Sea-Thru Windows and its owner Jeffrey C. Pesich have been ordered by a Virginia Beach Circuit Court judge to pay 64 customers nearly $150,000 after the business took deposits for work it never performed and didn’t honor lifetime warranties.
State Attorney General Mark Herring sued the now-closed Hampton Roads company in June. Sea-Thru had been in business since 2004 and had locations in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake and Midlothian before it amassed a growing number of customer complaints in 2016 and its contractor’s license was revoked by the state in March 2017. At the time, 16 customers, an “abnormally high” number for a single business according to the attorney general’s spokesman Michael Kelly, were involved in the lawsuit.
In December, the state won a default judgement against the company on behalf of 64 customers owed between $275 and $6,900 each. Several other customers have received judgments against the company individually.
The state said the company and Pesich had “engaged in a pattern of improper or dishonest conduct by failing to perform window installations.”
Pesich never responded or appeared in court.
The company and Pesich were also fined $64,000 in penalties and $47,068 for the state’s attorneys fees and costs. Interest will be levied at 6 percent annually.
Reached by phone Tuesday morning, Pesich referred all questions to his attorney Peter Jankell and declined to comment about his current business activities. Jankell didn’t immediately return a call and email seeking comment.
Kimberly Pierceall, 757-550-1903, kimberly.pierceall@pilotonline.com. Follow on Facebook at fb.me/news.pierceall.
