I had new Alside double hung windows & patio door installed on my house the summer of 2007 by Kevin Clifford of Heartland Remodelling Inc. (Gurnee, IL). If you choose Heartland, be prepared to waste a lot of time and energy to get returned calls or to have follow-up work completed!

The first winter (2007/2008) after the installation I experienced the identical problems of the old windows with very noticeable cold drafts and substantial ice & frost build-ups on the inside of the windows. After eliminating obvious reasons like poor caulking and too much humidity in the house, I initiated a factory warranty claim with Alside. They sent out a representative and it was determined that the windows were installed improperly, as the tension screws were never tightened causing too much gap between the window frames and the house, allowing cold air to leak through. The remedy was to have the installer (Kevin at Heartland) come back to my house and tighten the screws.

After making initial contact with Kevin about the remedy, that is when the poor customer service began. After several calls, messages, promised call backs that never came and missed appointments, Kevin finally returned to my house and corrected the installation. I’ll see this winter (2008/2009) if the fix worked.

The new issue prompting this post is that the patio door leaks water onto the kitchen floor when it rains. Since there is mould/mildew inside the door frame, it appears that the frame leaks. Wasting a substantial amount of time and energy again to get Kevin back to see the door, he finally came and agrees there is a problem. He said that he would call Alside to determine how to proceed and call me back. Needless to say, after about three weeks of calls to Kevin about fixing the door, he admitted that he had not called Alside yet, but would do so and call me back the next day. That didn’t happen. Therefore, I called Alside directly myself and confirmed that they have no record of Kevin calling them about my door.

At this point, I will be working directly through Alside for all remedies concerning the patio door and/or future window issues. Kevin at Heartland can not be counted on to provide reasonable and courteous customer service follow up.