I contracted Thermal Advantage, Inc owned by Gene Applehans to install vinyl windows, a patio door and a new Garage Door on January 9. The salesman estimated the work would start on or around February 9 and would take no longer than (3) three days.
The insatllers showed up (4) four hours late and stayed well after 9:00PM finishing only 3 windows the first day. The second day they were again late and finished only 3 windows. One installer dropped my old patio door in the driveway and left broken glass and debris scattered all over. I had to go out the next morning and clean up the mess myself. They showed up on time the thrid day and "finished" the job, except for the Garage Door.
They asked me to sign the release form that the job was completed to my satisfation so they could get paid. I noticed that most of the caulking work, both inside and outside was not done professionally and told them the job was not finished yet and the Garage Door still needed to be installed.
Over the weekend some buddies came over. I showed them the windows and noticed that the installers had trampled my evergreen bush in the front yard and killed it. Eventually TA paid for the replacement of the bush - another example of shoddy workmanship.
Over the weekend, the patio door was "popping" and by Monday it did not fit into the track and wouldn't lock correctly. Thermal Advantage took (2) two more attempts to get the door measurements correct. When the second door arrived it was not correct either. Finally an installer from the Patio door company came out, measured the door, ordered it and installed it about 6 weeks later.
The installer came back later that week and said he'd repair all the caulking. When I came downstairs for some tea later on, I noticed that the caulking was a different color the the one requested. The installer said it would be OK, but I told him no!
The Garage Door was installed by Tim of Excel Door here in Denver. After the door was installed I noticed the lights (windows) were Clear Lites and not the Designer Lites (Royal Catedral) I had ordered. He said the order from TA indicated Clear lites. Before the salesman left I had him initial all the verbal agreements we had agreed to that were not on the signed paperwork. I called to speak with the salesman, but he had left the company. I told them about the Lites and they said they ordered what the salesman had written down. They argued that they were more expensive and I would be charged more ($800) for those Lites. Luckily I had the initialed document that proved the Royal Cathedral Lites were included oin the contracted price. Tim was a consumate professional. He ordered the correct Lites and replaced them about 5 weeks later.
To make a long story short, this went on for 6 months. The job was finally finished in early July - a lot longer than the (3) three days promised. I had to schedual a day off from work each time they had to come back for a total of (10) ten days.
The next issue of the $25.00/mo energy rebate is a joke. I explained that I had a $5.00/document duplication & mailing fee. I was told by the VP Larry Applehans that I could send in my energy bills via fax. The rebates come anywhere from 3 weeks to 2 months after I fax them in. I've called in every month only to leave a messgae. Eventually the check arrives, but they ignore my messages (I'm sure they return everyone else's message though).
In February I received a letter stating that all rebate requests would only be accepted by mail. I called TA and after several attempts I spoke with a Casey (an accounting clerk). I told her of my $5.00/document & mailing fee. She told me to send in the bills and she would take care of it. She also asked if I could provide TA with the past 13 months of bills for their 40% energy savings claim, to be paid in Feb- March. I told her the $5.00 fee applied for those bills as well. She said that they could do with what they had???
On May 18, I called TA and spoke with Casey. She stated that they would not pay the $5.00 document fee, they would not accept any faxes of energy bills because: "they ended up all over the office!" I told her: "it's not my jod to do your housekeeping!" She said that they wouldn't pay me the energy reabte as contracted because: "it states in your contract the bills have to be mailed in!" It only says "postmarked". I informed her that the VP, Larry Applehans, approved the faxed bills and a verbal agreement is binding in Colorado. She said that if I didn't mail the bills, I would receive no rebates. I told her: "fine, I'll just send it to collections then!"
Less than 5 minutes later my home phone rang, it was the owner of TA, Gene Applehans calling. He accused me of being petty and cheap and stated: "If you're so desperate for money, I'll send you a $100!" I told him: "It's not the money but the principle of the whole matter. Gene then went into a triade of how he has over 300 new customers every month and I'm the only one complaining. I couldn't get a word in edgewise so I told him to F_ _ K off and hung up!
Today is May 19 and I still haven't received the April energy rebate for April which I mailed on April 23.
I can't say enough about the efficiency of the Atrium windows - they are fantastic! If you're going to replace windows in your home I would call Atrium Windows here in Colorado and ask them to recommend any installer BUT Thermal Advantage, Inc or any iteration they become in the future.
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