Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

First post by a long time lurker, It's great to be here!

Started on the investigation journey a couple of years ago and finally started construction this year using the Wyoming Woody plans as a guide. Being based in New Zealand has its disadvantages as some of the materials / parts just aren't available here. Purchased the hurricane hinge from TCTeardrops.com which arrived quickly and undamaged. The door was a different story however as upon opening the box in NZ it became apparent that something had gone wrong

Scuff marks and scratches on the actual door panel with the external door frame being bent / dented in three different locations, oddly enough looking like from three different impacts in different dimensions.


This is the damage to the bottom left section of the frame when looking at the door from the inside, also damage to the top left side of the frame and top centre section of the frame.

I've got claims open with the shipping company at the moment and have contacted Challenger Doors to see if they are able to sell me a replacement frame for the door.

One of the documents requested by the shipping company was a "Repair invoice from authorised repair agent or statement from a repair technician confirming non-repairable condition", I've been unable to provide given there is no one in NZ selling these doors let alone repairing them, This seems to have gone down OK with the shippers at the moment but if anyone has any ideas on how to address this I'd be open to suggestions.

The shippers say that it may take up to 8 weeks to process the claim and I've got no idea how its going to turn out, I may end up having to try and repair the door. I was wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue and if so how easy did they find the repair / are there any tips and tricks to offer?

Sheeeeeesh.....

statement from a repair technician confirming non-repairable condition

How about an autobody repair shop for the non-repair statement?

T

Hmm true, the ones that I've tried so far have all said that they wouldn't be able to do anything because of the profile of the frame, I suppose that getting a statement from them that they can't repair it is almost as good as getting a statement that its irreparable.

It's frustrating that we live in a world these days where its cheaper to replace than repair for a lot of items

Well my answer is... Repairable yes, however not to a like new condition. If I found that item locally with that damage for a good price yeah I'd take it and make it work. But for buying a new item and expecting new condition uh No.

Good luck with the insurance claim. I have had little luck but the shipper has more clout than you usually.

However... I can easily fly down to NZ and I could pack it up and check it as baggage...... That is if loml lets me go without her....

Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk

I had a very similar situation except for the location of the damage. i wrote the seller and asked for a refund and that the door be picked up and returned. The seller didnt want to pay for the cost of the return freight, I understood their point. The cost of the freight was almost equal to the cost of the door and then they would have a damaged door. I insisted that they give me a refund. They offered me a complete refund including the freight cost and said I could keep the door. The repair: I cut down a 2 x 4 to 2 inches and laid it under the frame as a sort of anvil. I used various lengths of sanded blocks to as a sort of buffer between the bent part of the frame and a rubber mallet. I started at one end and worked my way down the length of the damage. I suggest you keep sending emails and copy yourself on each one until you are satisfied with teh outcome.

As Greygoos said, I think I could repair that damage, tho not to 'new' status, & it would take lots more time & effort than would be financially feasible. I think I'd do as he says & keep a record of all correspondence with the shipper(s), & insist that I be 'made whole' & they either supply me with a new door, or pay the entire cost of the door & shipping. If you end up with the door 'as is' I'd spend whatever time & effort was required to make it usable... Unless your time is lots more valuable than mine, you'd probably not be building a teardrop anyway?

Don't be too hard on the seller. They did what they are supposed to. The shipper is the one to be tough with. Usually the seller will just re ship the item and handle the damage with the shipper IF they are a big enough company. If they are a small company then it's much harder for them to deal with the shipper.

Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk

May be light at the end of the tunnel, Contacted the manufacturer as opposed to the seller and it looks like I may be able to get a replacement frame from them, Then I only need to deal with the cosmetic damage to the door panel.

It sounds like this would work out to be a lot cheaper than any of the alternatives and so potentially a lot more appealing to the shipping company when it comes to resolving the insurance claim.

My main concern with starting to hammer the frame (even with wood blocks) is fatiguing the metal. Not entirely sure what the frame is made out of but have had trouble in the past bending aluminium one direction and then the other. I guess ill wait to see how things playout before attacking it (gently) with a hammer and blocks.

On the plus side the rest of the build seems to be going without too much trouble, (when time allows that is)

Just got an email from the manufacturer, I'm glad I was sitting down at the time...

They were still waiting on the final price for the replacement part but quoted $695 for shipping and packing

You have a PM

The shipped price quoted from the manufacturer was direct from the US to NZ? Ask them for a price to Portland, Oregon, for it may well be cheaper (less international paperwork) and then perhaps look at opening a YouPost account if you haven't already got one. I've saved quite a few 'shillings' on freight by using YouPost. It works very very well & I understand they are now handling larger items than they used to, like this.

Hi Dez,

When I was trying to find a way to get the door to NZ in the first place I looked at YouShop, have used them a number of times in the past for various smaller eBay items.
Unfortunately the dimensions of the box that Frank provided, when entered into their online price calculator, revealed that the box was about 2 inches too large in the length and height for NZ Post (as an aside when I reduced the dimensions to be the max that NZ post handled the pricing came out about $300 cheaper than UPS!!)

In the end MyUS who offer a similar service but are based in Florida were able to ship it to NZ (although it appears with not the best results) MyUS also have a few extra services that NZ post don't seem to offer with YouShop i.e fragile stickers for $3 High res photos for $6 etc. I did get the fragile stickers but guess I should have got the photos as well which may have helped narrow down when the damage occurred

Challenger have confirmed a price for the replacement frame and so just trying to confirm that the shipper will pay for the frame (thought that $150 for a new frame was a lot more appealing to them than paying out for the entire door)