Pella Reviews

They sent a guy out who looked at all my windows, and only replaced the one with the rotted hinge. I asked if the other windows would have the same issue in a couple of years and he reassured me that this window was the only one with the problem. I looked closely at all my windows and noticed that all of them which were casement were having this problem. After paying for just the labor only, approximately 95.00 they did warranty the sash of the rotted window.

Here is where the problem is. Now I filed as part of the class action lawsuit (Saltzmann vs. Pella) where I was under the assumption when they reached a settlement that my windows would be replaced because of the aluminum cladding separating from window creating water infiltration. After putting 2 and 2 together, I realized that at the time I had the one sash replaced 7 yrs after I bought the windows, the service tech who replaced the only window which he said was bad screwed me. You can only get these window slabs from Pella, so how did a trained Pella rep miss all the deteriorating windows and defecting aluminum clad?????

Just recently I had a Pella rep come back out for the class action settlement where he established that all 22 Pella proline casements in my house are bad except for the one that was replaced in 2008. He told me that these windows will not last another 2 yrs!!! What the HE?? is going on! So I figured they are going to be replaced with me being part of the class action lawsuit. He told me I would get a quote in the mail, which would entail me to 40% of the windows and 30% off the labor. That does not seem right after I had one of their reps come out when my windows were in warranty and paid for the labor to install, and asked if the other windows should be replaced too! The Pella rep at that time told me all the other windows were fine!!

That just is not right to have to pay for windows twice within 10 yrs!!!! Pella needs to make this right!!! I will be pursuing more legal advice because of this situation. If anybody had had this similar situation, please give me some advice. I would have had no problem paying for labor to install them, but to have to pay for the windows again after one of their reps told me they were all fine but then on replaced, NOT COOL!!!!

After he left, I removed the slider and put it on a pair of horses to see what I would find. I was able to remove the aluminum that ran across the bottom of the door very easily. The wood under the aluminum was all rotted just like the bay window. If the moisture from below was causing this, the door would have been rotting from the bottom up. Instead the bottom of the door was still somewhat ridged, but the wood closer to the glass was all soft and deteriorated. There was hardly any silicone and no rubber seal or gasket between the glass and the aluminum. The rainwater was getting in behind the aluminum and rotting the wood. The same was true for the bay window.

From what I've been reading from other Pella customers, they are all having the same problems with the rotting at the base of the windows and doors. The aluminum hides the problem until the wood is almost totally gone. Then Pella blames everyone else but themselves. To change the window or door now would really be expensive because of the new cost of windows today, and because my house has been vinyl sided after the window and door were installed and would have to be removed around them in order to do the job correctly. Pella needs to be held responsible for their inferior products.

I call Pella back and ask to speak to a manager. She tells me the same thing the customer service rep did. She offered no help or compromise. I informed her I will NEVER buy another Pella product in my life. Not to mention I am a bank Property Manager who will never use their product in any of my facilities and I will inform all the MANY contractors I know NOT to buy and Pella products due to poor quality and terrible customer service. Please if anyone learns of another class action suit please post this information. I will glad join. Oh and I asked the manager if she was aware of any other complaints/issues with rotting wood similar to my situation. She said NO! Ok, I can take getting screwed but I HATE being lied to.

There was a time in history when companies would make good, quality products that would last 30 years before being replaced and the company would stand behind their products. That day seems to be gone. Pella should be ashamed of themselves for screwing so many people by producing a bad window. Obviously, all these homeowners aren't responsible which is what they are claiming. I am going to make sure I get the word out to every man, woman and child not to buy a product from Pella. If they are not going to make this right for their customers, they should be put out of business!!!!!!!! Shame on you and all your crooked CEOs!!!!! I hope someone screws you like you have screwed all the millions of people who are replacing your rotting windows now.

In the past, I experienced problems with the windows and a Pella representative visited my residence. At that time, I was informed about the following problems from a Pella representative: (1) the Pella windows were installed with no "R" factor (insulation); (2) the Pella window frames were rotted and the clad lifted. During this time, all 79 sashes were replaced and two inch screws installed to hold the windows' mechanism in place. Per the Pella representative, the repair was only a "bandaid" to the problem. Now the "bandaid" has lost its adhesive. The initial problem was never resolved.

Per your records, the factory warranty has expired. However, Pella violated the warranty because the windows that I purchased from Pella and installed by a Pella Certified Contractor are: (1) not fit for use; (2) not free from defective material or workmanship. Therefore, I do not think I should incur the cost of purchasing and installing all new windows and for certain other repairs of the windows necessitated by a known manufacturing defect.

To help resolve the problem and not resort to another "bandaid", I am requesting that you replace all 12 openings with double hung/transom tops. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Now I think the best way to handle this is to set up a protest / picket outside Pella stores. Also picket outside Lowe's. You have to hit them were it hurts. SO LET'S GET ORGANIZED AND SEND E - MAILS TO EACH OTHER AND DATES TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

I then went back to Pella to ask them to put in writing that any breakage of the same manner be covered or else replace all 5 of my windows. The supervisor again dodges my questions and concern that Pella is taking no responsibility and putting all of the burden ($) for future problems on me. They then said that it could be a foundation settlement issue. Bottom line: I'll be filing a complaint with BBB and NEVER buy Pella products!!!! They won't stand behind their product and their customer service is an absolute joke!

I called Pella and they took my information. I sent pictures to the local distributor and heard nothing back for 2 weeks. I called today and was told my door was not covered by warranty because the water came in from underneath the door? This door is mounted 5 feet off the ground. They also said the serial number on the door was for a different style door so my claim would be denied for that as well. But the helpful representative did offer to get me a new door.....as long as I paid for it! What a joke. I would never deal with them again after getting a runaround like this. This door shouldn't fall apart in 6 years. I think there is a flaw in the seals that lets water in. Anyway, this company's reputation sure has hit bottom for me.

After hurricane Sandy, I felt a draft coming from all the windows, Thomas was supposedly unavailable, so another technician, Sean came down, he stated without even checking the windows are not square or shimmed properly. Who to believe two different Pella technicians both saying opposite things. We contacted Pella in Iowa who sent us to Jim in CT. He said to disregard what Thomas says, Jim wasn't there he doesn't know what was said. Jim was denying what his employee said. He sent down his so called expert, who stated that the windows were not shimmed properly and in order to fix it, it would be a very expensive job.

In the interim we had private contractors coming who all said the same thing, the more you shim the less you will be able to open and close the window, Pella makes poor products. In fact one of the private contractors actually checked the squareness, and they were square. Jim kindly gave us the name of a local contractor to give us a quote on the job, he came and walked right out saying, "Call back your contractor. He can't do the job, too big." Our original contractor refuses, as he claims Thomas told him they were good. We are at a loss. Besides from all of this the screens don't fit properly, they don't snap into place and bugs get in as we have the half screens. Pella could care less! Am trying to file a complaint with the New York State Attorney General's office. It is the only way to stop them! Other people have to do the same.

Pella has tried to resolve the problem by replacing either the window set or just the upper picture window, but the windows still leak (at the same place). Each time Pella and I have looked for signs of water coming from above or around the windows (we've taken pictures too) and each time Pella has found no sign of water external to the window, not even in the framing.

After the last replacement, it continued to leak. Pella is now stating it can't be coming from the windows (even though the installers and the install manager found no signs of this when the windows were out) saying it must be a roof leak or coming from above the windows. The windows leak only when rain comes from that side of the house with enough wind to cause the rain to hit the upper "picture" windows. If it was a roof or framing issue, the windows would leak all the time. In addition, there is no single spot on the front of the house that water could get down to both windows. The front porch and doors divide the house between the 2 sets of windows.

In addition, I have been using heavy duty clear insulating tape over the window frame edge and the glass (on the picture window). When this tape is on the window, I don't have any leaks and we've had a few storms (one with a tornado) that would have caused them due to the amount of water hitting the picture windows. In short, when the tape is on, the windows don't leak. No tape and the windows leak. Since Pella is refusing to do anything more with the windows, I am forced to take them to small claims court. I hope to get them to refund my money for these windows so I can get someone else to replace them. I have multiple photos and videos to make my case. BTW, these windows were purchased direct from the local Pella store and were installed by Pella's own installers. This was not a 3rd party contract.

My mother had Pella windows for 40 years BACK IN THE DAY. The house was left vacant, then a roof section fell in and the windows were fine. I do not expect the windows to last through that kind of abuse, but mold and warped frames so the screens don't fit when the rest of my house is maintained - not falling in and the windows have had moisture problems since installed. The kicker is Pella service has given me the runaround for years and years placating me occasionally with, "I will look into this" and never hearing back or talking to the same location. Much less, finding the person that you previously talked to.

Since we have bad allergies and a whole-house air exchanger, we never opened the casement windows, and I haven't looked behind the vertical blinds at the corner of the stationary door of the sliding doors until recently. We found black rot and probably black mold on the lower wood part of the sliding door, where snow was getting into the house in 2000. I pushed a putting knife all the way through the wood to the outer vinyl covering. I looked at the sliding door on the upper level by our deck, and sure enough, the wood was discolored and starting to rot in the same exact spot as the other door.

I haven't checked the casement windows yet, and truthfully, I am not looking forward to it because of the numerous forums regarding problems and even a class action lawsuit against Pella. I just filled out the online form letting Pella know I wanted an in-home consultation on what to do and how much it might cost. Then I sent a separate email to Pella summarizing the same problems. I also attached photos of the damage.

Now I'm wondering if my neighbor across the street had Pella windows in a house that was built in 1994...they had all the windows and the doors replaced two years ago, and I couldn't understand why windows and doors needed replacing so soon. Will update as this saga with Pella continues. I may consider a contingency lawsuit based on fee only if the suit is successful.

After two more weeks went by with no response, I sent a certified letter to the president of the company. A couple of weeks later, I finally was acknowledged by a call from a company representative that seemed to be from the Albany, NY area. He "seemed" to be from that area, only because he also seemed very confused when I asked where he was calling from. When I advised him of the problem I had, he again seemed confused, as if he really wasn't sure what to do. He asked if I had called their local rep in Syracuse, NY. I advised him that I had and gave him the phone number I called. He was quiet, then said, "Hmm. Yup, that's the number, okay." I asked if that was the local representative and he then said to my amazement, "Yeah. That's my number." Okay. I asked what can be done to replace the black sill. "Oh," he said, "your windows are old. Our people can't do anything. You'll have to get your own contractor to chisel out the wood and replace it with whatever they use."

I could go on with the insane conversation I had with this person, but the basics are Pella would love to sell everyone a window(s). However, if you have a problem later, don't bother calling them back because they are too busy to be bothered by inconsequential problems, and not going to do anything anyway. I am a developer and currently in the process of restoring older multi-family housing, most of which need replacement windows. Would I consider using Pella for my windows? Only if every other window company in the world suddenly went out of business. Do I like Pella windows? They are right up there on my list of loves, just after broken arms and legs. If you are looking for new/replacement windows, don't be snookered by the salesperson in the Pella booth or store. He/she wants their commission but once you install them, don't expect to hear back if you have an issue and call them.

If you have had issues with Pella, report it immediately to the Harris County Attorney General, Texas and Iowa state Attorney Generals. Trust me; they want to hear from you about what these guys are doing and how they are making their money. Yes, it is criminal and they will be prosecuted with your help! You are entitled to compensation 3x your actual damages plus pain and suffering. It's deceptive trade practice; a good attorney will take this on a contingency fee. Help build a case for a class action suit by suing today. Do not purchase Pella from any franchise or try to collect on the warranty. The Pella Corp. likes to play the finger point and blame game. As a result of their installation, I have major house damage water, mold, and structural.

Pella-certified installers do not know how to install doors. If you have been a victim of a Pella warranty and installation issue, contact the Iowa State Attorney General now. Find an attorney who should take the case on a contingency fee and you could be compensated for up to 3x the amount of damages. Stop this unethical business practice by getting the lawsuits documented in the courts. Do not just settle; take them to court so it is well=documented that this company has an issue.

I was able to get an appointment to have a Pella representative appear on my doorstep within two weeks. Before Kevin, I think he finally admitted his name was, even stepped over the threshold, he was dissing my installer. "Your windows were installed by Lowe's," he expounded. "They are the worst installers." Ha, I thought, remembering how Google commenters had reported that while they tried to show what the defects in their Pella windows were, they were told how it wasn't the windows but the installation. Thermometer placed at edge of new Architect Series replacement window by Pella reads 56-degrees fahrenheit in a home whose nearby thermostat was reading 72. Pella's rep refused to admit that there was an air leak around the window.

Tightening a couple of screws and ceremoniously moving his hand along the frame of one of my front windows (the more expensive Architect series) and at the same time assuring me that there were no air leaks, this man moved quickly to the rear where I knew that two windows were leaking air so badly that I wished I owned an electric blanket. Along the way, of course, I kept insisting that the Pella windows were bad, to the point, apparently, that this man asked me if I wanted him to leave. "You're being so negative," he accused. Taking out his level, the rep was bent on assuring me that the back windows were installed crookedly when the doorbell rang. It was my Lowe's installer, Joe, whom I had requested be in attendance.

Well, Joe did in a matter of minutes what I would not have been able to do in a lifetime and that convincingly was to demonstrate how his install was perfectly by the book (he had been trained by Pella to install their windows) and that, indeed, there were problems with the construction of those windows. The last two windows in the bathroom, by the way, had summarily been dismissed by the Pella rep as not having air leaks. And how could they? They still had the insulating tape that he hadn't removed that I had used to supplement the windows' inadequate weather-stripping. Okay, so based on this guy's report, Pella apparently would replace the two windows in the bedroom. But what of the other windows that he breezed (good word to describe airflow) by?

On one of them, admittedly, he had tightened the crank operated device, creating a tighter window seal. But before he left, he also had to re-loosen the screws after I couldn't get the handle to fit back into its socket and that reveals the problem with all of the casement and awning windows that were installed. Pella is relying on a less than desirable weather-stripping to reduce air (and water) leaks to compensate for their Sure Lock system that doesn't in all cases of manufacturing line up or pull the window sash tightly enough against it. All the windows after all presumably were made in the same manufacturing plant by the same people at the beginning of a week in February. Were they hung over or just in training? More to this sad song to come. Check Musings with Mari on the Joplin Independent.

They just use stupid excuses why they can't fix them. They tell her they have to send someone from out of town but no one has ever showed up. They want her to pay a fee to come out and look at them, and also pay for parts. They had a person there within days when they wanted an estimate but as soon as she needed them fixed, they don't show. What's up with that? It's been 20 years. I think your windows are junk. I got all the windows in my house installed 10 years ago with Andersons. I love them and never had a problem. Pella, I think you need to make this right. Quit taking advantage of elderly single women.

We have the crank out casement windows in our house. They all leak air and we get frost and ice along the bottom edge of all of them during the winter months. We wipe them down every day, but I can see the wood is already starting to rot in places. This really sucks. We can't afford to replace these. I called Pella customer service. They said they can send someone out to look at them, but we have to pay for the visit. They also said if they don't find anything wrong with the windows and it ends up being a condensation problem, then there is nothing they can do except give us a condensation manual with some recommendations to follow. Seriously?

My neighbors all around me all have different brand windows and none of them have this problem. Bottom line, Pella still builds junk. Stay away from them. I wish I would have and I should have known this already from my last experience.

Furthermore, I have no idea as to when this might be resolved. The guy on the phone who explained to us that he wasn't sure why no one came out when they promised they would was very nice. It wasn't his fault. But it'll come as no surprise that I don't recommend them. I saw the exact same door at Lowe's for much cheaper, even with installation, but thought that the warranty would be better if installed through Pella. It’s not working out for me so far.

My concern is that the warranty for the new doors does not come with 10-year warranty and still ends with my old one of 2013; also, that in another year or two, the others will also go and then I will have the added problem of paying for the doors themselves along with the huge labor fee. I was told to have all my doors and windows caulked to prevent this from happening again and do it every 4 years to prevent further damage and rot. Why wasn't this done in the factory to begin with? Why is this design flaw my problem now and my cost? We have had, in our prior home, Andersen windows and doors for over 25 years with no problems at all.

I am so disappointed and angry about this and the added maintenance and cost to insure no future problems. And I truly wonder about that and if it is true. The warranty for the windows is 2014, and I have the pro line series. I have never heard of something like this ever, but I see many others have had similar problems also online. I would never buy Pella again or recommend it to anyone ever. If there is a class action suit going on, then sign me up for it. Something should be done to protect customers like me and all the others.

After 3 years have passed since installation, one of our larger windows malfunctioned. The counterweight on one side froze in place and the window won't stay in position when opened. We just contacted Pella and were informed that a service call would cost $135 to repair the warranty windows. If they needed a part and had to come back out again, it would be another $135.

We couldn't express our dissatisfaction at that response. When we purchased from this company, nearly 100% of our decision rested on the fact that they were guaranteeing their product for as long as we lived in our home. At no time was there an asterisk placed on that promise, or perhaps more than likely it was buried under a ton of contractual double speak. Now we're stuck with these windows, knowing that every time an issue arises, we would be forced to keep paying for them. Do yourself a favor and avoid dealing with this company at all if you can help it.

We contacted Pella customer service. This was a joke. After much wrangling, they finally agreed to send replacement parts. It has now been two months and the replacement parts still have not arrived. Pella warranty is worthless and customer service is worse than that. They say they will replace but want to charge you $400 for a service to install. We still have not received the parts but have a professional door and locksmith that will install the replacement parts for $75. Pella has really let us down after spending $15,000 for doors. Our sales rep we bought the doors through won't even call us back. Beware of Pella. I would rather deal with Anderson or someone else. Pella is substandard all the way around. We are in Dickinson, Texas and quite dissatisfied.

After calling the company and asking for brand new doors for replacement, the company totally ignored us. The only thing they would tell me is that the engineers forgot to put on instructions that this Pella storm door would not work on their Pella entry door. I went down to the local Pella distributor store where I purchased them (not Lowe's). I told them I needed to have something done. They told me there used to be a 20-year warranty, now only a 10-year. All I was to do was to make an appointment with the service department and they would call me. I was informed that they were all under warranty, but it would cost me $80.00 per hour to use the warranty. Use your imagination to what I told them when they said that. This company does not service what they sell and no longer have any quality control.

I called the main Pella headquarters, not the local one. I asked for a factory representative to come to our state to view the windows and doors. Pella offices told me, they did not have a factory representative. This is a huge red flag that everyone should observe. This company does not care what you have problems with, only how much money they can take from you. Their engineers are very poor on design and quality. Products are extremely overpriced for what you get. Our local companies are Hutchinson, Wichita and Topeka, Kansas, all owned by the person. Avoid these Pella stores at all cost. In closing, I will tell you in truthful honest opinion - Pella windows and doors are viewed to be the worst.

We were foolish at the time that we did not complain to the company but from what I am reading, I don't think it would have done any good. I would not recommend these windows to anyone and I am sure there are manufacturers out there that provide a better quality window at much more reasonable prices. These windows are by no means inexpensive. I would love to replace all the windows in my house but with 27, it is cost prohibitive. The other issue that I have is that when the sash lock is engaged, it pulls the top and bottom sash apart, not tight, which causes a draft in many of the windows.

A week later, they were finally able to come in and finish their work. This was now 4 weeks from the original installation date. I called to follow up on the $150 off because of my inconvenience and they are lying and saying they never said that I could reuse the preexisting door, fixed the problem and nothing was wrong. So let me summarize. They lie to get the sale and then they perceive an installation of over a month as "normal business practices."

The French door leaks badly and did considerable damage to my basement until I finally found the source of the leak (I was tearing off siding, caulking everywhere, checking flashing around the deck, etc., until I had the neighbor drench the door with the hose and found water pouring into the basement). The issue with my windows, and I will assume most as the ones I have looked at seem to have similar characteristics, is poor material choice and/or poor design. If material choice was correct, the design may have been adequate. The anchor points for the swing-out windows are where most of the issues start. They have the entire pivot weight of a double paned, 6' x 2' window on a single 2" screw anchored into white pine with aluminum cladding (1/32" thick maybe?) over the pine. If you know, white pine it is about as soft as wood gets (specifically in the building/construction industry).

Aluminum is incredibly strong per weight but it must be double-walled, or sufficiently thick to provide stiffness and retain shape. Every one of these windows, every one, has the screw pulled into the pine and bent the flashing causing them to be very difficult to close/latch. This puts incredible strain on the cam/locking mechanism which is designed to pull the window in and not provide moving/lifting strength. These cams are cast bronze which would be okay if they were just pulling in and not supporting load. However, with the weak pivot point, they take a load and then start shearing or breaking. The shearing causes the latches to be sloppy and not pull the window in. This eliminates the ability to seal with the built-in weather stripping. It also makes the windows "shudder" in heavy/high winds. This design/material issue is separate from the condensation which is a manufacturing issue (also may be related to poor material choice).

So when you hear people complain about them not functioning correctly, they are correct. It is not just idle complaining. They may not be able to speak technically or identify where the issues come from, but, unfortunately, I have become, expensively and in a time-consuming way, aware of the issues. I have had to drill out all the pivot areas (where the windows could no longer come close to shutting let alone shutting tightly) and then fill in the void with high strength epoxy. Then after drilling a new hole (and as a bonus, half of the windows didn't even have the original hole drilled in the correct location to begin with which contributed to the quick failure of the materials), I am able to securely open and close the windows. The larger hole, filled with epoxy, provides a much larger surface for the lateral loading and thus the white pine does not give in the same fashion. If hard woods were used, correct pivot points were identified, and/or steel encasements were embedded into the pine prior to using the screw, the failures could have been avoided. Being an engineer and having spent a lot of time in areas with FEMA testing, I am rather confident very little to no long term testing of these windows was done.

Here is where the lack of customer service comes in. After the first winter, I called several local Pella dealers to speak to someone about the issue. I got the runaround until I finally got a direct Pella representative. After getting all the codes off the windows, I was told these were all purchased at their outlet store and therefore they had no responsibility. I asked the rep if they were accustomed to putting in defective windows in their outlet center and they said no. I then proceeded to tell them that these were defective. Needless to say, I got nowhere at the first couple of levels. It wasn't until I got hold of a district sales manager before they agreed to send someone out. They wanted to charge me for a service call ahead of time. I told them no. They finally agreed to come out. Their service reps were a joke.

Instead of identifying the actual source of failure on the pivot arms, the service reps’ solution was to put a steel washer (not even stainless steel) under the window where it sits on the trailing arm. This is where all of the down force of the window resides or where the weight of the window is held. Let me go back to white pine and surface area. A steel washer that is roughly 1/16 of an inch wide supporting the weight of a 150 # (or so?) window when it is white pine resting on it just doesn't work. Within a week, the window stopped working again. Why? The window simply sunk into the washer. They did fix the cladding on one of the doors. The rep told me the glue was better than what they used at the factory, so it should last longer. I then asked her how long it would be until the rest of the cladding fell off. She told me I shouldn't have any other problems. I asked her why I had the first problem and she said it was the glue. I didn't press any further as she obviously was not getting it.

I tried for 6 months with corporate to find a win-win solution. I offered to pay for labor if they replaced the defective/failed windows at no cost for the windows. I got nowhere. I was told either they were out of warranty and there was nothing they could do, that they were installed wrong (this is what I usually got as the issue), or they offered to give me 10% off the cost of new windows. I finally gave up. However, now I make sure to tell everyone about the negative experience through and through. Since I am an engineer, have been in high level sales/technical consulting, people tend to listen to my opinion since it isn't just idle complaining. However, no one at Pella could understand or cared about how this would affect their reputation/future sales. Granted, when you have the marketing mindset like a telecommunications company (just keep advertising and getting more customers, don't worry about retention), no one worries about negative press.

So now I have a house with $40k to $70k of almost useless windows and doors that should have had a 25 to 35 year service life that didn't even make it to 10 and most probably not even 3. Unfortunately, you can't tell how poorly designed these windows really are in a showroom and most people won't even fully understand the issue when you show it to them. They will quickly understand the lack of customer service and complete lack of responsibility the company takes for its products. If anyone from Pella is reading this and would like to take an active interest in resolving this issue, I would be willing to discuss. You can turn me into being an advocate (by righting a wrong and standing behind your products) instead of taking every instance to inform potential consumers of the myriad of issues I have had with your products.

My main warning to buyers is Pella does not back the product nor do they call back and respond to complaints. I have spoken to the corporate office and the woman I spoke with assured me she would check on the concerns and get back in touch with us. After three months, I tried to reach her and to date, she has not returned or called me about my poorly-designed windows. I am reminding and warning people after all this time because recently, we had hail damage to our windows and the cladding around the windows are being replaced. The contractor informed me that there is extensive rotting under the aluminum cladding. He informed me that Pella windows is well aware of this problem. Buyer beware, Pella windows are junk.

Keep in mind, there was never any products that were given to us for that money. We said we would purchase 3 more windows if they pay us that money. It is amazing how everyone denies talking with any persons. The person's name is Bryan **, who the construction company spoke with along with this man coming to our home. He is denying any such interaction. I am turning in a formal complaint along with getting an attorney. I want the money you stole and gave us no product. Enough is enough. 12 years and we're still trying to recover the money. I will never deal with Pella ever. Their windows suck, they are noisy, they don't close, they clunk, and every time you open them, the blinds do not keep out the sun. They have become a company that cares more about the big, big profit than customer satisfaction. And I should have read the blogs before dealing with this company.

Now 3 years later, the covering has come loose from the fiberglass door and is fading in areas. We called, thinking there’s no problem, and it’s in warranty. Not so fast. Yes, the warranty covers the cover, but not putting it on the door. When I went to the website to read about their warranty, the "lifetime", "20 year" and "10 year" warranties, all require that you report the issue within the first 2 years. Are we supposed to be psychic or is this really just a 2 year warranty? Don't be silly like we were, do your homework. Their reputation is better than reality.

Looking at other comments/complaints against Pella, I see several similar issues with wood rot. Though Pella sales rep denies this as being a repeated complaint, one Pella employee told me they (Pella) have had to replace many of the doors purchased around 2006 because Pella had changed the wood at that time. Without questions, Pella has replaced the doors which are within the 10-year warranty. The doors, still in delivery boxes, seem to be correct and to my satisfaction. Kudos, Pella. I still need to spend money to install the replacement doors. Pella is not the company they claim to be when it comes to satisfying the customer.

When I called, I was a month past the 1-year warranty and Lowe's sales made me think they had 10 years or something. I called Pella several times and they said they would re-glaze for over $100 per window. Our lower level has tile floors and that popping noise echos through the house every morning and really sounds like a pop gun. Pella wouldn't own up to the problem and I felt as though I was deceived by Lowe's sales. I have also a large Jeld-Wen and have experienced no similar problems.

You and I know that you have already spent hours and hours attempting to contact them. Pella does not provide quality products. We live just 40 minutes from Pella Iowa, where these are manufactured. We have attempted to visit their plant to get help. Just like your phone calls, Pella has "gate watchers" that won't allow us to get inside the building to visit the customer service people. We are currently in the process of a lawsuit. It has been exceptionally expensive, but we are homeless. We have no other options, as we gave Pella 2 years to solve our 49 window issues. They refused! I know that you will not get any satisfaction either, sorry.

I suggest that you take them to a small claims court. Your installer will go with you to show that they were installed properly. Take a video. From now on, every time that you talk to Pella, make sure you tape the conversations, as they will lie, lie, and lie. We have hours of taped conversations to use as proof. Hopefully, through all of our postings, we can save other families from making the same fateful decision that we have made. If you are someone looking for windows or doors, do your research. Pella does not stand behind their products, or provide any customer service.

Until I called the supervisor, another Pella inspector came over yesterday. He said he just received the report documents from the previous inspector in October and that is why the reply is delayed. He said the sizes are correct, the reason is installations. Pella is not going to responsible for it. I don't trust him. He is lying. Summer is coming. The bugs keep on coming inside. We have bug bites all over arms and legs now. I also tried Raid but it almost killed me. We have spent over $4K on changing doors, but we can not open the glass door now. What we can do? Could anyone let me know how to sue them without much cost? Please give me some suggestions.

From that meeting, Pella decided that the windows need to be replaced, due to manufacturing defects. We had ordered and paid for Douglas Fir, which is an upgrade to the order. We receive cheap pine windows with a Douglas Fir veneer. The 2nd set was delivered in February 2010. All were installed by Pella, except for 21 windows that were left stacked inside our garage, where they are still stacked to this day. It is our belief that the Pella installers saw that the 2nd set also had the exact same manufacturing issues, so they refused to install the last 21 windows. Pella then refused to talk to us from February 2010 to January 2011, when they, once again, sent to our home a team of Pella 2 engineers and 2 other Pella installation experts. At this meeting, we were told that these men could, once again, see the manufacturing defects in our windows. These include the cladding defects, the weather stripping defects, the locking defects and the wrong wood type. These 4 men told us that Pella would manufacture a 3rd set and have that 3rd set installed by the end of February 2011.

We agreed with the Pella solution to our window issues. As in many other forms of communication we got from Pella corporate, is seemed as though Pella had never sent out teams to our home. The corporate letter was straight out of left field, meaning that it was absolutely disjointed from any type of personal communication we had from the team in our home. Pella cooperate absolutely does not provide any type of customer service. Pella corporate refused to acknowledge their own teams conversation. At this point in time, the only things we are sure of are as follows: 1) we paid for our expensive windows 2) Pella has our money 3) our windows leak and 4) Pella does not stand behind their products. Our family has been 100% homeless since we made the fateful decision to purchase from Pella in 2009. Because of all the water issues inside our home, caused by the snow/water that flows through our high end Pella Architect Series Douglas Fir Double Hung windows, we are unable to finish the drywall.

Now we have a home full of mold. If it were not for a wonderful neighbor, we would be still living in our camper during the past 3, yes 3, Iowa winters. We strongly suggest that you do your research. A Pella window purchase might leave your family in the same boat as hundreds of other families. We thought that we should purchase Green and purchase windows from a local company. Well, that decision has left us homeless!

After dealing with the business I bought these windows from, I get a call and I am told the window are working the way they are to and the only thing they can do is give me a discount on a new dehumidifier. This is like getting slapped in the face for giving them my business and money for complaining about the window that I am very dissatisfied with, Never again will I buy something from them again.

I also noticed, that on almost all the windows in the house, I had a large amount of condensation on the windows, saturating the wood. The salesman was trying to tell me it's normal. It's sad when I knew more than the window 'professionals'. The condensation occurs when warm meets cold. The glazing that Pella uses was obviously failing as time goes on. It must be drying and shrinking. Air molecules are smaller than water, so you'll have cold air infiltrating the glazing first, filling the void under the window and meeting the warm air inside the house causing condensation.

The worse the leak the more condensation. It was 10 degrees last night, I have ice on the inside corners of several of my casements. We heat with wood stoves so the humidity inside the house is not an issue. This is clearly an issue with the quality of products and/or window manufacturing. All the wood windows will rot from all the moisture that is saturating the wood. Very disappointed. I spent a lot of time and money finishing these windows (they are unfinished wood windows) and every time one fails I have to refinish its replacement. Very Unhappy with these windows.

Also, we are now noticing condensation in the corners of several of the panes facing inside the house. This was before it actually got cold this winter. And now, reading all the similar reviews here, I'm hesitant to even call Pella about it. The sales and installation crew were awesome here. It's just the window quality that we're disappointed with. I'd give them a C+. I'd expect C+ if I spent 1/2 the money with some other company on replacement windows. With Pella, I expected at least an A-. I'm not quite sorry we had them installed yet, but have yet to contact Pella about the condensation. So, I'll see what they have to say.

Within five years, we had problems with rotting wood in the middle of the fixed window in our living room. This was soon followed by a fixed basement window rotting. We replaced both these windows. Since that time, we have replaced two left-sided opening windows, one in the kitchen, one in the dining room. Just recently (2010), the left opening kitchen bay window has dropped and does not close properly. We were working in the basement during the summer of 2011 when we noticed water damage which is underneath the kitchen bay window.

The brickwork was damp, as was the insulation and wall board. We have since removed this to watch the situation. Just in the last few weeks, we have noted yet another left side opening window in an upstairs bedroom not closing properly. It takes two of us to close it; one of us pushing upward with the opening window frame, while the other winds in the window to close it. We have also recently noticed the left opening bathroom window is rotting out. All replacement windows are hard to close.

Another problem occurred with the small transoms over two large 3-window casements in the front of the house. Several of the small transom windows have popped, the inside pane of double glazing shattered. We have had to replace three out of six of these small windows.

We contacted Pella, in 2008. We paid for an inspection, we got one free window to replace since our warranty was up. There are over 20 windows in the house. We got a song and dance about humidity levels in the house and temperatures outside. Based on that information, we did a test. We varied the inside humidity from bone dry to 45%. The colder it got outside, the drier we controlled inside based on University of Minnesota testing (chart on Pella, Anderson Windows website). When it was really cold, we were drier than a popcorn fart inside. Anyway, we couldn't stop it, all the way around the perimeter of the inside of the window, there was condensation. I have seen reports of metal components in the windows conducting heat. This is another explanation for a poor quality product.

It is too bad that Pella has chosen to not meet the customers’ needs and go through a class action suit. This tells me that Pella makes so much money from their poorly manufactured windows, that they would rather lose a class action suit than just take care of their customers. This also tells me that Pella is banking on the fact that most of us, as customers, will get too tired of fighting and just quit. Please don't quit! We need to make it clear that we are tired of Pella cheating families!

Shortly after 3 years, the bow was sagging and we could not shut/lock all 4 windows. Pella told us that it was out of warranty, and they no longer make that bow, and they would have to charge us $200.00 to fix. I told Pella that was unacceptable, and after much debate, they came and put a wood brace on the outside of the house under the bow window. This only lasted about 1-2 years. We have been pushing the windows shut from the outside for many years. We have a lot of cold air coming in and the windows no longer line up to be locked. We can hear the street noise when cars go by and we also have rot on the bottom of the wood windows.

