ComplaintsforAbove Roofing

• Initial Complaint

  03/15/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I purchased, and had installed, a Sun Tunnel in May of 2023. This past winter I noticed water on the lens mounted on the ceiling. I called Above Roofing and they sent someone to inspect the Sun Tunnel. Their total effort was to bring a towel and wipe off the water. The water returned the next day. Since then I've spoken to two other people in the company both promising a resolution. So far, nothing.The last contact I had with Above Roofing was March 2, 2024 and March 4, 2024

  

  Business response

  03/24/2024

  On Thursday, March 21st I sent the following email directly to the homeowner.

   

  Will,
  
  First, let me introduce myself, I'm the General Manager here at Above Roofing and your Sun Tunnel issue has been escalated to me. Our team will be working with me and I'll be championing getting this resolved for you. I'll also be responding to your BBB complaint early next week after I've had a chance to review everything and get up to speed with where we are.
  
  Second, let me apologize for the lack of communication and what must feel like a lack of caring about your situation. Let me assure you we do care and there have been things happening in the background that we were not communicating. What I do know as of now I'd like to share with you.
  
  January 26th You called our office to let us know you were having condensation issues with your ***********, one in the bathroom and the other in the kitchen. The office scheduled a service (warranty) *********** for January 30th with ***************************.
  
  January 30th ****** visited your home to evaluate the situation and confirmed that you had major condensation in both ***********. Both units are located in high-humidity areas and ****** honestly didn't know what to do. He did have a discussion with you about possibly replacing the light in the shower with a light/fan option to pull some of the moisture outside when taking a shower.
  
  March 2nd You stopped into our booth at the Home & Garden Show to express your dissatisfaction with our handling of the situation. I believe it was **** working the booth and he promised we would reach out on Monday to schedule another visit.
  
  March 4th Our front office called you to schedule a service *********** but there was no answer and they left a voicemail message. That morning **** also came to me to make me aware of the situation and I promised to bring it up during a meeting with Velux later that week.
  
  March 7th During our quarterly meeting with our Velux representative we brought up the issues we are having in the field with condensation. They informed us that they have been working on the issue and have redesigned the seal/gasket in the unit and that all new units manufactured will have the redesigned gasket. Upon asking them what their fix is for those units already in the field, they didnt have an answer.
  
  March 15th You filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.
  
  March 18th I received an email response from our Velux representative regarding their fix and later that day we received notice from the BBB of your complaint.
  
  We have several of the new gaskets coming from Velux, they are researching a vapor barrier for the ceiling opening to prevent condensation, and we are waiting on the receipt of both from them.
  
  We are working on your issue as quickly as possible but most of it is outside our control and waiting on the manufacturer. So ... I'd like to ask you a question. Has Above Roofing and our team damaged our relationship and your trust that you no longer want to deal with it and want the lens removed? Or, are you willing to work with me and give us a little more time to resolve this issue? I will be responding to your BBB complaint but please let me know how you would like to proceed. If you'd like to have a phone conversation, please let me know some days of the week and times of the day that work for you and I'll get it scheduled.
  
  Again, I apologize for what has occurred and the lack of communication that has only made it worse. We do appreciate you and your business, and I hope to hear from you soon.
  
  *****

   

  After sending this I did receive a response from the homeowner, and it is below.

   

  Hello *****,
  
  Thanks for reaching out to me.
  I've annotated your email to add my own comments.
  
  That's not exactly as I remember ******* visit.  The differences are minor, but it seems a few salient points are missing.
  I dispute ******* assertion that the locations are "high humidity".  The unit near the shower?  Yes, I can agree that is a high humidity area.  The installation in the kitchen? Not at all.  It's a far larger area than the bathroom which would require an equally larger source of humidity.  That environment simple doesn't exist in the kitchen.  Furthermore, we haven't had the condensation issue until this most recent winter and the kitchen tunnel is nearing its second birthday.
  
  ***** and I talked about a number of possible solutions.  They included wrapping the tube with insulation, adding a fan to the shower, even completely removing the tube. He said he would research possible solutions and get back to me. He did not contact me again after that visit in late January.  This is where my frustration began.
  
  ***** had mentioned that this (condensation) is known issue with *********** and the chosen location was not ideal.  My comment to ***** was that the location was determined by Above Roofing.  I relied on your company's expertise in placement of the tunnel.  Furthermore, if this is a known issue, why was that not disclosed earlier?
  
  I did indeed receive a call from the office but no voicemail was left because I actually answered the phone.  I was at a doctor's *********** and just about to be called back.  I said that to the caller (whose name I fail to remember) and they said they would call back that afternoon.  I agreed that I would be available.  No second call was made, adding to my frustration which, by now, was turning into anger.  At this point it had been over a month since ***** was on-site and nearly two weeks after speaking to **** at the Home and Garden Show. Ten days later, more than 6 weeks AFTER ******* visit, I felt I had no choice but to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  I was running out of ideas on how to get your (Above Roofing) attention.
  
  Confirmed.  It IS a known issue!  Again, why no communication?
  
  I do want this problem resolved and I am willing to work with you and your team to find that resolution.  That said, I'm not taking complete removal off the table.  In plain terms, you put a hole in my roof and now I have water at my ceiling.  This is clearly not acceptable and needs to be addressed. Removing the lens, drying it, then replacing it is a maintenance task that should, quite frankly, not even exist.
  
  You've hit the nail on the head with this one *****. The near total blackout on communications has left me to believe I was cast aside.  Above Roofing was going to ignore me until I was defeated and stopped calling.  This actually hurt.  You see, we've had a good relationship with **** for over two years.  Shortly after we bought out first Sun Tunnel from ***** we knew we'd be back.  It did everything we hoped it would and more.  The addition of the solar light extends the usefulness of the Sun Tunnel and the added tax credit is icing on the cake.  We immediately planned to install more and we did! This year, we planned to add yet another Sun Tunnel in our guest bathroom but events from earlier this year have caused us to put a pause on that.  I sincerely hope we can resolve this without having to remove the *******.
  
  This entire episode makes me think of different, yet related subject that I'd like to tell you:
  We have rental property.  Occasionally we have tenants who pay late.  That's not a big deal to me if they let me know.  I understand "life happens" and all of us sometime need a break.  If a tenant is honest and straight-forward with me, we can work out nearly any problem.  I have, in the past, waived late fees and, in the case of the ******19 pandemic, suspended rents in their entirety for two months while the world struggled to get back on some kind of footing.  But when a tenant "goes dark", the red flag goes up.  When I try to reach out to the tenant and get very little or no response, I begin to worry.  The common element here is communication.  Talk to me.  Let me know what's going on.  We can work it out.
  
  I would welcome the chance to speak with you further on this issue.  Please feel free to call any time.  Meetings do pop-up from time to time so I might not be able to answer right away.  Generally speaking, Monday and Wednesday mornings are quite busy, but any other time will likely be fine.  I look forward to hearing from you.
  
  *****************************

   

  In closing, we are working with Will to resolve his issues and he is willing to give me a little more time. I'm not sure what the next steps are on your end but feel free to drop me an email.

  *******************, General Manager

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