraid it would burn out. Dorothy has called Splash, hoping someone will come back to fix it, but says her calls went unreturned.

"I'd feel fine if he'd just do something. Don't keep putting me off," says Dorothy.

We called Splash back in April, when we first met Dorothy. The owner told us he's told Dorothy he planned to remove the stove and send it to the manufacturer when it got warmer. And in June, both Splash and the manufacturer, Osburn agreed not just to fix it, but give her a whole new stove. It took two more months, but the new stove was installed this week, ahead of the cold season.

"It gets down in the 30s," says Dorothy, "Winter, you need a fire!"

Part of the hold up had to do with Osburn not making gas stoves anymore. They and Splash had to get the new stove from another manufacturer. If Dorothy has problems with this stove, it is covered under a new warranty.