Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/12/2023

  Type:Product 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.

  June 2018 we had new eavestroughs installed by the Gutter Depot (now Trades by Jack). These are ********* eavestroughs, which have a metal cover system to prevent leaves etc from entering the trough and clogging the downspouts etc. This system works very well for rain and in the spring, summer and fall. However, there are major safety issues in the winter when there has been snow . Snow collects on the metal cover of the eaves and stays there. On sunny days, the sun heats the metal cover under the snow, melting the snow slightly, which the re-freezes as ice. So, large pieces of solid ice form, sitting on top of the metal eaves covers all around the house 25 feet above the ground. When you next get a thaw or just a sunny day again, the metal covers heat up, melting the underside of these ice blacks, which very often causes them to break up and slide off the eaves and fall (25 feet as mentioned) to the ground. These pieces of ice have broken the side burner off our barbecue, crushed the top side of our air conditioning unit and the downspout of the eavestrough. If someone was walking around the perimeter of our house and one of these pieces of ice fell off i have no doubt they could be seriously injured or killed. I raised this concern with the company in 2019 (after i discovered) and they claimed that it was not their product that caused these issues, even though it clearly was. The pieces of ice are shaped exactly as the shape of the metal covers for example. As a "resolution" they offered to install a heated cable to melt the snow/ice to prevent build up for the low price of $2,000. I used to have many photos of the ice blacks after they had fallen which i also sent to the company at the time. I am looking for them but can't find.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/12/2023

  Good morning Mr. *****,

  We will attend your property to view the issues you are making complaints about, if you read your contract from Gutter Depot on the back of the contract it discusses icicles in depth and explains the cause which is heat loss due to either improper attic insulation which needs to be topped up every 8 to 10 years or improper ventilation through your soffits. Other issues we often find is that heat is leaking/escaping from windows or other household venting (dryers, shower, chimney or kitchen) We will come and do an inspection and check all of the above items. We have been in business for 14 years and find that once a customer has completed their insulation, sealing and proper venting all ice issues are resolved.

   

  Regards,

  Trades by Jack

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/12/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  this is a standard deny, deny, deny response, not taking any resposilibity for the problem and putting the onus on me to do what are likely useless repairs/upgrades to address a problem wholly created from their system.  We had no issues before their system was installed.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** *****

  Business Response

  Date: 13/12/2023

  We have agreed to come out and perform an inspection on your gutter system and also as a courtesy to you take a look at the venting and insulation situation. We are not denying that there may be an issue with the system specifically which is why we complete inspections to determine exactly what the issue may be. We have also tried to call you twice to arrange this visit to which you are not responding to our calls.