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Posted: 6/16/2023 4:12:35 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Machine_Ruse][Edited]
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My daughter gets a great employee discount from Sportsman's Warehouse, and she bought me a new Liberty USA 30 safe for Father's Day. Sportsman's doesn't deliver safes, so I had to rent a U-Haul trailer and got it to my house on my own. I went to set it up the other day, and noticed the door had a lot of movement when closed and locked. I was already aware of the "security adjusters" that Liberty uses on the frame, so I tried adjusting them and it made no difference. Even with the adjusters at their maximum position, the door has a lot of excessive movement. While inspecting the safe further, I noticed the door wasn't hung straight and plumb. The door fits fairly square within the frame, but the top of the door leans way back. This is easily noticeable by looking at the front of the safe from the side. The 2D pic doesn't do it justice though, so I also placed a straight-edge across the top and bottom of the door. You can see the bottom is flush with the frame, but the top has over a ¼" gap. I called Liberty's customer service today, and their first response was to offer me an accessory from their website if I'll accept the safe "as is". I explained that I wasn't trying to get free stuff, and I just wanted a safe that didn't have any manufacturing defects. The internal hinges are obviously welded on in the wrong position. Liberty's response was that my choices are to either accept the free accessory offer, or to take the safe back to Sportsman's. Returning it to Sportsman's is not a good option for me for a few reasons, not the least of which is the cost and work involved in getting it back to the store. If my safe is "normal", then I guess I'll learn to live with it. With everything I'd been hearing about Liberty, and "USA Made", etc., I thought the premium price was going to mean better workmanship. |
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Originally Posted By ScoutH57: Is the safe actually level on the floor? Looks like it's sitting on a blanket in this pic from the OP (that doesn't want to show up for some reason). https://ibb.co/Yc8BMjZ Attached File |
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Originally Posted By ScoutH57: Is the safe actually level on the floor? It is level. I do have it sitting on a blanket at the moment, because I haven't made a final decision on where I'm placing it. Even so, I don't see how an issue with being level could create a difference between how flush the top and bottom of the door is. If the safe was tilting slightly, wouldn't the entire door would be effected evenly? |
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Originally Posted By NotIssued: Will SW allow you to trade it in the store for a different one? Did it look like that in the store? Personally I think it's not a big issue, but I suppose you could argue it'll make it easier to cram a crowbar into. SW doesn't have any others in stock, not too mention the added cost and hassle of me having to bring it back to the store. Liberty claims on their website that the reasons to properly adjust the "security adjusters" are to increase resistance to pry and wedge attacks, and to increase fire resistance. So it stands to reason that not being able to adjust them properly, due to the door not being plumb, means I do not have the maximum resistance that I should from this particular safe. Plus, just like the eye catches things that are out of square, your eye goes to things that are not plumb either. I can't stop seeing it every time I walk by the safe, but maybe that's the part of my brain being nit-picky 
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As long as the door opens/shuts without issue, I don't think it's worth swapping out. I'd take them up on their free accessory and be done with it. One could argue it might have an impact on the fire rating, but personally I don't put a lot of stock in fire ratings anyways. Your daughter gave you a very nice gift. I realize this isn't GD, but you also don't want to diminish the value of her gift by going to great lengths picking it apart. |
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Originally Posted By Thachman: As long as the door opens/shuts without issue, I don't think it's worth swapping out. I'd take them up on their free accessory and be done with it. One could argue it might have an impact on the fire rating, but personally I don't put a lot of stock in fire ratings anyways. Your daughter gave you a very nice gift. I realize this isn't GD, but you also don't want to diminish the value of her gift by going to great lengths picking it apart. Since I'm new to the forum, I didn't have enough characters left to explain in my original post why I didn't want to return it to the store, but what you just stated is the main reason I'd rather take care of this through Liberty directly. If I was to return it to the store, I'd have to go through my daughter to do that, which I don't want to do for the reason you stated. If I could have Liberty swap it out for one without this defect, my daughter would be none the wiser. Interestingly, Liberty also said they'd send some extra firestrip to fill the gap, which tells me the fire resistance is subpar in its current condition. Btw, what's "GD" stand for? |
| Customer Service and Quality control in this country is shot. I’ve lost a lot of faith in a bunch of companies the past few years. Personally, I wouldn’t hang up until I got to talk to someone higher up. |
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Can you put a small spacer (folded up paper, tape, something like that ) behind the door, close it (DON'T lock it with the locking bars yet) and see if it's flush? If so, if there's enough flex in the door that might cure the flush problem. NOW, will the lock bars work freely and not bind up? That would be the next problem if you turn the wheel and jam up everything IF that fixes the door maybe "sneak up" on it starting like it is, adding shim stock very slowly, checking the lock every time? Once you know something a certain thickness will fix the door and work it would be easy to make it from metal. Assuming a lot here, my safe isn't like that. |
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Originally Posted By Oldgold: Customer Service and Quality control in this country is shot. I’ve lost a lot of faith in a bunch of companies the past few years. Personally, I wouldn’t hang up until I got to talk to someone higher up. 100% agree. I could've gotten this level of workmanship from going with an imported safe. |
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