Word of Warning to faucet buyers
To whom it may concern:
Please exercise extreme caution when buying "open box" high-end kitchen and bathroom faucets -- especially if the seller does not offer returns.
We purchased a Rohl faucet matching our existing kitchen faucet a few years ago (on here, of course,) purely to get a new sprayer, because that spray button had failed. We left the faucet base in the box and kept it on-hand, figuring we'd use it later when the existing base needed replacing. Fast forward to today, with the plumber in the kitchen as I type this, and we now find out that the base has bent water lines, and after he installed it he finds out that they also leak.
Let this be a lesson to anyone considering high-end "open box" faucet purchases.
18 comments
mudshark61369
·1 year ago@knifephoria,
You replied to @albertabrightalberta , and others writing:
"You sound like a bunch of apologists and it is telling that you don't address the issue of unscrupulous sellers knowingly reselling defective items, which is obviously what happened here. No matter -- the damage is done and the mistake on my part will never happen again".
We are not aplogizing for anything! We are just the messengers. All of the replies so far have offered you advice about buying things online that you do not know much or anything about, for future use. We can't do anything about eBay's return policies. We can only tell you how long they last and when they work.
You could have bought a faucet sprayer set directly from Rohl that had factory defects, but after a few years even their warranty was probably no longer in effect. If you and your plumber, could not tell by visual inspection that there was an issue with the faucet supply tubes, what makes you think the seller could? Their listing a damaged set could have been completely inadvertent not an attempt to scam anyone.
Before buying the whole set on ebay did you search for just the hand sprayer on ebay or elsewhere online? Most brand named plumbing fixture sellers/Mfr's, including Rohl sell them separately for most of their older older design sets, because they do tend to wear out or get clogged with sediment buildup after several years of use. While Rohl's sprayers are expensive, they may cost less than what you paid for the complete set.
For possible future need.
If a sprayer's thumb button sticks or will not depress, or the spray head is clogged, You can detach a sprayer from its hose, straighten a paper clip and use it to push the ball valve on the hose end aside, Remove the sprayer cap and wearing gloves put both pieces in a bowl of CLR or other rust/calcium remover. Depress the thumb button a few times while shaking it to let air bubbles out then let it sit.
In the mean time use a safety pin or toothpick to clear the holes in the cap from the outside, soak it longer an repeat a few times.
After a few hours reattach the sprayer handle to the hose, and holding it down in your sink with warm water running press the spray button and hold it down for awhile, If it gives out a good stream and shuts on and off, screw the cap back on it, and you can use it for a few more years.
cardsforauction
·1 year agoYes, it's good to inspect the product after receipt, so any defect you can send it back within the 30 days. Attempting to install the product a few days after receipt would also be good so you can find out if the product is defective.
Most likely after the eBay MBG expires, you are out of luck. However, you may want to consider contacting the manufacturer of the product and see if you can RMA this product. They may or may not be able to help you depending on the warranty from the manufacturer. Sometimes they can help you.
Best of luck and good advice.
gac-stop
·1 year agoYou get amazing deals on open-box items, but you need to inspect them as soon as you receive them. But in your case, it's way too late for the return. Mistakes and errors happen, but sometimes it's hard to tell who is responsible for the mistake as the time lapse.
pickapaper
·1 year ago@knifephoria wrote
"Please exercise extreme caution when buying "open box" high-end kitchen and bathroom faucets -- especially if the seller does not offer returns."
A seller can say No Returns but if the item is not as described, eBay has a Money Back Guarantee that overrides the seller terms. If you buy something that is not as described, you have 30 days to file a Not as Described claim, the seller will have to issue a return label for you to return the item and when he receives it back, he has to issue a refund. If he does not do so, you can ask eBay to step in and they will force a refund.
(In some cases, a seller may not want the item back and can just issue a refund without the return of the item, but that of course is up to the seller.)
janet9988
·1 year agoI would think a plumber should have known BEFORE installing.
let this be a lesson to hire competent experts,
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoOpen box items appear to offer an opportunity to buy product at a better price. The issue is often that neither the buyer nor the seller knows why the box was opened and why the product was returned to the original seller.
Unless you have the ability to determine the condition of the item before it is installed, or install it within the 30 day Ebay MBG period, you run the risk of trial by water or by fire.
This does not just apply to high end product, but the apparent savings are often greater for high end products.
