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I have had a several day ordeal with Price Pfister (made by Black and Decker)
I bought a faucet (specified in contract) that had a Pforever Warranty on Finish and Functionality. All the advertising in the store, all the signs and brochures, and all the writing on the box indicated a Forever, Lifetime warranty. UNTIL you open the box and find the written warranty – 20 year LIMITED warranty.
I called Price Pfister to ask about this – took me many hours to get a person on the line, and several more calls to get someone who would talk to me. Seems some of the older faucets (same style and part #) are on the store shelves nationwide. The newer units have the Lifetime warranty paperwork. The older ones have the 20 year warranty paperwork. The older ones do not have the lifetime warranty, and you MUST produce the written warranty if a replacement is necessary.
Now this doesn’t make a hill of beans to me, cause 20 years is still a LONG, LONG time, and most homeowners won’t have the necessary paperwork then anyway. BUT… my customer is a little upset with the company about the whole thing, and wants something done. She doesn’t blame me because the box was unopened when she saw it, and she knows I didn’t pull a switch.
Be warned – if you buy a Price Pfister faucet with a lifetime warranty, make absolutely sure BEFORE you leave the store that the box has a lifetime warranty certificate in it, and not a 20 year warranty certificate.
Anyway, I finally returned the unit to the store, and made them give me another one. We opened 4 boxes until we found one with the right paperwork. Everything else was identical.
Happy shopping….
James “Finally Got Some Rain” DuHamel
Replies
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Bait and switch! Unequivocally, you had the right to take back the pfaucet. The contract is formed when you buy the pfaucet in reliance on their warranty representation, and most merchants aren't delighted to have you rifle through the boxes anyway.
It sounds to me like you were reasonable in being pfooled -- I though the warranties were pforever, pferiod! (The one pfaucet I bought from them seems pfine.) It's good to have the warranty info because those ceramic valves things aren't cheap. Not that i have any idea where it is.
Also, you don't have to send in the warranty registration card. The deal is binding when you make the purchase. They just like to do their consumer research that way, plus getting you to pay for the stamp.
The trick in most of these "lifetime" warranties is that they are non-transferable.
*Sounds like pfraud to me ... did you buy it at Home of de Po'?
*My experience with the Price Pfister folks was positive. Called them about a faucet, installed eons ago and got parts in the mail practically overnight. Even got two new pop-ups that had been removed, for some unknown reason, by a tenant. All no charge, no paperwork, no purchase records, no hassle.
*Got a piece in the mail from them this week. I called 8Am one day last week, got through within 5 minutes (or less, not sure) and had a less than one minute conversation. Told the woman I had a pfinish pfailure on one of those white coated kitchen single lever thingees. NO QUESTIONS,no hassle, nothing. Didn't ask me how old, where I bought it, who I was, nothing! The only thing she did ask me was for an address to send the new piece to. Did I mention no hassel? Joe H
*I am delighted that most of you have had good dealings with them. I guess this particular instance was the one in a hundred times something gets a little sidetracked, or I get the idiot for a rep.Anyway, I do like their products. I have always had good luck with them, and the upper lines are really good faucets.And yes, I bought it at Home Depot. And yes, the plumbing department person did not like the fact that I was going through their boxes. However, the guy from the Millworks dept actually helped me go through the boxes. Anyway, the customer is happy. Personally, I didn't think much about it until she said she wanted the lifetime warranty IN WRITING. What we go through for our customers....Oh well, happy ending.James
*May I ask a question: How did your customer ASK for the replacement? There have been a couple of threads about impossible customers (CZ's most recently). I just wanted to bring up that point, because I suspect that she was being reasonable but firm, and that is why you were willing to go along with it.
*My customer asked very politely if there was any recourse to this, since the faucetr should have been a lifetime warranty deal. She knows that without something in writing, warranties are pretty much useless.I told her that there definitely was something that could be done, and I set out on my mission. First thing I wanted to know, from Price Pfister, is WHY the advertising and the actual warranty paperwork did not match. Would I run into this problem again? If so, what would be my recourse?Get to know some of these regulars here, and you'll find that we are the ones who go WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY out of our way to make dealing with our respective companies more pleasant, and a lot easier. This is why we get so many referals, and why we stay so busy. We go the extra mile because it is the right thing to do. Those OTHER guys (our competitors) are the ones who say "I ain't messing with that for FREE. It wasn't my fault. You want it done, it's gonna cost ya"James
*Actually, that is exactly the response I hoped to hear. I already got that impression some time ago, but I wanted others who lurk to read it also.We have a local muffler shop that will look at your muffler, and if something small is wrong (clamp missing, quick weld) they do it for free, regardless of whose brand it is, no questions asked. Guess who has more business than he can handle?When I built my house (technically a remodel), I had a wonderful experience with the lead carpenter. Each morning we talked for a few minutes about the day's work and decisions needed, and I left for my job. He willingly answered my questions about why he did things, and (once in a while) actually asked my opinion. Perhaps I should post a more detailed description of the process, to counteract Mr. Zito's post.
*James,Double check the warranty, and read all the fine print. I used to work at a HD in plumbing/kitchens/bath, and I know some warranties are/were written to exclude commercial use, i.e., a commercial installation equals ten year warranty instead of lifetime. USUALLY, this'll mean commercial = used in a facility other than a home, but it is possible to interpret 'commercial installation' to mean installed by a contractor. Check the interpretation used, and CYA.BTW, the plumbing guy didn't want you rifling through because he knew no one wants to buy an opened package, and he'd be stuck with 4-5 faucets to RTV. Me, I'd a helped you open 'em.
*Don't you know what a lifetime warranty means? It's warranted for a lifetime. When it breaks, its lifetime is over!Anyway, does the Price-Pfister have any caveats about water quality or anything? I have a problem with grit in my water (at least I did until I put a whole house filter on) and the grit chews up ceramic valves.