Cracked Toto Promenade tank

Users who are viewing this thread

jefferiah

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Silver Spring, MD
I ordered a Toto Promenade online from the Faucet Stop. Inspected it upon arrival and didn't notice any cracks inside the tank. Installed it last night and once filled and flushing, the tank was leaking. I removed the tank 3 times to check the bolts, tighten the nuts, sand the porcelain, all to no success. Decided to sleep on it and continue troubleshooting today. This morning the problem was obvious to me: a 3-4 inch crack inside the tank. When the water level was low (below the crack), no leak. When the water level was high (above the crack), leak. I held dry toilet paper along the back of the tank and confirmed that the leak is coming from the crack spot.

Couple questions for more seasoned folks out there:

1. Based on this description and the attached pics, do you agree with my assessment?

2. Any experience dealing with the Faucet Stop? I called customer service, sent him the pics, and an unfriendly guy just said "I'll talk to the manager and get back to you." In reviewing their return policy (and reviews) more closely this morning, it looks like their policy is no returns on installed items. Anyone have luck getting around this? If not, how about contacting Toto directly for a warranty replacement.

3. Check out the semi circle cut out from the top of the tank and the vertical line of goo running from that spot to the bottom of the tank, on the left of the crack. In looking around online at photos of new toto promenades, I don't see that and I'm thinking this is a refurbished tank that was previously damaged and repaired. The vertical line looks like some sort of glue or caulking. What do you folks think?

4. Anything else I'm missing that might be helpful to me?

thanks all, and thanks Terry Love for these awesome forums and information.

Jeff

toto crack 4.jpg
 

Attachments

  • toto crack 1.jpg
    toto crack 1.jpg
    35.8 KB · Views: 534
  • tota crack 2.jpg
    tota crack 2.jpg
    27.5 KB · Views: 791
  • toto crack 3.jpg
    toto crack 3.jpg
    27.4 KB · Views: 564
Last edited:

WJcandee

Wise One
Messages
3,182
Reaction score
170
Points
63
Location
New York, NY
The problem with ordering online is that only about 80 percent of the stuff makes it to your door unscathed, based on Terry's experience. That's why, if you do order online, you need to order from a vendor with an excellent return policy and excellent customer service. I know a couple that have that reputation and the company you mentioned isn't one that I, at least, am aware has that reputation. I would let them know that the tank was damaged in shipment and you want a replacement. Period. Or you are stopping payment on your credit card. Nobody should be unfriendly to a customer who calls with a complaint that they can reliably expect to hear on one out of 5 orders.

The semicircle is for the wires to install the auto-flush mechanism on a newer Toto washlet. All the newer Toto tanks have it.

That vertical line, however, does seem strange to me. It does look like a repair of a casting defect. It looks more like something I would expect to see from AS than from Toto, so you may have a point, given Toto's stellar quality reputation. That, I might call Toto about. The damaged-in-shipping issue likely isn't Toto's fault.

Your tank also could have cracked from the shock of the cold water being added, which does happen sometimes, albeit less often than it being cracked when shipped by an internet seller.

I will just say that your participation in the forum is welcome. Don't let it get you down when a bunch of other posters tell you what a mistake it was to order online. Four out of five times it works out okay. But with those odds, and the fact that local tradespeople tend to have established relationships with local suppliers who give back to the community by sponsoring the local kids' softball team or whatever, you can understand why there is a strong bias on this forum towards buying local. (And in most cases, you can get a decent price on Toto locally, but only if you call around to a lot of places, because many will indeed want a higher markup than others.)

By the way, I suspect that in another year or so, there will be much less of a gap between online and local as far as price goes, as the online merchants may adjust their prices upwards a bit to compensate for the cost of all the damaged porcelain they have to eat, as the carriers either raise shipping rates or disclaim liability for damaged porcelain, and as more local merchants feel the competition and make the Toto product available at a price closer to Terry's fair prices.
 
Last edited:

jefferiah

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Silver Spring, MD
Thanks for the reply and info. I talked to the Faucet Shop and they said that because I could not confirm that the crack was there on arrival and because I installed the toilet, it's now a manufacturer issue. They have contacted Toto and said they'd get back to me in hopefully 24-48 hours. Would have preferred that they immediately sent out a replacement and deal with Toto themselves but guess that's not in the cards for me. In the meantime, I guess we'll live with one toilet and cross our fingers this is resolved favorably and quickly. If not, I'll be contacting Toto myself soon.
 

WJcandee

Wise One
Messages
3,182
Reaction score
170
Points
63
Location
New York, NY
It leaked from that crack the minute you put it in, and nothing happened while you were putting it in to cause a crack. That means it arrived broken, regardless of what they are trying to convince you of. It's called a "latent defect". It was there, you couldn't see it until after the water ran through it after you installed it. That's not your problem. You are the consumer. Don't put up with their crap. You are not going to pay for a new tank. Period. If you don't get a good resolution from them, I'm telling you that you should tell them that your very next call is to stop payment on the credit card, so they have one last chance to make it right before you do that. They sent you a broken product. They are sending lots of people broken products, so they are trying to convince people that the problem is the customer's. It isn't. It's the Faucet Drop's problem.
 
Last edited:

jefferiah

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Silver Spring, MD
Success. After 3 calls to the Faucet Stop in less than 24 hours and some real persistence on my part, they are doing right by me and shipping out a new tank today for delivery tomorrow. Not without a fair bit of haggling and back forth, but at least they're doing the thing. I'll update after inspection and install. Thanks for the input wjcandee.
 

WJcandee

Wise One
Messages
3,182
Reaction score
170
Points
63
Location
New York, NY
Great!!! Squeaky wheel...greased. That's the way to do it.

And it sounds like you are being a "good winner". I am all for that. Even if they gave you a hard time at first, if you get what you want from whomever you were finally referred to, I am all in favor of taking the position that all is (more or less) forgiven. True, less-persistent folks won't be made whole, but let them be the ones to crap all over these guys in online reviews.

PS I wouldn't suggest being so demanding if I didn't really think that you were wronged here. You can't find the defect until you unbox the thing. You in particular couldn't SEE the defect until some water had run through it and widened it so it was visible. It wasn't in a place that the tank typically cracks from, say, overtightening, so under those circumstances it is fair firmly to presume that this was shipping damage, either on the way to you or on the way from the manufacturer to the Faucet Shop. Moreover, I will be interested to see if the replacement tank has that odd line of schmutz on it; I'm guessing that it won't.

Looking forward to seeing how it works out!
 

jefferiah

New Member
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Silver Spring, MD
I'm happy to report that my family and I are now pooping in crack-free Toto glory. The old cracked tank is packaged and awaiting UPS pick-up. Thanks for the tips and support.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks