Great Day Improvements Acquires Assets of Stanek
January 17th, 2013 | Category: Industry NewsGreat Day Improvements LLC announced its acquisition of Stanek Vinyl Window Company’s operating assets for an undisclosed price.
Great Day Improvements, a residential and commercial remodeler headquartered in Macedonia, Ohio, intends to manufacture and offer Stanek brand windows as part of its line of home improvement products. The window company is headquartered in Cuyahoga Heights, Ohio.
“This is one of several initiatives we’ve executed to transform and expand Great Day Improvements into a one-stop home improvement company for our customers,” says Steve White, managing partner of the company. The Stanek brand has been in existence for 60 years and in terms of quality, it is an excellent complement to our legendary Patio Enclosures brand.”
I am writing as a Stanek Windows” customer who placed a significant cash deposit with the company for the purchase and installation of two sets of double-pane silding glass doors. The sliding doors were to be installed by the end of January. Immediately following the asset purchase by Great Day Improvements, the Stanek operation in Florida was shuttered. The windows I ordered have not been installed. The company has gone silent. There has been no answer to my request for the return of my deposit. I understand from my salesman who joined another window company that there are a number of people in my position. I think in purchasing the assets of this comany, Greatt Day had a duty to insure that issues such as the one I have encountered were addressed before they closed on the deal and not become complicit in a situation that now appears to be heading to court.
can you tell me if all the lifetime warnnitys on stanek windows from past are gone now?
Mr. Haber should have been contacted by now through the Florida operation. Great Day intends to honor all contracts for projects that had not been installed by Stanek Window prior to aquiting the assets. We are sorry for the delay during the transition and should resume installation soon.
As for Warranty issues, we will continue to honor material warrenties on many products but will ask customers to pay a service charge for labor. To obtain service or more information about specific product warranty please contact your local office to recieve specific information.
Beginning immediately Great Day Improvements will begin offering the Stanek Window product along with Patio Enclosure Sunrooms and SoftWall Basement finishing products in all of our 19 Branch locations. Please check our website at http://www.greatdayimprovements.com for a location near you.
Hello Mr. Goddard:
We have had conflicting information from various representatives as to Stanek warranties. In fact I was told by the Cleveland location today that we would be responsible for materials and labor and that our discount was that “we wouldn’t have to pay tax”. Our initial installation of 26 windows resulted in first year replacement of a majority of these windows due to “defective glass”. Since that time a window will shatter on its own every 2 years or so and the latest one to do so this week is the first since your company bought Stanek. In addition to outright windows shattering we have had to replace, again under warranty, several panes due to seal failure and currently have our largest picture window with between glass condensation indicating yet another failure. We were very angry when we heard that you were no longer honoring the “lifetime” warranty. Without this warranty, and the peace of mind that it has provided, the Stanek name will no longer have the value you perceived it to have when you acquired its assets. It is a fantastic product when intact but in our case a product that has had defective materials from day one. We have sold and referred many customers to Stanek because of the product and the warranty it had, we will no longer be able to do so unless you are able to reevaluate the way you treat prior customers. Are the problems we are experiencing so common that it contributed to the demise of the old Stanek organization and Great Day Improvements can’t afford to make them right? We would love to continue to do business with Stanek and refer others to you, please consider the implications of your current policies.
Mr. Goddard,
The Stanek windows we have were installed in 1994 and aside from from the “manufacturer defect” with the gas in the smaller pane windows,which causes them to spontaneously shatter with weather changes, we have been very satisfied with the product and service. I had a window pane replaced in October 2012 for this problem. My daughters bedroom window (which is just over her bed) and a larger window shattered. I called as usual to have the pane replaced only to find out it will cost $187.00 for just half of the window. I have not received any letter informing me of the change and that the life time guarantee is now void. I have now left a message for Ryan the service manager in Cleveland, but I am sure he will just give me the same answer and that I will have to pay for parts and labor. At this point why should I stay with this product. I feel there is a safety issue plus to keep having this price every time the weather changes.
I am very disappointed with the customer service of Great Day Improvements, it is now April (3 months after the company change) and no notification to customers who bought Stanek windows and were greatly satisfied with the life time guarantee and their customer service.
If nothing can be done to honor the life time guarantee (especially with the “defect”) then I will looking at other companies for replacement windows.
It is extremely poor customer service to ignore the Stanek warranty. That was the main selling point of that product. I called for service on a door and I’m told that the warranty is no longer honored. I will be running this by an attorney but I’m sure Great day has covered themselves legally. The one tool I do have is that I teach customer service for a very large company and I use examples in classes that demonstrate poor customer service. This situation will now become one of my examples. I may not be able to do anything legally but I do have the power of speech and I will be telling everyone I know to avoid this company in the future. I will be contacting the BBB and filing a bad report. I will be contacting Angie’s List and putting in a bad report and any other internet site I can find. Great Day, you may take away my warranty but I can share my experience with your company to many future customers and I hope every other Stanek customer does the same. I hope you save enough money avoiding the Stanek warranties to make up for even the loss of 1 customer.
Mr. Goddard: I too am very disappointed in your customer service department. Does it even exist, I am asking myself, as no phone calls have been returned. Shortly after you sent the letter regarding your takeover of Stanek, we talked to one of your representatives to see if our replacement windows claim would be honored and were told yes, and in 6-8 weeks the windows should be there and all we would have to pay for was the installation fee. We were agreeable to that. The 8 weeks is up and not only do we not have windows, we can’t even get a return phone call!
It would be greatly appreciated it someone/anyone would return one of our many phone calls to let us know just what the status of our order is.
Thank you.
Looks like you got a lifetime warraanty (the distributors!). I feel sorry for your situation. On your next replacement project, go with a National supplier such as Pella, Anderson, etc. They arn’t going anywhere. I just saw an ad for Pella with a 10 year installation guarantee—In Florida!
Just called to get window fixed. Was told my LIFE TIME WARRENTY is no longer. I asked how could that be, i was never notified and according to the paper work I have it states “Any changes to this Contract must be in writing, signed by all parties, and specifically refer to the Contract.” Well I have received no notice and this contract states LIFE TIME WARRENTY.. The person to whom I spoke to stated that there were too many clients to send letters to to notify. Really? I will notify the BBB of this. I wonder just how many other home owners will be finding this out after the fact. The person I spoke to said he would be glad to come out for $125.00 to look at my window in which the only come once a month to Columbus. Really.
I put a call in to stanek and got this other company called Great day improvements. I left them a message and didn’t hear anything back, so I Called again & got same company message,left it again and finally a got a call back to let me know that the LIFE TIME WARRENTY is NO longer valid on my windows or patio door? Why?Oh u didn’t hear great day improvements bought stanek in January. WOW!!!! That’s news to us consumers!!Then I also got told that there would be a cost for them to come out & look at the rollers on the patio door,plus labor if they needed to be worked on or replaced.Where is that LIFE TIME WARRENTY?? That should come into play with anyone who has purchased with stanek before January of 2013.That was one of the reasons that we purchased them, so just in case of something happened. My husband is not somebody who is handy around the house,it was a piece of mind for me.REALLY there needs to be something done to satisfy past customers,Me personally will be directing other people who do ask about my windows to find somebody else that’s reliable and will stand up to there contract.This is wrong!!!Very wrong.