03/30/19 I had an addition put on my house in 2016. On Tuesday (03/26/19), I had a problem with the sump pump and contacted North Carolina Exteriors since it’s under warranty for ten years (I have documentation from North Carolina Exteriors verifying this). The young lady that answered the phone told me the pump would only have a one year warranty. Once I told her I had the documentation they gave me with a ten year warranty, she asked me to email what I had to her. I did and the below email exchanges are what followed throughout the week. ___________________________________________________ Tuesday March 26, 2019 2:18 PM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com Good afternoon, XXXXXX. Please see attached documentation for the warranty information. I can be reached at XXX-XXX-XXXX. Regards, XXXXXX *** I sent two documents from North Carolina Exteriors with the warranty information (labor and manufacturer) they gave me when the project was completed. Tuesday March 26, 2019 2:25 PM From: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com To: CUSTOMER@gmail.com Received, thank you. That is the manufacture warranty, you can contact XXXXX Plumbing INC at 919-XXX-XXXX or the manufacture for the pump that is overflowing. *** she did not include any contact information for the manufacturer, but wanting to move this along, I figured I would just look it up online. Tuesday March 26, 2019 2:34 PM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com I just called and the gentleman who answered said they wouldn’t have anything to do with it. He also said he is out of the area. My phone says that business number is located in Goldsboro. Could you please call him to find out what’s going on? My pump is exposed and needs to be replaced. I currently can’t use any water. Regards, XXXXXX *** I would have contacted the manufacturer, but by now I have no confidence in anything North Carolina Exteriors is telling me. Tuesday March 26, 2019 2:41 PM From: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com To: CUSTOMER@gmail.com Look on the pump to determine who the manufacturer is and let me know. *** I suppose this is why she didn’t give me any contact information for the manufacturer earlier. She either didn’t want to bother to look it up – or they don’t have it at all. Tuesday March 26, 2019 2:48 PM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com Here you go. Thanks! *** the attachment included a picture of the plate on the pump with all of the information she needed (company name, model number, serial number, etc.). I also sent a picture of the exposed pump. Tuesday March 26, 2019 3:10 PM From: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com To: CUSTOMER@gmail.com We will get a plumber to take a look but it will probably be a few days before we can get someone out there. Tuesday March 26, 2019 3:12 PM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com Was it determined who it is covered by? You guys or Liberty? Tuesday March 26, 2019 3:10 PM From: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com To: CUSTOMER@gmail.com Liberty makes that determination. Tuesday March 26, 2019 3:25 PM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com So they said it was you guys and not them? I might have someone who can do the work. I just need contact information for Liberty so they know who to contact once they’ve made an assessment. I also need an updated list of the contact information for the companies responsible for the items listed under “Manufacturer Warranty.” Thanks! *** Received no response to this email, so I emailed them again the next morning. Wednesday March 27, 2019 9:46 AM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com Good morning, XXXXXX. I wanted to follow up on our email exchange from yesterday. Please respond to the below questions. 1. Did Liberty state they are not responsible for the 10 year manufacturer warranty? 2. If Liberty stated that they are not responsible for the warranty, does this mean that Carolina Exteriors is responsible until the warranty expires? 3. When can I expect to get a list of the contact information for the companies responsible for the items listed under “Manufacturer Warranty?" 4. I am waiting for a return call from the plumber who I would like to complete the evaluation and repair. Should I not hear back from him by EOB tomorrow, or if his schedule is full, when can I expect someone to come take a look at the pump and how much will it cost? Going forward, please communicate via this email address only. This will ensure I have documentation of our exchanges to help prevent any miscommunications or misunderstandings. I get email alerts directly on my phone and will reply to any received during normal business hours (8:00 AM - 5:00 PM) within the hour. Thank you for your help with this issue. Regards, XXXXXX Wednesday March 27, 2019 10:07 AM From: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com To: CUSTOMER@gmail.com The owner of the company is out of the office till Monday. When he returns he will meet with a plumber and see what he says. Thanks, Wednesday March 27, 2019 10:27 AM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com XXXXXX, I am sure the owner realizes that I am unable to use any water (shower, restroom, laundry, dishes, etc). His expectation that I wait almost a week just for him to speak to a plumber is unreasonable when he, or someone else, can easily contact a plumber over