moisheh
Member
We are building an ensuite. I have been following the toilet forum for most of this year. I finally decided that maybe a Toto Ultramax would be the best choice. I also believe that there are other good choices. This forum is extremely biased being as there are lots of plumbers that post. However I overooked the extreme hate for anything other than Toto and thought what the heck it is a good unit and the Ulramax is a very nice design (exterior). Our project will be ready for a toilet in 2 weeks or less. No problem I thought. There are 2 dealers listed on the Toto site for my area ( Canadian prairies) Both are boutique stores with an attitude. I called the first one: Conversation went something like this: We do not carry that model. Ok what do you carry. Not sure maybe a Drake. How long to get the ultramax. 6 WEEKS!! Price: I forget exactly but around $750.00. Next dealer was almost the same mantra exept NO STOCK but same attitude. I think they mostly sell to architects! Toto may be a good product but their distribution and availability sucks big time. I am a business man and when a product is only available from a few outlets this usually means the product is overpriced or their is no demand for this item. I dont know how many toilets are sold (other than new construction) each year in NA but it must be in the many hundreds of thousands. Maybe millions. I bet Toto is at the bottom in sales. Contrast this with my visit to HD. Of course they had the el cheapo house brand POS's. The clerk was very helpful and quickly steered me away from those. He expalined the differences between a few of the many they had in stock. I wanted a one piece and he had the Mansfield cimmaron and the Cadet 3 all in one. I went with the Cadet. So Toto: You need to study marketing 101. Do you want to make all your profits on one customer or a little on millions? Why would I buy a product from arrogant dealers who do not even have stock?? Mail order to Canada is not practical. I wonder how many other potential customers also get frustrated. I bet there are lots!! BTW: Our 10 year old house has 3 American Standard 3 gallon units that work perfectly. t my warehouse we have a bathroom for the truckers. It gets abused. A lowly 3 gallon Lamosa has served well for almost 15 years. Replaced the flush mechanism once! Buying a toilet should not need a forum or an engineering degree. I know there are many ill working units on the market. The mfrs. should be able to produce a unit that works the way a toilet should! I have vented!!
Moisheh
Moisheh