This is to inform home owners interested in purchasing replacement home windows about one couple's experience with a Northern Virginia firm, CONSUMER CONSTRUCTION, INC.
In June 1999, Consumer Construction, Inc., Woodbridge, VA 22191,
703-491-0745,
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furnished and installed 13 ea. replacement vinyl windows, Carefree brand, with Low E glass and argon gas. Cost: $4,200.
Initially my wife Robin and I were generally pleased with the product, however one double-hung unit toally filmed over within three years on the inner (sealed) surfaces. Those surfaces cannot be cleaned.
We left several phone messages with Consumer Construction, Inc. (hereinafter called the "company') but received no response. In June
2004, we sent the company an e-mail mesage via its e-mail response line. A male from the company phoned and agreed to inspect the window, but never showed up.
We subsequently contacted the Better Business Bureau (BBB) of Greater Washington, D.C. (202-393-8000,
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which made contact with the company. A company representative came to our house in May 2005, and found that nine (9) windows had some degree of filming due he said to "inner moisture."
The company agreed to contact the manufacturer to obtain an on-site inspection, but a few weeks later, it was determined by the company that the manufacturer of Carefree brand windows had gone bankrupt and out of business. The company subsequently told us that it, therefore, would not replace at no cost any of the filmed windows, since the manufacturer was no longer in business. "I am at a dead end," we were told by the company manager, Mr. Mitchell.
We went back to the BBB with this information; the BBB agreed to try to arrange for arbitration of our case, but were met with silence on the matter. The case remains in an unresolved category.
To summarize my wife's and my position, we believe that, at a minimum, Consumer Construction, Inc. should be willing to replace at no cost the two windows that are completely filmed over, especially since the company's own inspector remarked, "You don't need blinds for these [filmed windows]."
Consumer Construction's position is unacceptable to us, as customers, and we believe it fails to meet standards of responsible business practice as well. Consumer Construction SOLD us windows that failed; THEY bear primary responsibility for resolving this case to our satisfaction. The company's position is like a food market telling a customer to go to the farmer who raised the steer from which a spoiled cut of meat was originally obtained!
(It would be interesting to know how many of the company's other customers have incurred problems such as ours.)
Ken Spalding Dale City, VA