SHARONVILLE, Ohio (WKRC) - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing a Cincinnati-area window company that allegedly left close to 100 Ohio families out thousands of dollars.
AG Yost is seeking nearly $200,000 in restitution from Window Planet.
A mother and son who made separate orders there both went through the headache of this mess, waiting more than 10 months for their windows to arrive.
“It’s not okay. You can’t come in peoples’ house, steal their money, and not deliver on your goods,” said Patty Karoell.
Frustration boiled over for months as Patty waited for her six windows to come in. Despite the $1,300 deposit she handed over to Window Planet, she says those windows never arrived.
“People who have families, young families, you seriously sent people into their house, saw that they had kids, and you had no problem taking their deposit even though you had no intention of doing windows,” Patty said.
Patty is mainly talking about her son, Joey Karoell, who ordered seven windows from the business. At the time he placed the order, he had a son on the way.
“The windows let a lot of sound in and a lot of cold or hot air when you don’t want it, and with us having a child on the way, it needed to be a good temperature room,” said Joey.
Joey ordered his windows in January of 2021, and by October, he still didn't have them. In fact, the manufacturer of the windows apparently said it did receive the order, but refused to fill it because the owner of Window Planet, Tara Curles, had not been paying up.
“The company kept acting like they were doing us this big favor, and they were going to take care of us, and were like, ‘Oh, you have a newborn on the way? We will get this order in right away and get your windows expedited, and get you a good price on them,’ and that was pretty much all a façade,” Joey said.
In Joey’s case, he paid his deposit in cash, so he's waiting on the lawsuit to see if he will ever see that money again.
“Not only am I out this money, but the price of windows have gone up since that original order,” he said.
Whether Window Planet will face the consequences for all the stress it has reportedly caused 87 other families is still to be determined. Window Planet has closed its doors, and there’s no date on the books for when Curles is due in court. The AG’s office said there won’t be a date until Curles is arrested.
“It’s just sad that you can see people struggling and working hard, and you’re just taking their money and doing whatever you are doing with it,” said Patty.
Window Planet is closed and its number is disconnected. Local 12 did reach out to Curles via her social media accounts, but has not heard back.
AG Yost is asking the court to fine Curles and Window Planet up to $25,000 for each alleged violation of the consumer sales protection act. He's also asking the court to order the business to pay damages to the impacted consumers.