Even products with a lifetime warranty may be high risk if the Ebay seller is not an authorized reseller of the product.
On NPR's Car Talk auto repair radio show, Click and Clack warned their listeners that "the stingy man pays the most". It is true far too often, and many of the stingy never learn.
broto_64
·1 year agoHahaha I have been known to say "I am a victim of my own cheapness."
And it is true, stinginess can cost more than having paid the right price to begin with.
tinsoldierunderground
·1 year agoThis is a prime example of why non do-it-yourselfers shouldn't rely on ebay or brick & mortar purchases in these situations.
It's best to leave it up to the tradesman to provide the needed components. Should an issue arise, labor and materials were all supplied by them, and any reputable business will stand behind their work.
If the plumber, electrician, mechanic, etc. installs customer supplied materials, they're sure as hell not going to provide free labor if the component fails due to defect or sub-standard quality.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year ago@knifephoria
This would have happened even you'd bought the faucet at a high end plumbing supply or hardware store. It's unlikely anyone would exchange or issue a refund after this amount of time.
knifephoria
OP1 year agoYou sound like a bunch of apologists and it is telling that you don't address the issue of unscrupulous sellers knowingly reselling defective items, which is obviously what happened here. No matter -- the damage is done and the mistake on my part will never happen again.
simba6
·1 year agoThe seller may not have known there was a problem with it. That is a chance people take with those pallet loads of merchandise you can buy. Yes most of it is returns just because people change their minds. However, even so they could have lost parts, scratched or gotten it dirty. The reseller of such things should go over each item and inspect with care before putting it back for sale.
That takes a lot of work and time. The reason it was dumped in the first place. Yes it's the resellers problem if they sell it here. eBay allows 30 days for a buyer to return if it does not match the description. The lesson here is anyone buying such merchandise needs to be aware it could have defects and inspect within the 30 days.
Not trying to gibe you a hard time.
tinsoldierunderground
·1 year ago@simba6
Well told!
kathiec
·1 year agoYou didn't know the base was damaged by looking at it, yet you call the seller unscrupulous because they also couldn't tell?
broto_64
·1 year agoYou can call it what you will, but I've ran into this as a buyer myself and apparently even your plumber could not determine there was a problem with the base until after installation, which means it is very possible the seller didn't know either. Therein lies the chance we take and yes it is highly frustrating but ultimately it does boil down to the simple fact that it is the buyer's responsibility to ascertain the item's feasibility within 30 days of arrival.
I mean ebay has a Money Back Guarantee that brings tears to seller's eyes, it is super tight ironclad you can return items for any and all reasons and we sellers have to eat that, time and time again. But it must be done within 30 days, even a credit card company won't back you after 180 days, and right as you are but your product is so far outside of any return or refund window that it simply is what it is.
Sorry, better luck next time, or take this as a lesson most buyers have to learn.
Even a brick and mortar wouldn't give you your money back after this long.
Maybe... Maybe a mom and pop in a small podunk town where everyone knows each other, but years is stretching things even there.
simba6
·1 year agoBuyers must inspect purchases as soon as they arrive. There is a 30 time limit to file a case. Open box (often means returned) merchandise can have defects. That will apply to anything and not just high end faucets.
knifephoria
OP1 year ago@simba6 -- The point I was trying to make is that if if a buyer is not a professional (plumber, in my case) without the ability to ascertain, on receiving, the suitability of the product they are buying, then one should think long and hard about making that purchase.
The issue of unscrupulous sellers who will knowingly resell defective products on this platform is left for the buyer to ponder.
gosimus
·1 year ago@knifephoria
< without the ability to ascertain, on receiving, the suitability of the product >
You make a good point and in general valid, but in this specific narrative, it should have been possible even for a layman to spot bent tubing. I'm assuming you meant bent in the sense of crimped, and not factory bending necessary for fit. The answer by simba is spot on, particularly about open box items often being returns.
gosimus
·1 year ago@knifephoria
< and after he [the plumber] installed it he finds out that they also leak >
Plumbers are for the most part highly skilled, and I myself employ them with confidence. However, they're human like you and I, and there's a remote, but finite, likelihood that the plumber caused the damage while installing the faucet, and he's falsely attributing it to existing damage. I'm not claiming that's what actually happened, it's just another reason not to blindly blame the seller.