Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:19/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We had our home repainted by Wow Painting in August 2022 with the ****** ****** ********** branch. Since then, we've had paint chipping, old stains emerging over the paint, prior nail pops that were fixed but reappearing again, etc (attached are some pics as examples). Our contract included a 2-year warranty that expires in Aug ****. The ** branch is no longer in effect so working with Wow Painting Customer Experience Team on how to use the 2-year warranty has been painful. They were helpful six months ago with some of the original issues, but they are now claiming that these items (e.g., addressing same nail pops that the painters fixed) don't fall under warranty despite the original owner of the local branch reassuring us during the sale that these are covered. I'd like Wow to uphold the customer service agreements provided by the local branch and the company's 2-year warranty despite the fact that the local branch is no longer in effect.

  Business Response

  Date: 19/07/2023

  
  I have reviewed the contents of this complaint. I am providing the history of our interaction with this customer.
  A case was opened by us on 1/24/23
  Customer claimed issue with work done in June of 2022.
  The franchise that performed the job had closed.
  We do not have another location near the customer.
  The issue was caused by the settling of her house.
  It was not the result of any defective workmanship of our franchise.
  Out of courtesy we provided a refund of $500. Allowing the customer to hire someone else to resolve her issues.We provided the refund in all fairness due to the lack of another franchise near her.
  It stated the customer would not proceed further with any other concerns regarding the same issue.
  The customer agreed that upon accepting the refund she would not publish any social media statement or file a complaint with the BBB.  She agreed to these conditions. 
  However by contacting the BBB she has gone back on the refund agreement however we decided not to pursue an ask for the return of the $500 given to her last year.
  Last month we were contacted about the same issue.
  I asked if she had used the $500 to have the cracks that appeared due the house settling looked. As of this date she has not provided a response to that question.
  Please note that all correspondence with the customer were polite. The 2nd set of photos were reviewed and the additional ask for more money declined.
  Again ************* was constantly advised that we do not have another location near her. 
  She then claimed that she had verbal assurance from the now closed franchise that settling was covered. However she has not been able to provide any written evidence of this.
   In addition she now states that she only has inaudible voice recordings between her and the closed franchise.
  I have dealt with this customer from the beginning. She was always provided with professional and polite responses to all of her concerns.  She will not accept the fact that cracks can appear due to the settling of her house. Again this was not caused by any defective workmanship of the franchise.
  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
  Sincerely,
  ***************************
  Customer Experience Manager
  ************
  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 20/07/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  This is more complex than it needs to be due to Wow Customer Experience making false assumptions about the situation despite evidence.  *I'm dropping this simply because the Customer Experience Team doesn't have ways to or want to support customers with warranties from closed franchises.*. However, it's important to clarify the following so hopefully the Customer Experience Team can better support future customers:

  1) We are discussing NEW issues.  As shared several times, the photos of the NEW issues aren't the same as the OLD issues in which the refund agreement was provided for those - the team should review again closely.  The refund was used to fix those old issues.  

  2) The NEW issues aren't new settling cracks as the ******************* They are the same nail pops and settlings cracks Wow painters fixed but came back in the same manner. ***** didn't have the benefit of seeing the home when the painting job was scoped so I understand he's having a hard time believing these are the same as before, but I wish they could trust a customer knows their home better than them.  This is why of course I'd also prefer if the local branch was around as they would intimately remember and understand the issue.  

  3) The refund letter clearly is specific to the OLD issues and there's incredibly clear language that the warranty is still in effect for any NEW issues hence why I'm reaching out regarding NEW issues.  Sure, it says don't contact BBB for those OLD issues, but it has nothing to do with NEW issues in which the warranty contract is still under effect.  Wow also chose to ignore my calls or emails for several weeks (it's in my notes on their CRM) regarding NEW issues, so their responses came across as wanting to ignore me and not wanting to help. 

  
  4) ************** I'm "asking for more money."  I'm actually not and I prefer not.  From the beginning, I've shared with them that I prefer if the warranty is used as written - same Wow painters come back out and address the issues as it's easier for everyone.  This is just more complex because the local team is no longer available.  

  5) I do have a voice recording of getting a recap of the warranty; however ***** didn't respond to that email no how to share such. I've also asked him for the warranty language which wasn't provided.  

  Response Requested: The only question I have for them is then "What does the remainder of my 2-year warranty cover?"  Please share and we can close this case.

   

  Sincerely,
  *********************

  Business Response

  Date: 24/07/2023

  In response to the mention that the photos were evaluated by myself only.please note:
  Our standard operating procedures for all warranty issues are as follows:
  Time stamped photos are requested from the customer.
  All photos are evaluated by at least two several senior managers who have extensive experience in the painting field. 
  One is the Field Operations Manager would be the franchise manager had reported too.
  As a team they rendered the stated outcome of the issue. As with this concern it was determined it was the result of  the issue was the  house settling not the affect of any poor quality work on W1D previous franchise. 
  Therefore the final resolution was arrived at by a senior team not by myself alone as the customer implied, and cannot be attributed to me having a hard time believing her, as she phrased it. 
  Note that new settlilngs issue can appear at anytime. Customer has a copy of the estimate which she keeps quoting.
  If there are issues that can be traced to defective work by the franchise then she can provide new evidence of us to consider.
  Customer Expereince has not made false assumptions regarding the evidence submitted by the customer. The above SOP should show that evaluations are not a one man show and WOW works as a team in such events, therefore one person does not work alone, as the customer keeps indicating.
  Customer Expereince did not ignore her calls as she stated in fact several times the customer advised she was traveling and slow to respond. Therefore the accusation of not wanting to correspond are unfounded, and professional unfair. ************** has had access to Customer Experience and as stated above several times she states she was traveling and not easy to reach.
  Please remember that we provided a courtesy refund of $500, since there is not another open  franchise currently near her. 
  Again we will not request the money back even though she violated the agreement she signed with stated she would accept the money and not create any negative media feedback or a complain to the BBB.
  ***************************
  Customer Experience Manager