Complaint Review: Peoples Products - Newington Connecticut

I am also a former Peoples Products employee.  

Over the years since my horrific employment, I've tried to purge my memory banks of the "job" we were expected to do.  To this day I’m still emotionally scarred for my experience.  Since that time, when I would go to job interviews fear would flow through me.  I was so frightened that I would end up working for another horrific company again.  I should have known better.  When I asked where the current sales force I got no answer…  Our first instruction was “getting past objections at a customer’s front door”.  They were training us to “not take no for an answer”.  If we had an appointment “we were to get inside”.  Basically we were to give a 3-4 hour "presentation" on how the "HR40" windows were the greatest thing since sliced bread.

During these "presentations" we would occupy the home.  We were to own it.  I was instructed to be of the mindset that ”If I wanted coffee, I could just go make it because I owned the house while I was there!”  We had to have both owners present.  If they had to make dinner for their family, tough luck, we are talking windows.  We were to measure EVERY WINDOW in the home, even if they only wanted one window.  Many times this was met with objection.  We were trained to just “go from room to room” and measure every window.  Very often the unwitting consumer did not want us in every room, but we weren’t to take no for an answer.  How is that “helping people”.

My first appointment I was thrown out of a home by a very nice couple.  Within the first 10 minutes of the presentation they asked “how much per window”.  I wasn’t allowed to tell them, I was with another more seasoned associate.  He refused to quote them a price.  I was instructed to continue with the presentation.  The owners didn’t like that and we were thrown out of the home. 

I can recall many late nights, wearing down clients for hours and hours.  I, like many others came up against objections by the homeowners.  We were instructed to go either to the bathroom or our car to call for “advice” from Wayne Jones.  This consisted of being screamed at, demeaned, spoken down to and told to get the sale or be fired. 

The training we received was constructed to flood the consumers with an information overload, 3+ hours worth including the glass/window demonstration. We bashed the other companies with similar products, ripped apart the warranties, line by line. After this point 99% of the people wanted us to leave, would do anything for us to leave.  WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE A CUSTOMERS HOME, WITHOUT MANAGEMENT APPROVAL!  That’s right, we could not leave someone’s house with pre approval from management.  I’ve been threatened by management and clients, I just wanted to leave.  At some point a salespersons conscience comes into play and their good name.  I rarely speak of my time with Peoples Products, it makes me feel dirty.  The tactics we used to confuse and befuddle people…  The sales I made I regret, I knew they couldn’t afford them.  I knew it wouldn’t raise the value of their homes either.  Then when I was paid “oh you made an error”.  I made an error?  Yes, that’s why we deducted $xx.xx… Oh I see now. 

On the last day of training Wayne comes in the training room. He told us “now you need to go to the state of CT and get a sales persons license” (The license was about $160). No one mentioned it before the last day of training.  The company refused to pay for it.   He was really pleasant until we passed their “class”, after that the real Wayne Jones came to light.

It was very uncomfortable day when I quit and returned my materials.  I was told “I forgot this or I forgot that”  I had to keep coming back with every scrap of paper I was given.  Finally by the end of the day I was given my check.  I can understand why the previous poster “Mike” left his materials on the stairs.  If you knew how malevolent the managers at Peoples Products are, you wouldn’t want to go back in either.

I’m not surprised a retraction was posted.  This “Mike” guy used his real name.  The management is so vicious I’m sure they threatened to sue him, and he believed them.  I heard another group of salespersons went through training and all quit/were fired within weeks.  They hired an attorney to check out the company.  They were going to file a class action lawsuit and they reached out to a few former employees, me being one of them. One of them told me that the attorney did research and found out Peoples Products doesn’t manufacture any windows, they don’t have a factory.  They aren’t licensed to manufacture anywhere in the country.  The HR40 window has no specific manufacturing facility that he could find.  They own no real estate.  They have no warehouse.  They are a small company that buys low and sells high.  They hire subcontractors to do the installs.  

