March 21, 2014 Cindy Gosselink Pella Corporation 102 Main Street Pella, IA 50219-2147 Dear Ms. Gosselink: We have not called our “local service team” to proceed with the quote for us to pay Pella nearly $9000 to repair our 2002 Pella ProLine windows. I contend that I appropriately contacted Pella during the windows’ warranty period. I was told to file under the class action lawsuit, that Pella could do nothing before the suit was settled. By the time I could file under the class action lawsuit, and it was settled, the warranty had expired. The third party arbitrator is bound by the terms of the settlement and could not make exceptions. The third party arbitrator did tell me that Pella could indeed make exceptions and offer warranty coverage without breaking any terms of the settlement. (Certainly the court would not go after Pella for extending an exception in our situation.) From your letter, the warranty should not be in effect for our house because we did not schedule a very expensive service call with our local service team right away. I have a copy of Pella’s warranty for ProLine windows. It states: “Limited Claim Procedure. Claims under these limited Warranties may be in writing to Pella Corp . . ., by calling for service at 800-374-4758, or by going to warranty.pella. Claims to Pella should include the following information: 1. Claimant’s name, address and phone number and the installation address (if different); 2. A description of the product, purchase price, and the date and location of purchase and copies of invoices; 3. The Pella serial number located on the insulating glass spacer or the unit identification number located on the lower left-hand corner of the glass (as seen from the inside); 4. A description of the product concerns (photos may be included); and 5. A brief summary of attempts made to address the concerns.” I have a copy of a Pella service order dated Friday, May 25, 2012, with the required information provided to Pella as stated in the warranty above. The warranty does not state that a service call MUST be placed, or any additional requirements to qualify under warranty. We had a contractor come to evaluate our windows before we filed under the class action lawsuit. He identified the problem as being a poor design that allows water to get under the metal cladding at the corners and get into the wood causing it to rot. He did not want to attempt repair and recommended we contact Pella again because there were too many windows for it to be an isolated problem. When we were able to file under the lawsuit, a few months had gone by. Pella service team told us they couldn’t do anything because of the class action suit. Because Pella couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to do anything, we filed a claim under the class action suit before the required deadline. We filed our claim in July 2013. We have busy working lives; it took a very long time to complete the 12-page Claim Form. I also provided copies from the contractor showing when windows were installed. I had to find documentation showing the cost of the windows ($20,000), copies of mortgage statements, and more. And, I took pictures of all of our windows. I had the more than 80 pictures printed and put on disc. They were provided to the arbitrator in photo pages, along with everything else. We received notification from the third party arbitrator that we qualified for special consideration from Pella. After that, a Pella Service Technician came to the house and inspected our windows. He placed an orange dot on all the windows that have damage. The local sales team sent us a quote for more than $8000 to replace the damaged windows. Today, I decided to get a count of bad windows so that we can see the percentage of bad windows to good windows. To your benefit, I only included the windows in the main living area -- the first and second floors of our house. This count, based on Pella’s inspection did not include an attic window, or the window above our front door. I photographed the windows with the dots on them, and without. This is what I have: Total Number With Dots (Damaged) % Damaged Windows No Dot (Acceptable) % Acceptable Windows Non-opening* 4 TOTAL 3 BAD 75% BAD 1 ACCEPTABLE 25% ACCEPTABLE Opening** 32 TOTAL 26 BAD 81.25% BAD 6 ACCEPTABLE 18.75% ACCEPTABLE Sliding Door 1 1 100% BAD - - • My terms for whether or not the window is stationary or can be opened. Ms. Gosselink, you must even be surprised because according to your letter, “Pella has always maintained this suit was without merit . . .” If you would like me to provide pictures, I would be more than happy to email them to you! The “non-opening” windows and sliding glass door were not part of the class action lawsuit, even though they have the same design flaw. Certainly these should be replaced under warranty without a battle from Pella. In summary, I want Pella Corporation to replace my damaged windows according to warranty, paint the inside casings to match the undamaged windows (or provide us reasonable compensation to have it done). I request that this be done within the next 30 days. Ms. Gosselink, I will not accept correspondence from you as the final determination. I ask you again -- I want a reasonable resolution for our Pella problem directly from either of the following people: Pat Meyer, CEO; or Elaine Sagers, VP Marketing and Customer Support. Thank you for your immediate action to resolve our Pella ProLine window problem to our satisfaction. Yours truly, Shawna Torangan Homeowner
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:45:12 +0000
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