Home Craftsman Company--Vinyl Siding Sales and Installation

Here's a letter I sent to a local siding contractor who refuses to complete the job he took on.
Each time I called him, he made excuses for his employee, but promised he'd have the problem fixed.
He'd probably have put a lien on my property and taken me to court if he'd had to ask me 4 times for payment.

September 3, 2002

Home Craftsman Company
Cecil J. Koonce, Owner/President
13916 Leighwood Ave.
Baton Rouge, La. 70815
1-800-239-6376
1-225-273-2690

I have asked you FOUR times to complete the siding job I paid for in full on July 25, 2002. You have told me FOUR times that you will take care of it. I have waited a week between each call. Apparently you did nothing any of the four times because every time I called you had no idea the job was not finished, which you would have known had you checked. I now understand that you are only concerned with customer service when the customer still has your money.

You still have not replaced a 3-foot piece of siding where the doorbell button goes that was installed incorrectly. I now have a hole in my exterior wall with bare wires sticking out of it.

You still have not replaced the window screen that you damaged.

I still have not received warranty documentation from Owens-Corning, which you stated they would send.

Now that I am aware that you do not intend to fulfill your obligation in this matter, I will attempt to seek reparations from the manufacturer.

CC: Better Business Bureau
Owens Corning Corporation

UPDATES! About a week after I sent this letter and the report to the BBB, I received a call from Cecil saying he had been out of town for a week and did not know about the problem, but he was on his way to my house with a contractor to fix the problem. He said he would also get the damaged screen repaired that day, which he did at an Ace Hardware (they did a sloppy job, the screen wasn't seated around all the edges). He also told me that two other screens I had asked him about getting manufactured would be done for me for FREE instead of at cost as he had originally offered. It's 9-25-02 as I write this and I haven't heard anything on that yet...don't really expect to. They left a copy of the warranty on the doorknob.

The BBB sent me a letter with Cecil's reply attached, saying that if I was satisfied I should send the form back saying so, or I could do nothing and they would take that as an "OK." Like I'm going to waste a stamp on that.

Owens Corporation wrote back and told me they'd send me a copy of the warranty agreement. They sent me a copy of their roofing shingles warranty and told me that I could pay a new contractor to finish the job if I wanted to get what I originally paid for. They gave me two authorized contractors I could call.