If you are reading all of our Pella window experiences before your purchase, please stop. Spend the extra time to do your research. Please look at others companies. Pella will not stand behind their products. Pella is not going to be able to stand on their business practices any longer. Since we have the computer we can let other consumers know what this company is truly doing to the public. It is not fun to find ourselves in this mess.

Pella will not return calls, fix product manufacturing defaults or do anything that they tell you after they have your money. Please don't put your home in this situation when there are other manufactures in the USA that will stand behind their products.

I called Pella customer service, and was told that I would have to contact the dealer who I purchased the window from because each dealer was independently owned and operated. I did so, and he assured me that he was not an independent operator but worked for Pella. I outlined the problem and he had their service department contact me. A service representative came to the house and verified that indeed the top rail was catching on the frame and because the labor warranty of two years had expired, Pella would charge $150 per hour to repair the problem. I later learned that because it was an upstairs window, it would be a two-man job and therefore run me $300 per hour. My pointing out that it was a manufacturing defect appeared irrelevant.

I understand since Pella was purchased by a large corporation, the quality of the produce and service has deteriorated. I would recommend not purchasing the product.

I called to request service on this door. The person I spoke with very politely told me that they would have to come and look at the damage but there would be a charge of $127.00 to come and look! Our home is located in Western Massachusetts and there are two Pella stores within a 1/2 hour drive. This seems like an excessive charge to look at the damage due to the same problem that we had before. In our hi-tech world, I could send an excellent photo that would give them the information they need.

I have declined the service call at this time, as I ponder on my next step.

After continuous complaining, they said they would come out and caulk over the existing caulk, but only after I wash the dirt off each window. After many frustrated conversations, my daughter agreed to come over and clean the caulking and scheduled a time for the installer to come out. He never showed, and we have not heard back from them.

I am now requesting the caulking be removed and installed properly. Pella used the wrong, sticky, clear caulking that turns gray and collects dirt. They do not stand behind their word. I would never purchase Pella windows again.

When I had a problem with our patio door, which is ongoing, a repairman came out to fix it, laying it woodside-down on my bare deck. If that wasn't bad enough, there was a metal toy car on my deck and he laid it down on that car, scratching deeply the wood. I'm very disappointed with their service. Their "adjustments" cost me $100, and the windows stopped working. I am, of course, out of warranty.

I phoned Pella and explained to them the problem. They said someone would contact me. I had to call about four more times, and insist in someone speaking to me. They then sent someone out a couple of weeks later to inspect the windows. The man stated that most of the working windows needed to be replaced and that the seals were bad. I told him that I heard there was a recall on them, and he said, “Yes, there were big problems, and there was a recall.” A few weeks later, I received a mail from Pella stating how much it would cost me to replace all of the window casings. It was thousands of dollars, and there not even a discount was given!

I phoned them to ask about the recall, and a woman named Lauren told me that I was out of warranty! I insisted they cover the cost anyway due to the recall. They told me that they were sorry, but I was out of warranty. They gave me another phone number to call, and once again I was told that I was out of warranty. I also told them that if they returned my call promptly, I wouldn’t be out of warranty. If you ask me, it is obvious that they conveniently waited a few weeks to get back to me so that I would be out of warranty. Even if the windows are out of warranty, should a window only last ten years? The salesman named Stacey told me that they would last me for at least thirty years.

Problems started within 10 years, when the casement windows on either side of the large main windows became difficult to operate. Two of the casements developed signs of rot. The Pella representative who visited us in 2004 stated that the windows were out of warranty and there was nothing he was obligated to do.

The cladding, along the bottom rail, has now completely peeled away on both of the bay windows and the wood behind is rotting. The cladding was installed with the lap at the corner seems facing up rather than down. This would act to trap rather than shed rain water. It is analogous to roof shingles being lapped the wrong way, so that rain water could work its way under the shingles rather than cascade over them on its way to the gutter.

Furthermore, his attitude was quite deferential, insinuating that the problem was ours. Now, we have our house for sale and several potential buyers have requested that we rip out our Pella doors (only 1 year old) because of Pella's poor performance. We paid premium dollars for these doors.

After the initial 2 visits from Pella engineers to remedy this problem, neither was successful. The problem was never solved and we gave up. We used another door to exit to our decks and refrained from using the Pella door. This was very inconvenient.

We are unhappy Pella customers, as is easy to see that there are thousands of us. Our nearly 30 architect series windows, in our new 2008 home, all leak when it rains except for the ones that are under the porch roof. Pella was contacted dozens of times to service them. Pella sent out what they called installation experts 4 times. The first time this expert was in our home, he offered that we should pull off the siding so that he could see the way that the windows were framed out, the shimming of the windows and the way the water sealed flashing tape was installed. We were so desperate that we did exactly as he requested. We had the siding removed to show the "installation expert" just how these things were done. We pulled off all the siding on the north side of our home. This cost us a total of $6,380.00, out of our pocket to remove, purchase new, have replaced and painted. There were no "installation errors" that this Pella professional could locate on any of the 17 north side windows. The Pella "installation expert" could not give us any suggestions for the water leaking into our home when it rained and blew. We were smart and took photos of our home as we removed the siding and had this "Pella installation expert" review our case on our property.

We demanded that Pella fix our windows. As we read in another posting, my 76 year old wife and I were "nice". We have had to call dozens (my wife says hundreds) of times and visit the store way to many times to count to get any response at all. After the first inspection that revealed nothing wrong, I refused to remove the rest of the siding, as there was nothing wrong with the entire north side. Pella then sent out "installation experts" 3 other times. There has still to this date not been anything that has been done to fix our windows to keep out the water.

We also watched the video of "Sharron of Moravia". Our windows seem to have the same issues as hers. The water comes into our home when it blows. I don't understand the comment about the "lack of water above". There is no water above as it comes in where the sashes meet. Our water looks exactly the same. As we search online, we see that there are many others that have the same problems. Pella just simply does not service their products.

For nearly 80 years, my wife and I have been good community members. We have never needed to look into an attorney except for the normal trust/will-preparation and the two times we have purchased new homes. We did look into filing against Pella and found that we only had 2 years. We now fully understand why Pella quit talking to us. They knew that if they could play us for 2 years, our time would be up and they would not have to ever service our windows.

We are writing this in hopes that we can save another family from our hopeless dilemma. Please choose your windows from any other company. A Pella window purchase will prove to make your live miserable. If you do not believe us, just read all the reviews you can find online about the many other unhappy Pella customers.

A little intelligence can go a long way. I hate to see you waste your money on a huge corporation (that you will probably lose or settle out for far less than what it's worth). My personal opinion is to try working on getting a credit from the company because I have never seen a company that won't do that for an extremely unhappy customer. Also, use a little kindness. If you're rude, you only get the bare minimum customer service. I'm not saying you're lying or a rude person, but just giving some advice for what I have seen and experienced with other companies in the past.

When I contacted Pella, they told me the doors were out of warranty; that a person from Pella could come out to look at them, but there would be a charge. There is an active class action suit with regards to the windows. So, I may get some relief there, but I am still stuck with the defective sliding glass doors. At this point, I would not recommend Pella products to anyone.

We installed the first set of 49 Pella Architect Series double hung douglas fir windows in October 2009, the second set in February 2010 and are awaiting the third set. As you can see from our first post, we paid in full for our window order in 2009 and have been sorry for that decision ever since!

We posted a Youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8vYK2cy-9Y about our home and created a website at pellawindowsdecideforyourself.com. We hear from families on a nearly daily basis that are in our similar boat. Pella has proven, unfortunately, to hundreds of families that we know of, to be a company that does not stand behind their product. As a Christian family, we are extremely disappointed with Pella because they are located in a well known Christian Community. We have had to, after 3 summers, contact an attorney. We do not believe in law suits, but we are homeless, for no other reason than the fact that our brand new Pella Architect Series double hung douglas fir windows leak water/air/snow.

Please make your window purchase from any other company than Pella. They are involved in a class action law suit involving their Pro Line Windows. It is obvious that they just cannot stand behind their product, as they have been cheating families for years.

As you can see from our first post, we paid in full for our window order in 2009 and have been sorry for that decision ever since! We posted a YouTube video at ** about our home and created a website at **. We hear from families, on a nearly daily basis, that are in our similar boat. Pella has proven, unfortunately, to hundreds of families that we know of, to be a company that does not stand behind their product. As a Christian family, we are extremely disappointed with Pella because they are located in a well-known Christian community.

We have had to, after 3 summers, contact an attorney. We do not believe in lawsuits, but we are homeless, for no other reason than the fact that our brand new Pella Architect Series double-hung douglas fir windows leak with water/air/snow. Please make your window purchase from any other company than Pella. They are involved in a class action lawsuit involving their Pro Line Windows. It is obvious that they just cannot stand behind their product, as they have been cheating families for years.

Well, I paid twice the price to get the Pella brand, only to learn that they were worthless. I expected these to be essentially lifetime windows, regardless of the warranty. Instead, they were rotten in 10 years.

I've found that Pella management is negotiable, but hides behind a very hard shell. They denied my claim about six different times. Only after I told them that I knew of other similar cases where Pella either gave the homeowner free windows or windows at 70% off did we start making some progress.

They started at 30% off, then 50%, then 70%. I said OK to 70% and in the end they ended up GIVING THEM TO ME. It took a year and perhaps 40 phone calls and emails but that was the result.

To win this game, you have to ultimately get the name of a high-level manager, and I mean a really high-level manager. All of the low-level folks are told to deny, deny, deny. You can have the low-level person give you the name of their manager and work up the line persistently this way.

In the end, it was access to a top-level manager in Pella Iowa (outside of customer service) and my pictures showing the bottom of the sashes rotted completely through that won this for me. If you are not unusually persistent, you will fail. Ultimately, I had the names and email addresses of possibly four top- level managers.

Good luck to all who try. I did my own installation, and with some good help, you can replace one in about 20 minutes.

If Pella windows were free, I would decline them. They are junk through and through, in my opinion, and the Pella folks will try every trick in the world to make you go away.

The windows are rotting. You can't open or shut them properly, have to use pliers to close them. My Pella sliding glass door is rotting out on the inside and now leaks during the rains. I was going to purchase a Pella door again, but I am reticent to do so. Is there any recourse financially against Pella?

In February 2010, the metal base of the stationary pane of the kitchen sliding door showed that the metal was bubbling. After many months of getting the run around, it was replaced at a cost of $292. Now, in May 2011, another fixed panel is showing signs of bubbling. This one is smaller than the first. After contacting the president's secretary, I am told that the “sea salt spray goes as far as Las Vegas” and is the culprit for the metal's failure to hold up to the environment. I haven't been able to verify this online. The price for replacing this smaller pane is twice the price of the first one. Due to the increase in cost, are we in a recession now or what? Bottom line is, my experience with Pella has been poor right from the beginning and continues to be an issue. My old aluminum windows lasted forty years. Pella, expensive? Yes with poor product and bad service. Go somewhere else. Save yourself the heartaches.

I have not saved any money on heating as they promised. I think the company wants to sell you windows but once sold, could not care less.

Pella windows had the reputation of being the top of the pile and that's what we bought. Now 11 years later, we've had to have replacement windows installed since the Pella windows leaked, rotted and started to fall apart! 11 years! the 150- year old windows we removed were in good working order but not insulated.

I wish we had kept them as it would have been cheaper to pay the added heating than to replace the garbage Pella windows with replacement windows, which cut my window area by at least 10% and decreased my home value as well. I will never purchase another Pella product! And in fact, would not accept an entire home window replacement for free if it were offered.

