bossfan61
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Has anyone bought a toilet online? If so, what are the best online options?
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Buy Toilets Online?
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Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
THe typical toilet is packaged for shipment via common carrier on a pallet, strapped down with multiple other pieces and handled by a forklift...something that won't happen with a one off. As a result, it will get beat around. Terry used to sell online, but now only sells with pickup (or if he's installing it, he delivers it). He found that a very significant quantity of them arrived broken, and quickly stopped that practice. Some places repackage them to make them more robust, but it's still a problem. Porcelain is strong, but it is very brittle...doesn't take kindly to being run down a sorting belt into a hamper, or bounced around a truck by someone. OFten, by calling around to multiple sellers, you can come close or even better the price of the on-line places, and then you can open it up before you take it home to make sure it's fine. Many more places than show up on Toto's website either carry or can get you a toilet, and this is often true from multiple brands.
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If you can expect a driver to drop a 100 pound plus package off the end of the truck and carry it in a huge clumsy box to your door without dropping it again, good luck.
A more sure bet would be to buy it locally.
It's not something light and unbreakable like some things you get in the mail. Even a little drop creates damage.
I sell in an area that allows me to hand deliver. I'm real picky about that.
I used to ship and allow truck drivers to touch my stuff. It was a lot of broken porcelain, and orders that needed to be shipped two or three times.
Runs with Bison
Member
I ordered my first Toto online recently. Local shop was former Toto showroom, now mostly has Koehler, so Toto deliveries were very slow...plus they neglected to call me for a week when tank came in even after I called to check, thereby fouling up my schedule, so I was a little miffed. Price had been good, but so was price at local dealer in prior state--both gave me contractor pricing without asking for it.
Anyway, after an online search I bought an older eco-Drake elongated CEFIONTECT for kid's bath (key reason being shorter seated height.) Price was excellent, slightly below local shop price. Delivery was the fastest I've had on a toilet, except for the one occasion when local shop had it on premises when I walked in. Packaging was also excellent. They wrapped the standard Toto boxes in plastic, then made foam fillers around them in oversized box. This is the same way a large custom built (commissioned) telescope was shipped to me--and I've used that same packing for long distance moves of the scope several times.
Terry's right though that if they drop it, even the best packaging is not likely to save it from damage. I had this problem with another telescope I shipped to Hawaii and back for the Venus transit. It was in original shipping box, well protected and well insured, but USPS put enough mass on top of it/and or dropped it far enough to bend a delicate part of the mechanism at a 90 degree angle, so I had to do some surgery on it in Hawaii to make it usable, then replace parts when I got home. Shipping was late on return leg so I got that for free...which more than paid for repair so I didn't have to file on insurance.
And the delivery people like to run off before you can even start to open the package to verify things are intact. (For some other packages they quietly deliver, then ring doorbell and dart to truck before you can even open the door! Had a whole pile of boxes fill the porch this way last week.)
Anyway, after an online search I bought an older eco-Drake elongated CEFIONTECT for kid's bath (key reason being shorter seated height.) Price was excellent, slightly below local shop price. Delivery was the fastest I've had on a toilet, except for the one occasion when local shop had it on premises when I walked in. Packaging was also excellent. They wrapped the standard Toto boxes in plastic, then made foam fillers around them in oversized box. This is the same way a large custom built (commissioned) telescope was shipped to me--and I've used that same packing for long distance moves of the scope several times.
Terry's right though that if they drop it, even the best packaging is not likely to save it from damage. I had this problem with another telescope I shipped to Hawaii and back for the Venus transit. It was in original shipping box, well protected and well insured, but USPS put enough mass on top of it/and or dropped it far enough to bend a delicate part of the mechanism at a 90 degree angle, so I had to do some surgery on it in Hawaii to make it usable, then replace parts when I got home. Shipping was late on return leg so I got that for free...which more than paid for repair so I didn't have to file on insurance.
