Viking Window Litigation Is Certified as a Class Action Lawsuit

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April 2009

Eppsteiner & Fiorica learned on April 10, 2009 that the California Superior Court certified Deist v. Viking Industries as a class action lawsuit. The case will proceed on claims that Viking breached its express Lifetime Warranty and implied warranties. The class of plaintiffs is all California property owners that purchased Viking 3000 series windows from retailers, dealers and through the purchase of their home. (Viking 3000 series Class Certification Order)

The court has ordered that Notice, of its order and an explanation about the lawsuit, be given to all class members. The Court will soon clarify how that Notice will be given. Eppsteiner & Fiorica expect the Notice to be published in newspapers and mailed to class members whose addresses are known. It is estimated that the class is made up of 100,000 homeowners. However, only hundreds of their addresses are presently known by class counsel. If you own Viking 3000 series windows please complete the Viking Window Class Member Information Form. If you complete this form you will be mailed the Notice of Viking Window Litigation and class counsel will be able to keep you updated on developments in the case.

The Viking Window Litigation is brought against Viking Industries, a Pella Corporation subsidiary, and Home Depot, the major reseller of the Viking 3000 series windows, for defects in and leaks caused by Viking’s 3000 series windows. The lawsuit involves horizontal sliding, vertical sliding, also known has hung, and fixed windows.

Viking sold the Series 3000 windows through dealers and through large home improvement stores, including Home Depot, Home Base, Lowes and Yardbirds. Home Depot sold approximately 500,000 of the Viking Series 3000 windows.

Every Viking 3000 series windows had a Lifetime Warranty label glued to it. Despite having the Viking Lifetime Warranty, Viking has refused to replace the windows. (On April 3, 2007, Stuart Eppsteiner wrote to Viking informed it that the 3000 series windows had defects that caused the windows to leak and proposed the Viking replace them. Viking did not even respond to this offer.)

Viking’s position flies in the face of its own investigation of the 3000 series’ performance. Viking’s own secret investigation, during the class action litigation, found that 43% of the 3000 series windows tested leaked. The 43% leak rate when project on the 1.2 million window population means that Viking itself believes that 565,000 of its windows, located in California homes have leaked.

Viking is a subsidiary of Pella Corporation. Pella boasts that JD Power has rated it “Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Window and Door Manufacturers, Two Years in a Row.” However, Pella knows that hundreds of thousands of its subsidiary’s windows are leaking and its subsidiary has refused to replace them.

The Viking Series 3000 windows and doors were produced from 1989 through 1999 and in the Portland, Oregon and Vacaville, California plants. In 1998, Pella purchased Viking and shortly thereafter stopped making and marketing Viking windows. Instead, Pella chose instead to call Viking vinyl windows Thermastar. The goal of the class action lawsuit, pending in the California Superior Court for San Joaquin County, is to get the defective Viking Series 3000 windows and sliding glass doors repaired or replaced. Plaintiffs have conducted extensive discovery from Viking and their nationally renowned experts have tested the windows to observe and analyze their performance and 61% of the windows Plaintiffs experts tested leaked.

If you have Viking series 3000 windows it is imperative that you contact us so that you are mailed the Notice and can be informed of developments in the litigation. Please call us at 866-548-8857, or send an email to solutions@eppsteiner.com or click here to complete the Viking Window Class Member Information Form.