So, our house now looks like a boarded-up shanty **. In addition, they left a big mess. The job was supposed to be completed last week. There's garbage all around and a large hole permitting rodents and animals to get under the house **. I called the office of the CEO to complain, so far I have not gotten satisfaction.

Five of the windows don't lock. Ten of the windows require me to stuff insulation in them for the winter. I've called the manufacturer and dealer. Pella says I have to deal with my local dealer. However, the local dealer either doesn't pick up the phone or doesn't call back, and when they finally connected with me, they said that air infiltration wasn't covered by warranty and I'd have to pay to have them repaired. I'm discouraged, disgusted, and cold.

The staff at Pella was initially helpful. They sent a technician to confirm our complaint and ordered new windows. The windows were delivered. (My husband took off work early for the delivery.) We painted them. (With the first installation we had paid the remodeling company to paint the windows). The installers came to install the windows on November 16, 2010. (I took off work early for the installation.) They installed 2 of the 5 windows and pointed out to me that the windows were very hazy. The installers told us that the Dual Low E windows were hazy when the sun shone through them. The installers told us that another type of window would be ordered which did not have the haze.

From that time I heard nothing from Pella. On December 28th I called Michael ** at the San Antonio office to determine the status of the windows. He said he would call back in about 20 minutes. Two hours later, Anthony called [my husband, not me] to schedule a delivery. At that time, we realized that we again were getting the Dual Low E windows which we had been told that we were getting a different window. Anthony transferred the call to Michael who did not know the status of the windows (if they were still being manufactured or in transport). We discussed at length that we did not want the Dual Low E. He told me there was not another product that would meet the tax rebate program so he could not replace them with a different product. He also stated being unaware of any customer complaints about the glass clarity and that the installers did not communicate what they had told us we would get as a different window.

I called a local office and was told that there is another product (Sun Defense without the Dual Low E) that does meet the tax rebate program. This salesman told me that he did not recommend the Dual Low E due to numerous complaints about the clarity of the windows. In a subsequent call from Louis ** from the San Antonio office my husband was told that the blue tint of the glass in direct sunlight was not a defect in the product. The blue tint of the glass was the sole reason that the installers took the replacement windows and told us that we would get a different product. The four windows in our breakfast room are quite large which allow us to enjoy the beauty of our back yard. However, on a sunny day, we can't enjoy it because of the hazy windows.

I would like to have my windows replaced with the Sun Defense (without Dual Low E) as we were told on November 16th. We should not have to live with an inferior product. There appears to be a communication problem between the installers and Michael. Michael should have called us in November when he ordered the windows and this problem may have been avoided. Due to the installers and Michael's miscommunication Pella re-manufactured 5 windows unnecessarily, and we still do not have windows that are acceptable.

We will have had to paint these windows twice when we had paid to have them painted the first time. Since my husband and I both work full time, there will be more time taken off work for delivery and installation. Michael has given us inaccurate information about available products. The San Antonio staff has poor internal communication and communication with clients. I have 2 large sliding glass doors and several windows yet to be replaced in my house. Unless Pella can correct this problem, we will not be replacing them with Pella products.

They've been telling me the same story for the last few years (like in other complaints I've read online). It's the humidity. The humidity hovers around 30, sometimes in the high 20s, and other times in the low thirties. I hardly consider that high humidity. I've also read online that the aluminum-clad windows are so cheaply made that this is a contributing factor to the condensation. Our sills have already been scraped and re-painted and this year they need it again. It's an expensive thing to have done each year or two. Our windows are the Architect Series and the doors are the Architectural Entry System. I cannot figure out the warranty. When we had the house built, we were told that they had a lifetime warranty. We have none of the brochures on them since Dunnington, now Dungan Homes, had them installed. Where do we go from here?

They've been telling me the same story for the last few years (like in other complaints I've read online). It's the humidity. The humidity hovers around 30, sometimes in the high 20s, and other times in the low thirties. I hardly consider that high humidity. I've also read online that the aluminum-clad windows are so cheaply made that this is a contributing factor to the condensation. Our sills have already been scraped and re-painted and this year they need it again. It's an expensive thing to have done each year or two.

Our windows are the Architect Series and the doors are the Architectural Entry System. I cannot figure out the warranty. When we had the house built, we were told that they had a lifetime warranty. We have none of the brochures on them since Dunnington, now Dungan Homes, had them installed. Where do we go from here?

You simply need a piece of glass. Pella makes their windows, where they are not repair friendly, so unless you want to face the expense of major repair for a broken window, I would go somewhere else to buy the windows for your home. There are many other brands that are repairable even Anderson, with their one piece IG, can be repaired. I have made many attempts to get in touch with Pella ,was even given the name of a Mr. ** who was supposed to be in charge of the service techs, with no success of getting my calls returned.

The service rep Mary ** told me to use soft scrub to get them off. Now, this fall there is moisture between the inside and the outside of this window. As the cold weather arrives it is going to turn to ice. There is some sort of a leak of air getting between this $3500.00 window.

In time it will rot for sure, and I would like to put this window in Mary's home for a year and see what she would think then. Why don't they tell customers the pros and cons of this window. They rave about the quality but the negatives they don't tell anyone. They say, you will you will pleased with Pella-- rated #1.

I wouldn't give it a #10, giving 10 being the worst. We replaced the rest of our windows with Andersen and we are completely satisfied. Mary should not be a service manager if she at all was interested in solving a problem. She e-mailed me again and told me to use soft scrub, never mentioning the moisture between the window.

He then sent an installer out who fixed the problem. The door was installed by a Pella installer originally. It was fine so about 4 years ago, we had 7 Pella Proline casement windows installed in a 6X12 kitchen addition. As soon as the A/C was turned on, the windows all fogged up so badly that we could not see out. In the window, there is so much condensation on the glass that it drips down onto the sash and I must keep drying it off so the sash is not ruined. What a Pain!

When I called Pella, we got the same old line about humidity. I again told them about our 31-year-old windows in the rest of the house and how they do not have this problem. So a representative was sent out who changed all the latches on the windows. The 7 windows are still bad. It still fog up, still forms condensation and drips down on sashes. What a rotten product. Every time I see or hear an ad for Pella windows, I get angry. They should spend more of their money on improving their product and less on advertising. I will never buy another Pella product. When we have new windows installed in the rest of our house, they will not be Pella.

Our salesman never entered the doors correctly into his computer to begin with. He never went over the order when we gave a deposit, so we didn't know about the errors until the project manager came to our house to measure the openings. After telling him what we wanted, we thought the problem was solved. Did I mention that both were "new" to the company?

So before install, I tried reaching my sales rep. on several occasions to ask about details on the doors. He would never return a phone call until I contacted a manager, then he would call back. On the day we were to receive our doors, the installers (part of the reason why we paid the extra money to go with Pella) were horrible! They ripped out both existing doors and after almost tearing down my basement wall with with a sawz-all, the front door was not the door we ordered. I had to let them install it, because what else could I do? I had a gaping hole in the front of my house.

I contacted a manager immediately, and his response was, "I'll contact your salesman, and he'll get in touch with you". I missed his call at 4 and tried to contact him back at 4:30 only to find that he went on vacation and was told that I would have to wait till he gets back. This is a run down of the problems I found with the doors: 1) Front door was the wrong finish. 2) The installers split the front door when installing the lock plate. 3) The installers never finished out the jambs, just leaving bare wood and holes where they stapled the jambs in. 4) The rear door from the factory was defective. The top hinge was about ready to "blow a screw" through the side of the door, had a split forming on the hinge side, the top hinge was off by an 1/8 in., and had dings on the corners (probably where the installers used a rubber mallet to beat the jamb into place). And my favorite, 5) The installers never made sure the threshold and the weather stripping on the bottom of the rear door touched, hence leaving a gap below the door, which in turn, allowed a snake to come in with ringing the doorbell, and my wife found it.

After he came by I get a phone call saying that they got the installer notes and I needed to set up an appointment with the install manager to touch up the doors. I called and asked if my salesman showed her the pics of the problem. Her response was, no I didn't know he stopped by. These are the notes from the installers.

Two weeks later she reads the installer notes. Install manager comes out says I need two new door panels. During that conversation, I ask him to make sure the front door gets finished out this time. I'll take care of it was the response. Another two and a half weeks go by, and the front door is still not finished on the inside. So I had to be home another day so they could come and paint my door which was supposed to be finished out over a month ago. I told the salesman about the problems, told the project manager about the problems, the install manager and sales manager both knew of the problems, and still it didn't come in right.

I finally got to speak with the GM of Pella of Cincinnati about the problems I had with this whole ordeal. Said that in total, I had to make sure I was here five different days, days which I could have been at work, that the door even though painted on the inside, was not the door we ordered even though it looked nice.

I told him about the reason we went with Pella over Lowe's and paid the extra $800 was for the "better installers and service" we would get, which we never did. His response was "Well, I've got a lot of time and money invested in your project also, I can order you a new door in the way you want it, (which means waiting another two weeks and me having to miss another day off work) but if you like the way the door looks, then I did my job and upheld my end of the contract" In other words "I don't care about you, the time you've had to miss from work on our mistake, and the fact that it's taken over a month to get to where we are now. So sorry about your luck; not really. ** off and leave me alone".

We put our story on pellawindowsdecideforyourself.com. We do not have a home to live in because we live in Iowa and have had water in our home all summer. Now we have black mold! If you would like to keep yourself out of such a bind, we suggest you locate a different company to purchase your windows. As we are finding out, Pella does not stand behind any warranty! We cannot hang drywall because of the snow/water/air leaks and now the black mold. We urge you to read out the website before making the same large mistake we have made. We have been taken in by our neighbors. Many people do not have neighbors that they can live with for over a year. Please do your homework. This has caused us $187,000 damage on our home from window purchase, mold, etc.

As you can believe this story is much longer than just these few words. We put our story on **. We do not have a home to live in because we live in Iowa and have had water in our home all summer. Now we have black mold! If you would like to keep yourself out of such a bind, we suggest you locate a different company to purchase your windows. As we are finding out, Pella does not stand behind any warranty! We cannot hang drywall because of the snow, water, and air that leaks. And now the black mold. We urge you to read out the web site before making the same large mistake we have made. We have been taken in by our neighbors. Many people do not have neighbors that they can live with for over a year. Please do your homework.

I was informed that my door was out of warranty and they would be glad to send a tech to my home for $75 to estimate the cost to fix it. Despite my complaints, that was the only offer. I refused it and continued to do a slow burn. This summer, I noticed it getting worse. This time, I contacted the Pella corporation directly in Iowa and was placed in contact with a Mark **, who is some type of a dealer interface for my area to corporate. I again explained my problem and he agreed to send a service tech to my home at no cost to me.

The tech came, took pictures and documented what he found. He also exclaimed how surprised he was that the aluminum had corroded. After about three weeks, I again received a notice from the branch, Crawford Door and Window Albany, in Rensselaer, NY. Their idea of help was a bill for $1,966.35 to repair my door. Now, let me clarify here again. My house was built in 1984. We were young and on a tight budget. We purchased some off brand windows and doors from a guy our contractor knew. Yes, these were cheap, but I was young and stupid so I bought them.

Those 'cheap' doors are 100x times better than this expensive Pella piece of ** that I paid a ton of money for. Now that I was older and wiser (and could afford it), I bought the best (yeah, right). So, while I have a Pella door that is literally falling apart, like a 1970 era Ford, I have these cheap products that look and perform just as good as they did the day I bought them. So, back to the problem. I called the corporate offices of Pella again in Iowa and discussed this with Mr. Mark **, actually hoping for a common sense (put yourself in my place) response.

