Tint Barn Marc LaQue Still waiting for resolution Hendersonville, North Carolina

I hope this review can serve as a warning for someone considering doing business with Tint Barn. I failed to do thoroughly read all the reviews by choosing them. Taking the reviews to heart could have saved a lot of headaches. Marc LaQue is the owner. Ashley, Marc's wife, runs the shop from the front desk. Joe is their window tint installer.

I called several times for information regarding pricing, warranty, and timeframe before taking my brand new car in. They don't take reservations, so I went one morning when they opened. When I went in, Joe wrote down all of my information and said it would be around three hours. Ashley called to inform me that it was done and they are only accepting cash. She told me Marc is dealing with stolen credit information and therefore they can temporarily accept cash and checks. I have doubts about this story since all the other reviews mention cash-only payments. Ashley told me that if I have any issues with the tint, to bring it it to get it taken care of.

I gave the tint about a week to dry. Bubbles persisted. I returned to the shop on a Wednesday. Ashley had Joe look at the windows. He assured me that the bubbles I saw would dry, but he did see a hair under one of the small back windows. He said it would only be a few minutes to replace it. He talked to Ashley, then returned and told me to come back Tuesday because they were low on tint film and they had a reservation for one of Marc's friends coming in about 15 minutes. Ashley was upset at Joe for saying they were low on film and told me they handle warranty repair on Tuesdays.

That evening, I called Marc. He was not happy about what happened earlier in the day and assured me that the window should have been fixed. He asked if I could come back, but it was too late for that. He said he would be there Saturday, and that I should just come in and he would take care of me. I returned Saturday to find a handwritten "we will be closed Saturday" sign.

I returned Tuesday. Marc was not there. I said I would wait to deal with Marc. I talked several times on the phone with him. He said I could have Joe do it again or "get the [expletive] off his property." I tried to tell them that all but one window needed replaced. Joe and the stereo guy just laughed it off and said that was not true. I left for lunch. When I returned, there were still several windows that were not fixed and two that were "fixed" needed replaced again.

I waited for Marc to return from the store. This was the first time I saw Marc in person... and the last. I showed him the issues. He was apologetic and upset about his employees' attitudes. He assured me he would fix this and make it right. He gave me his cell phone number and told me to call and set a day to come and he would be there to fix it. I texted Marc Friday and asked if Saturday at 10am would work. He said, "Works for me. See you tomorrow."

I showed up Saturday and everyone was running late. Ashley said Marc was on his way from Brevard and it would be about 45 minutes. I said I'd wait. She called him, then told me that he was going to run some errands before coming in. Joe would remove the poorly installed tint, then Marc would be there. After a few hours, I called Marc. He said he was going to have Joe do it. I told him he gave me the impression he was personally going to do it. He said he pays people to do it and that Joe was told to "do it right."

I was there six hours that day. Marc never came in. Three windows had hair under the tint. Joe sent pictures of the hair to Marc. Ashley came out and began copying my VIN. I asked why. She gave me a Johnson Window Films warranty card and said Marc is not fixing my tint anymore. Joe sent the pictures to Marc. Ashley told me Marc is friends with the owner of Johnson Window Films, Tony, and the pictures are being forwarded to him. She assured me that even though installation is the problem, Johnson Window Films would pay another shop to properly install the tint. The information Ashley filled out on the card was for 20% window tint even though they installed 35%.

Tony is actually their regional sales rep and had received no correspondence from Marc. The warranty department said they don't cover installation and I should get my money back. When I called Marc, he hung up on me. We then had a text conversation where I told him what Ashley said and what Johnson Window Films said. He tried to tell me that I was not told those things. His final text to me was "All sales final. No cash refunds."

Marc has decided that forcing me to small claims court is a better business decision than honoring your verbally stated contract or giving a customer a refund on a service that is done improperly multiple times.

If you do choose to use Tint Barn, I recommend you do what I (fortunately) had the foresight to do: record all correspondence with anyone at the shop. Record phone calls and personal interactions. Smartphones have easily accessible apps for this to be done. I was told different things by each employee. Ashley told me one thing, and Marc tried to deny what she said. North Carolina is a "one-party consent" state to conversation recording. If you are part of the conversation, you can consent to record it (NC General Statute 15A-287).

After I presented some snippets of recordings and the legality of it, Marc said "Do not come on my property or you will be arrested for trespassing you've been warned." I would urge ANYONE to seriously consider other options when looking for window tinting options. The prices are lower, but, from my experience, costs more in gas, time, miles, and physical stress.

Oh, there is one more thing... Joe caused some minor damage to our brand new car.