How Do Clearance Tubs Work: The Defect, Photos, Payment and Pickup?

A clearance or open box unit is a tub or shower that came back to the Chicago warehouse and is fully functional with a minor surface flaw, such as a small scratch or dent, and each listing describes the damage on that specific unit. Before you decide, the team can show you the flaw over live video chat and send you images of it, the unit is paid in full on its confirmation invoice rather than held on a deposit, and once the invoice is paid you can collect it yourself or send your own carrier to the Roosevelt Road facility. Can I put a deposit on a clearance tub and pick it up myself? covers the payment and pickup half; this page adds what the defect actually is, how to see it, and what the listing's warranty line means once the tub is in your bathroom.

What the Defect on a Clearance Tub Usually Is

Clearance and open box units are tubs and showers that came back to the warehouse. They are fully functional, and the flaw is cosmetic: a small scratch, a dent, a blemish or an off color shell. One current listing, for example, notes acrylic damage on the tub deck that will not affect the tub's performance. Cosmetic marks are not modified, refinished or repaired before the unit leaves, because clearance and fixed units are sold as configured and are never changed or upgraded. The original warranty still applies to a regular clearance unit, except for the damaged or repaired surface area, and some listings carry their own warranty line that governs instead of the standard terms.

One category is different. A unit labeled Handyman Special has a door leak that is a manufacturing defect, cannot be repaired, and is not covered. It is sold as is for shower style use, where a shower screen is fitted and the door never needs to hold water. My Clearance Tub Was Sold With a Door Leak. Can It Be Fixed? explains how to tell the two categories apart from your listing.

The difference matters because a leaking door on a Handyman Special is a permanent condition you accepted, while a leaking door on a regular clearance tub is a normal leveling or seal check that your installer can correct. Read the listing carefully before you call, and keep it with your invoice.

Seeing the Flaw Before You Commit

1. Note the serial number on the listing you are interested in, and read the damage description and look at the listing photos and video. Cosmetic marks are judged from those photos, since the unit is not refinished.
2. Call (800) 480-6850 with that serial number. The agent can show you the unit over a live video chat and send images of the issue so you fully understand the defect.
3. Ask which warranty line applies to that unit, whether the original warranty less the damaged surface area or a stated limited parts warranty, and have it confirmed on the paperwork.
4. Confirm the configuration: door side, drain side, faucet and therapy package. A clearance unit is sold as configured and cannot be modified or upgraded, so what you see is what arrives.

Paying for a Clearance Tub

Ella's Bubbles does not take deposits or partial payments on any walk-in tub order, and a clearance unit is no exception: it is paid in full on its confirmation invoice before it is released. If you are waiting on funds, the team's advice is to place the order rather than wait, because the confirmation invoice can sit until you are ready to respond to it. For a tub that already exists in the warehouse, ask directly whether that particular unit can be held on an unpaid invoice, because clearance stock changes and availability is confirmed for each order rather than promised. If you need to spread the cost, financing is the route rather than a deposit, and Deposits and Partial Payments on a Walk-In Tub Order explains how a proposal, a confirmation invoice and payment fit together.

Collecting the Tub or Sending Your Own Carrier

Once the invoice is paid, you can pick the tub up at the warehouse and production facility at 2700 W Roosevelt Rd, Chicago, IL 60608, Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM Central, or have a freight carrier you arrange collect it there. Nothing is collected at the corporate office on South Carpenter Street. Tell the team you plan to pick up or send your own carrier before the order is finalized, so the shipping line is recalculated for pickup, and confirm the revised paperwork before payment is processed. The warehouse has loading docks and pickups are loaded by forklift, so a carrier you arrange does not need liftgate service; Do You Need Liftgate Service, and Can Shipping Be Recalculated Without It? explains the service levels.

• Call before you drive. The team confirms when the unit is tested, packed and ready and agrees a pickup time.
• Choose the vehicle from the shipping size and shipping weight printed on the model's spec sheet, not the tub's actual size, since the crate leaves as one unit.
• Bring helpers, ratchet straps and moving blankets. A crated walk-in tub is heavy and awkward.
• Inspect at the dock as you would at a delivery: crate condition, door side, drain side, therapy package and the accessory boxes inside. Compare the cosmetic mark against the listing photos while the unit is still at the dock.
• Keep the crate upright and the packaging on until the tub is in the bathroom.

Picking Up in Chicago: Arranging Pickup of a Tub, a Replacement Part, or a Returned Shower Unit at the Roosevelt Road Facility has the full pickup routine. If you have the unit shipped instead, inspect it on arrival and report any freight damage to the team within 48 hours of receipt, keeping all packaging material.

After the Tub Is in: When a Leak Is and Is Not the Defect

On a regular clearance tub the door should seal. If it leaks after installation, that is almost always leveling, a seal flattened in shipping, or weight on the door, not the cosmetic flaw you bought. Have your installer confirm the tub is level with every leg touching and no gap under any leg, clean the seal with rubbing alcohol and reshape it by hand if shipping flattened it, keep all weight off the door, then fill to the seat and watch for 20 minutes. If it still leaks after those checks, open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support with your invoice, the listing, and photos of the leak, and the team confirms the part under the warranty line on your listing; a local licensed plumber does the labor. On a Handyman Special the door leak is the disclosed defect and will not be repaired or covered, so that unit belongs in a shower screen installation from the start.

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