Renovator's Supply Millers Falls, MA 01349

Renovator's Supply Millers Falls, MA 01349

Beware of ordering merchandise from Renovator's Supply via the Internet. The company has a no customer service; you will not find satisfaction with even the most legitimate of complaints.

We ordered a clawfoot tub and the fixtures to the tune of $2,500. Their Web site made prompt after prompt about the hardware, except for a major piece - the drain. Our order was accepted as complete...not being a plumber and not ordering tubs regularly, my husband believed the order was complete. No prompt mentioned that a major pipe was missing from the order.

Today, February 25, 2005 we had two plumbers @ $110 per hour to work on the plumbing and install the tub. Not so fast - no drain. We looked through the packaging, no drain. A call to Renovator's Supply - order the drain and pay $36 for 2-day delivery. My husband asked for an accommodation on the $36 since the company's Internet site was faulty. After going round-and-round with a hardened you-know-what named Helen, the answer remained, NO. Her attitude was, "Your fault, sucker!"

The name of the Renovator's Supply president and/or board members is hidden. Their Web site has no "Contact Us" option. Do not expect any customer service from this snotty compay.

Susan E

Click this link to e-mail the above consumer: Email User Consumer

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I just tried the phone number in your message and it is 'No Longer in Service'. Guess I'd have my phone number changed too, if I owned R/S!

Here's my issues with them:

Here's the message I sent to Renovator's Supply. Now I'm terrified that I have 17 guest rooms, plus my public restrooms that have only Renovator Supply sole source plumbing in them!!!

I am Peggy Mosley, President/CEO, The Groveland Hotel at Yosemite National Park (www.groveland.com). In 1991, we began the restoration of our 1849/1914 buildings to a 17 room Country Inn. We purchased all our plumbing items from Renovators Supply and had a great experience. During the years, we have bought a few other items mostly replacement parts. A couple of weeks or so, your server went down, taking with it, your website and you phone system. This must have been a most expensive and frustrating experience for you.

We, too, have been having a most expensive and frustrating experience with plumbing we purchased from Renovators Supply. A valve in the shower of my most expensive suite ($285/night) stopped working. We are currently in high season and this suite is occupied every night. The only way a guest can turn on the shower is by using the vise grips we have placed on the unit.

Not only is this most embarrassing, but we have to discount the room by $50/night in an effort to appease the guests. To protect our reputation, we have placed a sign in the bathroom, advising that we have been unable to contact Renovators Supply, (the sole source manufacturer of the valve), to purchase a new one.

The following describes my experience in trying to contact Renovators Supply Company during this time:

Calls several times a day, expecting the problem to be fixed within hours not days. Your message on the website should have given some rough estimate of what customers should expect.

Finally, when your phone system was up, I left three messages, without any response to any of them.

Today I have tried to call your 800 number three times. I am impressed by your very lengthy message advising of your free shipping for orders placed over the internet over $125 and how responsive your customer care is. Finally, after the message is completed, I get one ring of the customer care person and the line goes silent! Unfortunately, I have yet to experience any of this customer care.

All I really want is to find out how to replace a bad valve and move on! Do you suppose someone from your CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT might actually return a call to complete this transaction? I may be reached at 209-962-4000. I will be on property all day, until 11 PM tonight, PST.

I placed one more call and finally reached 'Barbara' (we don't give out our last names), who seemed totally uninterested in the urgency of my situation. She advised she would check and see IF they still manufactured this part and would get back to me. When I pressed for a time, she continued to say 'as soon as I can'.

I then asked to speak with her supervisor. She advised the supervisor wouldn't be in until tomorrow. I then asked to speak to the supervisor's superior and was told by Barbara, that would be the Board of Directors, whom I could write.

I 'Googled' the Renovator's Supply Website and came up with the following information:

"Renovators Supply Inc, Millers Falls MA 01349 -- MerchantCircle.com Renovators Supply Inc is located at 16 Bridge St Millers Falls, MA. Phone: 413-423-3400. . Post a message and leave..."

The phone number listed here is for the Irving Wastewater Treatment Plant - not Renovator's Supply!

I really need to find a replacement valve for this shower, without having to remove the marble walls to replace all the plumbing. I would be forever grateful to get some assistance in making this happen.

Thanks, so much

Peggy Mosley

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Here's the message I sent to Renovator's Supply. Now I'm terrified that I have 17 guest rooms, plus my public restrooms that have only Renovator Supply sole source plumbing in them!!!

I am Peggy Mosley, President/CEO, The Groveland Hotel at Yosemite National Park (www.groveland.com). In 1991, we began the restoration of our 1849/1914 buildings to a 17 room Country Inn. We purchased all our plumbing items from Renovators Supply and had a great experience. During the years, we have bought a few other items mostly replacement parts. A couple of weeks or so, your server went down, taking with it, your website and you phone system. This must have been a most expensive and frustrating experience for you.

