Last year my wife and I decided to try out a company as we knew that we needed windows replaced in our home. We started with our Patio door and a casement window in the kitchen. The sales person was reasonable in his approach. As the old story goes, if I knew now what I knew then I wouldn't have likely gone with Platinum. The explanation of "Retrofit" vs "Brick to brick" was never explained well. The sales person said "Your frames look good, so let's just do retrofit". The true difference between the two was never explained in depth. I take some responsibility on not doing my research, however, would have hoped that a reputable company takes the time to explain to their customers in detail what they are about to purchase, seeing as this is not an every day product.
Platinum sent out a sub-contractor, which wasn't disclosed to us at the time but wasn't a big deal at first.
The patio door had the screen door latch break within 2 weeks. This was mentioned to the sales rep, but nothing was ever done. About 4 months after purchase, there was a leak noticed. Platinum was called and a service call was set up. The Sub-contractor did come out and put additional caulking on the exterior of the frame. I unfortunately was late coming home from work and missed the contractor.
Roughly two weeks ago during a rain storm, the leak re-occurred. I called Platinum and emailed a video to them. They insisted that the leak is because of the pergola which they thought was screwed into the wall. In fact, the pergola isn't screwed into the exterior wall. They sent out a sub-contractor. When the sub-contractor came to our door, he had an annoyed demeanor about him. He met me in the back yard outside of the patio door. He was extremely rude. The conversation ended with him walking away, stating that "Everyone wants something for nothing", "I had to come all the way from X for this", and than proceeded to using some rather unprofessional language. I immediately called Platinum to convey what has happened. The lady (Maggie I believe) said she'll talk to her boss right away and will call me back tomorrow. She did call the next day and expressed her sincere apology. Nothing was mentioned about figuring out what can be done about the leak in the door.
Fortunately this event has prompted me to select a different contractor for replacing the rest of the windows at our house. This new contractor spent several hours going through our house, explaining the different products and gave his professional opinion on retrofit vs brick to brick as well as his personal experience with regards to the esthetical options. This new contractor also looked at the patio door and said he would have the installer open the frame as he believes there was an issue with the insulation, however, cannot determine this until the frame is opened. This new contractor is now providing the service that Platinum should have. I'm not looking for a free ride, I'm just looking for an industry expert to let me know a strategy in dealing with this leak. If they would have said "Mr.Anselm, we would love to help but this isn't covered by warranty and thus need to treat it as a chargeable service call" I would have understood. Instead, all I got was an empty apology without a resolution to the problem I am having. This is the worse form of customer service I have ever experienced. Platinum didn't even bother sending one of their own employees to discuss the issue and relied strictly on sub contractors. I caution anyone who wants to deal with this company and share my experience of the after-installation service I have received.
