long story to a warranty repair gone bad

[AKRBT]

I installed a new ISE Badger 9 disposal a week and a half ago. A few days later it was dripping, but not from any connections. It was leaking through the motor and out a body assembly screw- a defective unit. ISE hooked me up with a local appliance repair company for warranty service. I had to wait a full week for the repair because they said they had to use a Badger 9 direct from ISE only, because I guess the factory tests all warranty replacement units in order to rule out factory defects in any future warranty claims.

The repair guy seemed to know what he was doing- he sure told me he did- told me he had 16 years experience installing these things.. well he forgot to punch out the DW plug. Idiot. He tested the disposal, but of course not with the DW going.

So tonight, one day later, I run the DW and it floods my counter and onto my floor by the force of the drain water through the air gap (mounted in the sink). Luckliy I was awake and got the DW turned off (I thought). I took of the DW line from the dispoal and found, as I expected, the plug still there.

But in doing so I bumped the DW closed, which started it again, and drain water started pouring out of the unattached air vent line.. in my haste to get the end of the air vent line over my bucket, I then knocked the P trap off the other sink's tailpiece and I actually broke the black plastic tailpiece that is attached to the disposal's slide-in gasket attachment, right at the gasket.

It is to late to get hold of the appliance repair people tonight. My opinion is their faulty install caused all of this.. what do you think?? Finally, there is my question..
I think my panic reaction was understandable, as the kitchen was flooding.. I think they are liable for fixing my undersink plumbing. And, if the disposal gasket got damaged it maybe would not be covered by any warranty, but again, I think they are ultimately responsible, and if the disposal needs replacing, they should eat it. And, now our kitchen sink AND new dishwasher are OUT OF COMMISSION until this is resolved.. which would also be the case eve if I had not damged the plumbing, because you cannot knock out the plug now while the disposal is installed (according to the instrucutions- again a warranty issue) . The sad thing is a plumber would charge at least $500 to fix all of this BS...

 

[NHmaster]

Too bad you didn't have video of the whole thing, it would have been a winner on You-Tube

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Cass]

They should but it will be interesting to see what happens...I would call ISE first and let them know what happened...then call the ISE rep that put it in...ISE may put pressure on them to make things right.

I hope you didn't punch out the plug...

 

[Southern Man]

Its perfectly understandable for a moment of panic and some ancillary damage. If you weren't around the damage could have been much more extensive with damaged cabinets, floor, downstairs ceilings...

ISE is likely under no obligation, but the plumber sure is. However your contract is with ISE not the plumber. You need to pressure ISE to do the right thing and reimburse you. They can collect back from their plumber. If they don't then you'll have to go after the plumber, and your lawyer will probably make more money that you'll ever see.

 

[hj]

Ise

There is absolutely no reason why you cannot knock the plug out while it installed, just be sure to remove it from the disposer afterwards. You should have just turned the dishwasher off and waited to call the installer. It will probably not be a factor in this case, but usually, once some one else "messes" with his installation, his warranty is void. But in any case, the extra damages were caused by your "checking out" his installation, and he had not control over that. If you had left it alone, none of this woud have happened.

 

[Southern Man]

If the owner had truly "left it alone" there would be ten to 15 gallons of hot soapy water inside the sink base cabinet, which would flood out below the cabinets and onto the floor, then possibly through the ceiling below. This could easily cause tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage.

BTW the last "pro" plumber that worked for me knocked out the disposer plug into the grinding mechanism and told me that the procedure was not to remove the part but to simply grind it up. I assumed that it was plastic and hence no big deal. It turned out to be steel, however, and it was several months before the awful noise was gone and the part was finally washed down the drain. Since my house sewer flows to a whole house grinder to pump up to the City sewer I can only guess what kind of damage the metal shavings may have done to that very expensive pump as well.