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- Dec 12, 2004
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Please excuse my being rather long winded in the following tale:
Heard about their recall of one lot of barrels that may have faulty threads (at the point of entry for the vent liner or nipple) on this forum.
Sent them an email requesting info but no answer. Might have gotten overlooked in the weekend mail.
Called them but they close at 11:30am (my time). Left a message on the individual's answering machine who was handling this problem. No return call. We might have been on the computer and it sounded like no one was at home to them.
Called again the next day and got through to a very pleasant young lady who got another individual who was doing the inspection and repair work for the recall. To hopefully save everyone any needless trouble he broke out his records to see if it was even necessary for my barrel to be returned. Couldn't find my serial number listed and requested that he call us back in a few minutes. Murphyied again?
Good to his word, he called back and stated that his review of all of the barrels from TOTW (where we purchased ours) had been inspected/repaired/returned but our's had not been among those. Apparently our's had been sold/shipped a day or two before the notification and return to the factory by TOTW.
He said not to worry as they would make this as painless as possible. Did we have a local UPS office. No, it is a 250 mile trip for us but we do have local delivery. Ok, they would have a prepaid shipping label wired to us and the UPS guy would bring it when he came to pick up the package. All Right!
He transfered my call back to the young lady and she took down all of the necessary info. Things are in motion.
Of course we didn't have a box for shipment. In the spirit of cooperation, went outside and strapped on snowshoes for the mile and a half hike to my neighbor, whom I have not spoken to in a little over a year. It was too cold to start the pickup (-38 degrees below zero) without preheating. Our snowmachine doesn't have the deep paddle track required to handle the three to four feet of soft powder drifts on the trail. We had strong winds the previous five or six days and I had not had a chance to "repack" the trail. Of course.
Our neighbor had a suitable box and it was a nice and short visit. Off for home and no, it wasn't uphill both ways.
Next morning got the barrel all boxed up and proceeded to wait.
Three days later, called our local UPS guy and he had no knowledge of any shipping label.
A week has gone by sith still no word. So, called GM again and was assured they had submitted the necessary paperwork and not to be alarmed as sometimes it takes a little longer for the shipping labels to arrive at UPS locals.
Two weeks have gone by and still no pickup. Called UPS HQ and they state they no record of any such paperwork for me. And furthermore, they don't do business that way. Probably something to do with the way I explained it. And I did know enough to ask GM for the shipping number they assigned.
Called GM and they remembered me. Got through to a more senior lady and she said they would mail the label directly to me. Asked why they didn't do that two weeks ago as it would hve certainly saved a lot of time. Reply was that wasn't the way we do things, then. Because of problems encountered with some of their customers, there had been a change in policy. OK!
A week later a Priority Mail letter arrived. About average for interior Alaska. Called UPS and he promised to be out the next day. Good to his word, the barrel was on it's way.
The guarenteed 2nd day delivery via UPS usually takes three to four days if you are lucky.
Anyway, GM received the package, kept in house less than 24 hours and returned it to us in our original box.
Looked the barrel over and could not tell if anything had been done; no sign of a heli-coil at the vent. Too late to contact GM.
Called GM this morning and the pleasant lady (as always) reviewed her records; she remembered me. She said that the barrel had been inspected and no repairs were necessary. I stated it would have been nice if they had enclosed a note sayin so. She said they did. It was in the packing invoice envelope attached to the outside of the box. There was none. Of course!! Lost in shipping? Don't know and don't care. We have our barrel back and can finally give it a try!!
Best Wishs to you all!
Heard about their recall of one lot of barrels that may have faulty threads (at the point of entry for the vent liner or nipple) on this forum.
Sent them an email requesting info but no answer. Might have gotten overlooked in the weekend mail.
Called them but they close at 11:30am (my time). Left a message on the individual's answering machine who was handling this problem. No return call. We might have been on the computer and it sounded like no one was at home to them.
Called again the next day and got through to a very pleasant young lady who got another individual who was doing the inspection and repair work for the recall. To hopefully save everyone any needless trouble he broke out his records to see if it was even necessary for my barrel to be returned. Couldn't find my serial number listed and requested that he call us back in a few minutes. Murphyied again?
Good to his word, he called back and stated that his review of all of the barrels from TOTW (where we purchased ours) had been inspected/repaired/returned but our's had not been among those. Apparently our's had been sold/shipped a day or two before the notification and return to the factory by TOTW.
He said not to worry as they would make this as painless as possible. Did we have a local UPS office. No, it is a 250 mile trip for us but we do have local delivery. Ok, they would have a prepaid shipping label wired to us and the UPS guy would bring it when he came to pick up the package. All Right!
He transfered my call back to the young lady and she took down all of the necessary info. Things are in motion.
Of course we didn't have a box for shipment. In the spirit of cooperation, went outside and strapped on snowshoes for the mile and a half hike to my neighbor, whom I have not spoken to in a little over a year. It was too cold to start the pickup (-38 degrees below zero) without preheating. Our snowmachine doesn't have the deep paddle track required to handle the three to four feet of soft powder drifts on the trail. We had strong winds the previous five or six days and I had not had a chance to "repack" the trail. Of course.
Our neighbor had a suitable box and it was a nice and short visit. Off for home and no, it wasn't uphill both ways.
Next morning got the barrel all boxed up and proceeded to wait.
Three days later, called our local UPS guy and he had no knowledge of any shipping label.
A week has gone by sith still no word. So, called GM again and was assured they had submitted the necessary paperwork and not to be alarmed as sometimes it takes a little longer for the shipping labels to arrive at UPS locals.
Two weeks have gone by and still no pickup. Called UPS HQ and they state they no record of any such paperwork for me. And furthermore, they don't do business that way. Probably something to do with the way I explained it. And I did know enough to ask GM for the shipping number they assigned.
Called GM and they remembered me. Got through to a more senior lady and she said they would mail the label directly to me. Asked why they didn't do that two weeks ago as it would hve certainly saved a lot of time. Reply was that wasn't the way we do things, then. Because of problems encountered with some of their customers, there had been a change in policy. OK!
A week later a Priority Mail letter arrived. About average for interior Alaska. Called UPS and he promised to be out the next day. Good to his word, the barrel was on it's way.
The guarenteed 2nd day delivery via UPS usually takes three to four days if you are lucky.
Anyway, GM received the package, kept in house less than 24 hours and returned it to us in our original box.
Looked the barrel over and could not tell if anything had been done; no sign of a heli-coil at the vent. Too late to contact GM.
Called GM this morning and the pleasant lady (as always) reviewed her records; she remembered me. She said that the barrel had been inspected and no repairs were necessary. I stated it would have been nice if they had enclosed a note sayin so. She said they did. It was in the packing invoice envelope attached to the outside of the box. There was none. Of course!! Lost in shipping? Don't know and don't care. We have our barrel back and can finally give it a try!!
Best Wishs to you all!
