Windowizards says it won't file for bankruptcy

Windowizards, the local window-replacement sales and installation business that closed its doors abruptly this week, has no plans to file for bankruptcy and intends to satisfy customer orders, Harvey Goldman, a partner in the 50-year-old company, said Friday.

"Windowizards is committed to finishing every installation that was placed with us," said Goldman, 70, speaking by phone from his Florida home.

Goldman said he voluntarily notified the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office when the Levittown, Bucks County, store surprised customers by shutting down Thursday without explanation.

He followed that up with phone calls Friday to the Bucks County Consumer Protection Department, which said it was mediating the situation and was "optimistic" customer obligations would be resolved.

Goldman, who declined to offer details about what had pushed the business into this situation, said Friday that bankruptcy was not on the horizon.

"There is no plan in Windowizards' future to go to bankruptcy court," Goldman said, adding that employees continued to be paid Friday.

"Everyone that needs to be satisfied, where obligations are imposed statutorily upon us, will be taken care of first," Goldman said, adding that he hoped to explain things more in the days to come.

His son, David Goldman, was named president of the company in May 2009, just as a federal $1,500 tax credit promoting energy-efficient home-window installations was generating record sales, according to a news release at the time.

That tax credit was due to expire at the end of this year, leaving customers with unfilled orders anxious about whether they will lose the perk, according to Mike Bannon, who heads the Bucks County consumer office.

Bannon said he received complaints Friday from an estimated 80 customers who had placed deposits of $500 to $5,000 for unfinished work, describing his office as "blindsided" by the news because there had been no consumer complaints all year about Windowizards.

It was only on Friday, as word spread of the closure, that customers bombarded his office with calls, he said.

"Usually, we see signs," Bannon said. "They've been a good company in the past. They had a good reputation."

Windowizards is familiar across the region for boisterous radio and TV ads that have aired through the years.

Bannon said his office had the power to refer complaints to the county district attorney but had not done so, given assurances it had received from Harvey Goldman, with whom he said he had spoken several times.

"I believe their intention is to restart the old business again," Bannon said, but would also make current customers "whole."

The Attorney General's Office said it would not, according to policy, discuss specific businesses. A spokesman said that consumers who pay for services that are not, ultimately, performed, could file complaints at www.attorneygeneral.gov.

In such cases, the office urges consumers to contact their credit-card company or debit-card administrator to dispute or reverse the charge, if applicable.