Waupaca Elevator Company, Inc.

Horrible customer service it has been over a month and a half and Waupaca has not sent the parts to fix my elevator that is under a recall from their company it is their fault that their elevator has a recall and people died and fell when the elevator dropped and broke bones but yet they are not in any hurry to fix the recalled elevators their customer service skills are absolutely horrible

Waupaca Elevator is a B2B, and as such, we only distribute parts, warranty or otherwise, to our approved dealers, at their direction, who in turn work directly with their customers to resolve any issues
Our warranty is limited, and we only warrant our parts, not dealer labor; dealers are
businesses independent from Waupaca Elevator, and may have their own labor warranties
The elevator in question has had four warranty claims, three of which we have received, inspected, and replaced the parts per our warranty; we have not yet received the part(s) from the fourth warranty claim

Review: The UPS system on my elevator is not functional and the old unit provided by Waupaca is no longer manufactured by Tripp Lite. The problem was diagnosed by the elevator tech during the annual maintenance visit. He gave me the number and showed me how to simply plug in the replacement unit to avoid having to pay for a return visit and suggested that I purchase the unit from Tripp Lite. Tripp Lite no longer manufacturers the unit and the suggested replacement is 120V and not 230V, which will not work. I called Waupaca and asked for the current replacement manufacturer and part number. I was rudely informed that they would not provide the information and all that they could or would provide is a Waupaca part number. May be a good business decision, but is a horrible customer service decision.Desired Settlement: Provide part number and manufacturer so that I can replace a plug and play item that should not require a second service call from the technician.

Business

Response:

We are a B2B, not a B2C, and we seek to maintain clarity on this issue by our policy of referring consumers to the authorized dealer(s) in their area.

In addition to the above, we refer homeowners to our authorized dealers for the following reasons:

· They obtain the necessary licensing, permits, and inspections required by their state/municipality

· They know the local market

· They are trained in the safe installation and maintenance of our elevator equipment

Also, in the complaint, the consumer states that they, “…called Waupaca and asked for the current replacement manufacturer and part number…,” this is a true statement, our staff did speak with this person, and what they requested is proprietary information that we only share with our authorized dealers.

Review: In July 2014, two electrical components of our Waupaca elevator system failed. we replaced those parts at our expense. Then, on 31 October 2014, another part failed. We had originally attributed the July failure to an electrical storm; although no other electronic items in our house were damaged then or have ever been damaged in the 23 years we have lived here. We have since had our home electrical system checked by two independent electrical contractors and they see no problems with our setup and find no other damage in our system. I sent registered letters to Waupaca in November and December 2014. After the first letter, The [redacted] at Waupaca sent me an email saying the installer, [redacted]., would meet with me and explain the situation. Mr. [redacted] met with me and the only explanation he had was that Waupaca did not usually honor warrantee claims; but, he had no advice on how to proceed. I have not heard from Waupaca since my December letter which asked for them to reimburse me for the defective, failed parts. I do have the receipt where they acknowledged receipt of the letter.

Further, the staff at Waupaca has been very uncooperative. They have been very slow to ship repair parts and have made no effort to expedite the shipments. They were curt and unresponsive when I asked them on the phone to expedite the last shipment.Desired Settlement: I believe the Waupaca Elevator Co. should reimburse me for the cost of the replaced parts.

Business

Response:

Waupaca Elevator is a B2B, and as such, we only distribute parts, warranty or otherwise, to our approved dealers, at their direction, who in turn work directly with their customers to resolve any issues.

Our warranty is limited, and we only warrant our parts, not dealer labor; dealers are businesses independent from Waupaca Elevator, and may have their own labor warranties.

The elevator in question has had four warranty claims, three of which we have received, inspected, and replaced the parts per our warranty; we have not yet received the part(s) from the fourth warranty claim.

Our custom made, 11 MONTH old, Waupaca elevator has never gone more than 2 months without a malfunction. When it runs, there are intermittent rattles and lurches. We asked someone from Waupaca to determine if this is normal, as we had a lot of problems with the dealer/construction company but [redacted] at Waupaca told me that is something I will have to work out with the authorized dealer that sold it to us.