Roofing Giant Draws Most Reader Response

“For a hole in your roof--or a whole new roof. . . .”

That catchy slogan, delivered by the friendly voice of Woody Smith, is heard by millions of Southland radio listeners weekly. It has made Champion the 800-pound gorilla of Southern California roofing.

Smith said the company spends more than $250,000 a year on radio ads alone. Company president Mark Freiborg wouldn’t disclose the overall advertising budget. But Smith said Champion’s direct mail targets “every wood-shingle house” in the Southland.

Smith, who is a salesman in Champion’s Brentwood-Beverly Hills territory as well as the company’s radio spokesman, figures that between 20 and 30 work crews a day fan out into the five-county Southern California area tearing off and replacing “more roofs than any single company.”

But how good a job do they do?

Of the 110 letters that The Times received in response to our call for readers’ roofing experiences, 14 concerned Champion, more letters than about any other roofing company. Two of the letters were complimentary, 12 were complaints about the company.

The complaints had a common thread: the quality of the work, keeping appointments and treatment by office personnel.

Janice Baxter of Northridge--in a complaint filed with the Contractors State Licensing Board and in a letter to The Times--detailed a grueling experience with Champion that included multiple leaks in a new roof, several missed appointments to correct the problem and a conversation with a company official where she was told, “You are taking up too much of my time. I’m going to give you 60 seconds to finish.” Baxter wrote: “To this day, whenever anyone mentions ‘roofs’ (especially Champion Roofing), my blood pressure goes up.”

Baxter was not alone. A number of readers’ complaints were bitter and phrases like “utter frustration” were not unusual.

Freiborg, who took over the 40-year-old family business from his father in 1986, at first expressed shock about the number and vehemence of complaints. “I thought most people were happy with Champion,” he said. “It’s kind of human nature for people who are unhappy to scream the loudest, when they’re happy they don’t say anything.”

But Smith more readily acknowledged a basis for complaints. He associated customer problems with Champion’s “growing pains” resulting from the aggressive advertising campaign Freiborg waged after taking over the business.

“As soon as Mark sent out brochures, business doubled or tripled, it just started getting big. We’re the leviathan of the roofing industry. It was difficult to control problems in a workmanlike manner.”

Difficulty in controlling problems is also evident from the number of complaints against Champion filed with the Contractor’s State Licensing Board. Under state law, once complaints have been resolved through the formal process, they are not public record, but two officials with the Department of Consumer Affairs, who asked that their names not be used, expressed dismay over Champion’s record.

“Some of the biggest companies have records that are nowhere near this,” said one. Another characterized Champion’s complaint record as “abominable.”

Asked about the officials’ remarks, Freiborg said he’s been making a special effort to deal with customer complaints for the past six months. “Any problems that existed before don’t exist now,” he said, “because we’ve done so many things to correct them.”

Freiborg said he “got rid of about three different people for different things, rudeness to customers being one of them.”

Champion radio spokesman Smith believes the nature of the job is part of the problem. “People aren’t ready for the trauma of tearing off a roof, scratching (rain) gutters, dropping shingles, breaking a limb off a plant . . . ,” he said.

Because of this, Smith believes, Champion’s office staff has a tricky job.

“The girls at the desk who deal with the problems practically need psychological training to deal with the people who call. . . . The greater majority (of Champion customers) get a good job--they may not know it, but it’s a good job.”

Uwe Nissen of Glendale did not think he got a good job.

“The way the roof was done, it literally fell apart,” said Nissen, who won a $4,000 judgment against Champion in small claims court.

When his Champion-installed roof developed serious leaks after 11 years (it had a 25-year warranty), Nissen tried to contact the company. “For two months they never returned my phone calls,” he said. “They never even answered a certified letter I sent telling them about the leaks.”

Although Nissen said he’s pleased about his court victory, his voice still shakes with anger when he talks about Champion.

Freiborg said some of the company’s customer complaints stem from California’s freakish weather pattern over the past several years.

“Remember when we were having all that drought? If there was ever a problem (with the roofing jobs), there was no way to know it,” he said. “All of a sudden we got these record-breaking rains and all these complaints flushed out at the same time. That made it difficult for Champion to respond as we wanted to.”

Both Freiborg and Smith expressed confidence that the vast majority of Champion’s customers are satisfied.

Steven Sperber of Woodland Hills wrote The Times about his experience with Champion, which he said ended satisfactorily. Although Sperber said that Champion missed several appointments and its office personnel gave him a “major run-around,” Sperber concluded that the finished job looked good.

“After all was said and done,” he wrote, “I would use Champion again.” Sperber said he has recommended Champion to several friends, who have also been pleased.

Meanwhile, Freiborg emphasized that efforts to improve are vigorously under way. He said he has instituted a system where all calls are logged in so that the company’s response can be tracked.

“All I can say is, when a customer buys a roof and hires a reputable company, they deserve to have it taken care of,” he said. “I’m trying so hard now to do the best I can. If there is a complaint, I’m involved everyday.”