ComplaintsforSpark Garage Doors

• Initial Complaint

  04/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  One of our garage door springs broke after a cold spell. My husband called Spark Garage Doors and they said they could replace both. They replaced both on 1.18.24 and charged us $1088.75. Less than a week later (on 1.24.24), I was pulling out of the garage and the door fell on the back of my car cracking the spoiler. We called Spark and they came out and said nothing was wrong and 'women back into garage doors all the time.' Someone from the company then called to ask how satisfied we were and when I said I was scared the door was going to fall again, possibly on my kid, they said they could take the springs back or have us get a 2nd opinion from their person of choice. Someone called to schedule that 2nd opinion, but we were not able to be verify that person was an actual company on a quick internet search so we reached out to Efficiency Garage Doors ourselves instead. Efficiency Garage Doors came out on 2.6.24 and noted the door was not properly supported by the springs installed by Spark - the springs were the wrong size - and the door fell when released halfway down. They ordered new springs and installed them. The door hasn't had issues since. My car was taken to ****'s Collision Repair the day it was damaged for eval and was repaired on 3.29.24 for $1516.27. My husband has made repeated attempts to contact Spark by phone, email, and physically driving to their listed office in ****** (which was empty with no company name on the door). He cannot connect with anyone to get this resolved. We would like to return the incorrect sized springs, be refunded for the $1088.75 we paid them, and have them cover the cost to repair the damage to my car that was a direct result of the incorrect springs being installed.

  

  Business response

  05/02/2024

  Our calls are recorded and the customer straight up said that his wife backed into the door as it was opening.    Our customers safety and satisfaction is our number 1 priority and we went ahead and sent our most senior technician who is in charge of all the techs and he did a full inspection twice. Once with the husband, and second time around, with the wife.  He showed them both that everything was operating properly.  After both inspections, the office manager still offered to have a technician come take the springs back and refund the customer (minus the restocking fee). At this point the springs were still freshly installed and we were able to take them back.  The customer said they were going to wait because all looks good and operating.  We then still offered to send a different company for a third inspection just so they could be stress free about it and the customer declined the offer. 
  Calling us 3 months later and then asking to return the springs for a refund isnt something we can do. Its been 3 months and we cant re-use those springs.  Glad they found a company they liked, but of course they are going to tell them things in order to make a transaction that will benefit them.  We went more and beyond to try to make this right for them the first two weeks so calling 3 months later is too late.  
  Also, our main office in ****** operates with a receptionist on site while our other locations have receptionists that work remotely from home ever since Covid. 
  Thanks for reaching out to us. 

  Customer response

  05/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 21644567
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  I never backed into the garage door. The door fell on my car later when I was pulling out of the garage taking my daughter to preschool. She was terrified as was I. My husband, who had already left for the day and was not home at the time, called Spark to ask them to assess as my daughter was hysterical in the car and I was trying to calm her down as I drove her to school and still got to my job on time.

  Spark did come out and said nothing was wrong when my husband was home. I asked them to come back as the door was making scary noises going up and down and the tech stood there, looked at the garage door, and literally told me 'women back into garage doors all the time' as the explanation. For the record, I am 43 years old with a graduate degree and I have never in my life backed into a garage door.

  A woman from the company offered a second opinion when I said I was terrified the door would fall on my dogs or small children. I said I would like that but needed time to look up a company. She told me I didn't get to choose the company, she did. When I asked what company it was, she could not tell me. Later that evening a gentleman called me to schedule a 'second opinion' but we could not find any details/reviews/address for the company he claimed to be from so the next AM I called him back and advised him we were going another direction. 

  We called Efficiency Garage ************ with an A+ BBB rating and over 40 years in business. They came out on 2/6/24 and stated that 'door when released falls halfway into the opening and then stops when brought down to floor door shoots up to hallway. Springs have 6.5-7 turns, they should have 7.5 indicating the springs are the wrong size, operating forces are set to 9 to open and close to push through the springs.'

  They ordered custom springs and installed them. We have had no problems since they installed the proper sized springs. The springs from Spark have been stored in our garage since as we awaited the final cost of my car repair. Despite taking my car to the body shop LITERALLY THE SAME DAY the door fell on it (1/24/24), the replacement spoiler was not able to be ready/installed until 3/29/24 and we were waiting on this amount to try to recoup costs from the garage door damaging my car. 

  My husband has tried MULTIPLE times to connect with anyone from the company to return the springs, refund us the $1088.75, and pay for the damage to my car and has gotten the run around. He has called and emailed. He physically went to the address/suite listed on the BBB website and the Spark website and there was no one there. 

  At this point, we would just like to move forward but feel that Spark should take their incorrectly sized springs back and refund us the amount they charged and pay for the damage to my car which was the direct result of their incorrectly sized spring installation. 

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

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