Hi Mary. This review is regretful, as we strive to deliver excellent product and service. We value you as a customer and are hopeful (& expect) you'll still be pleased with your excellent truck cap, despite the review.
Getting this 1 star poor review on the sliding windows came as a surprise.
There's no defect. None. They operate perfectly as designed and pretty much like every sliding window on all truck caps slide in and out.
When you first came by the other day, you initially thought there were no sliding windows and were understandably concerned and perhaps frustrated. We opened them and showed you how they open. First, the little lever must first be depressed, then they can be slid over. With your side windows, you elected to have those nice pet screens added. The pet screens cover the sliding window. They also make seeing and pressing the little lever a little trickier than if the pet screens weren't there. Hence the reason you didn't see the little lever to depress and therefore couldn't open them, and therefore initially were frustrated you didn't get sliding windows at all.
Also due to the pet screens, you can't simply place your hand on the glass and slide the window over as would be the case if the pet screens weren't there. Thus, the installer used a dull flat edge tool (aka the dull edge of his thin knife) to insert at the window edge, to gain a little leverage and push the sliding window a bit....just enough to then use his hand to slide it the rest of the way.
To say "he used a knife" to open the windows is a bit misleading and out of context. So I provided full context here.
Your sliding windows are going to be tight at first. They ease up and open up more smoothly after initial and ongoing use. This is normal. You don't want those sliding windows to be loose and open like butter, else you'd have a lot of rain and dust coming through. It's normal.
However, the installer suggested adding a lubricant, which is common to add, but is only an option and not required. Most simply push the windows open and after use they open much more smoothly than the first opening.
You framed this up as him saying he recognized the defect during the initial installation. He didn't say that. He said he noticed the front window was tight and agreed with you they were / are tight to open initially and offered a helpful suggestion to apply the lubricant.
We reached out to the manufacturer. Told them of your review. They echoed everything I've listed here. Normal first time openings are going to be tight and need a little more effort to open at first. Pet screens covering the side windows adds a little extra step in opening them. I asked them if they've ever had a customer upset with the performance of the sliding windows with pet screens covering them. They have not ever had an issue (what I was told at least). I told them they have one now.
In any event, I'm sure you will be pleased with your truck cap despite your review suggesting otherwise. It's an excellent product and a good model you selected. I suspect after opening them a few times, you'll see they work perfectly fine. The pet screens (options you added) do add a little twist to the manner in which they're opened, but that is the nature of having sliding windows that are covered by really good pet screens. If the pet screens weren't there, they'd open like every other truck cap sliding window.
We do appreciate and value your business and do appreciate the feedback. But wanted to provide some context as it relates to these sliding windows. Many thanks and enjoy the truck cap.
