Horrific, Deplorable, on-going, defective broken window,Contaminated mold spreading in A/C Ducts Experience NOT solved YET one year later to DATE March 29, 2013.
Owner Mark Collins will not Accept responsibility & just wants us to GO AWAY!!!
Polk County Building permit # issued Febr 27, 2012 & inspected by #5891
One year ago FEBR 6, 2013 we signed a contract to purchase 2 new arched top energy efficient siding windows recommended by WINDOW WORLD owned by MARK COLLINS Lakeland Florida & Sales Rep Kevin Keegan. We assumed our window purchase with WINDOW WORLD/Mark Collins would be a pleasant experience & our promise by Kevin Keegan was that our windows would be wonderfully installed quickly, efficiently, professionally, error free, carefree in a timely fashion & that we had chosen the right WINDOW WORLD company for our home.
Our Experience began on the day of installation!! A exciting beautiful day turned into a YEAR Long
NITE Mare, which to date Owner MARK COLLINS upon our prodding multiple times has NEVER ATTEMPTED to visit our home to assess the problems with our 2 cracked, broken, defective arched top windows causing complications due to Leaking windows creating Contamination ,BLACK FUZZY MOLD spreading from 2 rooms into A/C Ducts to other areas of our home, creating & worsening respiratory chest pain / coughing for home owner & daughter. Mark Collins after Homeowner had to call his company repeatedly to get Owner to return homeowners phone call to him Personally, Mr. Collins originally told homeowner that Mr. Collins did not need to come out to our home to assess the problems as Collins had all the information Collins needed from his subcontractors. Office manager Carol Kim 863 665 7164. told homeowner that she could not give us Mr. Collins personal cell number to us and that Carol Kim would give Mr. Collins our messages again.
Chain of Events On-Going since Date of Contract signed & Deposit paid
FEBRUARY 6, 2012 ONE YEAR AGO
1. Arched top never templated by Sales rep Kevin Keegan (WINDOW WORLD)
2. Kevin Keegan called homeowner to take additional measurement for Sales Rep.
3. Day of 1st installation, Dining room window DID NOT FIT -Mismeasured
4. Gym window installed but not caulked, Dining room templated and Reordered
5. April 26, 2012 2nd day of installation, Dining Rm --Arched top WINDOW has huge jagged
protruding cracked glass exposed to the ext. elements, allowing terrestial rain to come in
& soak new carpet out 18-20 inches to sqush between homeowners toes.
Both of my windows were left uncaulked at the bottom of the window sills allowing rain,
lizards, and Bugs to freely crawl in & out of my Dining rm window.
FINAL PAYMENT was demanded by Subcontractor Kurt and was instructed not to leave until
Kurt had final payment. Homeowner called Window World asking to talk to the owner not
knowing Who the owner was at the time. Office Manager Carol said she could not give me Mr.
Collins cell phone no. & He was available out of the office now. Homeowner left message for
Collins to call me asap. When Mr. Collins called he also demanded full payment over & over
again knowing that the window was installed broken and work was NOT complete in either
room. After my husband convinced me that Mark Collins give him a chance to get it done next
installation I reluctant paid all but $500.00 & Told Mr. Collins who became very irate, defensive
& threatening that he would only complete the job when the job was paid in full. I told him I
would pay him all but $500.00 and when the job was completed. Mr. Collins extremelly upset
hung up on me.
6. 3rd installation--Subcontractor Kurt pulled jagged cracked window from Dining Rm opening
To find the New Replacement arched top was in fact broken again. Reluctantly the installer
had no choice but installed the new cracked window again or leave my opening exposed to the elements creating even bigger interior water & mold problem.
WINDOW WORLD reordered without expediting our order or any sense of urgency. My carpets
in both rooms were getting more & more Damaged, more Black mold growing.
Both Windows still uncaulked by Installers, as they were waiting for both windows to be
completed when they would caulk both at the same time. Still letting lizards, Bugs, and Rain
come in through uncaulked area. Carpets are ruined, Black Fuzzy mold growing with rain
causing respiratory chest/coughing problems with homeowner & Daughter.
