New metal garage door bent
 

My 10 month old 7x16 ft segmented garage door has developed a series
of small buckled areas up the center of the outside skin of the door,
and it sags down slightly when open. When closed the bow is still
visible.

I called the local dealer and the service guy checked it out and the
first thing he said was, "What did you do to that door!?" He told me
that the door is very stout and he has "never seen one bend that
wasn't hit by a car." He seems to think I bumped it and am not willing
to admit it. To the best of my knowledge there has never been an
incident like this and there are no marks on the outsdie of the door.
I supose someone could have bumped it when I wasn't home, but visitors
always park at the curb.

I was _really_ ticked by his attitude, but I don't know what to do as
a next step, other than to call my insurance company and pay the
deductible to get it fixed and repainted. I think the door guy's
attitude sucked. Maybe I should write to the door company's president?

I have always thought that the customer should be given the benefit of
a doubt in cases where the cause of a prodsuct failure can't be
determined....

The cost to repair it would be about $800 not including the paintwork.
New it is about $1200.

Comments?

John



John Davies TLCA 14732
http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/
'96 Lexus LX450
'00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro
Spokane WA USA

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 07:46:21 -0700, someone wrote:

I have always thought that the customer should be given the benefit of
a doubt in cases where the cause of a prodsuct failure can't be
determined....

The cost to repair it would be about $800 not including the paintwork.
New it is about $1200.

Comments?

My comment is, that it is just soooo easy for YOU to say that, when
its THEIR $800 to $1200 of money that you are spending. Businesses
get ripped off all the time by 'customers' who scam them. People who
buy a generator from Sears, use it for their project, and then bring
it back a week later for a refund saying they are not satisfied, wear
an expensive dress to a party and then bring it back, etc. etc.

Where someone draws the line between all out customer satisfaction,
and being an easy mark for ripoffs, is a judgement call. I wasn't
there when this exchange took place, maybe the door guy was telling
the truth from his experience, and you just didn't like not getting a
free door.

BTW, if its 10 mos. old, it isn't "new" either. "New" to me would be
the first few days or maybe a week for something like this. Doors
take a beating in service. If you really think its defective, I
suppose you could try to convince a judge.

-v.

John Davies wrote in message . ..
My 10 month old 7x16 ft segmented garage door has developed a series
of small buckled areas up the center of the outside skin of the door,
and it sags down slightly when open. When closed the bow is still
visible.

I called the local dealer and the service guy checked it out and the
first thing he said was, "What did you do to that door!?" He told me
that the door is very stout and he has "never seen one bend that
wasn't hit by a car." He seems to think I bumped it and am not willing
to admit it. To the best of my knowledge there has never been an
incident like this and there are no marks on the outsdie of the door.
I supose someone could have bumped it when I wasn't home, but visitors
always park at the curb.

I was _really_ ticked by his attitude, but I don't know what to do as
a next step, other than to call my insurance company and pay the
deductible to get it fixed and repainted. I think the door guy's
attitude sucked. Maybe I should write to the door company's president?

Maybe your kids ran into it playing football or basketball. That would
not leave car type marks and they might not have even noticed it when
it happened.
I have always thought that the customer should be given the benefit of
a doubt in cases where the cause of a prodsuct failure can't be
determined....

The cost to repair it would be about $800 not including the paintwork.
New it is about $1200.

Comments?

John



John Davies TLCA 14732
http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/
'96 Lexus LX450
'00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro
Spokane WA USA

John Davies wrote:
My 10 month old 7x16 ft segmented garage door has developed a series
of small buckled areas up the center of the outside skin of the door,
and it sags down slightly when open. When closed the bow is still
visible.

I called the local dealer and the service guy checked it out and the
first thing he said was, "What did you do to that door!?" He told me
that the door is very stout and he has "never seen one bend that
wasn't hit by a car." He seems to think I bumped it and am not willing
to admit it. To the best of my knowledge there has never been an
incident like this and there are no marks on the outsdie of the door.
I supose someone could have bumped it when I wasn't home, but visitors
always park at the curb.

I was _really_ ticked by his attitude, but I don't know what to do as
a next step, other than to call my insurance company and pay the
deductible to get it fixed and repainted. I think the door guy's
attitude sucked. Maybe I should write to the door company's president?

I have always thought that the customer should be given the benefit of
a doubt in cases where the cause of a prodsuct failure can't be
determined....