We, too, have been having a most expensive and frustrating experience with plumbing we purchased from Renovators Supply. A valve in the shower of my most expensive suite ($285/night) stopped working. We are currently in high season and this suite is occupied every night. The only way a guest can turn on the shower is by using the vise grips we have placed on the unit.

Not only is this most embarrassing, but we have to discount the room by $50/night in an effort to appease the guests. To protect our reputation, we have placed a sign in the bathroom, advising that we have been unable to contact Renovators Supply, (the sole source manufacturer of the valve), to purchase a new one.

The following describes my experience in trying to contact Renovators Supply Company during this time:

Calls several times a day, expecting the problem to be fixed within hours not days. Your message on the website should have given some rough estimate of what customers should expect.

Finally, when your phone system was up, I left three messages, without any response to any of them.

Today I have tried to call your 800 number three times. I am impressed by your very lengthy message advising of your free shipping for orders placed over the internet over $125 and how responsive your customer care is. Finally, after the message is completed, I get one ring of the customer care person and the line goes silent! Unfortunately, I have yet to experience any of this customer care.

All I really want is to find out how to replace a bad valve and move on! Do you suppose someone from your CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT might actually return a call to complete this transaction? I may be reached at 209-962-4000. I will be on property all day, until 11 PM tonight, PST.

I placed one more call and finally reached 'Barbara' (we don't give out our last names), who seemed totally uninterested in the urgency of my situation. She advised she would check and see IF they still manufactured this part and would get back to me. When I pressed for a time, she continued to say 'as soon as I can'.

I then asked to speak with her supervisor. She advised the supervisor wouldn't be in until tomorrow. I then asked to speak to the supervisor's superior and was told by Barbara, that would be the Board of Directors, whom I could write.

I 'Googled' the Renovator's Supply Website and came up with the following information:

"Renovators Supply Inc, Millers Falls MA 01349 -- MerchantCircle.com Renovators Supply Inc is located at 16 Bridge St Millers Falls, MA. Phone: 413-423-3400. . Post a message and leave..."

The phone number listed here is for the Irving Wastewater Treatment Plant - not Renovator's Supply!

I really need to find a replacement valve for this shower, without having to remove the marble walls to replace all the plumbing. I would be forever grateful to get some assistance in making this happen.

Thanks, so much

Peggy Mosley

Comment On This

Here's the letter I sent to their "Customer Service"

I wish to bring to your attention some serious problems with your Chinese made product. I recently purchased a high tank pull chain toilet and only last week was able to complete the installation. Some of the delays in putting the toilet in were my fault and some were yours. For example, it took me a while to relocate the floor drain for adequate clearance as I had to remove newly-installed floor tile and cut access holes in the floor, extend the PVC pipe and then put everything back.

The other delays were entirely due to the fact that this expensive toilet came with mis-manufactured non-functioning parts. My first bad experience was with the brass shut-off valve (N, enclosed) that doesn't shut off. As you turn it, youll hear that it 'clicks' and keeps turning to infinity and beyond. The big box stores don't stock a brass angle shut-off with a half inch outlet. They also can't find one from their suppliers. I had to special order one and that took 2 weeks. Copy of receipt for that premium item is enclosed.

My next delay came when I attempted to locate the tank on the wall. The directions state that the bottom of the bracket should be 63 inches off the floor. That measurement is too high by about 2.5 inches. My third location of the toilet got it right, but trial-and-error is an inefficient construction method.

Next, you'll find 2 strips of wood that were removed from the bottom of the wooden box. I discovered that these were preventing the plastic tank fittings to fully seat into the holes in the box and allow the large brass nut (J) to tighten on the receiving threads of the flush valve (A2). Additionally, the holes in the wooden box did (do) not align with the fittings on the plastic tank, so I had to re-engineer them to fit.

Next, I saw that there was no brass rod to connect the tank valve to the float ball. I bought the 8 inch one; enclosed. I also discovered that there was no brass washer (I) supplied.

Next, I got the plumbing together only to discover that the fill valve (A1) does not shut the water off. Thus you'll find the package and receipt for the tank shut off purchased at the local hardware store.

Finally, after about 16 hours of cutting and fitting, re-rigging, mopping up water, and cussing and sweating, not including numerous trips to the plumbing supply house and the hardware store, I was able to complete the project with no leaks. It's fortunate that I have more than one toilet in my house, else, well, you know.

I can't imagine what it would have been like if I had to hire a plumber to install this poorly manufactured item..yikes!

