All Better with 3 features

A client asked for a 3 position valve that allowed lots of versatility between shower valves. There were two heads and a hand wand. They were very specific and so were we when we ordered the rough-in valve and the trim kit to match.

The valve arrived and was installed then the tile and trim kit. The project was complete and the owner put the valve through its paces. Only two functions were present. Imagine my discontent when the plumber arrived to see what was going on. He discovered that sure enough, a mistake had been made and we would need to chop it out of the wall and replace it. Sadly he explained it to the client who was watching over his shoulder.

I got the call from my client and not the plumber. That sucked, I was starting to experience the first few stages of grief. I quickly arrived at the harsh reality of a major screw-up. My mind was starting to wrap around the fact that the valve was on an outside wall and that the fix was not going to be pretty. Naturally, being the owner, I was ultimately responsible.

What’s Wrong VS Who’s Wrong?

The Guts

I was prepared to bite the bullet and do the right thing. I was going to replace it come hell or high water. I researched the email trail and sure enough, the order showed a 3-function trim kit and the 2-function rough-in valve. I contacted my supplier several times leaving messages for key people in the part ordering history. Frustrated I called again and got a lady locally that seemed to understand what happened and sounded concerned. She even called me hun!

A new valve was ordered and she was going to look into how to make it right by us financially, realizing how the mistake happed. She also took notes to prevent this from happening again which I thought was genius.

The Fix

Later that afternoon I got a joyful call, it was the gal that helped me earlier in the day. I’ve got good news. the difference between the 2 functions and 3 functions valve is only a cartridge. Haha! the plumber was wrong! As I had suspected all along a cartridge is all it would take to fix things. That is when the good-intentioned salesperson selected the wrong cartridge again and the part did not fit. CRAP.

The Aftermath

I contacted my client and he was overjoyed. Then I had overheard that the local Moen representative Jim Sepulveda was involved. I just happened to know him, so I called to thank him for being an unsung hero. He has rushed me a hard-to-find cartridge for another shower valve that had failed not so long ago. In the big scheme of things, this is what you get when you buy good things from a reputable dealer. This is not what you get from a big box store. My plumber was informed and he apologized for his error and offered to fix the problem when the new cartridge arrived.

It had to bounce one more time. Go figure the wrong “M” series cartridge was not the solution. This is when we got Jim involved again and had the correct parts sent to us to install. We were finally able to return the incorrect parts and Thanks to Jim, we are in a happily ever after mode rather than the keystone cop mode that we were in for a bit.

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