Welhener Awning & Shade

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I phoned Welhener  just after Labor Day and he asked if I didn't have better things to do than phone him. He said I would have to get my deposit back from his salesman if at all. I replied that I would be filing reports with the Attorney General's Office and the Better Business Bureau. 

I filed the complaints using the same statement as above. This is Mr Neville's reply to the Better Business Bureau:
"Wow. Where do I start. Customer was not ordered a Durasol due to cost, and was never led to believe that. I have been a Durasol dealer for 20+ years. My regional sales manager is John Thoms, 845-239-1733 or 845-692-1100. My material is the exact same as used by Durasol. I'm sorry the Durasol catalog confused her into thinking that product panels are seamless, no matter how wide, but textile products are produced in given widths and lengths and must be joined together at some point. I have the same manufacturing and component constraints as anybody else, including Durasol. We warranty all products for 12 months or the component manufactures warranty, whichever is greater. Durasol offers a 5 year warranty, not 10 years, on Framework, Frame Finish, Motors and Electronics. That excludes the shade material. It's all available to read on their website. The solar shade that customer got was not motorized and has no framework. I cannot compare apples and oranges with a confused and incoherent customer. The product we delivered to customer was just as ordered, and was constructed to exact tolerances. The seams ran perfectly straight and perpendicular to any reference point and I will gladly unroll it for proof. It looked absolutely acceptable and high quality in every way while installed. We construct these trying to minimize waste, cost, labor, and failure points. If she wanted the two nearly invisible 1'' wide welded seams to be moved on top of window frame work, she should have said that was a concern prior to construction. I would have been more than happy to tailor to any custom demand, and we do so on a daily basis. But because she considers a product design incorrect, after the fact, means nothing to me. And any assumptions deviating from the work order based on opinion are simply unacceptable. We have made hundreds and hundreds of these over the years and this is a first. We can do anything you want us to do, but don't assume, untold, we are going to be lockstep with each and every assumption. After review of her demand and the costs already incurred, it was decided that we did everything we were contracted to do. All directed and reasonable obligations were fulfilled, and down payment was going to be retained for breach of contracted agreement and to cover incurred costs. Customer was offered two options. 1. Accept delivery and installation of solar shade, as originally contracted and constructed. 2. Request a modification of the final product where customer buys, at cost, the material needed, and contractor provides needed labor at no additional cost. We want to fix the situation and have customer leave a happy. But we do not do free work, and we are not responsible for rambling, incoherent, and unrealistic expectations. This company has been serving SW MO for more than 100yrs, we are the market leader, and we use only top of the line techniques, material, and labor. Our track record and customer base attest to this." -- Scott A. Neville President

I responded:
I have 5 rows and 4 columns of 4x5 foot windows within a grid of 7-inch framing. The total width is about 200 inches and the total length is nearly 30 feet. Solar shading fabric comes in several widths. Using 82-inch width fabric 3 seams would be required in order to hide them behind the grid framework. If they had purchased fabric from The Natural Home Building Source online they could have gotten 90% blocking knit 20 feet by 30 feet for $210 and no seams would have been needed and I would have been happy.   In reply to Mr. Neville I would like to make several comments.
 1.     If Mr. John Thoms is Welhener?s regional sales manager, why is he in area code 845?
 2.     If seams were necessary the salesman should have told me.
 3.     Generally solar fabric may come in various widths, must be ordered by the bolt and is usually 100 feet in length. This would have provided ample fabric to have 3 seams, which could easily have been hidden by the support system.
 4.     Even a 5-year warranty is better than 1 year. Due to laying the fabric over the framework, wind and weather action would have quickly wear the fabric in those areas where it touched the supports.
 5.     I was never lead to believe that the shade would be motor-operated. Because it was a roll up, I think it would have been difficult to enclose the edges in framework. 
 6.     I am interested to know why Mr. Neville states, ?But because she considers a product design incorrect, after the fact, means nothing to me.? This seems a poor business policy.
 7.     I was not given a copy of the work order and therefore do not know if there were deviations. I received only a contract stating: ?roll down curtain charcoal sunscreen?.
 8.     I have requested a list of prior installations and Mr. Neville refused.
 9.     I was offered 2 options. The first was as Mr. Neville stated but the second was to remake the shade with seams in their proper places with an additional charge of $300 plus what I would still owe upon installation.

As of 10-29-11 we are at a stand still. I want my money back ASAP. I need to get some sort of solar protection. I know I did not ask enough questions but just because I drive a car doesn't mean I have to be a mechanic. I trusted the company to do a good job. Now Welhener seems to think I should pay for them to learn how do do a proper job. After over 100 years maybe Mr Neville is too old to do the right thing.