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Lawrence Walsh: Deal sealed on getting leaky window replaced

Lawrence Walsh: Deal sealed on getting leaky window replaced

Tom and Ann Kelly decided a few years ago to replace windows in their split level, red brick home in Plum.

They selected Bon-Air Products in Verona to manufacture and install the windows after receiving assurances the windows had a lifetime guarantee. The 10 windows, including installation and state sales tax, cost about $4,000.

Everything was fine until the couple came home after a heavy rain and found water on the oak floor under the large picture window in the living room.

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"There must have been a gallon of water on the floor," said Ann Kelly, 70. "Fortunately, there wasn't any damage to the floor."

Tom Kelly, also 70, a retired lineman for Duquesne Light Co., and his wife used towels to soak up the water.

Ann Kelly called Bon-Air and explained what had happened. The company sent a repairman to correct the problem.

It didn't work.

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The repairman came out again.

The window still leaked from the lower left corner.

The Kellys asked Bon-Air to send someone else out to take care of it.

The company did.

But the window still leaked.

The second repairman came out again. He told the couple the 6-foot-10-inch by 4-foot window that faces the back yard needed to be replaced.

It's been a year since Ann Kelly started calling Bon-Air every month or two to check on the status of a replacement window. Sometimes her calls were returned. Sometimes they weren't.

When the calls were returned, promises were made that the replacement window would be installed in early July, late September, early October and late October.

Meanwhile, the picture window kept leaking when rain and wind teamed up to drench the back of the house.

Thomas I. Kelly Jr. contacted me on behalf of his parents. He explained the problem in an e-mail and sent another e-mail that included a timeline of his mother's calls to Bon-Air.

He gave me permission to forward the e-mails to Dan Boni, the owner of Bon-Air Products.

When we spoke yesterday, Boni said the company would replace the window as soon as warmer weather arrives.

That's perfectly understandable, Ann Kelly said.

She said the other windows Bon-Air installed have been trouble-free.

She said she didn't call Bon-Air more often than she did because she didn't want to make a pest of herself.

"But something had to be done," she said. "This has been going on for too long. Thanks for your help."

No problem.

Dining Club update
Frances and Robert Modrak of Squirrel Hill called to say their long-awaited Friends of Muer Restaurants Dining Club certificates worth $125 arrived a few days after I wrote about the problem they had with the program. The Modraks earned the certificates by dining at the Grand Concourse at Station Square.

My thanks to Heather Wilson, of Landry's Restaurants Inc. of Houston, for her help. Landry's operates the dining club program for the Grand Concourse and 16 other restaurants it owns in Florida, Michigan, New Jersey and South Carolina.

Ron Smutny of Bethel Park said he also experienced a months-long delay between the time he earned a dining certificate and finally received it. He also faulted the program for failing to return his calls.

"I would hope the Grand Concourse folks are concerned about such an image issue," said Smutny, associate director of corporate and foundation relations at Duquesne University.

They are.

And they've let Houston know about it.

First Published: January 31, 2003, 5:00 a.m.

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