ComplaintsforPolar Bear Exterior Solutions

• Initial Complaint

  09/13/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  7-26-22 over a year ago we had ****** a sales rep from this company come out and give us a bid. We were doing a complete makeover of the exterior of our house. Here it is over a year now and the scope of work is subpar from professional. The salesman does a great job at earning your trust and promises to provide a superior service since the workers are all employed by the company and not subcontractors. The whole job started out wrong with the date of the project being pushed back almost a month. Then with no communication a truck shows up to house to deliver supplies, I asked for them to specifically call me a day ahead of time so that I could naive my travel trailer to storage and they could use the easement in the front of the house for materials and the dumpster. I had to leave work during a meeting to come home an accommodate for there miscommunication. It didnt stop there another truck showed up and drops dumpster in my driveway without authorization. Now the front of my house is blocked as well as my driveway now so I have to park my vehicles on the street. I live on a block that only has parking on one side and is prone to hit and runs due to it being a main roadway to the neighborhood. They apologize for the inconvenience and said they would work fast to fill up the dumpster so it could be hauled away and placed in the the designated spot next time. They sent a crew of two guys to work instead of a crew of 6 as was stated. It took them a month to remove the siding and gutters off a **** sq ft rambler. **** the general contractor was very commutative when it came to find issues which I pointed out in the beginning that there was some concerns that needed to be addressed. After the job was completed my porch railing was lose my front screen door is not level. Theres caulking issues around my eve. Some of the ****** boards are warped. I asked about all this and the response was its normal but Ill show you pics of others with the same issue. They promised to take care after I sign the final form but have yet to come and repair there work.

  

  Business response

  09/15/2023

  *****,

  Our apologies about the issues and communication getting the project started. Sometimes we run into issues with suppliers and their schedule, as well unforeseen issues on other jobs that throw a wrench in the availability of our crews. 

  I will be reviewing your project with my install manager and we will be in touch in the next few days.

  Thanks,

  ****

  

  Business response

  09/15/2023

  *****,

  Our apologies about the issues and communication getting the project started. Sometimes we run into issues with suppliers and their schedule, as well unforeseen issues on other jobs that throw a wrench in the availability of our crews. 

  I will be reviewing your project with my install manager and we will be in touch in the next few days. p

  Thanks,

  ****

  

  Business response

  09/15/2023

  *****,

  Our apologies about the issues and communication getting the project started. Sometimes we run into issues with suppliers and their schedule, as well unforeseen issues on other jobs that throw a wrench in the availability of our crews. 

  I will be reviewing your project with my install manager and we will be in touch in the next few days.

  Thanks,

  ****

• Initial Complaint

  04/23/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We had our roof replaced by Polar Bear Exterior Solutions (4/19 - 4/22). After the work was completed, we noticed that our ceiling had humps and cracks which we hadnt seen before. I asked about this to the project manager, Kolby, during the final walkthrough but he said that was not caused by roofing but due to the quality of ceiling materials. He added that these bumps would have existed all along and that we are now noticing it because we are paying more attention to the ceiling. My husband and I are positive that this issue did not exist before as these bumps are too obvious to miss at night. I told Kolby that I dont feel comfortable paying 100% of our final payment because of the ceiling issue. He contacted his manager, ***, and they both said this problem is common and they are not liable for this. Also, the said the contract mentions about this as a potential issue during the roofing. My husband and I pulled the contract and read it line by line again but there weren't any specific mentions regarding how ceiling may protrude while roofing is done. Contract cover the general scope such as impacts to landscaping and surrounding areas but did not specifically talk about potential ceiling issues. If we are to sell our home, this will become an issue as it is very noticeable especially from the second floor at night.I read many positive reviews about Polar Bear and the salesman, *****, gave us excellent presentation which is why we decided to go with Polar Bear despite higher price than their competitors. However, I regret going with this company because of poor communication and the way they try to brush off the ceiling issue. They didn't start the project on the day they said they would start and didnt even give us a call. We waited a few hours and had to call them only to find out the install is delayed to the next week. Actual work started without any prior notice and the ** didn't show up until the very last day to do the final walkthrough.

  

  Business response

  04/25/2022

  I have reached out to the customer to try and resolve this issue, as of yet I have not received a call back. Although our paperwork does say that drywall around the ceiling can crack from the unavoidable process of working on the roof, this damage does not appear to be caused by that. The damage does not appear to be stress fractures but likely caused by previous leaks or other issues that developed over time.

  I will continue trying to reach out to the customer to set a time to meet and try and arrive at a resolution.