the phone to get this resolved as soon as possible. Please let him know that, while I am not expecting him or anyone else, to drop everything for this, I do not understand (or appreciate) getting the runaround to the point where I cannot even be given correct information about who is supposed to fix this. It is very disappointing to be treated this way after the completion of the addition. Customer service and good business practices are not supposed to end once construction is completed. Please advise him that I would like a response ASAP to my previous email questions. I am trying to be as proactive and helpful on my part, but I cannot do that without getting the answers I need. Regards, *** Received no response to this email, so I sent another follow-up email. Wednesday March 27, 2019 3:32 PM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: ADMIN@northcarolinaexteriors.com ADMIN, Please let me know what the status of my previous email is. Regards, CUSTOMER Wednesday March 27, 2019 4:06 PM From: OWNER@northcarolinaexteriors.com To: CUSTOMER@gmail.com ms XXXXX I tried to call you and left you a message. I am currently out of town but know you have been emailing the office concerning your issue with your pump. I am sorry you are dealing with this. I want to let you know that the warranty we sent with you was the information we got from liberty at the time. Im not sure if they will warranty the pump or not and happy to look into this when I return back to work on Monday. However, even if they do stand by warranty it will only cover the pump and not any labor to repair. Their warranties only cover the pump itself. I called the plumber who installed this pump and they no longer sell liberty and as they told you I believe liberty would never cover their labor to repair. My advise would be to contact a plumber directly who can service they pump and have them repair and document everything so that when you deal with liberty you can pass this along to them. I will help you deal with liberty when I return. This is not a nc exteriors warranty issue or the plumbers but the manufacturers warranty issue. Again, I will help anyway I can but you will need to call a plumber for repair thanks *** so, here I’m advised to pay out of pocket for everything and rely on them to help me be reimbursed at a later date. If they had given me any accurate information or decent customer service up until this point, I might have done that. At this point, I am communicating with them only through emails because I can’t trust what I’m being told. Wednesday March 27, 2019 4:41 PM From: CUSTOMER@gmail.com To: OWNER@northcarolinaexteriors.com Thanks for getting back to me, XXXXX. I got Liberty's phone number off the internet and called. The gentleman I spoke to (XXXXXX) said he needs to know what supplier the pump came from - there are 7 in this area. I've copied him on this email so you can reply directly to him with the information. He also stated the warranty for their pumps is for three years, not ten like I was told. Once this issue is resolved, we'll need to sort out warranty dates and terms for the items listed on the documentation given to me by Carolina Exteriors for the addition. Regards, XXXXXX Thursday March 28, 2019 7:15 AM From: OWNER@northcarolinaexteriors.com To: CUSTOMER@gmail.com We get those from XXXXX Plumbing Supply in XXXXXX, NC, phone number if you need is 919-XXX-XXXX This is from XXXXX plumbing *** So, now I’m thinking… why couldn’t this have been given to me two days ago when I originally contacted them? ____________________________________________________ Email exchanges after this are with the manufacturer and the company that supplied the part. They were both very helpful. I contacted a plumber I know is trustworthy (he’s done work for me before) and am waiting to hear back from him as to when he can fit me into his schedule. I wish I could say I trust North Carolina Exteriors enough to use a plumber they’d sent, but (for obvious reasons) I haven’t felt like I can. It is now Saturday and my level of frustration is growing. I have been out of my home for almost a week with no resolution in sight. Had North Carolina Exteriors given me the correct information for who to contact at Liberty, this might have all been taken care of by now. I really believe they should have contacted Liberty and/or the supplier themselves to handle this, but that’s just another instance of their poor (and uncaring) customer service skills. Also, for them to give me incorrect warranty information (more than once) is unacceptable. How can you guarantee warranties and not honor them? I have a document from North Carolina Exteriors saying the pump is covered for 10 years. They told me over the phone that it’s covered for one year – until I sent them the documentation they sent me. When I contacted Liberty, they advised me that it’s covered for 3 years and is still under warranty. Had I listened to what I was originally told by North Carolina Exteriors about it being covered for one year, I would have paid out of pocket for the pump and labor. The takeaways from this story are: 1. Once they have completed the project, you’re on your own. 2. Keep METICULOUS documentation of everything said and done because, apparently, they don’t. 3. Don’t bother trying to be as helpful as possible by doing their jobs (administratively, researching information, making phone calls, etc). They don’t appear to care one way or the other.