On May 31 of this year, a tornado hit the house of one of my customers.
It broke out numerous windows, all of which are Pellas.
The “new” rep for the area came out during the next week. He was new to Pella, so had some learning to do.
He had a service technician come with him to measure the windows as he was not familiar with all of the nuances of the windows.
Long story short, we still do not have all the replacement window sashes and screens that we ordered and have already paid for.
The order, once it finally came, was only about half there. Some of the windows and screens were not even the right size. We will still have to wait till the 17th of November for them to even show up in Michigan. Then we have to find a way to get them here as soon as possible.
The homeowner is not very happy. It has now been 5 months, and she still has plywood over one of her windows, as well as windows with the outside pane broken and screens ripped.
Anyone else having this much trouble with Pella?
Thanks for your input,
Bryan
“Objects in mirror appear closer than they are.”
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio – just south of the Glass City
Replies
Just wondering, how old are the windows?
If I recall right the newer pella's have a code in the glass that helps in re glazing, that's if there is any glass left.
The late model Pella's, not an EZ window to re glaze.
Some of the windows are only three years old. We received the sash for one window, but did not get the two screens.
Some of the windows were installed in 1994. The sashes we received for those windows were about 5 inches too wide. They did get the screens right, although they fit very tight.
The other windows have the code on the glass, but the first tech did not remove the label from over them. We didn't even receive those sashes or screens.
Some of the other windows were installed about two years ago. I think they got those correct.
The homeowner had paperwork for some of the windows, and they still couldn't get them right.
Now, last word we heard today is that the replacements will be in Auburn Hills on the 17th. They will be delivered to the house on the 19th, 20th, or 21st. The tech bringing them will be installing them. The homeowner was told she will get $100 for her efforts. She has been the one calling the home office and complaining. I had been trying to just go through the local salesman. Perhaps my mistake.
I had also paid for the sahses to be primed, which cost over $300. They did not prime any of the ones they have delivered so far. The local salesman said he would get me a credit for that, but I have yet to see it. Believe me, I will get it, and more if possible, since they have had my money for a few months now.
Bryan"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio - just south of the Glass City
Bryan, I was ready to pipe in here when I read the title of the post. Surprised it was from you.
WE, used to have fine customer service when it was local don't you think? Now that they're in Mi. the new ownership bites.
No good records like b/4.
No one you can get a straight story from.
and I'm still waiting on a 7 week try to get it right, second fixed sash replacement for a 14 y.o. casement.
That's about it for me.
A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
Edited 10/31/2008 10:06 pm ET by calvin
Funny, I had you in mind when I tempered my language ion last post and didn't flame them too hard. almost wrote a line, "But Calvin has good luck with them...";)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
It's like anything else Paul, times change and in this case so did the ownership of the distributor. Can't believe it's Pella Corp that runs the operation here (in Mi.) now, but if it is.......they have more problems than china has rice.
Believe me-b/4 the change you couldn't hardly find a more forthcoming and responsible operation.
#### me.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
far be it from me to correct your spelling, Cal, but "screw me" has five #s;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Cal,
Ours was recently taken over by Pella as well. Hence, the reason for the new salesman.
Bryan"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio - just south of the Glass City
Bryan, I was never sure if it was a Pella operation or another distributor from up north.
Believe me-well, you already know.
This Sucks.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/
I stopped using Pella over 10 years ago because of the poor service.
Now its either Marvin or Andersen.
I had some Pella windows damaged during shipping. The glass in a couple sashes was broken when I received them.
It took forever to straighten things out.
Maybe some other districts have better service. But the branch here lost my business because of that.
Been that way around here for about 10 yrs also. About the time they came out with the Pro Line, not that has anything to do with it, or does it?
Sounds like Pella has some customer relations damage control to take care of. Bad news for a big long time reputable product like that. OUCH. That is going to hurt them big time if they don't get their act together.