The cost to repair it would be about $800 not including the paintwork.
New it is about $1200.

Comments?

So, did he refuse warranty service on the door or not? Absent proof that the
door was abused, the door section should be replaced under warranty (that's
assuming it *is* under warranty, although I've yet to see a decent door with
10yr warranty). Without seeing pictures, it's hard for any of us to guess at
the possible failure mode.

On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 09:06:51 -0600, Andy Hill
wrote:

So, did he refuse warranty service on the door or not? Absent proof that the
door was abused, the door section should be replaced under warranty (that's
assuming it *is* under warranty, although I've yet to see a decent door with
10yr warranty). Without seeing pictures, it's hard for any of us to guess at
the possible failure mode.

The door has a 1 year warranty - it has been 10 months since we moved
into the new house. The contractor was willing to "work with us" on
the insurance deductible, but he was not going to repair it under
warranty.

The door is 5 sections, and the lowest 4 (which have no lateral
bracing like the top section) have small double creases in the outside
center. It looks as itf the door has bowed, stretching the inner metal
skin and creasing the outer skin. The bow is small - maybe a couple of
inches - but it's detectible when the door is closed. When it is
hanging open the bow is larger and quite obvious.

My main complaints a

His attitude that I was trying to rip him off. His first statement was
"What did you do to it?" That is _really_ bad PR, and it immediately
put me on the defensive. I am 99.9% sure that the door has never been
hit hard enough to tweak the metal skin. Of course there is no way
anyone can be completely certain. My kids are young and don't play in
the driveway, and visitors and delivery people always park in the
street.

His statement that "we have never replaced a door like that that
wasn't hit". How many other owners has he used that excuse on?

I think the door is faulty and it has bowed under its own weight while
open.

Regardless, what is the point of a warranty if the dealer blows the
customer off? I totally agree with your statement that in the absence
of any sign of abuse, the door should be repaired under warranty.

John, still steamed by this



John Davies TLCA 14732
http://home.comcast.net/~johnedavies/
'96 Lexus LX450
'00 Audi A4 1.8T quattro
Spokane WA USA

John Davies wrote:
On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 09:06:51 -0600, Andy Hill
wrote:

So, did he refuse warranty service on the door or not? Absent proof that the
door was abused, the door section should be replaced under warranty (that's
assuming it *is* under warranty, although I've yet to see a decent door with
10yr warranty). Without seeing pictures, it's hard for any of us to guess at
the possible failure mode.

The door has a 1 year warranty - it has been 10 months since we moved
into the new house. The contractor was willing to "work with us" on
the insurance deductible, but he was not going to repair it under
warranty.

The door is 5 sections, and the lowest 4 (which have no lateral
bracing like the top section) have small double creases in the outside
center. It looks as itf the door has bowed, stretching the inner metal
skin and creasing the outer skin. The bow is small - maybe a couple of
inches - but it's detectible when the door is closed. When it is
hanging open the bow is larger and quite obvious.

My main complaints a

His attitude that I was trying to rip him off. His first statement was
"What did you do to it?" That is _really_ bad PR, and it immediately
put me on the defensive. I am 99.9% sure that the door has never been
hit hard enough to tweak the metal skin. Of course there is no way
anyone can be completely certain. My kids are young and don't play in
the driveway, and visitors and delivery people always park in the
street.

His statement that "we have never replaced a door like that that
wasn't hit". How many other owners has he used that excuse on?

I think the door is faulty and it has bowed under its own weight while
open.

Regardless, what is the point of a warranty if the dealer blows the
customer off? I totally agree with your statement that in the absence
of any sign of abuse, the door should be repaired under warranty.

John, still steamed by this

Four of the five sections bow when trying to support their own weight? Whoa,
that's crap. Yeah, I'd be plenty ****ed too...to the tune of taking it to
small claims court if the dealer didn't back his product. No way no how are
kids going cause enough damage to cause a door to bow (dents and dings, yeah,
but a hanging bow? Ha!) I'd also expect car damage to leave a lot more than
crinkle down the middle.

Have you tried contacting the head office of the door brand? If it's a
reputable brand, I'd hope they'd put a bit of pressure on the dealer to back his
door.

OTOH, what brand of door is it? Like I said, most doors I've run across have
warranties of 10yrs for the cheapies, and Lifetime for the higher-end stuff.
A one year warranty on the door makes me imagine something made out of styrofoam
wrapped in aluminum foil.