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Review 2/4/2011
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We were introduced to United Home Improvement Centers through their booth at the L.A. County Fair in Sept. 2007. We signed a contract 9/29/07 for a non-retractable awning with installation promised to begin 10/29/07. Dan Golka said the "installation people will call you before then to set it up". Having heard from no one by 10/24/07, I started trying to reach Dan, usually just getting the voice mail. When Dan did finally return my call he said there were fabric manufacturing delays "so it might be a couple more weeks". Dates came and went. Our phone calls usually met with voice mail, with days before calls were returned. Dan always had some tale of woe--weather delays, changed manufacturer, etc. The awning was finally delivered and installed in mid-January 2008! It appeared to be a quality product and we were satisfied until Oct. 2010 when, after a moderate wind episode, the awning came apart. The fabric was intact but the thread, rotted due to sun and moisture, unraveled in major sections. I called UHIC to inquire if the fabric warranty included the stitching. I also, remembering the customer service problems from the initial installation, decided to keep a log of all contact with UHIC. I left messages over 3 days and it was nearly a week before Dan called back saying Grant, the installation guy, would be out on 11/13/10 to inspect it. Grant showed up when promised and said Dan would contact me after the weekend with a decision. I was finally contacted 11/17/10 by Dan. He said the stitching wasn't part of warranty. He also said they would not get good results from re-stitching the awning and we should just replace the entire fabric. So I signed a new contract 11/18/10, paying a $1029 deposit, with promised installation by 12/18/10. Dan said Grant would be by "in the next week to take down the old fabric to use as a template". Beginning 12/6/10, after no contact from anyone in the previous 2 weeks, my wife and I started alternating in making calls to the office, always reaching just voice mail. On 12/12/10, Blake (Dan's brother?) called--"we're way behind but Grant will be there 12/13 to take down the canvas and the new one will be ready a week after that". No show 12/13/10. Blake called late that day--"installer behind and needs to reschedule for 12/14/10 between 12:00-3:00 PM". At 3:30 PM, my wife called office and left message re Grant's no show again. That evening, Grant called and told my wife he had left message with office that morning to contact us that he wouldn't make it--"I didn't know no one came in the office all day". He requested we leave the gate unlocked and he'd come by at 9:00 on 12/16 to get the canvas down and said the new one should be ready by 12/22/10. My wife agreed but demanded he give her his cell phone number. No surprise, no show on 12/16. Grant called late that day stating weather and safety issues prevented him from taking down fabric and wanted to reschedule to 12/20/10, "weather permitting". That didn't happen and the fabric was finally taken down on 12/30/10 and the new one promised for 1/7/11. My wife or I left messages each day 1/10/11-1/12/11 requesting a call from anybody with a status report. My wife called 11/13/11 and caught Blake in the office. He told her the projected installation would be 1/20/11. No one called until my wife called Blake on 1/20/11. This time he told her "it is definitely scheduled for 1/28/11 and Grant will call you before with the time". No contact, so my wife called Grant's cell the morning of the 27th, leaving a message. She called again the next morning and Grant returned the call later in the day. He told her he wasn't even in town and he wasn't scheduled to do an installation for us on the 28th. He said "your fabric isn't ready because the seamstress had a health emergency last week and had some surgery. I won't know until I get in on Monday if they got another seamstress". Then he told her "Blake gets flustered talking to customers on the phone and will just tell them anything to get them to go away. I will call you to schedule installation." He promised her he would call Monday, Jan.31 with a status report. Monday-Wednesday came and went without contact. So yesterday, I decided to take a drive to Tustin and confront them face-to-face at the office. I found a vacant office suite. I spoke with Linda Schmidt of Pacific West Asset Mgmt. Corp, the leasing manager for the complex. She said she evicted UHIC 4 days ago because "they owe us thousands of dollars in delinquent lease payments". So that's that. I've been bilked for my $1020 deposit and I think I can safely say that any other customer with a pending order can kiss their money good-by as well!
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