Question About Skylight Window Warranties:
Please Help! I have a lifetime warranty on 2 fixed skylights with broken film between the double panes. I called the company to file a claim & I was told that the company no longer makes skylights. What? Shouldn’t the company at least give me a reasonable refund?
Thank you very much Glass Detective!
-Lorraine S.
Answer to Question About Skylight Window Warranties:
Lorraine,
Thank you for contacting the Glass Detective with your question regarding a lifetime warranty issue with a certain skylight supplier. Unfortunately, you are not the first and certainly won’t be the last consumer to make contact with us regarding problems getting a company to honor what you (the consumer) thought was a solid warranty commitment for a product they had purchased. As many have learned, including the Glass Detective, a warranty is only as good as the company standing behind it. The Glass Detective was recently hired to provide expert witness services in a lawsuit over a matter somewhat similar to yours for several dozens of large and very expensive insulating glass units.
The manufacturer involved was a publicly traded corporation and after a great deal of money was spent in chasing them down, the consumer prevailed. But the question still has to be asked as to why the corporation that produced and sold the products wouldn’t honor their warranty? And the simple answer was that the manufacturer sold the products to a distributor, who in turn sold them to the consumer. The distributor went out of business and the manufacturer claimed that their warranty was given to the distributor, who in turn had warranted the products to the consumer so that they were not directly responsible. A judge felt otherwise.
So back to your problem…did you buy these skylights directly from the manufacturer or through a dealer/distributor? Do you have a written warranty? Did you put them in yourself or were they installed by a dealer or affiliate of some type? Were they put in correctly? Have you talked with someone working at the corporate headquarters, or just a local representative? Have you written a formal complaint to the CEO/President?
The company you referenced is a home products corporation selling roofing, gutters, windows and so forth. I doubt that they made/manufactured these skylights themselves. And I would not be surprised if they no longer provide these skylights because they have had problems with them on other projects. The company has a decent reputation and I have to believe that if you get to the right person at the corporate level, you will get some satisfaction.
Lastly, don’t give up! The squeaky wheel usually does get the grease. And if you get a chance, please let the Glass Detective know how this all turns out. Thanks and I hope this response is of some value to you and thank you again for contacting the Glass Detective.