If a Home Improvement contractor comes to your home, make sure you get AT LEAST 3 QUOTES!  This company focuses on one day only pricing. Confusion and overstimulation is how they make sales.  They help people, the people being themselves, what they are doing is helping themselves to your wallet.  Replacement windows don’t cost $1,300 each installed for a double hung.  That’s absurd.  Call Peoples Products and ask for a quote over the phone, I bet you won’t get one.  

       My name is Tom. I also worked for People's Products about 4 years ago. Everything Mike wrote in his report describes very accuratly how sales reps are treated at this very small home improvement company. I am assuming he was threatened with a lawsuit by Peoples Products. So i will speak for him. People deserve and reserve the right to free speech!!

    People's Products like most privatly owned small home improvement companies are nothing more than  middlemen between you the consumer and the manufacturer. They are sales organizations. Windows just happens to be the product at this one. 

   The owners of most of these companies take an ordinary window and ask the manufacturer to make a slight change to the design. This allows a company like People's Products to ascertian "exclusivity" as they do with the "HR40". People's Products in no way shape or form designed,constructed, installs or warranties thier products. They simply acuire you as a company LEAD, then use highly trained agressive telemarketing and appointment setting practices, followed by highly trained aggressive sales practices. Done correctly, YOU PAY WAY TO MUCH FOR THE PRODUCT. 

    The main objective is for a sale rep. To overwhelm the custoner with buzz words, and value building statements so you percieve the product to be very high quality and worth the 4-5x mark up. This is why an in-home demonstration with People's Products takes on average of 3 hours. They are using this time to build your trust and create value. This is a very common practice in middlemen home improvement companies. These practices are very lucrative for the companies owners. Since the "HR40" is a Replacement Window, they hope you the consumer do not understand what exactly that means until it is to late.

      A replacement window is exactly what it means. A replacement, not New Construction. When the sales rep. is measuring for your custom fit "Replacement Windows." He is measuring to create a plastic unit to easily go into your existing window frame. This cuts install time down by around 90%. but you lose lots of your beloved glass and ventellation. This type of improvement is not correct and de-value's your home. New windows need to be completly installed to the header and buck frames secured with new nailing flanges. This is the proper way to do the job. Preserving your light and original construction design.

    Companies like People's Products would NOT encourage this type of installation due to how much profit it would consume. The big profits are made on "Replacement Windows" because they can all be "Replaced" in a single day. That is the goal. Pairing a cheap product,( average replacement window cost middlemen around $155.00 for a DoubleHung) with cheap installation, about $50-$75.00 for the subcontractor per unit. This leaves lots of room for PROFIT!!!!

  Securing you financing is also very important to People's Product. Most home owners cannot pay cash for this expensive improvement and agree to a high intetest loans. Part of the salesmen goal is to convince you that the $$ you will save on the windows will pay for the loan. This is impossible due to the fact that each home is constructed differntly and homes lose energy in many different ways. Telling you that changing your windows will effect your heating and cooling costs is nothing more than a sales tatic to make you feel like you are in control of your homes consumption. Unless you have done a certified draft test in your home. No one can say where your heating or cooling lose is substancially  coming from on your particular home. Also, these loans again are outsourced to multiple lenders with very poor terms. Unsecured loans should NEVER be attached to an asset (Your Home) You off-set the excellent interest rate you aquired for your morgage this way. Also, these lenders offer many perks and rewards to owners who's customers use thier financing.

  Cc The commission of the sales rep. is pre-determinded by how much more he/she can convince you to over pay for the product. The sooner you say, Yes!! I will do them today, without doing your proper research on where the product is truly coming from or what you should pay for your project. The more money the owner can give a % of to his/her sales rep. People's Products is notoriously known among CT home improvement sales organizations, as being one of the worst companies at taking a reps. earned commissions. Common commission stealing practices by owner's are.

  Making the pricing of the job very complicated for a sales rep. to price accruratly. Telling the rep. "He missed something on the measurement sheet." These tiny errors are expected and welcomed by owners, and used, to inflat how much commission will be deducted due to the error. Most mistakes cost owners only a few dollars, but they will attack commissions by $100's or take the whole thing. The sales rep. walks away very confused and angry, and then is asked by owners to get in thier own vehicles using thier own gas to sometimes drive up to an hour or more to do it all over again. 

