WhatStove?

Review of Franco Belge Monte Carlo

More cons than pros

Matt 11 years ago

The stove is pleasant to look at to use and has good heat output....

Major design flaws which the company is not interested in solving....as follows

Air gaps in the door unit...had to fill with paste

Flimsy clips for holding glass in position

Air regulators do not work....had to leave in the full moon position permanently and use stove door open and room windows to start fire....very poor designed air shaft mechanism which will not give you positions that you think you have.

Stove legs slide on granite base....used rubber pads to stop slide..

Do not shake ash pan as you will get ash drift blocking your air vents at the bottom back of stove...

Use only turf briquettes which are twice as dry as dry timber 10 %

Had to screw down flue to top plate of stove to get permanent fix...

Now THE FUN BIT

this stove has a 5 year guarantee for all parts outside the inner fire chamber......the company does not honour its guarantees...it knows that the air vent system does not function as presented by them...they simply want to ignore the issue and have left it to me to resolve despite my guarantee......there are serious fire safety issue here which the company and its agents chose to ignore...

For any of you living in ireland or the UK MY ADVICE IS NOT TO DEAL WITH THIS PRODUCT unless you are prepared to solve the many problems which this stove will present to you and that you are prepared to employ really knowledgeable people at your own expense to help you directly.....you are on your own....you will not have your guaranty honoured .....that simple......

Overall rating:

2 flames

Build Quality 3 flames (avg 3)
Quality of finish 5 flames (avg 5)
Value for money 3 flames (avg 3)
Ease of use 1 flames (avg 1)
Ease of lighting 4 flames (avg 4)
Firebox size 3 flames (avg 3)
How well does the airwash work 1 flames (avg 1)
Controllability 1 flames (avg 1)
Handle operation 1 flames (avg 1)
How likely are you to buy it again? 1 flames (avg 1)
What is your overall satisfaction? 2 flames (avg 2)