CASTLE-THE WINDOW PEOPLE

This is a long post for *YOUR* benefit. This applies to the Charlotte, NC, Castle Windows and Castle - the Window People, as they appear to be one in the same according to my research. My intention is not to lodge a complaint, only to document "the start to finish" process of contacts with the Company. In late Nov 2011, my wife and I decided to remove and replace some existing windows and patio door. We did not use Angie's List - let membership lapse (first mistake). We used a web-based ".com" service recommendation company, which I later found out was actually a primary lead generation source for only three window/door companies in local Charlotte area (second mistake). Received two company's acknowledgement calls within literally minutes of sending request over the 'net. Castle Windows had a sales agent scheduled 12-1-11, a matter of two days from first contact with their company. Minimal information on Castle Windows in the Charlotte Better Business Bureau which showed an A+ rating (NJ headquarters only, it turns out). So far, so good. On 12-1-11, salesman was quick to point out the other two competing companies could not compare with the craftsmanship and Lifetime Warranty of Castle, both of product and service,which looked very good. He said that Castle had an "A+" BBB rating, which I accepted on face value. (This is true - the headquarters in NJ has the A+ rating; there was no such rating for the Charlotte area Castle Windows - an important distinction. In fact, I later learned there were seven complaints to the Charlotte BBB in early 2011 but BBB could not locate the company to process the complaints) The salesman stated that other competitors frequently used contractors and frequently went of of business, causing homeowners to have no recourse for repair/replacement/warranty issues. He also said that Castle exclusively produced their own windows and doors at their "main plant", with their local operation recently moved from Charlotte to High Point, NC. He alluded to "hundreds "of satisfied customers, when asked for a list of previous customers in the Charlotte area to whom I could query on Castle's performance. Never got that list. He also said that the installers were Castle Windows employees, thus, there would be no issues of blame between installers and manufacturer since all were Castle employees. We opted for 18 months same as cash with APR of between 8 and 18% if we exceeded the 18 months. His forms to us reflected "0%"; however, the subsequent loan papers (the legal docs) stated 27.99% if we violated the contract payoff. Interesting. Salesman said the contracts were handled out of the headquarters in Mt Laurel, NJ, and truely that was the office that overnighted all legal docs to and from us. Unfortunately, the NJ office staff repeatedly told us telephonically that the docs were not returned when we were sure we did so. That caused chaos trying to get the iinitial NJ office staff individual to confirm receipt of the docs, while the NJ computer reflected non-receipt of same. After repeated phone calls over four days, the docs were found. The point: be careful of all the empty spaces, and written "amendments" on the forms. Read everything very throughly. Do all of your own due diligence before and after the presentation. Get recommendations from trusted sources. Keep a chronologic account of who, what, where, when and who contacted, just in case... Always use Angie's List. Subsequently, the installers arrived on 1/18/12 to remove and replace windows and door. The replacements were much better made and heavier than our original windows. The father/son installer team was very nice, professional and only took about four hours to complete the job - they worked hard, and cleaned up after themselves. Raves to them. One problem: turns out they were CONTRACTED to install for Castle Windows, and were not Castle employees. Further, the windows/door were made by Soft-Light for Castle. Also, Castle had windows produced by another company prior to Soft Light, and the first company went out of business. Now the old problem of "whose to blame" is a distinct future possibility. Since the installation of the products, I have confirmed the above and learned that, in fact, the previous owners of the Charlotte office closed their office without further notice at the end of December (believed to be 2009) leaving the installers and venders no forwarding address (sound familiar?). The "Charlotte Office" responsibilities seems now to be handled out of the NJ headquarters and product storage point in High Point, NC. I am still waiting for the reference list from the salesman...