      Another very common practice being employed by home improvement company middlemen, is using the new Lead Paint laws to further increase profits and lower commissions. Any home built before 1978 may have lead paint in it, but neccessarly. Sub Contractor's by law must do a very simple test prior to installation to determine weather or not Safe Lead Paint installation practices are required on a specific job. If the lead paint tester shows no signs of lead paint. It is not needed. Home Improvement companies use this new law to convince sales reps, and home owners that a lead paint job should be $1000's more. Either a rep gets these added installation fees from the owner or they will be deducted from the sales reps pockets.

  In truth, lead paint adds about  $12.00 per unit to the cost of the job. It simply means you cannot reuse certian inexpensive items, i.e paper drop cloths and the installer must wear a throw away paper suit and use a certified Hepa vac. to clean up.

    Sorry to ramble on. I just happened to come across this story by Mike, and it told me nothing has changed at People's Products. Lol. Owner Bill Wilson and Sales Manager Wild Wayne Jones will put huge amounts of energy and financial resources into dealing with a disgruntled former employee's who arecdoing nothing more than telling his experience with People's Products. Instead of People's Products just paying the guy for the work he did. I guess some people just shouldn't be given to much power. It goes to thier heads. Take a ride by People's Products headquarters some day. It is located in a small strip mall over a dinner and liqour store. If you are looking to do any home improvement project.

    PLEASE, NEVER BUY ON FIRST VISIT, REGARDLESS OF DISCOUNTS OFFERED. PRICES ARE INFLATED FOR THESE DISCOUNTS. GET MULTIPLE ESTIMATES, AND IF AT ALL POSSIBLE DEAL WITH A REPUTABLE SUB-CONTRACTOR DIRECTLY OR DIRECT FROM THE MANUFACTURER. YOU WALLET WILL THANK YOU FOR IT!!!

Here are the facts in the matter of Mike's original post and his retraction:

1. Mike was angry, which he explains in his retraction.

2. His retraction was not in any way coerced.

3. No lawyer was ever involved in any of this.

Peoples Products has always been and will always be a company that genuinely cares about its customers. We offer some of the best options available for replacement windows, siding, roofing, doors and gutters anywhere in America.

The post you see entitled, "Lawsuit" (and perhaps others to follow) are obviously written by a competitor who doesn't feel they can compete honestly. The fact of the matter is that some competitors do hate us, but Customers LOVE us.

If some can't compete, they will try to distort a great business record of care and concern to one that confuses the consumer.

You've heard from Mike in his retraction, you've heard from me in my response,.. to hear what our actual customers themselves have to say,

Watch any of the following videos to see why competitors hate us, but customers love us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL4wgsFNncI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMBjSv0c0Xw&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vaUF10mXek&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSEikkiZ5lM

and there are many others

For an HONEST Look at HR40 windows, call us at 1-800-354-7660 x22. Get a free estimate and demonstration on HR40 windows today! We will be happy to discuss the matter of this posting with you, as well as show you a window with a solid return on investment that you can consider.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Please watch the videos listed above, and visit us on the web at www.PeoplesProducts.com

Thanks again,

Bill Wilson
CEO
Peoples Products, Inc.
1-800-354-7660 x11
(Call me directly!)

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After having ample time to cool off and gather my thoughts and emotions, I realized I made a huge mistake in publicly trying to bash Peoples Products. They really do care and do everything they can to make their customers and employees happy!

As I still don't work for them, I still believe in the product and the company. To stay in business almost 30 years and have very little bad
feedback from customers, is difficult to do for any company, I admire their accomplishment to have done that.

See...to stay in business for 30 years means nothing.  They obviously made you feel like they didn't care. Very little bad feedback , means they have had bad feedback. Again seems like they threatened a lawsuit against you. If they did they are not what they seem to be unless you signed a nondisclosure with them and in which they will pay you for a certain amount of time not to work for anyone in the same field for a certain amount of time. My two cents...but the fact that you did complain against this company I will not do business with them or anyone associated.

Seems like this was retracted in face of a lawsuit. In a fit of rage?? I can understand being upset but seems like you knew a little too much and they in fact probably threatened a lawsuit or you retract the statement. I am thinking lawsuit here.

