Michelle H
New Member
All,
I've been visiting this site for the past few months as we got ready to buy a toilet. Thanks to all of you who post such helpful info for lay people like me. I wanted to share this info to hopefully save someone else time or misinformation down the road.
I have confirmed with Toto USA on 2 separate occasions that the Drake II 1.0 GPF does come in colors now other than cotton white, including Bone and others. For whatever reason, there must be unclear info in the Toto customer service internal system b/c whoever you get will first say that the toilet components only come in cotton white. Then, if I ask about the Drake II 1.0 GPF spec sheet on Toto's website and the multiple colors listed, they will pause, then say, "Oh...yes, we do have the other colors." Per someone named Debbie at Toto, there was a May 24th memo about the other colors coming out, so I guess this is a relatively new development.
I ended up doing the calling to Toto because the sales rep at the local appliance store where I planned to make the toilet purchase had told me she had called her contact at Toto who had indicated there were no other colors other than cotton. However, after the follow up I did, the sales rep in my local store was able to get me a quote with the correct 1.0 GPF components listed: ST453U#03, C454CUFG#03, and SS114#03. I ordered and thought we were in good shape, but then...
When the components arrived, the invoice had been changed to ST454E#03, C454CUFG#03, and SS114#03. I asked what was up with this change, especially since I had not been contacted (I had my confirmed invoice showing the original 3 components). Allegedly, Toto had told the local store's buyer that while the bowl and lid came in bone, the tank only came in white. So the buyer made a decision without consulting the customer (smack that buyer!) to change the order to a bone 1.28 GPF. My local store seller told me she had contacted Toto and gotten the same story about only white tanks for the 1.0 GPF. I asked her how Toto could have quoted her the #03 parts if they didn't exist, but she didn't seem to have an answer.
At this point, while frustrated, I just want my toilets and want to get out of the toilet twilight zone, so I call Toto again yesterday. I spoke to Julio in tech support who started by telling me there was only cotton white available. I explained highlights of the above, and he looked again and found that all the Drake II 1.0 GPF components come in bone. He also confirmed there were 163 bone tanks in stock in GA and 35 in CA. I forwarded his email with these details to my local appliance store sales rep, so she is now getting the ST453U#03 tanks shipped here.
Ordering these toilets have sucked up a good deal of my time to get the order right. I would have never expected a toilet order with 3 components to be this "challenging"! Just sharing in case anyone else dares to get a non white Drake II 1.0 GPF.
On a side note, we are on a rainwater collection system and our well has gone spotty; many wells in our area have gone dry. This is why the 1.0 GPF specifically over a 1.28 GPF is important to us, even though I'm sure the 1.28 GPF does a good job. Water is our commodity right now, so any we can save is good.
I've been visiting this site for the past few months as we got ready to buy a toilet. Thanks to all of you who post such helpful info for lay people like me. I wanted to share this info to hopefully save someone else time or misinformation down the road.
I have confirmed with Toto USA on 2 separate occasions that the Drake II 1.0 GPF does come in colors now other than cotton white, including Bone and others. For whatever reason, there must be unclear info in the Toto customer service internal system b/c whoever you get will first say that the toilet components only come in cotton white. Then, if I ask about the Drake II 1.0 GPF spec sheet on Toto's website and the multiple colors listed, they will pause, then say, "Oh...yes, we do have the other colors." Per someone named Debbie at Toto, there was a May 24th memo about the other colors coming out, so I guess this is a relatively new development.
I ended up doing the calling to Toto because the sales rep at the local appliance store where I planned to make the toilet purchase had told me she had called her contact at Toto who had indicated there were no other colors other than cotton. However, after the follow up I did, the sales rep in my local store was able to get me a quote with the correct 1.0 GPF components listed: ST453U#03, C454CUFG#03, and SS114#03. I ordered and thought we were in good shape, but then...
When the components arrived, the invoice had been changed to ST454E#03, C454CUFG#03, and SS114#03. I asked what was up with this change, especially since I had not been contacted (I had my confirmed invoice showing the original 3 components). Allegedly, Toto had told the local store's buyer that while the bowl and lid came in bone, the tank only came in white. So the buyer made a decision without consulting the customer (smack that buyer!) to change the order to a bone 1.28 GPF. My local store seller told me she had contacted Toto and gotten the same story about only white tanks for the 1.0 GPF. I asked her how Toto could have quoted her the #03 parts if they didn't exist, but she didn't seem to have an answer.
At this point, while frustrated, I just want my toilets and want to get out of the toilet twilight zone, so I call Toto again yesterday. I spoke to Julio in tech support who started by telling me there was only cotton white available. I explained highlights of the above, and he looked again and found that all the Drake II 1.0 GPF components come in bone. He also confirmed there were 163 bone tanks in stock in GA and 35 in CA. I forwarded his email with these details to my local appliance store sales rep, so she is now getting the ST453U#03 tanks shipped here.
Ordering these toilets have sucked up a good deal of my time to get the order right. I would have never expected a toilet order with 3 components to be this "challenging"! Just sharing in case anyone else dares to get a non white Drake II 1.0 GPF.
On a side note, we are on a rainwater collection system and our well has gone spotty; many wells in our area have gone dry. This is why the 1.0 GPF specifically over a 1.28 GPF is important to us, even though I'm sure the 1.28 GPF does a good job. Water is our commodity right now, so any we can save is good.
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