So I return from my business trip to Kronberg and London to a leaky kitchen faucet. The leak was a slow leak that only drips when the faucet is in use. Fortunately Linda noticed the damp rag in the cabinet -- otherwise, the cabinet could have been ruined which would result in some serious $$$ to repair. The faucet is a Grohe Ladylux Plus which was brand new with the house (installed ~2005) and has a lifetime warranty. Since the leak only happens when in use, I figure it had to be something in the mixer. I took the handle off and then removed the housing that covers the cartridge. The mixer plating flaked off resulting in a poor seal with the o-rings on the ceramic mixer cartridge. I called Grohe customer and tech support and they refused to send a replacement. In fact the guy in tech support was a jerk about the whole thing. I argued with him that since the faucet has a lifetime warranty, why do i need a proof of purchase since having the faucet should be proof. He did not agree. It got to the point where Linda and I decided to go buy a different faucet brand.
Fortunately, Linda and I went shopping for a new faucet at Ferguson who is also a Grohe dealer. After explaining the situation(that it is not good to be drinking and cooking with water from a faucet that has flaking internal plumbing parts) to a saleslady, I sent pictures of the defective mixer to her, and she worked it with Grohe to replace the entire faucet. This saved us $700+ !
So I highly recommend Ferguson for your next kitchen or bath remodel. They have really nice stuff and their salespeople are top notch.
Since I spent a big chunk of Monday taking the old faucet apart and removing it from the sink, installing the new faucet was a snap (completed in under 30 minutes !).