As of this writing, I'm satisfied with the look of the toilet (even though the box is not 'light oak' it looks more like poplar) particularly the brass that matches the other Victorian period stuff in the room, but I feel totally justified in requesting to be reimbursed for the cost of the parts that are useless to me. Returning the entire toilet for an exchange was not an option; wouldn't you have sent another one with the same (or additional) mis-manufactured and non-functioning parts?

Please contact me directly with any questions during the day at work at 860.XXXXXX or preferably via return mail with a check for the appropriate amount - $76.20. Please do NOT send replacement parts that I no longer need. If you do, I'll drive up I91 for a personal visit.

Yours in vintage flushitude,

Richard H

They sent me the parts back with instructions on how to install the toilet!

So I sent this letter to the president:

July 7, 2009

Dear Mr. Jeanloz,

I wish to bring to your attention some serious problems with your products as well as your customer service. I'm appealing to you as President of Renovator's Supply to bring this matter to an appropriate resolution. On July 3, 2009, I received a package from UPS. In it were the parts that I had sent to your 'customer service' representative, Sydney Thomas. Included in the package was the letter from Ms. Sydney (attached) that seems to suggest that Ms. Thomas is not qualified to handle customer service issues but merely to quote 'policy'. Her reply, complete with grammatical errors (first sentence) as well as a malapropism (aloud/allowed) suggests that she also is bereft of an adequate command of the language. I'm not convinced that she read my letter in its entirety, or, if she did, that she understood it, what it implies, or appreciated my humor. I also question what her point is in sending a copy of installation instructions for a toilet that I already installed. As you read through my original letter and her reply, I think you'll see my point.

The crux of the matter is this: I believe I have a legitimate claim and am justified in requesting a reimbursement for the defective parts. I am in the process of restoring a 1902 Victorian house in Hartford and found your website via a Google search for vintage house supplies. I spent $500 for your high-tank pull-chain toilet (L-pipe, rear entry) and am pleased with it now that it is finally functioning; my extra efforts to get it to work not withstanding. The extra $76 also won't put me in the poor house, but it's the principle of the thing: your parts were/are defective and I wouldn't want more of the same. I see that the same toilet is now $99 more than when I ordered it; can I assume the increased cost means better quality parts?

Please make note of the fact that, although I am no longer in the building trades, I still have a lot of connections to contractors and plumbers in the area, to whom I am more than willing to describe in great detail my customer experience with Renovator's Supply. Your appropriate response will generate a favorable review of your operation to my associates. I don't think $76 is going to significantly decrease your bottom line, but it will buy a lot of good will and I may use it to purchase other items from your company.

I look forward to your reply.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard H

No reply as of 8/17/09, but I talked to Sydney "No Customer Service" Thomas. Again. Apparently letters to the president have to be sent registered with a return receipt.

Comment On This

DON'T ORDER FROM RENOVATOR'S SUPPLY. PLEASE READ MY HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE BELOW.

I have ordered the item #10889 at $469.00 and were sent the item #12840 at $299.00. After emails and calls to customer service, Sidney of Renovator's Supply replied to my email and said to email her the list of the missing items. I have sent her emails on the missing items and have had no reply from her after 6 hours went by. I called their customer service a few times. They said they can't transfer me to Sidney. Here I am waiting and paying the contractor's fees. Furthermore, Renovator's Supply wants me to pay for the 2nd day shipping of their mistake. They demand $32.00 for 9lbs. shipping.

BUYER BEWARE ! DO YOUR RESEARCH WORK TO BUY FROM OTHERS.

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I too recently have had nothing but trouble with Renovators Supply. We purchased a high tank toilet a year ago I had a one year warranty and we just TRIED to install it the other day. Come to find out after 7 hours of trying to install this toilet the parts were wrong or missing the directions were like someone sat at the kitchen table with a pencil and an old typwritter and all the measurements were wrong. Not to mentions the horrid customer service.

I just wanted my money back since I did not see this as a warranty issue more a company issue. I spoke to customer service to have them tell me they will have someone call us the next day... Well nobody did so I called them just to get put on hold for 10 minutes for I don't know why, so I hung up and called back. The service manager answered and was very RUDE and short with me. So I finally tracked down the owner Mr. Claude A. Jeanloz he said he will have the service manager get in contact with me. So I just went in a big circle. I told him that she was the problem and he said that he would replace parts and have someone help us via phone to install this toilet. Of course by day three we gave up and put in a regular toilet so we could have a toilet. When all was said and done he would not return my money because I had it to long. I also turned him into the BBB and he didn't seem to really care. What ever it's his business. I will never buy from them again. BEWARE!

Horrible customer service!! The owner no help either!!

Owner information:

Mr. Claude A. Jeanloz

The Renovator's Supply, Inc.

Renovator's Old Mill

Millers Falls, MA 01349

Tel: 413-423-3300 ext 112

Fax: 413-423-3800 Email: cj AT rensup.com