Darko in Toronto

It's very unfortunate to receive a review like this from the customer you've tried to help going an extra mile every time.

First of all let's mention here that the sliding door was initially installed to replace a leaking double door (garden door or french door). Rotted wood was replaced and a new frame was built to install a new 5ft sliding door. Here is the customer's review from November 12, 2011 after the job was completed:

"Eugene and his team changed the old French door on my deck with a new sliding door. From the initial appraisal all the way to the completed job I found them to be very professional and knowledgeable. They were not rushing the job, they’ve spent ample time ensuring new sliding door is leveled and installed properly. In addition to door change, Eugene helped out with the water leak adjacent to the door – just to make sure the leak was not coming from the door."

Since November of 2011 we've installed over 50 sliding doors and we are using these doors (from the same manufacturer) for over 5 years, hundreds were installed by us and thousands by other companies. We had no service calls for the sliding doors ever, that's the first case.
I’ve been working in the industry for 10 years now and I can assure anybody that the sliding doors we use - are one of the best designed and built doors on the market. Alex, our installer who did the job, has over 15 years of experience in installation of windows and doors and he would definitely confirm my statement.
Obviously when we received a service call from the customer, we had to come and check the issue. Usually the leak might be coming from the suds, defective caulking or insulation, but not from the door itself. The materials and the whole door are designed to last a lifetime therefore there was no way that something could happen to it in half a year time.

I am "the guy" who came to check the leak which apparently was on the side of the fixed panel (sometimes the source is elsewhere and the water travels along the stud), so I opened the panel to see if there is any problem there. No cracks or any physical damage were found, however we could see some drops of water coming down on the wood frame underneath the door threshold while pouring the water with the hose from outside.

Customer asked for a brand new door, however since I couldn’t find any visible defects in the door:
a) I was going to find out from the manufacturer if there were any similar issues/cases with the door frames and if the full replacement is required to fix the issue. – There were no similar issues reported
b) On the other side I wanted my installer to check framing and insulation again and find the actual source of the problem. - The second inspection never happened since after multiple requests from the customer we’ve got him a brand new door to change the “defective one”.

On the day of installation my installer came later than planned since that was his second installation. After checking the door he couldn’t find an issue with the door again, but he did found a huge amount of water under the door step that was covered with the roof membrane. He tried to explain to the customer that so much water couldn’t come from any leakage in a door frame and actually couldn’t come from anywhere above the door threshold since the door was sitting on top of the membrane. He didn’t see any point in changing the door since it would be a waste of his time and customer’s time which wouldn’t fix the problem anyways. Customer didn’t want to hear any explanations he just wanted the new door to be installed and the leakage stopped.

By the way, during the discussions customer also mentioned the repairs/replacements done to the roof and the siding in the same wall with the sliding door, that work was done after the door was installed (let’s assume there are not issues there… in other case none of it would make any sense at all). It looks like the whole area was problematic since the day it was build (complements to the builder), which is unfortunately a common story for many homeowners.

Anyways, after all the disputes and discussions my installer decided to finally change the door trying to find the actual source of the leak in the process, but it was already too late and too dark outside. My installer left asking the customer to reschedule the installation with the office… Instead of the rescheduling call we’ve got this “nice” review.

Well, I can understand the frustration and the stress of the home owner going through all this, it did take a lot of time and effort to get where they are and at this point the problem is still not resolved. But on the other side we always are willing to help and to do everything we can to make the customer happy and to fix any issues concerning our products or installation. Sometimes it does take more time than the company or the customer would want to, but there are reasons to that. The most important is that we don’t stop until the issue is resolved and the customer is 100% satisfied (there are many references to support this statement). We already did more than just a standard patio door installation for $1300, however we are still willing to do more, to help the customer as much as we can, to get the issue resolved (help is the key word here since there is a lot of extra work involved at no extra cost!). But “the customer is always right”, so if our help is no longer needed we wish them all the best and the best of luck to find “the professional company” to satisfy their needs.