Defective Steel Tubs

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mradtke

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Hello,

I decided on a new steel tub:

1) Lowes: Got the tub home and found damage on the corner. The box warned about handling to prevent corner damage.

2) Lowes: I had an employee inspect the tub for corner damage and he pronounced it perfect. I got the tub home and found damage on acorner.

3) Home Depot: I inspected the tub corners myself in the store. I got the tub home and found forklift damage on the side.

4) Home Depot:: I completely uncrated the tub in the store and fully inspected it. It was still perfect when I got it home.

Please don't be as slow a learner as I was.

Mike
 

e-plumber

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ALWAYS Check For Damage or Factory Defects B-4 You Leave the Store

4) Home Depot:: I completely uncrated the tub in the store and fully inspected it. It was still perfect when I got it home.

>Some plumbing supply houses here require the purchaser, (the plumber) to sign the ticket in a certain place which clearly indicates that the product has been inspected and is in good condition at this time.<
 

hj

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You may have been lucky if you only had to go through four tubs to find a good one. The worst jobs are when the tub is on the second floor and it is easier to take it up in the box, and then you find that the tub is damaged.
 

mradtke

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re: e-plumber: Thanks for your note. That full inspection requirement may seem like a pain, but I now appreciate its value.

re: hcj: Thanks for pointing out that things could be worse. I just don't get the economics of a store mishandling stock.

Thanks again folks,
Mike
 

hj

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IT may happen before they even get them. But all it costs THEM is to put it back on the vendors truck and charge them for it. You are the one who has to carry it back and forth, and put up with the hassles of inspecting it. That is why those companies also have an inordinate amount of defective merchandise. You are the final inspector, and if you accept it and do not return it, they and the vendor are ahead of the game.
 

Breplum

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We had a Kohler Tea for Two cast iron jumbo style tub going to a second floor, which had only a tiny winding staircase (old Berkeley craftsman house). Since the roof was being redone, the GC had a crane come out to get it up to the 2nd floor. He didn't inspect it until after the roofing got started...you can guess the rest.
 

Deb

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Deb

I would really rethink the steel tub thing....look at how many were damaged.....think how easy that happens.....you have it home....but is it installed without damage yet? It only takes one tiny little thing to be dropped just right to take a big chunk out of that porcelain. Boy i hate those things. I never install them unless the customer insists. I make the customer inspect and sign an "inspection and no damage" form as soon as I am through installing. I cover the tub and hope for the best when I come back on trim. Over half of them have been chipped before I even set trim.
Deb
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Jimbo

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Regarding who "pays" for defective product: On something like a tub,it is generally NOT true that the retailer or wholesaler can return it to the vendor for credit. The vendors generally require shipping damage to be reported immediately. Any later damage is assumed to be caused by handling, and the seller usually eats that.

But the point is moot: A certain amount of damaged product is know to happen, and ultimately, whether it is the vendor or seller who eats the immediate cost, you can bet your bippy that ultimately that amount eventually ends up in the price to the end user. And a purchaser who does not discover the damage until he has invested time in delivery/installation is just adding insult to his injury. It makes a good case for paying up a little and buying from suppliers who inspect and stand behind their product, and do not have the high rate of in-store handling damage as do the box stores. (Anyone ever look at the Lasco products in a Home Depot? Most are broken as they sit on the shelf)
 

hj

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breplum

We had to take a Kohler Steeping Bath up a stairway just like that. As you know the "crate" is just a framework around the rim. We put it in the room and "uncrated" it on Friday afternoon. On Monday before we could go there to connect it, the boss called and said they did not like the color. Then we had to take this same tub down that stairway, but without even that minimal crating is was like carrying a greased pig, besides having to balance it so the walls and stairway were not damaged.
 
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