Still no concern from Window World Owner Mark Collins or Sales Rep Carol Kim.
homeowner asked Office Manager if they could rush our reordered broken replacement arched
windows as we were having a Wedding in July & would not like our guests to see our home
with rain stained carpet, mold, contaminated mold air for our 3 grandchildren who were staying in
our home, and our guests who wanted to use our gym during stay in our home, or any guests
In home Wedding, reception and next day family reunion in our home with the mold odor present
to breathe. Window World Declined to expedite our replacement order. The replacement window for the 4th attempt was when homeowner had a scheduled trips out of town and then
Window World called wanting to schedule when we had out of town guests staying with us for 2
weeks. We all had plans to be coming & going entertaining our guests while they were staying
in our home. We gave Window World when we were home & available for installation. Window
World now have had our deposit plus additional payments for job incomplete, expecting us to
cancel our plans to have their installers come out the next day or the following day. We declined
our plans were made months ahead. Installation was scheduled again 2 weeks before our
wedding guests were to arrive from out of state.
7.4th installation- subcontractor prepping window to remove was told by his helper this window
was in fact this arched window was cracked again. This time the window never came off the
truck. Subcontractor Kurt asked Owner Mark Collins to call customer. Mark refused and did not
ever call us. Homeowner made copy of Polk County Permit signed off by Inspector #3891 & my
husband called Head inspector to find out why the window was signed off & job completed on
April 27, 2012 by Steve Leatherwood Inspector #3891. Lead Inspector said to my husband that
his inspectors would not have signed if there was obvious problems with the window & in fact
Our permit was signed and closed as complete 04-27-2013. My pictures show all the jagged
cracked windows were open to the terrestial rains allowing our Black mold & soaked carpeting
get worse. Now customer upset, calls Window World Office Manager Carol Kim demanding
Owner Collins business License Number, Insurance companies for both subcontractor & Window
World insurance names & phone number. Reluctantly, Office Man. Carol said she needed to check
With Collins. Again, another phone call from homeowner got a email from Carol with Insurance
& ph. number for subcontractor. Again a phone call asking for Mark Collins insurance comp.
Mr. Collins told my husband he did not feel it was Window World's problem, he was did not feel
his insurance should cover it but his subcontractors insurance should. I told him I called Service
Masters to come to our home & assess the mold issues & leaking windows, moisture in walls.
Service master after using their moisture meters determined drywall was in fact wet due to
defective windows, carpeting not saveable, drywall in both rooms needed to be cut to stud to
determine where the windows were leaking, installing plastic to prevent any more mold spores
traveling to other areas of our home. Mr. Collins promptly told Carol to tell us He did not respect
Servicemasters opinion because of a previous run in with ServiceMasters & Collins recommended
us to call FloodMasters who he had used in the past for a 2nd opinion. Flood masters confirmed
Servicemasters findings but demanded a large fee to document his findings in writing but after
prodding homeowner got Floodmasters to write a letter acknowledge his findings.
Prior to his Day of installation it had rained all week delaying Kurt's installation worried that it
would rain day of scheduled installation.
The day of installation homeowner pointed out to husband & installer Kurt & his helper that the
wood window sill along with the carpeting on right side of gym window was soaked and drywall
damp to the touch. Kurt insisted there was not a thing wrong with the gym window he installed
originally, reluctantly he put a hose on the exterior of both windows and obviously the cracked
window leaked water and Also the gym window he denied was leaking did in fact leaked enough
to have water come in and drizzle down the side of the drywall and soak the carpeting below.
After peeling back the carpeting we saw the black fuzzy mold was growing actively and odor was
strong. Kurt went out to his truck for a long time telling Window World the 2nd room window in
our gym was leaking obviously too. Minutes later, Kurt came back to tell my husband & myself
that Window World would reordered the Gym window now too. Kurt apologized over & over
& said that the owner would be calling us. Window world Owner never did.
Reluctantly, Kurt & his helper put a garden hose on both windows to find
Water was leaking through the top of the gym window and cracked arch top dining room window.
Our respiratory issues are getting worse being in that room with the mold showing our claim
adjusters what our issues are.
Homeowner accused of not allowing schedule to happen 2 days after Window World called to
schedule When we had prearranged guests staying with us. Keep in mind homeowner asked
to have urgency placed on replacement, never happened and it had already been 4 mistakes caused by negligence of Window World defective products From their Manufacture Alside Windows.
who did not ever respond to any of my emails directed to Alside for assistance either.
8. Both Insurance claim inspectors from subcontractor & Window World assess the problems as true but blatantly tell us over & over Mold is not covered by any of their policies.
and they could not help us with any mold issues that occured because of the defective
windows.
Insurance company, along with Service Masters, flood masters verbally told us not install
replacement window until mold issues are resolved with all parties involved including Mark
Collins, service & warranty issues resolved before any more work is completed on our home.
Mark Collins still has not Accepted responsibility with his defective windows or mold issue
Caused by new windows ordered By Window World one year ago.
