Business ProfileforWick Buildings, Inc.

I have 2 wick buildings, and was relatively happy with them, and Wick as a company, until a problem with the roof on one of my buildings cropped up. The building is now 19 years old, but the problem appeared 7-8 years ago. The issue is I purchased their "premium" roof offering called standing seam, at considerable extra expense. At about 12 years, we noticed extreme darkening all along the lower edge of the roof sheathing, indicating water infiltration. Further inspection revealed screws holding the metal on were lifting from the surface of the steel due to the sheathing rotting. Wick came out and inspected the roof, and declared that the Wick crew used screws that were too short. Initially, a Wick rep said "we may have to replace the roof". However, their solution was to put in longer screws, I guess in the hope that there would be more wood for them to grab. Fast forward 7-8 years, and I noticed the longer screws were now pulling up. I contacted Wick, explained the situation to several different people, and was ultimately told that the problem was not under warranty. Their warranty specifically says I am covered for 25 years if roofing fails structurally. They still say I'm not covered. Moral of the story: NEVER buy a Wick building! They WILL NOT stand by their warranty, but will work tirelessly to tell you why they won't honor their obligations.

We are sorry that this customer of 20 years ago feels Wick Buildings has not stood behind its warranty. However, there are a number of factual errors in his statement, which we have addressed directly with him.

• He had misinterpreted of the warranty as being all inclusive for the roof for a full replacement, at any time and for any reason, within the 25 years.

• As we have explained to him, the warranty covers structural issues of the roofing panels themselves.

• Wick provided service on his roof beyond the normal warranty, at no charge, when the longer screws were installed into the roof several years ago.

• Thus, his recent claim of screws pulling loose again is not a failure of the panel, therefore it is not covered by the warranty.

• After almost 20 years we do not know what the current condition of the roof is and do not know what is causing the problem.

• There could be a number of reasons for what he has experienced such as improper maintenance of the roof, humidity level within the building being outside of normal range, problems with snow and ice retention on the roof or in the gutter, …etc.

• Wick has always and will continue to stand behind all of its warranties. We stated this to him in the past and in our recent conversations regarding his roof.

• We have offered to come out and inspect the roof, and provide a reasonable estimate for the needed repairs, which he has declined.

Wick has a large headline on their warranty page that states "As the old saying goes a warranty is only as good as the company that backs it up." As has been my experience, Wick refuses to acknowledge that my so called "interpretation" of their warranty is valid, which states "FOR TWENTY (20) YEARS Free of Charge, Wick will replace or repair, at its option, acrylic coated Galvalume steel roofing or siding panels should they rupture, perforate, or fail structurally when exposed to normal weather and atmospheric conditions." My interpretation is that they FAILED in the initial installation by installing screws that were too short, and subsequently the roof failed structurally due to water infiltration. Apparently it was my duty as the customer to check daily to make sure they didn't make any mistakes in the assembly of my building.Additionally, when the problem was first noticed, at 13 years NOT 20 years, a Wick inspector came out and assessed that the original crews were too short and that "we may have to replace the roof".Instead, I'm sure after pressure from corporate, they installed longer screws and said that should fix the problem. Seven years later, I discovered that this patch job didn't work, and while still in the 20 year window of the warranty, contacted Wick. At that point they tried every means possible to deny any responsibility, beginning with "we don't have any record of having made any repairs 7 years ago". When I challenged that, they tried to convince me that the warranty didn't apply because my standing seam roof wasn't specifically mentioned in their general warranty. Am i to believe that the supposed "premium" roof they sold me carried no warranty?Wick has gone to great lengths to block my legitimate claim, and has failed THEIR obligation as a builder to stand behind a faulty assembly by their Wick authorized contractor, who has, in the meantime, been relieved of his Wick distributorship.This whole deal stinks of corporate greed, and leaves me, the customer, out in the wind. Oh, by the way, did I mention that I bought a second building from them in 2014? Apparently repeat customers are of no value to them as well.