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Woman says well-known window installer took her $1K deposit and never did work

Maria told 13OYS her ordeal with Jack's Wholesale Windows, known for its memorable commercials, meant she could no longer afford the work.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A West Michigan company known for its memorable commercials is accused of taking one woman’s money and not living up to their end of a contract.

Maria Lawing called the 13 Help Team hoping for a refund.

Television viewers of the last several decades will likely recall the advertisements put out by Jack’s Wholesale Windows.

The commercials were creative, homespun and often promised deals that seemed just too good to be true.

Founder Jack Tilka was usually the star.

"A good price and all these advertisements, even on TV,” Lawing said of the window installer. “That's when I said, Well, I'll get these two windows done, because I was happy with that one in there. And then here we are.”

Lawing had already brought in Jack’s to install a replacement window in her kitchen several years earlier and as a result, trusted their work.

“I was really happy with their work.”

She later clipped a coupon advertising a two-for-one deal on a new set of windows.

“I decided to get the living room windows done,” Lawing related. “The men came out and took my information down.”

She said an installer took measurements and left with a deposit.

“We signed a contract on Sept. 7, 2021.”

A copy of the document seen by 13 ON YOUR SIDE noted Lawing had advanced the required $1000 down payment.

Credit: WZZM

“I waited and waited and waited again and nothing,” she said.

In June of the following year, Lawing said she received a phone call from someone who claimed to represent Jack’s Wholesale Windows.

They told her the company was closing and that her deposit would be refunded.

Eight months later, Lawing said she had not yet received the money and that there had been no further communications from the window installer.

“The phone just rings and rings and rings and rings and nobody answers,” she related. “I'm to the point where I have no windows and no down payment refunded back… if they knew back then that they weren't doing good in the business and stuff, they should have let people know instead of putting advertisements out.”

Lawing’s contract listed several phone numbers for the Schoolcraft-based company, all of which continued to ring when 13 ON YOUR SIDE attempted to reach out.

Attempts to log into the installer’s website resulted in error messages.

The company’s profile on Google also featured a red label noting it had permanently closed.

The Better Business Bureau, too, appeared to tell a story the ads left out.

Jack’s Wholesale Windows was given a ‘D’ rating and featured approximately two-dozen complaints, including:

Credit: WZZM
Credit: WZZM

For the moment, Maria looks out over her neighborhood through the same old windows she always has.

“Do you still have plans to replace these windows? Going to have to wait a little bit?”

“Yeah, you’ve got to save the money,” she laughed.

13 ON YOUR SIDE uncovered in excess of a dozen court filings and judgments against Jack’s Wholesale Windows.

Several of the amounts listed totaled well over $100,000 and were the subject of an ongoing inquiry by the 13 Help Team at the time of publication.

Any updates will be attached to this story.

If you or someone you know is having problems you can’t solve – get the 13 Help Team involved.

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