• Initial Complaint

  11/16/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  At 11:40 AM on Tue, Nov. 16 a solicitor knocked on our door. He peered into the residence through the window above the front door as I answered. He introduced himself as ***** from Polar Bear and opened with a sales pitch about what his company is doing in our neighborhood. I asked if he was in the act of soliciting and he said yes. I said no thank you and closed the door.What ***** advertised as a Polar Bear representative was a lack of regard for privacy when he stood on his toes to look inside the residence. He also advertised a lack of consideration for helping reduce the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by not inquiring about the immune statuses of the members of this household, and not taking a simple precaution by wearing a mask.It seems beyond desperate to solicit door-to-door during a pandemic while remaining unwilling to take a simple precaution to reduce the potential spread the virus. This behavior does not project the confidence of a trustworthy business that cares about the safety and privacy of their customers.

  

  Business response

  11/19/2021

  Mr *********,

  We apologize for any anxiety or trouble that we caused you. We frequently market our services in areas around projects we are doing, and have done so for the 10 years we have been in business. We are very careful of all precautions regarding the pandemic, and we follow all national and local guidelines. There is currently no mandate or recommendation for people to be wearing masks outside. Typically, if homeowners are concerned about contact, or just not interested, they can just say "no thank you" through the window. I am sorry that you felt threatened or concerned about your health from one of our employees dropping off a door hanger. We will take further precautions going forward to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep our customers, employees and the community safe. Please let me know if there is anything more I can do to help ease your concerns.

  Customer response

  12/01/2021

  In rebuttal to the complainees most recent communication:
  
  "We frequently market our services in areas around projects we are doing, and have done so for the 10 years we have been in business," initially attempts to justify the disputed behavior by implying the complainees traditional decade-old door-knocking practices do not require modification nearly two years into an ongoing pandemic.
  
  "We are very careful of all precautions regarding the pandemic, and we follow all national and local guidelines. There is currently no mandate or recommendation for people to be wearing masks outside," further attempts to justify the disputed behavior by asserting the lack of an outdoor mask mandate in my residences jurisdiction is the low bar at which the complainees marketing practices are set, while overlooking the optional benefits of reducing transmission of respiratory fluids carrying infectious virus by wearing a mask, which I described as a simple precaution.
  
  "Typically, if homeowners are concerned about contact, or just not interested, they can just say no thank you through the window," attempts to downplay the disputed behavior by assuming residents should be prepared to have discussions with unidentified individuals through a window pane, depicting my action of opening the door, identifying the complainee, and rejecting the sales pitch as less reasonable than speaking through glass. Perhaps this is a rationalization for why the complainee was looking inside my residence, breathing on the window above my front door, and making eye contact before I could answer, which I described as a privacy violation.
  
  "We apologize for any anxiety or trouble that we caused you I am sorry that you felt threatened or concerned about your health from one of our employees dropping off a door hanger," further attempts to downplay the disputed behavior by minimizing the complainees self-entitled act of merely "dropping off a door hanger" at my residence, coupled with an insincere non-apology ("Im sorry you feel...") that belittles "anxiety or trouble" and being "threatened or concerned" while shifting responsibility downwards to an individual employee. It may be reasonable to drop off a "door hanger" without gazing inside and knocking to deliver a maskless sales pitch, but the parties are aware this is not what happened in reality.
  
  "We will take further precautions going forward to make sure we are doing everything we can to keep our customers, employees and the community safe," in the context of prior contradictory statements defending soliciting door-to-door without a precautionary mask during a pandemic since it is not required in this jurisdiction, the complainee now opens room for taking safety precautions that will be taken by the complainee going forward, but does not provide substantive details on what exact precautions they decided to take.
  
  In review, I have categorically addressed the complainees statements made in response to my original complaint. These statements make clear the complainee does not perceive acts of their own wrongdoing and instead attribute blame to the complainant. My position remains that these untrustworthy, aggressive door-to-door sales tactics cause inappropriate yet preventable dangers to privacy and safety, a position further reinforced by the complainees troubling attempts at justifications, non-apologies, responsibility-shifting, and vague commitments for what this company feels entitled to demand at the doors of private residences they peer into.
  
  Moving forward, I would like to provide an opportunity for the complainee to comprehend and respond to this rebuttal and the 2021-11-18 addendum through the appropriate BBB channel (not a paperless backchannel). For this process to continue I must reject the Better Business Bureaus resolution at this time, as complainants are given at most 7 days to reply.
  
  Here is what the Better Business Bureau prefaces messages with regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their services:
  "BBB remains operational and focused on serving our business community and our consumers throughout this crisis. Please check out resources available to you at BBB.org/coronavirus. Some of the sources of information BBB relies on are temporarily unavailable. Also, many businesses are closed, suspended, or not operating as usual, and are unable to respond to complaints and other requests. BBB information and Business Profiles reflect the most current information available to us. We appreciate your patience as we and everyone in our communities focus on addressing this crisis."
  
  Thank you for receiving this rebuttal of the response to complaint #********.
  

  
  

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