And the delivery people like to run off before you can even start to open the package to verify things are intact. (For some other packages they quietly deliver, then ring doorbell and dart to truck before you can even open the door! Had a whole pile of boxes fill the porch this way last week.)
bossfan61
New Member
Thanks for the great feedback.
I guess I'm wondering what the real difference is between ordering online and having it shipped to my home vs. buying from a local store, where at some point a toilet was shipped and "delivered" from the manufacturer to the store for a retail sale. In each case, there's packaging, handling (or mis-handling), etc.
Either way, your points are well made and, especially if there are any problems, it's much easier to buy local.
I guess I'm wondering what the real difference is between ordering online and having it shipped to my home vs. buying from a local store, where at some point a toilet was shipped and "delivered" from the manufacturer to the store for a retail sale. In each case, there's packaging, handling (or mis-handling), etc.
Either way, your points are well made and, especially if there are any problems, it's much easier to buy local.
Runs with Bison
Member
The primary advantage of using local shops (other than supporting local economy) is that if there are problems/breakage etc. they will take care of it. They have more leverage to deal with shippers and manufacturers. So returns are less of a hassle. I won't cut a shop out to save a few dollars. But I will cut them out if they become a hassle and/or the price differential is large.
This return side came into play for me several years ago when one of my Toto tanks arrived with some twist in it. Wasn't obvious until I put the lid on and lid wobbled. I had trouble aligning the tank with bowl and wall so that things looked right before putting on the lid, but didn't see the twist until the lid didn't fit. Measurements then confirmed the tank was twisted and explained why it never looked aligned properly during fit up on bowl. Called Toto about it and the rep I spoke to didn't take much interest, didn't try to determine lot # or anything like that. Took the tank back to the plumbing supply store I ordered it through and showed them the wobble and twist. They ordered a new one and took the old one back, no problem. They even delivered when the new one arrived, which had not been part of prior arrangements.
I've never had to pay extra for freight for toilets from the plumbing supply houses. They've just added it to their regular loads from central distributors. This means delivery dates are approximate. That hasn't mattered in most cases until I had one run several weeks longer than expected, then the shop dropped the ball on calling me. I had called a few minutes after their shipment arrived and they said they would call me if it was on it, but didn't, so it sat there another week.
This return side came into play for me several years ago when one of my Toto tanks arrived with some twist in it. Wasn't obvious until I put the lid on and lid wobbled. I had trouble aligning the tank with bowl and wall so that things looked right before putting on the lid, but didn't see the twist until the lid didn't fit. Measurements then confirmed the tank was twisted and explained why it never looked aligned properly during fit up on bowl. Called Toto about it and the rep I spoke to didn't take much interest, didn't try to determine lot # or anything like that. Took the tank back to the plumbing supply store I ordered it through and showed them the wobble and twist. They ordered a new one and took the old one back, no problem. They even delivered when the new one arrived, which had not been part of prior arrangements.
I've never had to pay extra for freight for toilets from the plumbing supply houses. They've just added it to their regular loads from central distributors. This means delivery dates are approximate. That hasn't mattered in most cases until I had one run several weeks longer than expected, then the shop dropped the ball on calling me. I had called a few minutes after their shipment arrived and they said they would call me if it was on it, but didn't, so it sat there another week.
hj
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Kohler shipped me THREE toilets before I got one that was not broken.
I think a lot of it also is where you are buying from and LUCK.
There is a major 'online' retailer that is somewhat near me (and has a brickfront too), so I had the best of both worlds in that I got the online price and had the local advantage. But as with all online shopping, check reviews. In this case, is there a lot of reports of breakage, and how did the business handle those cases? How many toilets are you buying? Some places ship differently based on qty, ie they will ship 1 via the box-in-box w/ foam between boxes, but when the qty is more they ship them on a pallet without the added packaging.
