I purchased three American Standard Champion Toilets in 2004 as part of a house renovation project at our Richmond, Virginia home. The toilets were purchased through Lowe's Home Centers, Inc., 2501 Shheila lane, Richmond, at a cost of $248 each. They were installed by the contractor for our house addition. The toilets are 1.6-gallon per flush "water conserving" toilets, as mandated by federal law and federal regulations pertaining to energy conservation.
My wife and I first noticed increasing water usage in 2007, and by Christmas
2008 one toilet of the three started refilling and "running" constantly. I replaced rubber "o" rings with $3.oo parts from Lowe's, but this did not reduce the leakage. Shortly thereafter, the first of three flush tower units broke in half, and became inoperative. We now have two out of the three toilets in our house {$320,000 assessed value} inoperative. After the first tower broke, I went online to find what I could about replacement parts, and discovered a huge volume of consumer complaints about the Champion toilet line. In short, the product design was defective, and untested at the time of sale to consumers.
I have written Lowe's Home Centers, Inc., as well as American Standard, requesting replacement of the toilets. Although we submitted warranty cards at the time the toilets were purchased, we have received no notices of product design defects. An American Standard Consumer Products Representative, contacted by telephone, acknowledged that the company was aware of the product design defects, and was offering replacement towers, to be installed by consumers at their expense. However, replacement towers were not immediately available because of consumer demand. I have waited for a month for replacement parts, with two of three toilets out of service.
I am currently waiting to see whether either Lowe's or American Standard will honor either the express ten-year warranty against defects in the flusihing components of the Champion toilet, or will honor an implied warranty of fitness for the product. I have also written to the United States Federal Trade Commission, requesting that they consider requiring a recall of the Champion toilet line as in violation of federal standards, US CFR 305.16 et seq., which they are mandated to enforce under Section 304 of the Federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act.
As I have received no responses in writing to my letters of April 9, 2009, I would caution consumers against any purchase of American Standard products.
Charles Ware
Richmond, Virginia