What did I get? Just what I started out--with "the door is out of warranty." And so ends my saga, unless I can find someone else to complain to. The moral is that you do not always get what you pay for. Pella products are pure **. I will never buy another Pella product as long as I live. Buyers, beware. Their reputation for quality is bogus and as for their warranty, this product was defective from the factory 14 years ago. What the warranty says is exactly what you get. When it's up, you are done. No exceptions--which, in my case, was nothing.

The delivery was two weeks late. It was delivered on October 22, 2009. We installed some and I, along with some men, started to prepare them to finish the inside. We found that there were many problems with the windows. They leak snow/water/air in every single window. We now have a mold problem under the windows in the insulation. We have not been able to put on the drywall because of the water problem. We are homeless. A neighbor took us in. The straw that broke the camel's back was when we found out that the product that we ordered was not what we got. We ordered and paid for Douglas Fir windows and door. We were told that because Douglas Fir was so expensive the product was very expensive. We told John that we did not want pine because it did not last as long. John agreed with us and told us that we could get Douglas Fir windows and door, but it would be a lot more money.

We told him that we wanted Douglas Fir no matter. He told us and showed us in the Pella informational booklet he gave us that Pella offered 4 wood types: Alder, Douglas Fir, Mahogany, or Pine. We could get Douglas Fir and completed the order for Douglas Fir. Our order contract states "Douglas Fir". We just found out that we did not get Douglas Fir. Our door is pine with Douglas Fir veneer. Our windows only have Douglas Fir where we can see. They have pine everywhere that we cannot see. Pella concealed the fact that they did not deliver to our home Douglas Fir windows but in fact they delivered a 100% fake product. They were trying to get away with selling us a lower quality product at a much higher price.

We only ordered Douglas Fir windows so that they would not rot and so that they would last longer. We were lied to and concealment is against the law. We did give Pella a chance to make the window order correct and everyone makes mistakes, even companies. They did bring to our home in February 2010 new windows but not a door. They installed all but 21 windows which they left stacked in our garage. Pella did not ever make an attempt to get those window installed as they are still sitting in the garage in September 2010. Pella had not been to our house since February 2010 to finish the windows that all allow snow/water/air to come into our home.

We have tried on several occasions to contact Pella but they refuse to talk to us. We are just a family with no home. We do not know what to do. We guess that we are going to be forced to get an attorney to help us get our home back. If you would like to talk to us about this problem, please get a hold of us at ****. We have dozens of photographs of our problems, if you would like to see the mess. We are still living in a neighbor's house because our home is unlivable. We encourage you not to purchase Pella or you might find yourself in our shoes.

The straw that broke the camel's back was when we found out that the product that we ordered was not what we got. We ordered and paid for Douglas Fir windows and door. We were told that because Douglas Fir was so expensive, the product was very expensive. We told John that we did not want pine because it did not last as long. John agreed with us and told us that we could get Douglas Fir windows and door, but it would be a lot more money. We told him that we wanted Douglas Fir no matter.

He told us and showed us in the Pella informational booklet he gave us that Pella offered 4 wood types: Alder, Douglas Fir, Mahogany, or Pine. We could get Douglas Fir and completed the order for Douglas Fir. Our order contract states "Douglas Fir". We just found out that we did not get Douglas Fir. Our door is pine with Douglas Fir veneer. Our windows only have Douglas Fir where we can see. They have pine everywhere that we cannot see.

Pella concealed the fact that they did not deliver to our home Douglas Fir windows, but in fact they delivered a 100% fake product. They were trying to get away with selling us a lower quality product at a much higher price. We only ordered Douglas Fir windows so that they would not rot and so that they would last longer.

We were lied to and concealment is against the law. We did give Pella a chance to make the window order correct, and everyone makes mistakes, even companies. They did bring to our home in February 2010 new windows but not a door. They installed all but 21 windows, which they left stacked in our garage. Pella did not ever make an attempt to get those window installed as they are still sitting in the garage in September 2010. Pella had not been to our house since February 2010 to finish the windows that all allow snow/water/air to come into our home. We have tried on several occasions to contact Pella, but they refuse to talk to us.

We are just a family with no home. We do not know what to do. We guess that we are going to be forced to get an attorney to help us get our home back. If you would like to talk to us about this problem please get a hold of us at **. We have dozens of photographs of our problems, if you would like to see the mess. We are still living in a neighbor's house because our home is unlivable. We encourage you not to purchase Pella or you might find yourself in our shoes.

Several days later it did arrive and I reviewed the 12 step instructions, which said it needed 2 people to do. There's no way I could do this, so my son who is a contractor said he would do it the next time he was down. He was extremely disappointed that Pella would even ask me to do something like this and wasn't sure he wanted to tackle it either.

He called Pella and they said they did not send representatives out and that he would have to do it. (My son said to be sure to tell you that this cannot be done without scratching the door). I will never ever buy a Pella product again. They do not stand by their product and my son said he would never recommend Pella to his customer again either. This door became a piece of junk less than a month after it was installed. I don't think I'm ever going to be able to use the screen portion of the door, so what was the good in paying the extra to get it?

A repair man from Verhalen came out and said this was also a problem. I believe he said he could adjust the springs but it would again make the windows hard to open and close. So he showed me how to take a putty knife, wrap it with a cloth, and use it to pry up the top sash while turning the lock. Pella did design a new lock and all of the locks were replaced. The lock is designed with a point which grabs the other half of the lock and helps to push up the upper sash. It did help the matter, but some windows still drop down to far; so we keep the putty knife handy. This should not have to be done, as it creates a large possibility for damaging the wood. We also continue to have a problem with noise. To the best we can conclude, it seems to initiate from the grilles in between the panes as they rattle on windy days.

Again, Verhalen sent out a repair person to take a look. We had already taken off screens prior to them coming out and that was not the source. They tried to tell us it was our soffit, but when they were there, we took out the grilles and the noise stopped. So they sent out two repair men and again; as for previous visits, I had to take a day off of work for them to come. They went around on all of the windows and placed plastic strips over the weep holes in between the panes to stop the air from infiltrating. That did not help and the wind actually blows out the strips at times. They came back (another day of vacation required) and placed what looked like electrical tape over the plastic strips, and that did not work. So it was suggested to remove the grilles, which would totally change the look that we desire and was an absurd suggestion.

We were told others had the same problem and another solution of rubber bumpers was suggested for the grilles, but it was tried at another location and did not work. The issue was not resolved after we dealt directly with Pella engineers, who seemed to come up short on a solution as they finally stopped returning our calls. The worst and most serious issue is the frost. The frost does not form on the glass at all. Frost forms where the screws hold the plastic side jams. It forms on the wood. It forms where the bottom sash meets the sill that is not sealed properly. It forms where the two sashes meet. It forms where the top sash meets the top of the window. And it also forms on the casements. We have dealt with Verhalen and Pella both and neither has found a way to fix the noise or frost problems.

There is a serious problem with air infiltration on these so-called Energy Star windows. We had storm windows custom made late last winter at our own cost. While we did not get them until after the very cold spells that we experience the worst frost, it did seem to cut down on the frost and the noise. However, we would not know the total effects or possible benefit for sure until we come up on very cold days next winter. Pella has agreed to pay for storm windows for the entire house; however, they want us to sign a release. We feel strongly that we should not have to sign an anything. While storm windows may help to better the problem, we built this house to be as maintenance-free as possible and the necessity for storms on so-called Energy Star windows does not fit into the maintenance-free category.

We have about 40 windows, some of them large and believe me just the few we did buy were a hassle to take off this spring. Storms would also create 40 more windows to wash and put back on in the fall. And as we get older, the task will get even harder. We just finished installing the storms that we did purchase, and those few alone are a lot of extra work. We did not sign up for this when we bought our Energy Star windows. When asked if they offered screen/storms when window shopping, we were told the windows were so efficient that Pella does not make them, because they would not be needed. We are not engineers but can see that these windows are not properly constructed to keep out the cold winter air.

There is no insulation at all behind the plastic side jams, allowing cold air to flow right into the house. As we sit next to the windows in our office while attempting to work at our desks, we do actually feel the cold air and have to move away from the window. The draft that comes in where the sashes meet has actually blown out a lighter. The frost gets so bad, it is damaging the wood on the window sills and also causes mold to build up on the wood which is also damaging the wood.

We have been patiently working with both Pella and Verhalen for nearly 4 years now and they have not fixed the problems. While I have no complaints about Verhalen’s customer service as they were continuing to communicate with us, I am not happy with Pella as the person we were communicating with just stopped doing so. We made a final attempt to resolve the issue with the letters dated 8/12/09 and 9/8/09. We are aware of others in our area with the frost problems with their Pella windows. At this point we are so terribly frustrated, angry, disgusted and fed up that we feel we should get a full refund for the cost of the windows and Pella should pay for the cost to install new windows that are truly Energy Star windows. I hope there will be some sort of lawsuit against Pella due to all of the same type of complaints that are found online. We can't afford to replace the windows. This is wrecking the wood in areas and is also affecting the heating in our home.

We have dozens of documented communication between Pella and ourselves. We have hundreds of pictures of the damages. We had water all summer in the same holes that the snow came in last winter. We now have mold. We are not able to put up our drywall and are homeless. A neighbor has taken us in. We live only 40 minutes away from Pella, Iowa where these are made and have made attempts to meet with someone in person. We cannot get anyone to return our calls, emails or visits since February 2010. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for our family. We are in a mess and do not know where to turn to.

I am writing you in regards to my recent experience with Pella and the company you contracted to handle your service calls in Central Ohio. Let me give you a little history: I purchased my Pella Windows back in 2000 when I built my new home. I loved the look of the windows and the reputation that your company had. I noticed into the second winter some condensation on the windows and air leaking in. I didn’t think much about it but the next winter it was worse and the following winter. So I contacted Bill **** at Carter Lumber in Condit, Ohio where I purchased the windows from and they gave me Pella’s number and I was told to contact the Gunter Corporation which handled the service calls for Pella. They came out and the technician was not too impressive. He looked around and stated that it was not the windows and that if air was coming through, then there would be no condensation though he didn’t even open a window. He checked the humidity in the house and said that that was the problem and left. I did everything he stated to do and yet the problem just kept getting worse.

Over the next couple of years, I had to put plastic on the windows to keep the cold out during the winters and last winter, the air was coming in so bad that the plastic was bubbled out and would pull the tape off not to mention the damage done to my dry wall. Starting in March, I left several message to get an appointment to have the windows looked at again. Finally, I got an appointment and the technician said that several of the windows did not have weather stripping. No, my painter/stainer did not take them out, I was the one who finished the windows and that would explain the issues I was having and that he would order some stripping and gave me a couple of suggestions. This technician was much better than the one, some years ago. This guy actually looked at the windows.

After he left, I put the plastic back up but still noticed air coming in where it wouldn’t be the weather stripping. I called back and talk to David and he said that when the stripping shows up and the technician comes out to put it in, I can show him the other area. He also was a little condescending about the windows not having stripping. The stripping shows up and it is not the same as the ones the technician had showed me and I waited for a few weeks but no one called to set up the appointment. So I called the service company and left a message. I waited several weeks but nothing. So I called Bill at Carter Lumber on May 6 and still not being able to get a hold of service to get the Pella Representative’s name and number. I was finally able to get an appointment on May 19, I took a day off work and the technician did not show. I was told by technician that he was never given the appointment information.