In either case, sometimes it depends on the shipper. I work for a company that ships a lot of stuff both small package carriers and common carrier, and some companies are more notorious for damaging those shipments than others; or in some cases, it is certain hubs of certain carriers that are this way, but not the company overall.
There is a major 'online' retailer that is somewhat near me (and has a brickfront too), so I had the best of both worlds in that I got the online price and had the local advantage. But as with all online shopping, check reviews. In this case, is there a lot of reports of breakage, and how did the business handle those cases? How many toilets are you buying? Some places ship differently based on qty, ie they will ship 1 via the box-in-box w/ foam between boxes, but when the qty is more they ship them on a pallet without the added packaging.
In either case, sometimes it depends on the shipper. I work for a company that ships a lot of stuff both small package carriers and common carrier, and some companies are more notorious for damaging those shipments than others; or in some cases, it is certain hubs of certain carriers that are this way, but not the company overall.
3 out of 4 of mine arrived undamaged. The UPS driver DROPPED it at my front door with the arrow that said THIS SIDE UP, pointing horizontal. When I went to turn it upright it sounded like it was full of broken dishes that were swept up at then last Greek wedding I attended.
I didn't even open the box. I had ordered that one from the big mail order company starting with "A" with free 2-day prime shipping. I called them at 8 PM that night and they sent me a new replacement toilet via FedEx overnight that arrived at 10AM the next day, only 14 hours after calling them.
I tried many times to buy them locally but the local suppliers would not budge ion price and wanted over twice as much compared to online.
Runs with Bison
Member
I tried many times to buy them locally but the local suppliers would not budge ion price and wanted over twice as much compared to online.
Local markets can vary greatly in that regard. I've been fortunate on pricing with these in the past, but in some smaller towns I lived in I would have expected an experience more like yours. Their volume and selection would likely not have allowed them to give me a reasonable price even if they wanted to. I don't expect any shop to take a loss just to keep my business.
With some things it is not necessarily that the local shops are trying to gouge, they simply might not be able to get the item to them at a reasonable cost. I came across this many years ago ordering high performance, high speed tires for a sports car. I tried to use a local shop that had done good work for me. I knew he would have to special order, but wanted to give him the business without him losing money. He asked what I could get them for online and when I told him he said that he couldn't get near the price without taking a loss, but that if I ordered them he would be happy to mount and balance them. We did business like that for years on various vehicles until I moved.
JustinCO
New Member
The one time I tried it, it came broken. It was packaged well for the most part, but the front lip at the base wasn't and of course that's where it broke. I think Ace Ventura must have delivered it. I didn't notice at the time of delivery as I wasn't home at the time, just slid it into the garage, and by the time I unpackaged it for use, it was past the return or adjustment period. In this area, there's a lot to be said about having a local source to deal with problems.
If you do buy online, for whatever reason, inspect your packages and contents immediately, even if you're not going to install/use/whatever you are doing with the product within a day or so. This is for anything that is shipped to you and not just in this case. It is best if the driver is still there, but if they do a drop and run, inspect it as soon as you possibly can; and this includes opening the box and checking the contents. As we tell our customers, we only have so much time to file a claim, and we are not going to take the loss because the customer did not do their due diligence. (We will work with the customer on making it right, but we won't take it up the exit for something that is their fault)
"I came across this many years ago ordering high performance, high speed tires for a sports car. "
? Seriously? You're comparing rubber tires that bounce to heavy porcelain bowls that if dropped from a few inches shatter?
? Seriously? You're comparing rubber tires that bounce to heavy porcelain bowls that if dropped from a few inches shatter?
Jadnashua
Retired Defense Industry Engineer xxx
The point was...not all shops can or will negotiate pricing depending on their volume, and other factors, not whether it was a good idea to ship things.
Sometimes we install faucets that customers have on hand. There are so many out there, that's it's sometimes easier to have them pick it out.
There are a few brands I won't install though.
I don't make much on them, and sometimes the time to sell isn't worth my time. That part I get.