Homeowner called Window world to get his insurance name & number to get his insurance
company to send a claim adjuster Al Korohan to file a claim & after repeated calling, emailing
Mr Korohamn in Jan. 21 2013 responding to me in a email that "I will check the status and
get back to you. Thanks". Still no response.
January 22, 2013 Homeowner very frustrated & filed a Complaint with BBB. Agent Sabrina
Washington.
February 05 2013 Homeowner checked to check BBB status
and found that Without confirming
or calling homeowner if our issues have been resolved, it was assumed because Window World
Mark Collins confirmed it was our complaint was closed on above date.
Homeowner notified BBB that we had just suffered losses of family members & friend ,along
with my husband's daughter (out of state) was suffering severe health issues & that my
personal family issues were a priority & I have no choice and needed to
deal with family issues first & would contact her asap in a short period of time by email.
No response from BBB or Sabrina Washington. I researched & discovered my complaint was
closed without any resolve. I still have a house with defective windows, moldy rain stained
carpets in 2 rooms, Mold & odor issues in our gym that have now contaminated our A/C ducts
spreading into our other rooms, Mold growing behind our electrical outlets. caulking that is
all cracked, shrivelled from base of window, cracked, damaged and unpainted trim, window sills
arches. I am unable to use our gym for over a year due to odor makes us cough hurting our
chest. I just listened to my daughter hacking across the house in her bedroom & spitting up
yellow thick mucous daily when she is home breathing this air.
March 29 2013 Frustrated homeowner called Polk County inspector Mr. Harold Bergen & Ste
Leatherwood
to confirm our permit # was signed off and closed out as complete on 04-27-2012
by Steve Leatherwood Inspector #3891 on above date claiming Steve did not see our jagged
Broken glass or he would not have signed off. I told him it was installed on April 26, 2013, the
same day Subcontractor Kurt & Mark Collins demanded full payment for completed job according
to the copy of my check I wrote for partial payment against my better judgement convinced by
my husband that Mr. Collins would complete our job asap as promised by Sales Rep Kevin Keegan who we have not heard or seen from since I gave him my deposit to order.
March 29 2013
Today homeowner was accused of waiting a year to complain to Polk county permit Department Harold Bergen & Steve Leatherwood claiming he did nothing wrong, saw no damage to our windows or he would not have signed off. Although both Mr. Bergen lead inspector & Steve Leatherwood Told me that they are instructed if there are a couple of windows uninstalled on any job site , that it was ok to sign off assuming the other windows will be installed correctly.
That is their policy and what they are told to do. When asked how these permit inspectors Beran & Leatherwood would feel or react if their wife or their home was going through the same turmoil left incomplete & your homes left disarray
like ours is for over a year, both men claimed they would not like it and told me I should not have paid Window World anything more before the job was completed.
Inspector Bergan also asked me why we waited a year to call, I replied that My husband did call
& on speaker phone I heard the response from Bergan shortly after the 3rd broken window was installed that the inspector did nothing wrong, our permit number
closed & signed off complete 04-27-2012 By Steve Leatherwood # 3891 just like today & advise me to file a civil suit.
Today Mr. Bergan advised me to come in Tuesday & file a complaint with Contractors Licensing
inspector Paul Ochman at 534-6492. And I will.
Why did I not file complaints earlier because I was patient, way to patient waiting for Window World & owner Mark Collins resolve our home between Window World and Us without broadcasting to other customers and harming his business. But Today My patience is gone , I feel I have been more than fair,but when I read last night that BBB closed our account because issues were resolved without verifying with me the VICTIM that pushed me over the edge.
I want EVERYONE, The whole world to know what pain, grief, turmoil, discussions,
spoiled family gatherings and Feeling like a prisoner in our own home not able to use our gym etc, etc, etc. I have given up so much time wasted on unheard phone calls, emails, lack of sleep worrying about when these issues will be resolved and Why I chose Window World in the beginning. Something so simple has turned into a year long battle trying to get my home back !!!
So Would I??? recommend WINDOW WORLD or Owner Mark Collins to do any more of my rental properties or any of my neighbors, relatives or friends, THE ANSWER is NO, NO, NO!!!
I think not!!! Recommended by Russ Sebring Ask the Experts At the Lakeland Ledger.
My answer is No !!!
Mark Collins the owner of Window World could have resolved our issues 8 months ago if After we
Asked him to come & assess the Window & mold issues, but Collins told us He did not Need To,
because he knew about everything from his subcontractor Kurt!!!!