Brasscraft angle valve cracked

[nealtw]

I was the one who first reported this problem here - see above. I had 3 of 9 valves fail and have since replaced them all. Brasscraft asked to test one of my faulty valves and, since I had three, I sent them one along with two good ones from the same installation (all had same manuf. lot nos.). They said they would have results in a couple of weeks. After many months of correspondence with BrassCraft, they were horribly uncooperative. I kept following up asking for the results, and they kept stalling telling me that they had not tested them yet. Then they claimed that they lost the test results. Sure. They likely determined that it was a manuf. defect and didn't want me to spread the word. The leak was under a kitchen sink in a 3rd floor rental flat of a 4 story condo bldg. where the tenant had been gone for a month. We discovered leak by noticing a pool of water in the subterranean garage on Christmas Eve. It had leaked probably for day or so, causing little damage to the rental unit, but the unit below it sustained a lot of damage (those resident owners were out of town too about 300 miles away for the holidays). I was able to get in and stop the leak in the rental unit by shutting down the supply to the unit and had to call the plumber for emergency repair. I immediately notified the resident owners by telephone and they were not pleased nor are they pleasant people to deal with in any situation. The resident owners did not come home until 10 days later and their windows were closed the entire time. They moved out for months while they negotiated with our insurance company for the brand new $85K kitchen they always wanted. They worked it. It was a dilemma for them though. If we did not have insurance, they would have asked us to pay and I would have pointed the finger at BrassCraft. Thus, unless BrassCraft paid, it would have turned into a case where they sued us and BrassCraft and prove that BrassCraft valves were defectively made - which may have been a very expensive legal case with experts, etc. A good lawyer may be able to get enough evidence in discovery to prove the defect, with help in part from the info. on this thread. I happen to be a lawyer myself and was hoping by starting it, others would come forward with their evidence of defective valves too. Hopefully, others will benefit from this thread. BrassCraft was not forthcoming with any information. Sadly, if insurance won't cover the damage, you may have to sue them to get it in discovery. They did offer to pay for the 9 valves. Big of them.

You might be interested in this.
http://www.contractortalk.com/f9/pinhole-leaks-brasscraft-angle-stops-144568/

 

[slownsteady]

might as well pull anything we can find into this. Sort of a central depository of Brasscraft defects.

http://www.prlog.org/12008932-class...-potentially-bad-brass-plumbing-fittings.html

 

[James147]

Here is the second to last person we dealt with that facilitated the end to my Brasscraft saga. There was a woman(seemed to be a higher up) that he connected me to and that finished the issue quick, he then did the paperwork.

Trevor McClain
Risk Management Specialist
BrassCraft Manufacturing
Novi, Mich.
Phone: 248-374-3854
Fax: 248-374-3868
[email protected]

 

[Cabin]

Thanks for all the advice all. Just an update I spoke to insurance today they don't cover workmanship, manufacture defects and some other bs excuse. I talked with plumber who I could hear him oozing slime from his mouth as he lied to me about changing out all my valves, which he didn't do. He did tell me ( in a recorded conversation ) that he stopped using that valve after my house because he didn't trust them. I laughed and thanked him for allegedly replacing all my valves with the ones he didn't trust. Just short of telling him what I think of him he gave me his " rep " from brass craft. I am waiting to hear back from them. I will update their response.

 

[James147]

I don't think you'll have much luck with the plumber, your best bet is to keep him on your side and maybe he can verify they were indeed bad valves to BrassCraft. Try giving that guy a call and get things started. I'm surprised the insurance won't cover a plumbing leak.

 

[James147]

Don't look at this as a device failure or install failure, this is a "sudden and unexpected" water leak. If it had been leaking for decades, you'd easily get denied by a low end insurance company. It doesn't matter if your washing machine leaked or pipe burst, they should repair the damage. Get your policy booklet, the people on the phone are paid to discourage you and strategically cause you to give up. Say only as much as you need to, best to write down exactly what your going to say and then brainstorm their reactions for a solid rebuttal. Take names and detailed notes.

P.S. Reps are overworked and usually no help as the are pretty low on the responsibility chain.