Summary: Tom visits a Hyatt in Long Island to learn how Champion 4 toilets stand up to hotel use. Learn about valve improvements that deliver long-lasting performance.
TOM: Hi, I’m Tom Kraeutler, host of “The Money Pit,” and I’m here at the Hyatt Long Island, where American Standard’s Champion 4 toilet is making life a lot more pleasant for the guests and the staff by virtually eliminating clogs and overflows.
So Ron, we’re here in a guest bathroom at the Hyatt, and is this one of the new Champion 4’s you guys have installed?
RON: Yes.
TOM: Take me back to the beginning before you first heard about Champion. What kinds of problems were you having with your toilets here?
RON: Constant toilet backups and overflows and flooded guest rooms and bathrooms.
TOM: And how would that typically happen? Would a guest always know the toilet was overflowing and sometimes they’d flush and go? What would happen?
RON: Oftentimes, they’d flush the toilet and it would overflow, and then you would have the guest embarrassment and guest inconvenience. Sometimes the guest would flush the toilet and leave the room.
TOM: Now, I guess when that happens, they didn’t know it was overflowing, and the first time you guys find out about it is when?
RON: Oftentimes, it could be a leak that starts leaking somewhere and we start investigating and looking for the leak. It could go on for an hour or two or three.
TOM: Wow.
RON: A lot of damage is happening in that time. By the time you do find that it was a stopped-up toilet, overflowed toilet on the tenth floor of the hotel, it’s damaged everything below that.
TOM: Did you have to keep a lot of plungers on hand?
RON: Every floor had a plunger so it was readily available to run and grab the plunger out of the closet, go to a guest room, and unstop the toilet.
TOM: And so at that point, you made the decision to replace all the toilets here with the Original Champions?
RON: We renovated the hotel in 2005 and convinced management to replace the toilets along with the renovation.
TOM: Okay.
RON: And I’d seen the Champion model and really wanted to see that toilet in the hotel.
TOM: What was your initial experience with Champion once you replaced all the toilets?
RON: We had a few challenges with the flush towers coming apart.
TOM: And what was American Standard’s response to the problem?
RON: It was just as amazing as the toilet itself. They right away responded, showed up to the property, looked at the problem. And make a long story short, ended up with the Champ 4 model, which just far exceeds the original model.
TOM: And the water conservation? Was that important to the Hyatt?
RON: Yes, on Long Island the cost of the utilities is outrageous, so any opportunity to save cost, cut costs on utilities and conserve is very important.
TOM: So are you really happy with the Champion 4’s?
RON: I’m extremely happy with the Champion 4’s. The dependability of the flush mechanism far exceeds the previous model. There’s virtually no failure whatsoever.
TOM: Have you had the same problems with clogs and overflows?
RON: No.
TOM: And are you still keeping plungers on every floor?
RON: No. Not on the guest floors.
TOM: Big change. Right. And finally, has American Standard paid you to say all these great things about their products?
RON: No.
TOM: So here’s what we’ve learned about what it takes to make a Champion. First of all, the Champion 4 has the widest flush valve in the industry at four inches. It’s also got the largest siphon trapway. 2 3/8-inches means it’s going to be virtually clog-free.
It comes with a 10-year warranty on both the tank and the trim, and the ever-clean surface means it’ll be easy to take care of. The transitional design is also important. It’s got a clean, crisp look that’s going to look great in any house. I’m Tom Kraeutler, with “The Makings of a Champion.”
Leave a Reply