I bought an Aquabrass shower kit at Dupont plumbing for my bathroom renovation. On the initial purchase, they gave me the ceiling mounted shower arm but I had requested the wall mount. I took the arm back for exchange. After I got home and opened the package, I realized they gave me the nickel finish wall mounted arm and not the chrome finish I want. I went back to exchange for the chrome finish, that time I opened the package in the store to make sure it was chrome. However, when I got home my contractor told me they had given me an arm with a male thread while I needed the female thread. Back to the store I went.
So it took me 4 trips to get what I should have gotten the first time. Each trip took about an hour and a half, so in total I wasted 4 and half hours of my own time. What is more aggravating is that they never acknowledged it was their mistake. Each time they came up with a lame excuse such as "I don't know what happened", "your plumber put up the wrong fitting" or "most shower arms are male thread". This is in spite of me showing them the bill of sale each time and telling them it is for an Aquabrass kit in chrome.
Because of this experience I would not recommend Dupont plumbing.
December 7th response:
I am not surprised by Dupont’s response. In fact, it only reaffirms my original poor opinion of their customer service.
The AquaBrass shower kit on display in the showroom is wall mounted. When I told the salesperson that I wanted that kit, doesn’t that imply it is the wall mounted that I wanted. At the least, if he was going to give me something different from the display, shouldn’t he have verified that is what I need? Dupont in its response says all shower kits come standard with a ceiling arm. How is an average Joe consumer like me supposed to know that? From all the photos I have seen in planning my bathroom renovation wall mounted showers are much more common than ceiling mounts.
Dupont said in its response that the nickel finished arm they gave me on my 2nd visit was due to a manufacturer’s error. There is no way for me to verify if that is true or not. I have examined the box the arm came in and nowhere on box was the finish indicated.
Dupont said that on my 3rd visit since I took the arm out of the box I should have known I was given the wrong thread. I took the arm out to verify that it was the correct finish, but again not being a plumber how was I suppose to know it is the female thread I needed. If the industry standard is male thread, then how come they were able to give me the correct female fitting the first two times but not the third? Shouldn’t the Dupont staff, supposedly expert in the business, know what fitting that a major manufacturer like Aquabrass uses?
Dupont said that the trip from my home should only be 25 minutes and not 1.5 hours. What they conveniently forget is that the 25 minutes is for a one way trip, in average traffic. Anyone who has been in the area knows that there are major constructions on Eglinton. When you factor in the two way trip, traffic delays, and time spent in the store it is 1.5 hours “down the drain” each time.
Dupont’s response just confirmed my initial impression. Their staff is careless and dismissive. I will let the readers make their own judgement based on what happened.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $450.00
- Company Response
Dear Mr. Yee:
All shower "kits" come standard with a ceiling arm. If a wall arm was requested, as you claim, the salesperson would have clearly indicated this on your invoice as a customization of the "kit". And I did take the time to look up your invoice, and it does not reflect in any way that you requested a wall arm let alone non-standard threads, which are both customizations of the "kit". When you came in to exchange it for a wall arm, it is unfortunate, and we do apologize that a brushed-nickel wall arm was in the package marked chrome. This, however, is an error from the manufacturer, and not Dupont Plumbing. Lastly, when you came in to exchange the brushed-nickel for chrome, you actually pulled it from the box to check it and make sure it was chrome, and at that time you would have seen the male threads, which are industry standard for shower arms.
I actually believe our staff took great care of your unique situation needing a female thread. I also checked google maps, and the trip from your home to our store is only 25 minutes. While we genuinely apologize for the brushed-nickel product being in a chrome labeled package, this was a manufacturer error, and not that of Dupont Plumbing but, yes, did inconvenience you to make one additional trip to our store. However, I firmly believe that all of the other trips to our store were a lack of communication between yourself and your plumber in terms of how he roughed-in your bathroom in a non-standard way. Brigitte Prystay, Director.