Rust on Garage Door - Unfair Term in Ts and Cs?
Discussion
Hi all, I'll leave company names etc out. In June 2023, I had a new garage door installed by a company.
Upon installation, they sent me the Ts and Cs of the warranty. All good, standard one year stuff.
Fast forward to January this year, I notice some corrosion around the lock and on the bottom panel. It's swarf says the company, clean it off and it'll be fine. I did.
The corrosion is back, and it's now it's also in the spot welds behind the paint on the door. I've submitted a claim under the warranty but they appear to be trying to get out by using the following clause:
"CORROSION Doors situated in ‘high corrosive’ areas such as within 3 miles of the sea, or a large body of salt water are not covered for rust or corrosion of steel parts. Cleaning of the doors is especially important in these locations."
Now, I do live within three miles of the sea, but this clause was never pointed out to me directly at any point (yes I should've read it!) and I was only sent these after installation.
Would this, or should this clause be pointed out to a customer and is this unfair?
Upon installation, they sent me the Ts and Cs of the warranty. All good, standard one year stuff.
Fast forward to January this year, I notice some corrosion around the lock and on the bottom panel. It's swarf says the company, clean it off and it'll be fine. I did.
The corrosion is back, and it's now it's also in the spot welds behind the paint on the door. I've submitted a claim under the warranty but they appear to be trying to get out by using the following clause:
"CORROSION Doors situated in ‘high corrosive’ areas such as within 3 miles of the sea, or a large body of salt water are not covered for rust or corrosion of steel parts. Cleaning of the doors is especially important in these locations."
Now, I do live within three miles of the sea, but this clause was never pointed out to me directly at any point (yes I should've read it!) and I was only sent these after installation.
Would this, or should this clause be pointed out to a customer and is this unfair?
It is a reasonable clause.
Salt in the air from the sea can be incredibly destructive at around 3-5 miles from the shore. It still causes increased and accelerated corrosion at 5-10 miles, and can be detected causing lesser issues up to around 30-50 miles inland (depending on a lot of factors such as general wind direction, terrain, climate, etc)
Materials deteriorate and corrode at a hugely accelerated rate within 3 miles from the sea, so it is fair term.
What might not be fair, is the fact that they didn't specifically point this out to you when you were buying, although they will probably argue you should have read the T&C's in full before handing the money over.
Salt in the air from the sea can be incredibly destructive at around 3-5 miles from the shore. It still causes increased and accelerated corrosion at 5-10 miles, and can be detected causing lesser issues up to around 30-50 miles inland (depending on a lot of factors such as general wind direction, terrain, climate, etc)
Materials deteriorate and corrode at a hugely accelerated rate within 3 miles from the sea, so it is fair term.
What might not be fair, is the fact that they didn't specifically point this out to you when you were buying, although they will probably argue you should have read the T&C's in full before handing the money over.
Powerfully Built Company Directors Secretary said:
but this clause was never pointed out to me directly at any point (yes I should've read it!) and I was only sent these after installation.
How did you order?Phone, internet, visit by the company? If internet were the T&Cs available on the website but you just didn't read them? If phone or a visit did they not give you the T&Cs until after installation?
PistonTim said:
Dixy said:
Canon_Fodder said:
That's a reasonable clause
No its not, it is reasonable that the door does not start to corrode within such a short time. 
hidetheelephants said:
They won't warrant their doors installed within 3 miles of Teddington because of the fiercely corrosive atmosphere? My, what confidence they have in their product.
I have personally seen a 3.5 year old Porsche Boxster absolutely rotten underneath, and with rot starting to creep under the paint around all 4 wheel arches. The guy who had owned it from new lived on the coast, less than 1 mile from the shore, and the car was parked outside on his drive, not garaged, as it was his daily driver.Do not underestimate how quickly things corrode if you are within a couple of miles of the sea. It is horrendous.
I live a couple of miles from the sea.
A walk around the village is enough to know not to buy a steel garage door.
Maybe the question is, should the OP have seen this clause before buying?
You could argue the retailer who sold it is at fault as it's not really fit for the purpose once you know the address?
Or you could just get some jenolite and some primer etc....
A walk around the village is enough to know not to buy a steel garage door.
Maybe the question is, should the OP have seen this clause before buying?
You could argue the retailer who sold it is at fault as it's not really fit for the purpose once you know the address?
Or you could just get some jenolite and some primer etc....
hidetheelephants said:
PistonTim said:
Dixy said:
Canon_Fodder said:
That's a reasonable clause
No its not, it is reasonable that the door does not start to corrode within such a short time. The clause is acceptable, the time frame in which the corrosion has appeared is not. I work in the industrial cladding sector, all materials have a shorter warranty period if near the coast, even TATA Steel HPS200 Ultra and Prisma material has years knocked off the warranty. However, for a coated metal door to corrode in less than 12 months, is not acceptable, it suggests that either:-
Coating failure / not applied correctly
Coating damaged during installation
Coating damaged by customer
Cut/drilled edge not treated
Anything that allows salt water behind the coating, onto the steel will cause the corrosion. In industrial cladding, any site cuts must have the edges treated to prevent corrosion. If the garage door company have cut anything on site (formed key mechanism holes for example) and then failed to treat the cut edge prior to fitting the mechanism, this will cause premature failure.
How you prove all those though is nigh on impossible.
Coating failure / not applied correctly
Coating damaged during installation
Coating damaged by customer
Cut/drilled edge not treated
Anything that allows salt water behind the coating, onto the steel will cause the corrosion. In industrial cladding, any site cuts must have the edges treated to prevent corrosion. If the garage door company have cut anything on site (formed key mechanism holes for example) and then failed to treat the cut edge prior to fitting the mechanism, this will cause premature failure.
How you prove all those though is nigh on impossible.
Mont Blanc said:
hidetheelephants said:
They won't warrant their doors installed within 3 miles of Teddington because of the fiercely corrosive atmosphere? My, what confidence they have in their product.
I have personally seen a 3.5 year old Porsche Boxster absolutely rotten underneath, and with rot starting to creep under the paint around all 4 wheel arches. The guy who had owned it from new lived on the coast, less than 1 mile from the shore, and the car was parked outside on his drive, not garaged, as it was his daily driver.Do not underestimate how quickly things corrode if you are within a couple of miles of the sea. It is horrendous.
Powerfully Built Company Directors Secretary said:
Upon installation, they sent me the Ts and Cs of the warranty.
Technically...You could argue that you should have had sight of the small print before you signed the contract. But...
Practically...
Even if you had, you wouldn't have read it because nobody ever does!
In my experience nothing that's likely to go wrong is ever covered by a warranty. It's little more than marketing flim-flam designed to look good and close the deal.
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