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Thread: customer took 2 months to call about defect

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    Default customer took 2 months to call about defect

    I installed a $500 toilet for a customer 2 months ago. I have a clause in my contract which states all defects to be reported in 5 days.

    She says their is a hairline crack which covers a large part of the toilet bowl.....i am wondering if the toilet company will give me a free replacement....i called the rep and the salesman i bought it from and am waiting for a response.

    is this a grey area? who should pay for it if the toilet company wont reimburse me?

    i dont know what the homeowner could have done to a toilet to crack it, but you never know..thats why i have the 5 day rule...to cover my ass

    i may only cover 1/2 the cost of the unit if its not warrantied.....or ask the builder to pick up 1/3 or 1/2

    if it was a cheap $100 toilet id just replace it and eat it if i had to...but $500 is too much. thats may be all the profit(which i guess wouldnt kill me)

    what to do?

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    If you have a signed contract that states all defects are to be reported within 5 days, then I think you would be covered in not replacing the toilet. But, is there a warranty with the toilet that would still be in effect? Is this a customer that you have done work for in the past and would expect to do work for in the future? That could be a factor in how you handle the situation. If you want the repeat business, it may be better to just replace the toilet and have a happy customer. Then they will have good things to say about you to others. If you don't replace it and a friend of theirs needs a plumber they will say not to call you because of so and so, and you won't be able to defend yourself, even though you know you are in the right. Am I making sense or just rambling on? Hope some of this helps.

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    2 months is too long to wait to report a problem and expect you to fix it for free. If it covers an area as big as she says it does, then it should have been noticeable early.

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    If I bought a $500 toilet from a plumber and noticed a hairline crack 2 months later, I would be very upset if the plumber and the manufacturer didn't replace it.

    Unless there is evidence of abuse, the defect must have existed when you installed the toilet. You apparently didn't notice the crack and you were closer to the bowl than they would be expected to be. If the defect was hidden from you, it was likely hidden from the client. Is there anything to indicate that they saw the problem immediately and simply waited 2 months?

    If the defect was in fact not obvious, then many states would protect the consumer despite your five day limit. I don't know about Wisconsin.

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    spend 1 1/2 hours picking up a new toilet and driving to this guys house.

    when i get there i cant see anything...we got 2 flashlights, i cleaned the inside of the bowl with a rag and cleaner, scraped the area with my fingernails

    all i could see were mineral deposits running down all over the inside of the bowl from the holes under the rim...he admitted that it must be what he saw...he said the 'crack' was wavy...that was the final clue...china cracks in straight lines, not wavy

    i was irritated, but i held it together....he barely said sorry....now i have to setup a pickup of the old unused toilet...probably 2 hours spent total

    i called the builder and she apologized more than the homeowner did...i told her she was a good customer and i wasnt going to complain to her about it....she said thats why you get all my work.

    I would have liked to charge the customer for wasting my time. should i have?

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    That has to be ridiculously frustrating.
    However, since you already set out to replace the toilet on your own time I don't think charging the customer for anything is the right call, unless the builder were to pay you for the time.
    Just sounds like one of those things that fall under "the cost of doing business".

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    That really must have sucked. I think doing nothing is the right call - not so much because of the homeowner, but because of the relationship with the builder.

    I have similar things happen to me quite often in my business. I ask a lot of questions over the phone before I agree to come out. I usually tell them, I'd love to help you solve this problem over the phone so I can save you the service call fee. That does two things. It gets them motivated to listen to my suggestions and try a few things on their own to eliminate the obvious stuff, and it also prepares them for the fact that I will have to charge if I come out. I don't think this could work as often in your line of work, but I thought I'd share that approach in case it could work for someone else. I also end up doing tons of stuff for free if it is even remotely my fault or my products fault.
    Steve B

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    I'd send an invoice an see what happens since there wasn't a crack. Just my opinion. Your time is money too.

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    if it were a direct homeowner job i could and should have handled it like Steve B recommends...ill definately keep that in mind next time

    seeing its a builder job AND my Biggest Builder I had to handle it the way i did...Im still waiting for the final payment from this job(which should be coming this next week)...This builder is probably worth $50,000+ a year in business......never any question about my prices...very good profit....I ALWAYS jump on any issue she has...

    if this homeowner calls with another problem you can bet i wont be so quick to respond...they will wait until im in the area

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    One thing to keep in mind next time. It sounds like you straight away took the customers word that there was a problem, and got straight onto suppliers and such to organize a new replacement one. Maybe next time you could take the time and check the problem beforehand. I know it is nice to be able to do everything in one trip, but by doing it the way you have, you may have a good result with your builder client. However you may lose some credibility with your suppliers, and they may not be so likely to organize replacement items in similar circumstances in the future.
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