purchased a damaged water heater

[PLUMBER RICK]

i went to load a new 50 gallon rheem water heater into my truck yesterday. as i uncrated the heater to lift it into my box truck, i noticed that the heater was badly dented on the bottom. this is a newer flame guard heater so it's more than just an aesthetic issue. it's a safety issue.

here are some of the facts. this heater was purchased feb. 2005 and was delivered with several heaters for a stock order. this heater had been stored outside at the supply house so the box had shown some water damage. i store the heaters indoors at my shop. since this was a stock order i never noticed it until i went to load it oct. 2006.

here is the issue. the supply house is claiming that i should have brought it to their attention at the time of delivery.(feb.05)
at first they said that they couldn't take it back since they wouldn't get credited. i said i wasn't going to eat the cost. so they gave me the new heater. tonight i got a fax from the supply house and it shows a credit for the cost of the original heater. then a bill for the current cost of the new heater. the difference is $61.07.

i am not willing to pay for this. i've already eaten 1 plus hours on loading the heater, delivering it to the supply house, and getting the new heater.
i've been a regular customer of this supply house for 30 years.

i sure hope it was a book keeping error.

what would you do:confused:

rick.

[boytyperanma]

I dealt with the Rheem reps a bunch when I worked for home depot. They were the easiest reps to get credit from. They didn't care to inspect the water heaters they just asked me to save the serial number tags. As long as the tag was within the waranty they gave us credit. So someone could buy a 6 year heater take it back 5 years later(if it worked or not) and trade it for a drand new one.

I'd be quite unhappy with your supply house for jerking you around. It's no loss on their part they are just screwing you out of 60 bucks.

[ToUtahNow]

Rick,

If this is a supply house you work with a lot you need to talk to your salesman. If he won't take care of you find a supply house who will.

Mark

BTW: Stocking a water heater for almost two years is not a great idea if for no other reason than warranty hassles.

[toolaholic]

I usually buy a 42 bag pallet of concrete when i need some. I have a 9 cu. ft. mixer. brought back the pallet to get my $20 deposit. no slip no $20. 20 years of buss. with them . they've called 3 times trying to get us back.
salesman was fired. they lose hundreds of thousands of our buss. for $20.

I told the manager , "everytime I crossed over your threshold ,It was a gift,
you seem to have lost that fact" Don't let them off Rick!

[plumbdog10]

I don't know about the rest of the country, but in Southern California service in general has gone down hill over the last twenty years. At everything from resturants to plumbing supply houses you get the general feeling that the workers see it as them doing you a big favor by selling you something.

But plumbing suppliers have become the worse. I don't know who your supplier was but I know the following are my experience with all of them:

Sales Reps who are unavailable, don't return your calls, then when you do get ahold of them complain that you called your order in to late for delivery the next day.

Orders that are shipped wrong.

Orders that you were told were in stock, only to find out later that it will be on back order for 10+ days.

Damaged or wrong orders that you have to fight to get credit back on.


The only places you truely get decent service at are the small independent supply houses, which unfortunatly have priced that are too high to be used for large scale bid jobs.

[freddy]

Rick I would base it on if this is a supplier you use alot convient location. and if you left them, if it would hurt you in the long run. If you make them credit you back the 60 bucks. They can add it to the cost of your next few orders to get it back. either way you get short ended I think I would be happy with the new heater, just add to price of install next job.:) freddy

[ToUtahNow]

freddy,

When all else is gone sometimes all we have left is our principal. If your supply house does not respect your business it's worth a few dollars to let them know you won't take their disrespect.

Mark

[PIPES]

I understand your point on pricipal but, don't bite your nose off to despite your face. Play their game.
The supply houses have a multitude of bean counters just waiting to get you. Look at it this way, a water heater is a top 100 item meaning it has little room on margin. If the manager gives you the credit you are asking for sooner or later someone higher then them will catch it and start playing with your pricing over all because they see you as a problem customer. Pick a higher priced or less common item and see what they will do for you on that to make up for the hard feelings on the water heater. You could find your self making out on the whole deal.

[plumbdog10]

I understand your point on pricipal but, don't bite your nose off to despite your face. Play their game.
The supply houses have a multitude of bean counters just waiting to get you. Look at it this way, a water heater is a top 100 item meaning it has little room on margin. If the manager gives you the credit you are asking for sooner or later someone higher then them will catch it and start playing with your pricing over all because they see you as a problem customer. Pick a higher priced or less common item and see what they will do for you on that to make up for the hard feelings on the water heater. You could find your self making out on the whole deal.

Pipes,

I'm with Utah here.

[mark1515]

Also with Utah and Dog principal is the way to go. Load and Proud get your 60 back

[PLUMBER RICK]

thanks for all the replies.

will have to wait till monday as the branch manager was not in today.

i will forward these responses to the manager since it appears that most are on my side:)

thanks, rick.

[PLUMBER RICK]

spoke to the branch manager and after a couple of minutes, he will refund my money. he was surprised that the counter sales person didn't give me an invoice or have me sign anything.

on another note, he is refunding the overcharge on some unistrut clamps that i bought last week. i even questioned the counter person when i got the bill. the manager confirmed that the price was out of line and is correcting it. appears that the clamps were 100% higher than they should have been.

thanks for all the backing. never needed to show the manager this site.

rick.

[gobby]

I always inspect what I’m buying before the money exchanges hands. I suggest you do to next time.:rolleyes:

[PLUMBER RICK]

I always inspect what I’m buying before the money exchanges hands. I suggest you do to next time.:rolleyes:

when you buy multiple heaters for stock and the boxes appear to be ok, except for water damage from rain, i don't remove them form the boxes until i go to load them in my truck.

by the way, i did get full credit on the heater:)

thanks,

rick.