I called several times to get another appointment. Nathan **** who is a Pella representative got involved and said that if he could not work it out with the technician then he would come out and put the stripping in. I talked to Joanna **** at Pella on May 20 regarding this and she was going to call me back. I called Joanna again on May 26 and left message. I called Pella yet again on May 29 and June 1. Finally, I was given an appointment date of June 13 from December 2. I finally got the technician in and he brought enough of the correct stripping to put in the windows. I showed him where the other air was coming in at and he stated that I needed to add another shim to the center of the window to even the window back up and that should take care of it. After he left, I was cleaning the windows in the kitchen and went to snap the center top sash back in and all of a sudden a loud crash and there I was holding a splintered window. It had rotted on the outer part, the outside vinyl part, where the pulley tension cord hooks in and it just splintered and rotted. I was lucky that I didn’t end up with wood in my eye.

After the shock, I called the service guy right back and left him a message but I never heard from him. Then I called Nathan **** to tell him what had happened. I sat down and cried then went up to my cousin’s house to settle down a little before cleaning up the mess and put plastic on the window so no rain could get in. He stopped by on a Friday, June 19, 2009, evening on his way to a ball game. It was a bit of a hurry and checked the other windows, measured what I thought was going to be replacing 9 or 10 sashes but turned out to be only 7. Three of the six in the kitchen window, two of 10 sashes of the big windows and two of the 4 in the bathroom, all upper sashes. Nathan stated that the others were not as bad so we would worry about them once they got worse. Mid July, I had not heard from him nor had Carter Lumber received any sashes. I figured that it would take some time to make the windows so I called around the end of July but I never heard from Nathan. I left several messages on August 6 and August 10 but nothing.

On August 10, 12:45, I talked to Bill at Carter Lumber. He did some digging and found out that 2 of the windows went to the Akron or Canton (Carter Lumber) and the other 5 went to a Carter Lumber in MI. I live in OH. At 4:02 on the 10th, Nathan calls and tells me that the windows in MI should arrive mid week at around the 12th and that he picked up the 2 in northern Ohio and would drop them by my house. I asked that he drop them off with Bill at Carter Lumber and I would pick them all up from Carter. He did the last week of August. August 15, there were no windows. I left a message on August 17, but still no windows. I called Nathan on August 18 but still no return call. He stated to Bill that Scott at Carter had signed for them on August 3. The Scott he was referring to was a Scott up in MI and not the Scott at the Sunbury Carter. He also told me that the new warranty would start that time and that Pella would reimburse me for what it cost to have the windows finished and installed. He stated this several times. Bill and Ernie of Carter Lumber turned the place upside down trying to find the windows that were not delivered yet.

I called Nathan on the 19th and the 20th and left messages both days. Bill talked to Nathan on the 20th. He insisted that they had the windows. Bill stated that they did not have them so Nathan told Bill that he would just order 5 new ones instead of spending more time looking for the original ones which I should receive in a week or week and a half). He also told Bill that he would call me to let me know what was going on but he never did. Ernie made a call on the 20th and found out that the yard in MI was never instructed on what to do with the 5 sashes that were shipped there.

On August 21, I left another message for Nathan. On August 24, Nathan left me a message that he should know by the 25th when windows will be shipped and that he will call. August 25 came but no call. August 26, still no call. I talked to Nathan on August 27, Carter Lumber has windows which I already knew, thanks to Carter Lumber, but not sure when the ones from MI will arrive. Again, they assured me that Pella will pay to have the windows finished and installed. I talked to Bill and the windows are there but they will have to let me know how many arrived. I picked up 7 sashes on August 28. Finally, the 5 in MI still not shipped.

I left several messages regarding the paper work and warranty information that was not with sashes along with questions about the wood that was used and stain not matching but I did not receive a call back from Nathan until Tuesday, September 8. Nathan proceeds to tell me that they will not be ordering anymore windows to replace the other existing sashes and that if I wished to have them replaced I would need to call the same service department that screwed up to begin with and they have to come out to evaluate the remaining sashes to see if they need to be replaced. He also told me that I needed to submit an invoice for the finishing and installation of the sashes before a payment could be made and to leave it with Bill at Carter Lumber. I told him that I could have it to him via email and he stated that that would be fine.

I forgot to ask him about the warranty information and will do so today, September 10. When I called to check and to make sure that he got my invoice. I also called Nathan’s boss, Michael ****, several times during this whole process and never once did he return my calls. I did however, talked to the old representative for that area.

I since have had another window splinter as I was replacing it and I have several, both top and bottom sashes that are not looking good. I have called Nathan almost every day since the 10th asking him for warranty information, along with status of my payment. Invoices are attached. None of the sashes were sent with hardware. Luckily, I have hardware from the old windows except for one and I need the hardware because I cannot lock the window. I even told him that even if they have nothing new to tell me, they just need to call me so that I know that they are working on it and I also told him that I was going to keep calling until he called me back. The group at Carter Lumber has bent over backwards to help me resolve this issue and they have actually gone over and above what they really needed to do unlike their representative or his manager who are not much better then Nathan.

I am to say the least very disappointed in Pella and the service I have received with this issue. If I had the money, believe me I would have had another product put in place of the Pella ones. The only good product was the Atrium door I had ordered from you and that is what everyone kept warning me about would be bad. As of today, September 30, 2009. I have yet to hear from Nathan **** or his manager regarding anything and I believe Carter Lumber has made arrangements for the other 5 sashes which if they are the ones I think they are, I will only be able to use two of them which Nathan told me not to destroy them or hang on to them but he didn’t care, to be delivered to the Condit yard which this should not be their responsibility because it wasn’t their mistake.

I am also not sure what should be done with the old damaged ones, I do not have trash pickup so I cannot put them out for the trash. I am so frustrated at this and that it has taken 8 months and it is still not resolved. Not to mention that we are coming into winter and I still have issues and what I have lost in heating over the past 5+ years. I hope this representative is not typical of all your representatives and the service company is not typical of your other contracted service department. If so, I feel sorry for the other customers that have to deal with them and they are probably not as out spoken as I am. It is just that I spent a lot of money on my house and at least to me, it is a lot of money. I except good products and service when I have issues. I know that there are going to be issues but how are they resolved mean more and sticks with you longer what the original issue was.

I did hear back from them but the new sashes they sent did not fix the problem so I hired an inspector to inspect the windows and granted the test. It could have been done a little better but it still showed the air coming through the windows and I cannot afford to pay $600 to have the house rapped. But I have talked to several home builders and have had the windows looked at the insulation. It is up to the windows and they are in good but still having leaking issues.

When I called Cleveland again, they sent a painter rep out. The first words out of his mouth were that the windows looked like they had gotten wet. I proceeded to tell him that if they got wet, it had to have been at their factory because they came off their truck straight into the house. He finally said that yes, they looked like they had only been primed and they would send someone out to paint. As I walked out with him to his car, he asked me, "Do you want to see a picture of my big boobed girlfriend?" I was so shocked that I didn't say a word and he proceeded to show me her picture along with his three sons. He was on his way to see her where she worked, not too far from me. He also said not to mention this to his boss. This shows you what kind of company this is. When I called the same man in Cleveland and told him what his rep had said to me, he just hung up and never called again.

I ordered the Architect Plus. They came with what they call an oven arm. I thought that would be perfect since I've had some problems with my shoulder. When the windows came and there were no "oven arms," I called the salesman and he said he would check into it. When he finally called back, he said that they no longer had them. I said, "What do you mean? They were in the showroom." He then called back and said that yes, they do still have them but they do better if they're installed in the field. I was ready to scream by then. When they brought them to install, I asked them if this was their house, would they put them in. They both said no, that they will damage the window! The reason I asked them was because one of the carpenters noticed the teeth already installed on the sides and he said that they would damage the windows.

This whole episode dealing with Pella has been a total nightmare. The windows are almost impossible to open to tilt in to wash, even the men have a hard time with them much less a woman. The screens are just as bad. The strip around them fell off after only two years and the clips that hold them in the window are nothing but junk. Every time you take them out to wash, they all fall off. I would never (and have not) recommend them to my worst enemy. What a disappointment they are. Hopefully, this might keep someone else from making the horrible mistake we made.

The retractable screen door is an absurd nuisance. To begin with, it is located on the inside of the door to where you have to open the screen to close the door. If you have it open past nightfall, you have to pat the screen down to rid it of the bugs that you are about to expose your home to. Just to close the door and you risk the bugs being on the door itself. So you basically have to expose your home to the bare elements just to close the door. The retractable screen is also a nightmare if you have children or pets. We owned a small dog for a brief time and she would always run under the base of the screen to get outside since the screen is not attached to anything on the top or bottom. Our children and the children of friends who frequent our home cannot get the screen to open or close for them and it is upsetting because it then just gets left open, exposing my home to the elements once again.

Service is another issue. We called in mid-November to have a technician come and fix our built-in-blinds because they had come off track. After that visit, the blinds continued to come off track less than a week after he'd fix them. We'd call, and have to wait another 3-4 weeks for somebody to come out. It was not completely fixed until mid-March of that next year. During those months, the track detached many times and fell right off with no prompting. I am a housewife and my family and friends are respectful, rational people and the blame for the poor quality of this product is solely on the company itself. I am daily in frustration over the doors as my two little ones and their friends want to go outside and I have to stop what I am doing to heave it open for them. Please look past the "designer" facade and know that these door should not be for daily use as I am fed up with them on a daily basis.

On the first hot day when I tried to put an AC unit in the upstairs window, the window popped out and the AC unit fell to the ground. I called Pella about what the sales rep had told me and was told that she "never said anything about window air conditioners". I couldn't believe that a company as big as that would lie to people to get business.

Also, the outside of the double hung windows when open, shows a bare wood strip across the window which should match the rest of the outside of the window. How stupid does that look? Other window people at the home expo were floored at that one. As a result, I have only one kitchen window that I can put an AC unit in as I didn't replace it, and the upstairs (where I sleep) has no air conditioning and gets unbearable in the hot weather.

The local dealer provided replacement "window breaks" to hold up the blinds but again wanted $80.00/hour to modify window sills and replace. They now say they will not do anything about the moisture between the window panes even though the window sills are water logged and the finish is pealing. Window sills are rotting due to water soaking from moisture between the glass. The replacement "window brakes" make between the glass blinds are almost impossible to lower (plastic parts are breaking). E-mails to the Pella company are not answered. I'll never buy Pella ever again!

Long story short, she said the reason why they are sweating is because we run our heat and it makes the windows sweat. Have you ever heard such a thing? I told her then why don't you advertise that if you purchase these windows you cannot run your heat no matter how cold it is outside! I run my heat at 70 degrees. I have even turned my heat down to 66 and they still sweat. That was just way too much money to invest on such a ** product.

We got cut off on the phone 3 times when calling Iowa. I grew up with Pella's windows, and they used to be great. Like so many things, they no longer care, and do not make quality products, and do not stand behind what they make. Do not bother to buy, and then count on Pella standing behind their product. They are expensive and are not worth it! We will lose at least twice of what we paid, for brand new windows. $10,000? They destroyed our faith, because of a company scamming people on an old established name!

They admitted to the problem and instead of fixing it, I received a Certified letter from them stating that they would do nothing. TV channel came and aired it and showed the misfortune on the air and still there's nothing. On their web site, I found 9 pages of current complaints. As they get a new one, an old one is erased from the bottom leaving a lot of unfortunate discouraged customers. I heard they were bought out by another company out of China. These are not Pella windows I bought and have in my home. I could not afford them either but my arthriitis kills me in the winter. These leak more than the ones they pulled out of here.

