The Tub Story - Part 1

I've been planning to post this ever since I started this blog. Warning: it's long. Yes, even longer than my normal ranting.

As you read through this, you'll get the point. First, below is a letter we sent to two businesses (a retailer and a manufacturer) regarding a bathtub we bought. Next, I'll post the responses I received from both businesses.

I've edited a just a few small details for the sake of privacy. Otherwise, the following is what both companies received from me.


______________________

We are writing to you regarding our ongoing issues with the purchase of a MAAX jetted tub through our local Home Depot store. We have waited for final completion of the tub installation (and a sufficient “testing period”) prior to summarizing this experience, its costs, and the difficulties we have faced in order to ensure that there are likely to be no further problems.

We feel that Home Depot has made some effort to compensate us for the extremely negative experience we have endured, but they appear unwilling to take further steps. We are unsure if any of the compensation to date has been shared by MAAX.

Quite simply, we require additional compensation (whether from MAAX or Home Depot is not our concern) due to the degree of inconvenience, sacrifice, and unnecessary cost we have endured.

The experience:

- First tub arrived with damage to a jet – noticed upon initial fill and test.

- Contacted MAAX by telephone. Very gruff and uncooperative representative agreed to send a plumber to look at it. Did not provide any information about how long this should take, normal process, etc. without prompting from us.

- Waited over a week for plumber to make arrangements for inspection/repair, but received no phone call.

- Contacted MAAX by phone again to see what was wrong. Rep offered to contact plumber again.

- Shortly after, plumber called and indicated that it would be a couple of weeks before he would be in our area and able to come to the house. It struck us as extremely poor customer service that the "local" service representative did not even live or work in the region.

- Plumber finally came to the house, saw the damage and agreed that it should be covered by warranty. But, he did not have the necessary parts for the repair with him.

- Plumber called a few days later to say that he had received the parts, but did not get a tool he needed.

- Plumber made his own tool to replace the one that didn’t arrive, and returned about a week later to repair the jet. Made the repair, but in the process noticed that there were miniscule cracks throughout the bottom of the tub that neither he nor we had noticed before. We suspect that this was because dust had accumulated in the cracks, allowing us to see them. Plumber’s opinion was that the cracks were due to damage at the factory or in transit to us.

- Unsatisfied with the service or quality of product provided by MAAX, we contacted Home Depot. They sent the local Kitchen and Bath department manager, about a week later, to inspect the tub. Immediately upon viewing it, he agreed that it should be replaced, verifying the plumber’s belief that the damage was caused by MAAX, shippers, or Home Depot staff.

- Home Depot re-ordered the tub from MAAX.

- Approximately a month later, the new tub arrived.

- Upon delivery to our home, we opened the cardboard packaging and found that one corner of the tub had been badly damaged.

- We refused delivery of the replacement tub.

- Delivery driver indicated that he would have Home Depot management contact us. After several days of no contact, we phoned them and finally made arrangements to re-order the tub yet again.

- Approximately one month later, a new replacement tub arrived. Upon unpacking, it appeared to be in good condition. However, we soon saw that the motor/pump was located on the incorrect side. We returned this tub and a replacement was ordered.

- Approximately a month later, another replacement tub arrived. We inspected this in the driveway, prior to the delivery drivers even fully removing the tub from the vehicle. It also had the motor/pump on the wrong side. We returned this tub.

- Finally, approximately one month later, a tub arrived and we inspected it at the Home Depot store, prior to delivery. It was without damage and with the correct configuration.

Because Home Depot dealt with MAAX on our behalf, we don’t know whose fault the various mistakes were. However, we know that:

- the MAAX service person is very inconveniently located a days' drive away and unable to deal with problems in a timely matter.

- re-ordering the same product multiple times resulted in the incorrect product delivered twice.

- two tubs arrived in damaged condition

- proactive communications from both MAAX and Home Depot were very poor

The entire experience took over 7 months from ordering of the tub to arrival of a final, working product.

We feel that we have been extremely patient during the process, but believe that we are entitled to significant compensation. Home Depot has offered a refund of $300 off our original price quote. This represents a price of $1,125 plus taxes, equivalent to a discount of 21% off our quoted price. We feel that this is highly insufficient.

Please note that, in addition to all the above problems with the tub itself, the $300 credit has not appeared on our Account Statement.

Our original price was based on a 10% discount promotion. Had we made the purchase mid-way through the process of waiting for the tub, we actually could have taken advantage of a further 10% discount offer available to all purchasers. This makes our “extra” discount intended to compensate us for the problems just $141.60 or 10%. This is, frankly, a pittance and hardly more than a gesture.

Please advise how you propose to compensate us further for the following:

- Extra tile, plumbing materials, and other supplies purchased when waiting for the initial tub under the assumption that any extra could be returned to the suppliers for refunds. Due to the extremely long timeframe, the maximum return dates for these have long passed.

- Various car trips to Home Depot to deal with the problems in person.

- Various days home from work to be available to meet service and delivery people.

- Untold hours of extra time for phone calls, store visits, receiving and inspecting product, re-installation of the final tub, etc.

- Having a completely unusable bathroom for many months.

- Having a completely unusable garage (as it was storing the various other supplies for the bathroom project) for many months.

We estimate that the out-of-pocket expenses for the first two of the above (extra supplies, materials, gas, etc.) is at least $250. Our time for the next two of the above (missing work and actual time invested) is worth significantly more than this. The inconvenience for the final two points above is of immeasurable value, but significant – for example, we avoided gatherings with friends, having guests, etc. for months due to a lack of sufficient bathroom and storage facilities.

We have also spoken with friends who experienced very similar problems with a MAAX tub. After discussing their issues and compensation (full reimbursement), we are very secure in believing that the complaints outlined in this letter are not unreasonable.

Please contact us as soon as possible to discuss what options are available for appropriate compensation. Ideally, we believe that full reimbursement for the cost of the tub is in order and hope that the events surrounding our purchase experience are far from ordinary for Home Depot and MAAX customers.