I am publishing this retraction statement, not because anyone made me or because I had to do it. I am doing so in hopes that customers will find the truth about this company. I will do my best to explain why I wrote what I did and why I am going to take full responsibility for publishing exaggerations and stretching the truth.

I was under extreme emotional distress and at that point needed someone to take m.y frustrations with myself out on, unfortunately a great company, Peoples Products, became to target of my frustration within myself.

I was employed by Peoples Products and honestly, while I was employed by them, felt 100% in my heart they were really in business to help people, not just to make a buck. I have worked for more than a few companies that don't care about their customers and the reason I moved across 2 states to work for them, is because their exclusive product is one of the best I had ever seen.

The frustrations I was feeling were because I was not performing up to the high standards I set for myself and felt that I wasn't doing enough to help the company and the customers. It had nothing to do with the company and I was completely out of line to blame them and publicly badmouth them. 

I was trying to gain some leverage and make sure I was paid what I thought I was owed. In a fit of emotion, I wrote the statement you see above. I did not want to talk with anyone at the company and thought a statement on here would help me to receive what I wanted without having to actually speak with anyone at the company. I did not realize these reports could not be taken down as I thought I could write it and them remove it after I got what I wanted.

It should be obvious to anyone reading that I can be condescending and should also be easy to see how anyone would have a hard time dealing with me.  

The reasons for my paychecks being short were my fault in that I was not thorough and they were all due to my mistakes. In fact, on more than one occasion, I was paid more than I should have been due to mistakes I had made.. 

After having ample time to cool off and gather my thoughts and emotions, I realized I made a huge mistake in publicly trying to bash Peoples Products. They really do care and do everything they can to make their customers and employees happy!

As I still don't work for them, I still believe in the product and the company. To stay in business almost 30 years and have very little bad feedback from customers, is difficult to do for any company, I admire their accomplishment to have done that. 

They will do a fantastic job if you do decide to work with them and if for any reason you aren't 100% satisfied, they will do everything they can to make sure that you are!! If they are in your home for a long time, it is only because they genuinely care about helping you and will do everything they can to help you get what you need and deserve.

In conclusion, the things I complained about were my fault 100% because of my lack of communication. If you do business with them, the bottom line is you won't be disappointed, none of my customers were and for 30 years, you would be hard pressed to find too many that were disappointed. 

I hope this explains why I did what I did and if your a customer reading this, you won't regret doing business with Peoples Products! If you are a prospective employee of the company, make sure you communicate and your career with the company can flourish. 

Mike Guiliani was hired as a manager for Peoples Products in November 2011. He decided to work in our CT. office after coming in from the Albany area of New York state.

Mike quit by not showing up to work long enough that we knew he was gone.

We asked for our materials back, he did not reply. Even to this day, he refuses to call our company so we can tell him what we think is missing in the items he left at the bottom of our stairway after departing.

When he brings up a $2 item, this is his guess as to what we wanted to talk to him about. This did not come from us. Mike posted an email that I believe makes our side of the story. It asks him very politely to call us to discuss what was missing. Nothing more, nothing less. He simply will not call us to resolve this, but instead threatened us with an online attack of our reputation.

We have all the emails that he sent us, which threatened us in ways that made us very uncomfortable. None of this is anything we would ordinarily share online like this, but since Mike has decide to print his charges online, we have no other choice but to respond with our side of the story..

We will offer more information in this matter to anyone interested in this story, since Mike has decided to share his discontentment with the online community. Needless to say, we disagree with the subject matter he posted, and find it reprehensible. His claims about an R-9 window is all it would take to see how off base his charges are.

We again ask Mike to kindly call us at our office to discuss what we think is missing and to easily resolve this matter. He instead continues to harrass us online, having never bothered to pick up the phone and talk to us. I wish we knew more about his character before we hired him. I would recommend that anyone considering hiring someone like our former employee considers my post as part of his/her thought process before doing so. The president of our company is a very decent fellow and can be reached easily at 1-800-354-7660 x11. Thank you for taking the time to hear our side.