Overhead Door Company Marcia NorthrupMarilyn BettesMark Sendar Held money for 2 years with no product installation. Kalamazoo Michigan

To summarize, I contacted Marcia Northrup (Kalamazoo Overhead Door Company) in October 2013 with a desire to purchase Carriage Style Garage Doors for my home.  The garage is detached and in an effort to be consistent with the style of the home and the large windows around the sides of the garage, I had inquired about having some white trim installed around the garage door opening.  Note:  the Garage door is actually recessed by approximately 14 inches and therefore, the white trim was to be applied to the siding of the home and in no way would it effect the installation of the garage door itself (note: I attached a picture of a home with a similar recessed garage for your review).  When I inquired about the white trim, I was merely asking if that was a service that they provided with respect to purchasing the material and paying for installation.  Marcia told me that she knew some contractors in the area and that she would see if she could find someone who could help me with that project.  The garage door was a necessity, the white trim was merely a cosmetic addition that could have been done at anytime.

 

I selected the color of the door and all the hardware within 2 days and I notified Marcia.  I was then provided with a contract and a quote of $3037.00 which included the price of the door + a garage door opener system just in case my current unit was not compatible with the new door. Marcia told me that to secure the job, I just needed to pay a certain percentage of the invoice.  I told her that I would prefer just to pay for everything up front and therefore, I signed the contract and submitted a payment on 11/18/13 for $3037.00 (Check #1177).

 

I was told that since I had selected a custom door, it might take approximately 4-6 weeks for the door to arrive.  I did not hear back from anyone at the Portage location and by early March I took it upon myself to contact the store to inquire about the status of my door. The person who took my call at that time indicated that the door had arrived in January.  As you can imagine, I was a bit confused as to why no one had made an effort to contact me.  Since Marcia was not in the office, I left a message to have her call me.  Several weeks went by and I had not heard back. 

 

I called the Portage store again and Marcia informed me that she couldn't install the door because all of the contractors she knew who could put up the white trim were busy with other jobs.  Once again, I reiterated that the white trim does not need to be installed before the garage door can be installed.  I reminded her of the set-up and she said that she would arrange a time to have the door installed in the next week.  Long story short.....if such a thing is possible, 2 years lapsed and I still don't have the garage door.  As a matter of fact, the original door was in such bad condition, that I purchased a cheap garage door from Sears and my father and I installed the door ourselves just so that I had a functional garage door that was safe.  My father is not particularly a "handy person" and the same holds true for myself, but surprisingly, we had the entire door installed in less than 2 hours. 

 

Since I officially paid for the garage door in full in November 2013, I have sent numerous e-mails and called the store more times than I can count.  I even had my personal assistant try to tackle the project and Marcia claimed that she never had any communication with Tracy Derhammer (my personal assistant) despite the fact that I have copies of e-mails to prove that this statement is simply not true. 

 

A few weeks ago, I sent Marcia an email and asked that she refund my money and I indicated that I likely be purchasing a new garage door through Fawley Doors. I asked that the check be sent in the next 5 business days and/or that someone come and install my garage door in the next 5 business days.  I made a point of stating that I would prefer that the door be installed versus receiving a check.  Eight days later, a check arrived for the wrong amount.  Granted, there was only a slight difference, but after this company had been earning interest from my money for 2 years, I felt justified in insisting that the dollar amount be correct.  As stated, I wrote a check for $3037.00 and the check I received from Marcia was for $3000.37. 

 

I found this entire experience to be incredibly frustrating and the fact that no one made an effort to install my door that had been sitting in their warehouse since January 2014 was beyond shocking.   At this point, I feel that the Portage location needs to give me my money back AND come and install the custom garage door that I've been waiting for since November 2013. 

 

As stated, I will send you all of the e-mail communication that I've had with Marcia regarding this matter.  I realize that I cannot reproduce the phone conversations that transpired between us, but know that multiple calls were placed that essentially reiterated the theme of the email communication. 

 

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance with this matter.