Pella Window & Door Company

No warranty support on their own manufacturer’s defects. Had problems with a 6 foot slider door where the glass was improperly installed into vinyl frame at factory. Glass shattered right away when installed, Pella replaced. Then, the factory seal failed at bottom exterior of glass and started staining my window treatment, causing some mold growth. This leak only took place on the on same plate of glass that they had replaced. I called Pella, they booked an appointment with a repair tech and when he arrived, he said it was a failed factory seal causing water intrusion. He advised me there would be a service charge for the repair. I had not heard of this when I called in to Pella and they freely booked the appointment. I called customer service back in front of repair technician and customer service kept me on hold trying to get manager approval for service fee waived since this replacement piece had a factory defect. Customer service advised me that Pella would include all material for free (double sided tape was all of the material required to repair this) but that had to pay their $ 150/​hr labor fee. I have two other exact Pella sliders, no issues with either of them, all purchased and installed at the same time. I charge $ 200/​hr in my line of work, so I told customer service that I had spent well over an hour wiping up seeping water, drying my window treatment and keeping the area wiped up until appointment day, so that i would be issuing an invoice to them for over $ 200 for my labor time. She told me it is only a one way street at their company and that i could not issue an invoice to them, they could only issue an invoice to me. Sigh…
I have built and remodeled several homes never using Pella before, always Jeldwen and Milgard. Had very few operational and install issues with Jeldwen and Milgard in all of the homes i built, both Companies took care of them without charge to me as they were manufacturer’s or installer’s defects, not a homeowner cause. I explained this to Pella customer Service gal, but she said that is too bad, this is Pella’s policy. So, I am never going to use Pella again, will go buy another new slider and put this one in the box and return it to retailer stating manufacturer’s defect. I do not feel guilty, it is a true statement and just need to find my own way to help solve this problem that is not my cause, since Pella will not. Hope this helps someone out there avoid some unnecessary frustration!