how to get manufacturer to honor warranty

[bobbobwhite]

As with Nordstroms, one expects a very high end company to give great service, but what does one do when it is not given? I bought a very expensive bath faucet with hot and cold valves from Altman's, each of which are so hard to turn that it is almost impossible to use by a child or a female of any age, and difficult even for a man. Wet hands?...forget it.

Altman's is so difficult to deal with as it constantly deflects responsiblity and obfuscates the replacement issue with unrelated things. Its products cost a mint, and we are not used to expensive outfits giving customers so much trouble with replacements covered in a lifetime warranty.

Any suggestions on how to get better customer service from Altman's?

Thanks for your suggestions.

[jadnashua]

A scathing, but truthful letter to the BBB sometimes helps. Just be able to back up any facts.

[enosez]

Who put the faucet in?
Is it possible it was installed incorrectly?
Has it ever been disassembled to see the internals?
Re-assembly done correctly?

[hj]

Like all guarantees, lifetime or otherwise, they are no better than the company backing them. I try to stay with the mainline companies because of the problems you are having. One major problem is when the company wants you to send them the part first and then they will send the replacement. I have never dealt with Altmans, but all I can say is that you have to keep after them, hopefully you can go up the food chain and talk to someone with more authority to handle your problem.

[bobbobwhite]

After much frustration, I have decided to let the dealer who recommended and supplied Altmans's valves handle the problem for me. This valve has a lifetime warranty and should be replaced without a problem but as we all know, many companies offer a "lifetime warranty" merely as a sales gimmick and don't ever intend to honor it reasonably and promptly. We shall see, in this case.

I will post the final result here.