Desert Rat
Fetch the comfy chair
I ordered a 43 gallon tank (CBR2) for my 76 Blazer from Northwest Metal Products ( http://www.nwmp.com/). The joyous day arrives and the UPS truck pulls up to the house. I am in the garage giggling like a schoolgirl (well, maybe I exaggerate). The driver brings up the tank and sets it on the floor. No box, no shrink wrap, no bubble wrap, just the tank. Right off I'm seeing this big black metal box with major scratches all over it. In fact, it looks like somebody threw it into the gorilla cage during mating season at the zoo. Then he brings up the smaller parts box. I say No box? He says Amazing ain't it? He heads back to the truck to presumably get the manifest for me to sign. The truck fires up and drives away. I'm perplexed, then annoyed, then downright furious as I inspect the tank. One side is pushed a bit in, the paint is thrashed, and low and behold right where three welds meet, a nice big dent that pushed the welds in. Furious turns to words that would make a longshoreman blush. I don't really know that much about Northwest Metal Products, so I'm at a loss as to whom to blame.
First off, not knowing how the company's reaction will be, I call Visa and put the charge in dispute status. Then I call Northwest. I speak to a very nice lady on the phone. I'm polite, but she can hear the anger in my voice I'm sure. She couldn't have been more helpful. She explained that they usually use FedEx and that they rarely have a problem with them. They only use UPS on occasion and that they seem to have lots of returns with UPS. I'm guessing that scene from Ace Ventura Pet Detective in the beginning with Jim wearing a brown delivery uniform wasn't that far off... The nice lady, I forgot her name, says no problem she will do a recall notice on the tank and have UPS pick it up. She also promises to send a new tank via FedEx and says it should be much better. She also tells me that they used to ship in boxes, but that the shipping companies beat the boxes to a pulp. So, if they ship the tank bare, the shipping companies tend to treat it much better and make sure they don't damage it. Makes some sense I suppose.
Today I get the new tank and it is in a box. Either Northwest opted to box it for me special, or FedEx decided to err on the side of caution. Either way, I open the box and it looks great. Paint is good, welds are good, and I could swear the guage of the metal is thicker. So far, so good. The company has done me very well in the service department. No charge for the extra shipping and very customer oriented. The install will be the proof on the quality of the product. Here is the question, Do I call this Part 1 and do a write up and the removal and installation of this tank? Or is this something so simple that any chimp with a hammer and a brew could figure it out? Poll follows:
First off, not knowing how the company's reaction will be, I call Visa and put the charge in dispute status. Then I call Northwest. I speak to a very nice lady on the phone. I'm polite, but she can hear the anger in my voice I'm sure. She couldn't have been more helpful. She explained that they usually use FedEx and that they rarely have a problem with them. They only use UPS on occasion and that they seem to have lots of returns with UPS. I'm guessing that scene from Ace Ventura Pet Detective in the beginning with Jim wearing a brown delivery uniform wasn't that far off... The nice lady, I forgot her name, says no problem she will do a recall notice on the tank and have UPS pick it up. She also promises to send a new tank via FedEx and says it should be much better. She also tells me that they used to ship in boxes, but that the shipping companies beat the boxes to a pulp. So, if they ship the tank bare, the shipping companies tend to treat it much better and make sure they don't damage it. Makes some sense I suppose.
Today I get the new tank and it is in a box. Either Northwest opted to box it for me special, or FedEx decided to err on the side of caution. Either way, I open the box and it looks great. Paint is good, welds are good, and I could swear the guage of the metal is thicker. So far, so good. The company has done me very well in the service department. No charge for the extra shipping and very customer oriented. The install will be the proof on the quality of the product. Here is the question, Do I call this Part 1 and do a write up and the removal and installation of this tank? Or is this something so simple that any chimp with a hammer and a brew could figure it out? Poll follows:
