In summer 2018, we built rebuilt a deck with new decking and railing material. We purchased a total of $13,776.53 in aluminum railing from Lowe's Aluminum (now called Richardson Supply). The railing is manufactured by AFCO industries and has a Lifetime Warranty.
In the summer of 2020, we noticed the powder coating was gone and what appears to be primer, is now showing. That has happened on multiple places on the railing. So on 8/27/20, we contacted the retailer we purchased the railing from about warranty. They assigned a respresentative to assess the warranty claim. We were asked to provide photos, which we did. On 11/3/20, we received an email from the assessor stating "This is not a finish warranty issue, but an environmental exposure issue." So, our warranty claim was rejected.
Our deck is behind locked gates so the assessment could only have been made from photos provided. We sent AFCO Warranty claims a registered letter on 11/11/20 explaining why we the assessment was wrong and asking them to reconsider our warranty claim. We have proof the letter was received yet there no response. We contacted AFCO thru their website CONTACT US form on 12/9/20 asking them to contact us about a warranty claim. Again, no response.
On 1/6/21, we sent a registered letter addressed to AFCO's president, Mr. Don Fowler asking him to honor our warranty claim. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Andrew Hampe, AFCO's National Sales Manager reached and to discuss the warranty. He needed our email, which we provided. On 1/22/21, Mr. Hampe sent an agreement we were asked to sign.
The agreement stated AFCO would replace the materials we purchased as long as we acknowledge that "finish issues experienced on the originally installed material is due to an environmental exposure of the rail and was not the result of a product defect". The agreement also stated "AFCO will not bear any additional cost related to delivery to or install on the home of this replacement material".
On 1/21/21, we responded to Mr. Hampe to let him know we would not sign the agreement because it is not true that we caused the railing damage. We have never used any chemicals on the railing and therefore, cannot have caused the powder coating to fade or flake off. We believe we can offer several reasonable reasons as to why this conclusion isn't accurate. We did make a suggestion to Mr. Hampe that finishing the railing in place might be a better option for us and we believe be advantageous to AFCO as well, but AFCO was apparently not interested in anything other than what they offered. Mr. Hampe sent an email on 1/22/21 stating he was withdrawing the offer and sorry we could not reach an agreement.
We have since reached out to Mr. Hampe and AFCO's president and CEO but again, no response. We only want AFCO to honor their lifetime warranty without strings. We are not comfortable with signing a document where we are required to lie about why their railing finish failed. AFCO withdrew their offer once we said we wouldn't sign and will no longer respond to our requests for warranty service. We expected a world class product and a warranty to back it but what we've seen so far is unfair business practices that we've tried to resolve multiple times in good faith.
AFCO Industries, Inc. Reviews
In summer 2018, we built rebuilt a deck with new decking and railing material. We purchased a total of $13,776.53 in aluminum railing from Lowe's Aluminum (now called Richardson Supply). The railing is manufactured by AFCO industries and has a Lifetime Warranty.
In the summer of 2020, we noticed the powder coating was gone and what appears to be primer, is now showing. That has happened on multiple places on the railing. So on 8/27/20, we contacted the retailer we purchased the railing from about warranty. They assigned a respresentative to assess the warranty claim. We were asked to provide photos, which we did. On 11/3/20, we received an email from the assessor stating "This is not a finish warranty issue, but an environmental exposure issue." So, our warranty claim was rejected.
Our deck is behind locked gates so the assessment could only have been made from photos provided. We sent AFCO Warranty claims a registered letter on 11/11/20 explaining why we the assessment was wrong and asking them to reconsider our warranty claim. We have proof the letter was received yet there no response. We contacted AFCO thru their website CONTACT US form on 12/9/20 asking them to contact us about a warranty claim. Again, no response.
On 1/6/21, we sent a registered letter addressed to AFCO's president, Mr. Don Fowler asking him to honor our warranty claim. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Andrew Hampe, AFCO's National Sales Manager reached and to discuss the warranty. He needed our email, which we provided. On 1/22/21, Mr. Hampe sent an agreement we were asked to sign.
The agreement stated AFCO would replace the materials we purchased as long as we acknowledge that "finish issues experienced on the originally installed material is due to an environmental exposure of the rail and was not the result of a product defect". The agreement also stated "AFCO will not bear any additional cost related to delivery to or install on the home of this replacement material".
On 1/21/21, we responded to Mr. Hampe to let him know we would not sign the agreement because it is not true that we caused the railing damage. We have never used any chemicals on the railing and therefore, cannot have caused the powder coating to fade or flake off. We believe we can offer several reasonable reasons as to why this conclusion isn't accurate. We did make a suggestion to Mr. Hampe that finishing the railing in place might be a better option for us and we believe be advantageous to AFCO as well, but AFCO was apparently not interested in anything other than what they offered. Mr. Hampe sent an email on 1/22/21 stating he was withdrawing the offer and sorry we could not reach an agreement.
We have since reached out to Mr. Hampe and AFCO's president and CEO but again, no response. We only want AFCO to honor their lifetime warranty without strings. We are not comfortable with signing a document where we are required to lie about why their railing finish failed. AFCO withdrew their offer once we said we wouldn't sign and will no longer respond to our requests for warranty service. We expected a world class product and a warranty to back it but what we've seen so far is unfair business practices that we've tried to resolve multiple times in good faith.