Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not exactly a mailbox, but it works, April 28, 2011
I have owned a wallmount dVault (with bottom, sold seperately) for several years now, and while "it works", this model's R&D has been neglected.
There are two places where mail will stick or wedge into seams or corners: the bottom vault (sold seperately) door, so the mail falls out onto the floor when the door was opened (I installed a wooden wedge to deflect the mail onto the vault floor).
The second hang-up is the transition between top of hopper and the bottom of hopper. This is not just a nusiance; it keeps the mail within grasp of anyone snooping in the mailbox (solved with another wooden wedge to deflect the mail over the transition).
The current dVault website indicates this unit has no provision (pocket) for outgoing mail. My unit doesn't; I use a binder clip to attach mail to the pull handle.
This unit also has no outgoing mail flag. I have had plenty of time to determine how to install one, and I have never figured out the details.
I also had trouble installing the fasteners to join the top and bottom(sold seperately) together. The flanges were too narrow, the (supplied) sheetmetal screws failed to hold (due to the narrow margins around the screw; I used small machine screws and nuts).
If you expect the unit to be marked "MAIL", you will be disappointed.
The hopper mechanism is somewhat sticky; I generously applied Vaseline at the assumed sticking points and the problem went away.
If I had to do it over again, I might lower my requirements and not pursue a thru-the-wall unit such as this one.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Difficult installation, but a good product, May 14, 2007
Ok, at the end of the day, we are very happy with this product. But it was a painful path.
First off, this big heavy box ships with ZERO instructions. Nada. You have to go to the dVault Web site, download a PDF, and print it out. Well, we happened to be at a site with no Internet and no printer. So that added a thirty-minute roundtrip home to the effort.
Then when you get the PDF, there are ZERO diagrams. Just vague text like "The wall-mount unit must be properly framed and anchored to the structure (proper framing may include the following: square, level, shims, etc)." Well, that "etc." included about four hours of work on our part, and we wound up drilling new holes in the sheet metal to make it all work.
(I'll shortcut it for you -- this is an easy unit to install for new construction. If you're knocking a hole in an existing brick wall, as we were, it's harder. If your studs aren't spaced on 16-inch centers, as ours weren't, it's SIGNIFICANTLY harder.)
And I wish they'd left the ugly barcode off the handle.
All that being said, the unit is solidly built, has gotten positive comments from our mail carrier, and I'm happy with it. But a little effort on dVault's part to communicate better would have gotten it that fifth star!
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