CLEVLEAND — A local woman is fired up after being a customer of a local glass company that was the focus of a recent News 5 Investigation. We are following through on frustrations with a business called Glass Doctor in Cleveland. After we got involved initially, the company said it would pay people back but there have been problems.
Watch our initial investigation on Glass Doctor and how much customers say they lost:
“I was really getting ticked off, to say the least,” said Maria Hartwig from Grafton. She told us more than a year ago, she hired Glass Doctor from Cleveland to put in some shower doors, paid her deposit, and they wrote down she needed to remove some glass block on her own. Hartwig said she did that, costing her $600, but she said Glass Doctor never came back with the shower doors.
After months of phone calls and frustration, Hartwig said she didn’t have the patience anymore. “I finally said, ‘Listen, I’ve had it. Just give me my money back.’ (They said), ‘Oh, we don’t give money back.’ I said, ‘What do you mean you don’t give money back?’”
WHAT ABOUT PROMISED PAYMENTS?
During our recent investigation into Glass Doctor, owner Matt Kelly texted promises to other customers like Darrell Forbus and Brittany Tucker that he would pay their deposits back for work that was never done. Forbus told us he’s since been paid, but Tucker said she hasn’t seen the promised check. So, we showed up at Glass Doctor on Carnegie Avenue.
“Hi, Jonathan Walsh from News 5. Are you Matt?” we asked.
“Yeah,” Kelly replied.
FORCED TO TAKE ACCREDITATION LOGO DOWN
We asked him about the Better Business Bureau accreditation logo that’s now gone from his site, something the Cleveland BBB fought to remove because Glass Doctor has an F-rating with the BBB.
“We reach out. We let them know that it’s not allowed,” said Ericka Dilworth from the BBB Serving Greater Cleveland. “And so that’s what happened in this case…we protect that logo.”
When we were at the Glass Doctor store, we pointed out that having the logo on the site was an issue.
“That’s a problem for customers because they’re trusting that you are (accredited)," we said.
“Yeah, that… I should have taken care of that beforehand,” said Kelly.
We asked about Hartwig’s case.
“I’ll give her a call today and we’ll come to something in the middle,” said Kelly.
We asked about Tucker’s repayment. Kelly told us he sent a check, but then later emailed saying he was sorry but “…it appears to have been lost.” Kelly then offered to pay Tucker in person.
“We’re working through a number of things, but everyone’s getting satisfied,” Kelly told us at his store.
But, not everyone is satisfied—not Hartwig—yet.
“I’m hoping something becomes of this,” she told us. “You know I’ve worked so hard for my money my whole life.”
Hartwig did get her original deposit back but said that happened only after months of fighting for it and then contacting an attorney. She’s now waiting for some kind of reimbursement on her extra expenses surrounding her project.
