Gutter Shutter Queen City Gutters High pressure sales, no support after sale Cincinnati Ohio

 We needed new gutters installed on our house. Since our house is surrounded by trees (with Helicopters), we were looking at the many systems that prevent debris from entering the gutters.

We had gotten several bids, but I did not really like any of the "screens" that many companies offered.

Enter Gutter Shutter. The salesman shows up and gives us a "complimentary" gutter assesment, judging on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the worst). Well guess what ours rated? Our existing gutters were nowhere near as bad as he made them out to be, but they did need replaced nonetheless.

So now the sales pitch begins. This salesman gave me an "initial" quote of $6000.00! I said absolutely not and thanked him for his time. He then showed me their product and I was indeed impressed with the quality. He actually jumped up and down on a sample section of gutter that he brought along, and it never once buckled under his weight. He then goes on to tell me they offer a lifetime "never clog" warranty, and if they do clog, they will come out and clean the gutters. I told him that I liked the product, but there was no way I would pay $6000.00 for 135' of gutters.

Now he starts to negotiate down, $4000, $3000, and finally $2500, but only if I act now and sign on the dotted line, today only! That should have been my first clue, but I really did like the product, so I reluctantly agreed to $2500. Still way overpriced for only 135' of gutters, but never having to get up there and cleaning out those helicopters twice a year seemed great. (The Actual sales pitch was way more dramactic and pushier than I described here, and if you search BBB, you will see many complaints about this alone!).

So the next week the new gutters are installed and they looked very nice on the house. All the downspouts have removable baskets that catch debris that does get into the gutter, but wont allow it to clog your drains. This is a nice feature I forgot to mention before.

The helicpoters fell from all the silver maples in my yard and for once, my gutters were not clogged!

But all the troubles began during our first winter with these gutters. When the snow on the roof melts, it instantly freezes once it hits the cold aluminum hood on the gutters. Repeat this process day after day, and now you have huge ice dams! That first winter, I had ice dams that were at least 6" tall on top of the gutter and well up on to the shingles. I called Gutter Shutter and they finally sent a guy out to look at it. He blames it on my insulation in the attic, which he never looked at! And offers no other help.

The next spring, I added 6-8" of blown in insulation, hoping it would help. The next winter, Same issue. Once again I call Gutter Shutter and speak with the manager, and once again, he offers no solution.

So now I am looking at seeing if I can remove the hood from these overpriced gutters, because I would rather clean out leaves and helicopters than have ice dams, or be out there in the middle of winter on a ladder breaking ice off the gutters as I had to do the first year!

If you live somewhere that has cold, snowy winters, Please do yourself a favor and do not get these gutters. They would be great in warmer climates, providing you never need service after the sale!!!! I have convinced several people I know who were considering these to get something else.