Deck King USA

Review: My husband and purchased the [redacted] retractable awning model 8700 4/5/12 and had it installed by the local rep, Deck King USA 4/26/12. The installer assured us that wind would pose no problem given that the awning would retract during high winds. At my request, on 6/2/13 Deck King's rep, [redacted], came to my house to view a 5 ft tear in the fabric along one edge. [redacted] noticed damage to a roof gutter which is located 18" above and 8" further to the right of the awning. Pictures of the fabric/gutter damage were taken. On 6/18/13 I called [redacted] and he advised that nothing would be done to fix the fabric as an opinion had been reached that the awning had not retracted but instead had been blown upward and to the right into the gutter. The gutter apparently caused the fabric damage. The accuracy of this opinion can certainly be questioned. However, more importantly, it is based on the premise that the awning bent upward and to the right during a windy situation rather than properly retracting. In other words, its failure to perform resulted in the fabric damage. I have contacted [redacted] directly twice.......no response. The awning supposedly has a 15 yr warranty.Desired Settlement: replacement or satisfactory repair of the fabric.

Business

Response:

Mrs. [redacted] called [redacted] our sales rep. and said she sent her awning out and there was a big tear

in the fabric and she had no idea how it got there.

Mr. [redacted] went house and took pictures of the tear and the location of the awning. We then sent

them to the manufacturer and asked them to review the damage. Their response was that the

awning was blown up by a sudden burst of high wind and then reacted and closed dragging it across

the edge of the gutter causing the tear in the fabric. There are thousands of awnings made of this

fabric installed every year that never tear like that and Sunbrella would not consider it a defect. It was

not a defect in material it was due to an uncontrollable act of nature. They then sent her a letter

stating they would replace the fabric at cost and we agreed to also do the installation at cost and told

her that.

She refused to accept that and has called the Attorney General's office. They reviewed the complaint

called me and agreed it was not our responsibility . She then had the Attorney General call and try to

get me to pay her $350.00 for what they couldn't say. All he said was she wanted him to ask me for

that amount. Our profit does not allow for false damage claims and the cost of the fabric is a major

part of a retractable awning. I feel Mrs. [redacted] is being unreasonable and not acting rationally.

Deck King USA Inc.

Consumer

Response:

My complaint is simple:

There is a five foot tear in the awning fabric.

Before its installation we noted the windy conditions on our patio. The Deck King representative assured us that because the awning self retracts, these conditions would not pose a problem.

I have been diligent in retracting the awning during windy conditions.

Deck King feels that the damage was due to wind that pushed the awning into our gutter, damaging both. The awning did not self retract timely.

Deck King pointed to their warranty which does not cover damages due to "rain, ice, snow, wind, ...or normal wear and tear from use" and then offered to fix the fabric for approx $600 plus the cost of labor.

Paying additional money to still be in the same vulnerable position regarding the awning's performance is not of interest to me.

In my letter to the Bureau of Consumer Protection I noted, "If Deck King can appreciate the circumstances that have led to the current situation – and my utter frustration – then I respectfully suggest a refund of $350 to cover gutter and fabric repair."

Deck King responded that I was "being unreasonable and not acting rationally."

I will politely withdraw the offer.

The alternative is the awning's removal and a full refund.

Review: The frame of a small awning, not made by this company, broke. I had purchased another awning from deck king so I called my salesman to see if they would repair this. The salesman came out and said they could repair it for $50. He came back out and took the frame and said it would be repaired in their shop not on site and he would call when it was done. That was in the fall. The weather turned bad so I waited until the spring to start following up. After several calls to the salesman he did answer once and said he wasn't sure if I still wanted it repaired. I told him yes and he said he'd call me when it was ready. Since then multiple messages to both the salesman and deck king offices have gone unreturned.Desired Settlement: Return repaired frame and put awning back up that salesman took down.

Business

Response:

In regards to this customer, when we originally spoke with her about her problem, we informed her that it was a product that we do not deal with, and would be nearly impossible for us to fix. She asked us to try anyway and we quoted her a price of $50 if it could be repaired on site. Upon a site visit we discovered that parts were required. She asked us to take it downand see if we could locate the parts, we said we would try, but would only beable to repair it for her providing we could acquire the proper components to repair and that if could find everything we would get to it after our winter shutdown. We made several attempts to locate the correct pieces, but all wereincompatible. We then went into shutdown and when we returned in March, wetried again and were unable to find the correct products. Unfortunately by thattime we had a backlog beginning to grow. We tried once again in May to find theright components, we were again unsuccessful. All of this time that we haveinvested was done at no charge to the homeowner.We are more than happy to return Ms. [redacted]’s awning to her. Being that this is not one of our products and since we haven’t charged her athing, we feel that this report should be removed from the Revdex.com website.

