Dan's Garage Door Blog - Archive – Customer Input

From time to time DDM Garage Doors hits upon ways to assist our customers with cost savings when they order garage door springs or other parts.  One such experience came recently when one of our customers ordered springs. We had him consider converting from longer 1 3/4″ springs to shorter 2″ springs, while maintaining mechanical integrity.   This saved the customer over $6.00, as the 2” springs fit in a large flat rate box.

We will be back with more ideas to help you save on garage door parts.

DDM Garage Doors recognizes and appreciates La Grou Distribution for its business and loyalty over the years.

Chicagoland warehousing and distribution services from La Grou roll on since 1964.  Notable among La Grou’s logistics prowess is many years of helping facilitate the summer favorite, “Taste of Chicago,” which sees millions of visitors annually from the US and even abroad.

La Grou counts DDM Garage Doors a friend in their ongoing drive to supremacy in the distribution warehousing market.  Aided by DDM’s parts and training, the garage doors of the Chicago area-based food distribution firm have been consistently and effectively maintained through this mutually beneficial relationship.

Building manager Roy O’ Donnell of La Grou Properties, which oversees the West Chicago facility, first found DDM’s supply catalog in the mid-1990s, and gave Dan Musick a call.

Dan initially came out and trained Roy’s staff in the maintenance and repair of their 48 sectional and overhead doors.  The distinctive and careful training approach worked well for the technicians.  Since then, armed with the trusty catalog, Roy ably does job estimates and orders garage door tracks, cable, springs and more parts on a regular basis, thereby keeping more doors in shape for longer periods.  This is no small benefit, given the number of garage door repairs that may crop up in a busy dock environment.

Also compelling for Roy is timely and accurate parts order fulfillment.  Eventually, other La Grou locations began purchasing parts from DDM, and receiving them via transfer from the West Chicago facility in addition to direct ordering.  And all has been received in a cost-effective way that encouraged repeat ordering and a trusted business relationship.

But most important to Roy is the personal angle.  He remarks that Dan “put a face with the name.”  This refers to the thorough in-person training and follow-up Dan provided to help keep La Grou’s garage doors smoothly operational.

And indeed the forging of this business relationship has furthered Dan’s passion for the garage door industry, and helping people in it.

Here’s to La Grou as we both roll into the future!

We frequently get calls from people around the country who have been swindled by dishonest garage door companies. Richard Kinch has exposed the tactics unscrupulous door companies use to rip off customers.

If you have been a victim, or if you would like to check out one of these companies before doing business with them, I suggest you check out www.ripoffreport.com.

DASMA, the garage door industry trade organization, also exposes unscrupulous door companies at times. You can search door companies in their search engine.

Another way to check out a company is to check with the Better Business Bureau.

One final way to check out a company is to do a Google search, including the city or state. If a company has been charging exorbitant prices or performing shoddy work, comments about them will often show up on message boards.

I am not a lawyer, but I do share my opinion at times. This is a response to Karen’s question on a guestbook entry dated June 12, 2007.

Karen,

I am sorry you have had the problems with your door. Whenever I replace springs, I try to avoid some of the difficulties you have had, but it is not always easy.

First, I normally recommend replacing both springs. If the customer is not home, however, and no one is there to authorize replacing both springs, I only replace one. Otherwise, the customer is under no obligation to pay for the other spring. The company did the right thing.

Second, I always check to make sure the spring anchor bracket is secure. Yesterday, however, I replaced springs on a door where the base of the bracket had been covered with drywall and painted. What should I have done? I bet that it will last. If it doesn’t last beyond the warranty period, I would not charge to repair it. Otherwise, I would charge to repair it. Who would pay for the drywall repair if I had ripped it off to check the anchor bracket? I would be more likely to end up in court if I had checked the bracket.

Third, when the company gave you the wrong springs, it would have been better to have returned both sets of springs to the company and let them give you the correct springs. I would have appreciated the same courtesy. A judge might still ask the first company to give you the correct springs.

Fourth, you wrote that the second company said the spring that broke looked used. Did they put that in writing? Would the service man who was there be willing to state that in court? A judge needs hard evidence. To be perfectly frank with you, I’m not sure I can recognize a used spring, especially if it has been up over a year. I recently ran into a conflict with a customer because I recommended replacing only one spring because the other looked new. A few months later the “new” spring broke. I did the right thing for the right reason, but I was wrong.

Fifth, it is common for doors to have different size torsion springs. Many manufacturers, installing door companies and service companies do this for a variety of reasons. Whenever I do it, I wind the springs so they have the same cycle life. Having different springs would not cause the spring bracket to come loose and bend the shaft.

I wish you well in your efforts to resolve this.

Thank you for your kind comments about our instructions.

Dan

In our attempts to help customers order the correct springs we often suggest they e-mail us photographs of their doors and spring assemblies.

The picture below sent by Dave Schmid impressed me enough to post it here. A collage like this has to be worth many thousands of words. Thank you, Dave, for this creative contribution!