Kohler Awning Inc

I purchased a home with a fairly large kohler awning already installed and although not my taste, enjoyed its functionality for one season before I ran into trouble. Awning is fitted off the back of a 2100 square foot colonial for reference...pretty standard.



I was scheduled for early april installation, and sure enough the guys showed up with my awning april 1st. Unfortunately, 45 minutes later, I went out back expecting to find my awning and it was not installed.



None of the installers knocked on the door to tell me any change in plans, so I was very confused.



I contacted Kohler a few days later to find out what was the matter and there seemed to be some confusion as to the source of the issue.



An hour or so later I received a call from one of the owners telling me that unfortunately my awning has some damage and could not be installed. He said there was a tear in the fabric. I said, that is strange because there was no tears in it when they took it down last fall ( I pay kohler each fall to remove and store my awing, then again to reinstall in the spring). He said my options were to patch and maybe it makes it through the season, or full replacement.



I said that I would like to see the awning in person and view the damage and he politely offered to meet with me and explain.



In my estimation, one of their installers managed to put a 2 foot rip in the middle of my awning. Mr. Kohler stated that these things happen when the awnings age, mine being 9 years old. He said 10 years was the expected life span. He then continued to grab the fabric assessing it as near paper thin, due to the sun exposure over the years. I grabbed the fabric with my hands and stepped on the other end with my feet and proceeded to try my best to rip it apart, but alas me, at 6'3 225lbs, could not tear this feeble fabric!



He offered to patch the awning, albeit with a glue patch as it cannot be sewn in the vital spot the tear occurred.



Other options included full replacement of fabric with a 15% discount (5% bump over the prorated discount given to a awning that fails in 9 years....apparently within 5 years its covered 100%). This option would cost me around $3300 and while it wasn't exactly shocking, I was disappointed that I landed in this predicament due to damage that occurred by the professional installers, whom I pay a few hundred a year to install and store my investment.



So much for having it made in the shade.

Great product. Fast delivery.

Overpriced ( probably due to very little competition ) .

Also, every time I called I felt like I did something wrong.

Even over the phone I could tell they were not even trying to smile.

I'm sure they would be out of business if there was another customer friendlier company providing same service.