Review: My previous awning was old, dirty and leaking on to my concrete patio so I asked the contractor, [redacted], for an estimate to replace the awning and railings surronding the patio. During the consultation, I informed him of the leaks and showed where the water was draining from below the old awning. [redacted] assured me that due to the placement of the new awning above the soffit fascia, the leaks would no longer be an issue. However, the leaks continued after installation of the new awning. I contacted [redacted] on several occasions, via phone and email, to advise him when the leaks were occurring in the hopes that he could visit during those times to see the leaks and determine exactly where and why they were still occurring. In the beginning, he did seem to try to reduce the leaks, but after a few unsuccessful tries, he just seemed to give up and stopped returning my emails. It has now been 3 months, and still no results. I have asked for a refund of a portion of my money so that I could hire someone else to complete the repairs, but he said he didn't feel it was his responsibility. I disagree. Since the leaks were not caused by the old awning, I could have had the necessary repairs made and then fixed the old awning as opposed to replacing it. The decision was based on his professional consultation in which he assured me that the leaks would be fixed. Now, I have a brand new, expensive awning that hardly serves its purpose since my patio is constantly wet with puddles and is causing leaks in my basement. I have placed buckets under the leaks to control the water, but they fill quickly during heavy down pours. If [redacted] cannot fix the problems, then I would like some of my money to be returned so that I may hire someone that can do so.Desired Settlement: I paid $5,449.00 for installation of the new awning and railings. As mentioned above, I was assured that installation of the new awning would eliminate the leaks, but this was untrue. Since the leaks continue, and since I now have to hire an additional service provide to repair them, I have asked for a portion of the fees to be refunded to me. My suggestion would be for $500.00 - which I do not think is unreasonable.

Business

Response:

When the new awning was installed on April 2nd,

the guarantee was that the new awning system would not leak. There are no

guarantees either written or implied regarding any additional pre-existing leaks

we were unaware of at that time. It was noted that there was an existing leak behind

the old awning flashing that was repaired.

After repeated attempts to find what was causing the

additional leaking it was noted that there was an existing leak behind the old stop

on the roof. This has been leaking for

many years and has rotted the wood in the soffit area and inside the fascia

board. This indicates a leak higher up the roof.

The awning system itself does not leak, and we in good

faith have made several attempts to discern where the leak is, even though it

is not with our product or with the installation.

On April 22nd we received an email from this

customer stating that the leak appeared to be fixed. But it was not the case

and we made more trips out to try to satisfy this customer.

On June 13th (after the 7th visit)

we stated that there is no leak in the awning, and that we believe (as we

always have) the leak is further up the roof, and that we could verify this with

another visit and access to the homeowner’s attic. At this point the homeowner

demanded a cash reimbursement. We have stated that if the homeowner wants to

have a legitimate third party investigate and it is proved we are incorrect, we

would be willing to pay. Our only stipulation was that the third party must be

a recognized reputable company and show evidence it was our negligence that

caused the problem.

We feel that we have been more than accommodating in this

issue, and that since the source of the leaks are not connected with our work,

this complaint is not viable and should be removed from the Revdex.com site.

Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

The existing leaks were discussed and shown to the salesperson prior to installation and the business assured me that due to the location of the new awning - which was above the soffit-fascia, the installation would eliminate the leaks. If the leaks were coming from the roof rather than the old awning, then I would have had no reason to purchase a new awning. I simply would have paid for the necessary repairs to the roof and would have saved alot of money. But I feel that I was misled. Or if the salesperson was mistaken, then I should be offered some type of compensation. Also, at no time did I "demand" a cash reimbursement. It was after several weeks had passed and several emails were sent to the business without receiving any updates or responses that I requested a partial cash refund so that I could hire someone else to complete the job. If the business is unable to do the necessary repairs to complete the job so that I have a dry patio as promised, then I think it is only fair to provide me with a rebate.