I think a big source of their problem is the way they structure the employment package and profit sharing system.Everybody from sales, the production to delivery and tech help on your order is computer collected as part of a "Team" to encourage them all to work together to see that you get what you want on a timely basis.Then sometime 30-90 days after you receive your delivery, you will get a free T-short and a questionair survey to indicate how happy you are with the product. I you score them below about 97% or whatever,the WHOLE TEAM looses their bonus on that order. Further, if the team rating falls below a certain level quarterly, they miss their bonuses on all jobs for the entire quarter. It instills some peer pressure within the group.The failing when it comes to the customer's POV, though is when you have a problem AFTER you have signed off as a happy camper. Then there is NO incentive for them to do a thing to please you.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Funny you mention about a rating.
I did receive a questionare, but I didn't do anything with it yet.
Part of my order were new doors and a window, and a couple of storm doors. And I had yet to receive the rest of the order.
By the way, my rep said they are discontinuing storm doors because they have had too many service issues with them. At the rate they are going, they might as well just close down the whole company.
Anyway, if they were to get a rating from me, it would be very low. If they got a rating from the homeowner, it would probably be a big fat 0.
Bryan"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio - just south of the Glass City
my last order with them was a whole house, about four-five years ago. We did not get screens on doors from them because luckily their own rep clued me that they were junk.On one custom sized door, the first one was warped like crazy - like cupped almost an inch in six feet. so they re-made it. The second one had the wrong muntin pattern. They used their default instead of my custom layout. Oh, and it was 2" too short! They tried again. This time the door was two inches too short again.I finally figured out for them why they were doping that wrong. In my original order, this door was 2" shorter, then the next day, I discovered a way to fit in a taller door, called to delete that door from the order, then place a new order for that door. They were re-building based on the original canceled size instead of referring to what they had actually built and delivered. This froma company who brags about how well theyuse computers to do all their thinking for them to increase effeciency and time.OK, so now I am waiting for the fourth door to go into this jamb. The people are moving in in a couple weeks - so they show up one more time.
This time the door is the right size, the muntin pattern is right, there is no warp to it...But wait - the order called for NO knob cutout ( I was using special hardware) but this final door came with their own hardware mortised in. All the previous panels had been right on that detail!I went ahead and accepted it and made it work.Now since the landscapers were still making dist with stirring the dirt, I kept the screens in boxes in the basement for protection, and forgot about them. Bad on me. When the owners called in August wondering where the screen are, I apologize and say no problem. Be right over and have them all in in a couple hours...Guess again!The key clips to snag them into place - they were all in the wrong place. Slots in window frame were like four inches away from where the clips were on the screens.
And six of the screens were like a half inch too wide and an inch too short at top for the window.In a series of calls I spent hours trying to get them to make this right and even understand what the problem is. He admits they had changed a process and so the screens would be easy to retrofit by using a slot cutter or biscuit cutter on the frame in place.So I say, fine, when can you get out here and do that?"Listen Mac, if you think I'm going to make a trip all the way out there just to do that for you..."Up until then, I was patient and willing to work with them inspite of the long list of problems they had created.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
That parallels my experiences with them.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Our local Pella store, Prairie Pella, (not owned by Pella Windows as is standard) has great service, one call to my rep and any issues are dealt with.
Seems the key just like with every product, is the local dealership and how they handle support
Are they still locally owned? Or, hsa Pella taken them over as well?
You might want to check.
Bryan"Objects in mirror appear closer than they are."
Klakamp Construction, Findlay, Ohio - just south of the Glass City
Bryan,I work with my local "Pella Window Store" which is Prairie Pella Inc. ... my understanding is that it is separate from the Pella Corp. Prairie gives us very good service before and after the sellWhen I use Pella windows for a job I try very hard not to order them from big boxes.Full disclosure is that Pella Corp is about a hour SE of where I live. Don't know if that helps us or notEagle windows main plant is also very close and Windsor and Shelter windows are in town, so we have a full spectrum of windows to choose from locallyhope everything works out with your situation
Barry E-Remodeler
I'm in the metro Detroit area. We had one problem with a Pella window back in 04. They came out right away and fixed it.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
Our local didn't get bought up by a Mi. concern till maybe a yr and a half ago. Not sure it's Metro proper either. If so, be forewarned.A Great Place for Information, Comraderie, and a Sucker Punch.
Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
http://www.quittintime.com/