Had an awning installed by this company a few years ago. Crank broke, for about the fourth time so phoned for a new one. Also asked if they could look at one part that the crank goes into. The crank is the hook used to open and close the awning. Workers showed up the next day which we were very thankful for. After that, it went downhill quickly. Two workers showed up with the older one being in charge. Tried, attempted to tell him what was going on but we were told he would figure it out on his own. Came in and showed us a part that needed replacement but told us it would be under warranty. We looked out again and he is now on the other side of the awning where we have never had a problem. Next there is a loud crash and our awning is hanging at a weird angle. The one worker is laughing and the older one looks scared stiff looking into our window. After a few minutes of us asking questions he came in and said the arm broke, his fault and its under warranty. A few minutes later he tells us the arm broke, the chain inside broke and he is not sure if it is under warranty. Never had a problem with the arm in the years we have owned it, he uses it once and it breaks. Also, now says its not his fault. Phoned the office to get answers, wait a day for a reply and spoke to Gail. A very rude woman. Told us the price of repairs, about $1500 worth and we said we were not going to pay for something her worker broke. Gail tells us her workers have never broken anything ever. Wow. Then hangs up on us. So your workers break an awning arm, laugh about it and the boss hangs up on us. We were not angry, rude, just trying to explain our end. Now trying to find out who is above Gail but having no luck, what a surprise.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,500.00
- Company Response
There are always two sides to every story. This is a good one, but not completely accurate. Our crew was not touching the arm when it broke on its own. The crew thought the awning from the customers own recollection was in its fifth year, which would be under warranty no matter what the cause. But upon review of our records it was a full six years. One complete year past warranty and therefore there would be a charge for replacing it and the service call.
The "Laughter" was not making light of the situation from the less experienced crew member, but of how odd/strange for the awning arm to break on its own. The "scared" reaction of the other more experienced crew member was his awareness of the potential harm that could have come to them when they were working on, and their attention focused on another area of the awning.
From our experience with this type of awning arm failure, it is the result of the awning being left out and exposed to severe weather or to customer/patron abuse at some earlier point. The awning arm is always under a constant internal tension that is part if its function which can fail without any warning well after the initial event/abuse. By design, it does not fail on its own and our crew were not touching the awning when it failed with the shearing at the awning knuckle and not a failure of the tensioning chain itself that again from our decades of working with this product points to some earlier stress to the arm. We stand behind our knowledge in this case over the customers perception of events.
We have been in business since 1945 with thousands of awnings installed and on very rare occasions there are issues. However this is a case where the customer is not always right. Gail is the owner of the company as he was informed during his less than polite phone conversation with her that did result in her hanging up on him. Yes, it could have been handled better by both ourselves and by the customer. The customer in this case has turned to the internet to express their disappointment which is his right.
We will stand behind our well earned reputation from the last seventy-one years in business. Two bad reviews in the last eight years is very unfortunate and also speaks volumes to the thousands of silent satisfied customers.