Trust me, you do not want to try to stain them. It is a nightmare. We had a contractor and a professional painter, and even they really struggled with it. There is no fix for the place that won't hardly take the stain at all. This designer series door was really expensive, and now, after trying to stain it, it looks really junky. Pella has nothing to do with staining their windows and doors. It's up to you, and if you don't like the way they look after staining, that's just too bad for you.

I have told Pella that I would like them to take back all of their defective Designers and replace them with the good ProLines, but they say they would never do that. It seems I am stuck with a lemon. I know the leaks have affected my heat bills. We built our house with the highest energy efficiency ratings and materials we could find and afford and we are so far not pleased with our heating bills. We are getting a thermal scan done next week, and I would bet Vegas those windows are the worst offender.

Meanwhile one of the window sills had scratches and a large gouge in it. I subsequently phoned and informed the sales representative of the damage. Six weeks later, they came to install the new windows and door. I showed the installer the damage to the window sill. They had never been told of this. I was then directed to another individual who came and photographed the damage. Another individual came out and informed us that the scratches and gouge could not be fixed. We needed to replace the frame. When the reordered windows were installed they ran out of trim. Another 6 weeks to reorder the trim which when installed turned out be the wrong stain - another 6 weeks. The blind was finally replaced after much discussion with Bruce **. However, the gouge and the scratches were still there.

After many e-mails and telephone conversations with Bruce **, I was informed that Pella would not take responsibility for the damaged sill, implying that we had done the damage ourselves. I was outraged at this unprofessional attitude. I felt that we were taken advantage of. Pella was quick to take our monies all $18,000 in advance as they informed us that their new policy stated that full cost of the job had to be paid 24 hours prior to installation. I now knew why. I felt that we were held hostage to their time frame and had no recourse to any action if we were not satisfied with their work. We now have to live with a damaged window. I would certainly not recommend their services to anyone.

Their so-called customer satisfaction clause was a crock. They had no intention of ever replacing the damaged window sill. I am now worried that if other problems arise, Pella would not follow through with their promises of 'product and customer satisfaction.

He checked my downstairs window and the same thing was happening, the window was rotted and you can stick your finger right through the wood sill that the window sits on. The rep explained to me that he wants to come back with his supervisor. They came back and said all of the windows have to be replaced and that they are not under warranty but they will see what they can do with coverage for some of the windows. They wanted to rip out the 2 triple windows which would mean I would have to cut out my stucco at my cost and pay for 45% of the window and all of the installation. I told them that is not an option ripping out my stucco and all the work it would create for me. I told them to replace the casements and I will even fix the wood sills.

They told me I still have to pay for 45% of the window and installation because it is not covered; my ten year warranty is up. Here is where they are wrong, my windows just didn't rot out in 4 months, and they know they have a problem with their window. They have law suits and complaints all over the internet about them the exact same problem that I am having. Wood rots over time not in 4 months so the damage should be covered under warranty because the problem started before the warranty was up. They just don’t want to take care of their problem. They want me to pay for their poor workmanship. They also suggested I go and caulk all of the windows so the problem doesn’t get worse.

All of my windows are failing. They all need to be replaced at a cost of $11,000 plus and Pella wants to offer me a 45% discount off the purchase of the window and that is it. If I roll out my upstairs window, they will actually fall out. They know they have a defect and will not take care of it.

A technician did come to the house and replace the vinyl sashes. However the same problem developed again. A second technician came to the house and looked at the windows. He said that Pella now uses a harder vinyl sash to prevent the ripping from occurring. There were also broken parts on the windows that he noted and ordered to replace. However, if Pella has changed the part, my question is, "Why was I not contacted by the company to be informed that the window sashes were replaceable?" I am so unhappy with the attitude and workmanship of Pella. I had also just finished having my walls painted, and the workmen placed old windows against the walls, and I had to repaint one room.

I told the service manager what was occurring with the blinds. He told me that the blinds were not meant to block vision and light. Huh? I thought that's what blinds were for. He told me that it was a sales problem, that Lowe's should have told me that the blinds did not block someone from seeing into your home. Again, huh? He did agree to send a service rep to my home. On November 13, the customer service manager called me and told me that he couldn't get anyone here until November 20th. Well, the service rep just left. He told me that the blinds were made that way, that they do not close all the way, that they are opaque and made to see through. He told me that I should have looked more closely at them at Lowe's before purchasing them.

Of course, at Lowe's they were not mounted on an exterior door. He said I should contact Lowe's and tell them that I am unhappy with the windows/blinds and that I want a refund or new doors. When I contacted Lowe's, I was told it was a Pella problem. I believe Pella should advertise that these blinds do not block light and vision and that they should replace my sliding doors with a product that does what it is supposed to do.

We called the dealer who basically said it was just past warranty but he could come and look at it. He charged us $80 to come and look at the window and confirmed that there was wood rot and the window had to be replaced at full price which then was $1000. We felt since it was a bathroom window, maybe in fact moisture, etc. was a factor and this was a one off exception. We started to look at the other windows in the house and found the windows to be soft and indeed for rot to be happening under most of them. We again contacted Gehres Windows and Doors to be basically told, "Sorry about your luck and here is the cost to replace those windows," which you can appreciate is substantial. They would not even come out and look at how serious the problem was. The owner did not even do us the courtesy of a phone call.

Over the last two years, we have been trying to find an executive contact to whom we could escalate the problem. I was only able to find a Pella Canada. I think it is easier to get a call to the White House than to an interested Pella Executive. I called there several times over weeks to explain our problem, and was sent from one person to another and finally someone who would listen. He advised to take pictures and send them in. The one gentleman came out to evaluate the windows and take his own pictures and he was amazed at the condition of the windows and agreed that he would be furious if these were his. He agreed that for windows that were 14-15 years old, the amount of rot was exceptional and that the wood had likely come from a defective batch. This is admission by a Pella associate that this should not be the condition of the windows and that in fact we paid for a product that is defective.

All of the windows are rotting, some so bad I can't open them for fear the glass will fall out. I have made numerous calls over the last two years trying to get some compensation for these windows. I understand some depreciation but when my windows at this age are rotten out so badly, the company has to take ownership. They offered to sell me windows with a small discount but they would be charging a hefty installation charge. The discount is a onetime only for two of the windows. I have asked that this at least be extended over the next 2-3 years so we can afford to change the windows out slowly or that they recommend someone certified in the area to do the install.

This was 3 months ago and although I have left messages since, I have not even had a call back with an answer. I am so furious at the company's lack of ownership that they sell such an inferior product at a significant cost and are not prepared to make good. One builder we talked to was familiar with the problem and suggested that in some cases, the windows may have been produced targeted for southern climates and were sold in error to us where we experience varied seasons of heat, cold and moisture. Regardless of whether we were sold the wrong product or a defective product, we are victims of a house full of expensive windows that are rotting like some ignored woodpile.

I am frustrated and certainly not in a position to be able to replace windows that in 1994 cost in excess of $30,000. I readily show the windows to our visitors which demonstrates the poor product Pella sells and the fact that they do not stand behind their product. There was a radio commercial on the local radio station about how the local dealer backs his product and I called the dealer to suggest he terminate the commercial as it was false advertising and I had documented proof of how, in fact, they don't support their product and neither does the parent company.

It was not worth the hassle but I have 2 sets of screens that don't fit! Now in 2009, about 2 months after the 10 year warranty, I noticed that several sashes were completely rotted (we don't open the windows a lot, so didn't notice the rot under the paint). Also, a fixed window is rotted and moldy. Now, moved to CA and was talking to a neighbor who had the same trouble with Pella. And now, we find out it was a national problem from 1995-2000 or so until Pella supposedly corrected the problem. They will not honor the warranty. Our neighbor sued Pella (not in class action) and won the case. It was a big deal for Pella who spent millions defending so that they would not have to pay other people.

Just be aware. We thought we were buying a quality brand, but the company was purchased by Venture Capital Company and they have ruined the quality! They are pure garbage. Consequences: rot and mold; who knows what damage is going on with the mold. Our neighbor had $150K of damage from mold. We have to pay because we were out of warranty. We want to replace with another brand, but it is easier to use Pella again; but I would never buy them again! Total garbage and they know it; and are trying to get out of liability for producing a product with known issues.

The fun begins after they came late. We ordered nearly $35,000 worth of windows. The top floor was installed and some of the garage windows also. I started working on them, with another gentleman. The sashes will not function, the latches won't latch and one of the sashes have the cladding just flapping in the wind. Pella just sent a Tech today, but he did not know what to do with the mess. He tried swapping out the sashes that were the same size, but that did not help. He took many pictures and measurements. He said he would have to get back to his drafting table to figure this out. The windows are poorly constructed. We let all the help go. We cannot pay the help for doing nothing. Our project is stopped. Nothing can be done without windows.

About two weeks later, he informed me that their policy had changed and that full payment would be needed to process the order. I sent the balance for the eleven windows, which totaled $2,014.50. Sometime later, before the delivery of the first ordered windows and having saved enough money, I ordered an additional nine windows which totaled $1,921.49. I notified a saleswoman, Darlene **, who I learned had replaced Mike **, to inform her that I received windows that had both upper and lower grills. Darlene informed me that they would do a trade-out and substitute the bottom window with grills to windows with no grills. Later she called me stating that she needed payment of $2,270.62 and to send the check to the Mishawaka store. Again I received a call from Darlene requesting payment of $1,043.39.

Noticing that several checks had not been cashed by Pella, I thought perhaps they were lost or misplaced. The day that delivery was scheduled, I called my bank and learned that all the checks had been cashed and I had overpaid $3,902.52. Also, the windows were not the windows that I had ordered. Argon filled windows with both and bottom windows were delivered. I contacted the Pella store franchise owner, Herbert A. Kreigh of Moscow, PA. Kreigh owns Pella franchises in South Bend, Mishawaka and Chesterton, IN. Also has stores in Pennsylvania and formerly owned franchises in Illinois. Kreigh sent me a check for $747.77.

Sorry, Mr. Kreigh, this pithy unacceptable amount will not do. The consequences of this breach of contract is that I have windows that I did not order and that do not match windows that were purchased at Lowe's and installed before ordering these extra windows from the Herbert A. Kriegh owned Pella franchise store in South Bend, IN.

Pella has been out, after having to charge my cc $120 to come and not making it for 3-1/2 weeks. They never even climbed a ladder, but declared the problem was "not theirs." We have asked that our case be taken up to corporate. I have also contacted the Chicago firm which has the class action suit, but I have not heard anything. Insurance company engineer is to come tomorrow.

The Local Pella dealer in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan has informed me that it will cost me $100 for a "Pella technician" to come out and evaluate the situation and to determine if it can be repaired or if it needs to be replaced. They will replace the window but will not cover any of the labor cost of actually replacing the window. Because this is a log sided home, the labor to replace this window will cost thousands of dollars.

I have read a lot of complaints by people who have bought Pella windows and doors and been unhappy, so I know I am not alone. We are not happy with a Pella (Architect Series) sliding door that we purchased about 4 years ago, and we have the same problem with it. So we probably should have known better than to buy the windows from Pella. We had a Pella window installed in a kitchen in 1994 in a different house than the one we are in now. We're very happy with that window, so we purposely bought Pella for our present house. We are very sorry and will never buy Pella again and intend to tell everyone that we have been unhappy with their product.