DaviDs
Forum Supporter
Here is an interesting post from a vendor that denied the warranty on his customer's T-rex scoop. Further, he told folks to share this post so here it is....
"We recently had this T-Rex sand scoop sent back for warranty repair or replacement. However, we have determined that this damage was caused by misuse of the product. It could have been bent by having a heavy object dropped on it, if it was used for something other than sand sifting, being run over or prying between two heavy objects such as concrete chunks often found embedded in the sand. The purpose of this scoop is to sift sand. Sand would never cause the stainless steel to bend in such a way. Customer claims all he did was step down on it, but the quality of stainless steel we use to manufacture the scoop takes 87,022 psi to tear this gauge of metal. It actually speaks volumes to the quality of the scoop that all of the welds held up under such conditions.This customer has threatened to post negative comments about this scoop and our policy on the forums, so we wanted to share the facts and specs of the product with all of our customers who may see those posts and to also have them be aware that any damage due to misuse is not covered under the terms of our warranty. Please feel free to share this post."
If this went to court, I wonder what the judge would say considering the ...
In my engineering days, I performed Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), studied metal fatigue, QC and stress testing. As a hobbiest, I have seen scoops flex, fatigue and snap. I have seen stainess bend when it should have withstood the designed use.
Having said that, I feel the case is arguable, but in the time it takes to prepare, write and argue, it would have been far easier, faster and "responsible" to simply offer to bend the scoop back into position and return it with conditions/limitations, or at the very least, propose a mutually beneficial resolve.
In contrast, over the last five years, I have heard about a handful of sunspot scoops that were equally questionable, yet Chuck continued to work with the owners to find a happy resolve. And, maybe that is the benefit of when the distributor is also the manufacturer with a full blown metal fab shop. And while that has never happened to me, I have snapped a U-bolt which Chuck replaced (and included the shipping) at no cost to me. Customer service is everything and after this recent post, my feet are more firmly planted in my committment to Chuck at Sunspot/Stealth.
Anyhow, this is a great topic for debate. I encourage everyone to add their $0.02 but remember, there are forum rules and we need to use decorum in our replies.
"We recently had this T-Rex sand scoop sent back for warranty repair or replacement. However, we have determined that this damage was caused by misuse of the product. It could have been bent by having a heavy object dropped on it, if it was used for something other than sand sifting, being run over or prying between two heavy objects such as concrete chunks often found embedded in the sand. The purpose of this scoop is to sift sand. Sand would never cause the stainless steel to bend in such a way. Customer claims all he did was step down on it, but the quality of stainless steel we use to manufacture the scoop takes 87,022 psi to tear this gauge of metal. It actually speaks volumes to the quality of the scoop that all of the welds held up under such conditions.This customer has threatened to post negative comments about this scoop and our policy on the forums, so we wanted to share the facts and specs of the product with all of our customers who may see those posts and to also have them be aware that any damage due to misuse is not covered under the terms of our warranty. Please feel free to share this post."
If this went to court, I wonder what the judge would say considering the ...
- The vendor is not a Subject Matter Expert (SME)
- The vendor is not a licensed PE / Engineer
- The vendor is not a metalurgist
- The vendor does not weld/cut/fabricate metal products
- The vendor was not there at the time of the incident
In my engineering days, I performed Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), studied metal fatigue, QC and stress testing. As a hobbiest, I have seen scoops flex, fatigue and snap. I have seen stainess bend when it should have withstood the designed use.
Having said that, I feel the case is arguable, but in the time it takes to prepare, write and argue, it would have been far easier, faster and "responsible" to simply offer to bend the scoop back into position and return it with conditions/limitations, or at the very least, propose a mutually beneficial resolve.
In contrast, over the last five years, I have heard about a handful of sunspot scoops that were equally questionable, yet Chuck continued to work with the owners to find a happy resolve. And, maybe that is the benefit of when the distributor is also the manufacturer with a full blown metal fab shop. And while that has never happened to me, I have snapped a U-bolt which Chuck replaced (and included the shipping) at no cost to me. Customer service is everything and after this recent post, my feet are more firmly planted in my committment to Chuck at Sunspot/Stealth.
Anyhow, this is a great topic for debate. I encourage everyone to add their $0.02 but remember, there are forum rules and we need to use decorum in our replies.
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