On September 6, 2016, Alex, the Ecotech salesperson attended at our home to show us his products. We talked with him for awhile, and at that time decided to proceed with the contract with Ecotech. Alex warned us that it was their busy season, and could take up to eight weeks for installation of the 1 large window, two doors and one storm door. We decided that was acceptable and signed the contract. A deposit of $660.00 was paid to Ecotech on September 16, 2016.
Around the middle of November, approximately eight weeks after the deposit was paid, we had become concerned that we had not heard from anyone at Ecotech to schedule our installation. We called them several times over a two-week period. Each time we got someone on the phone, they were unable to discuss our account and had to have someone call us back, which usually never happened. Finally, around the beginning of December, we finally managed to talk to someone on the phone who scheduled our installation for December 15, 2016.
December 14, 2016, in the early evening, the installer called to say that they would not be coming to do the installation the next morning, after my husband had taken time off work specifically to be there, because “It was too cold and his assistant had a head cold.” The installer was unable to discuss when our installation could be rescheduled for and told us to call the main office in the morning.
After speaking to the main office in the morning, we made it clear that we had expected the windows to be in four weeks ago, and if they were unable to deliver before Christmas, then we would like to cancel the contract. The owner (Mark) followed up with a solution in exchange for us posting a positive review about his company where a different installer would install in our windows and doors on December 17, 2016 (Saturday), which was not ideal as we were having a large party that evening. However, fearing that we would never get them if we didn’t agree to that date, we complied.
The installers that showed up that day were great, although we came to find out they worked for a different company and had been subcontracted specifically for our job. They were able to install the two doors and window by 3pm, although Ecotech had not sent them with the storm door for installation. That said, the installers arrived at our house for 8am that morning however the company was unable to deliver anything until after 10 am (with the windows arriving a couple hours later) and we were left to entertain the installers in the hopes that they didn’t abandon the job. Once completed we did a proper inspection and found that the sidelight connected to our front door did not match the front door as specified in our contract, there was inadequate weather stripping on the back door that lets in cold air and light and there was damage to our walls that occurred during the installation. What made the situation worse was that we didn’t really have the opportunity to properly inspect if the door glass and sidelight glass was a match until after the original front door, frame and sidelight glass had been removed due to the late delivery. Had we raised an issue with it, we would have been forced to potentially spend a day or two with out a front door in the dead of winter!
We contacted Ecotech on Monday morning following the installation to detail our concerns, which included:
• The side door doesn't have a complete seal - light and cold air comes through
• The wrong side light was delivered with the front door. It was supposed to have the same pattern as the glass door.
• The glass on the front door has a fairly deep scratch in it.
• When the temperature gets below -5 degrees Celsius outside, both the front door, side light and the new window have condensation at the bottom of the glass.
• The wall next to the side door was damaged.
• The storm door was not present or installed
They requested that was call back in January to schedule an inspection. We called back January 9, 2017 when they re-opened after Christmas. My husband spoke to Gina regarding an inspection, and we were told we would get a call back to arrange that. No one from Eco tech called back and my husband yet again had to follow up. Finally, my husband received a response and said that he would have a call back the next day once the case was reviewed. That call never happened. After numerous emails and threats to post negative comments online, he received a call back telling him that the case would yet again be reviewed and that he would have a response in 24 hours. Its been a month since that conversation and still no response.
We are still owed a storm door, and we would like them to attend and fix the incomplete installation as well as fix the list of complaints above. We are tired of chasing down the company and getting empty promises back in return. We just want this to end already so that we can get on with our lives.
24/04/2017 - Called twice this morning as per company response. No answer. Had to leave message on service voicemail as pressing 0 for 'Other inquiries" just looped the outgoing message over and over.
Recieved a call back from Gina in the afternoon, she claimed the storm door was still on back order. She said the new side window glass was being ordered, and argued that the scratch was not included in our warranty despite their installer causing it. She has promised to call me back by the end of the week to set a date for someone to come inspect. We shall see, not very optimistic after all the other calls we were promised.
28/04/2017: Unsurprisingly, Ecotech did not call me as promised. There is still no date for an inspection or installation set. I left yet another message on their voicemail at 1pm insisting that this issue should now be handled by a supervisor or manager. I'll have to call again on Monday and every other day until someone finally picks up the phone.
