For many families, home improvement projects are about safety, comfort, and investment in the future. But for others, those projects turn into nightmares; financial traps laced with deception, intimidation, and endless delays.
The story of Susie Weiss is one such nightmare, and it reveals how 1-800-HANSONS’ predatory tactics have harmed not just her, but countless other customers across the country.
Susie Weiss: A Colorado Homeowner Fighting Alone
Susie Weiss’ ordeal began in Colorado; at the time, she was also enduring the unimaginable, undergoing cancer treatment, and trusting 1-800-Hansons to handle essential home repairs.
The installation of new windows was the promise. The Colorado sales agent never provided her a copy of the contract. She was rushed into the deal; like many predatory sales tactics, they urged her to move quickly, so she wouldn’t miss out on an alleged sale, assuring her that her insurer, SafeCo, would cover it. They urged her to take out a temporary loan with GreenSky to cover the sale until insurance paid out the claim. The sale amount? Over $35,000.
Instead of a honest transaction, she was pulled into a web of manipulation:
Concealed Contracts: Sales reps allegedly filled out everything on a tablet; never showed her the contract in full, and never mailed a copy. She would only receive the document much later after being dragged into a court battle, where she had to represent herself against 1-800-HANSONS.
Insurance Refusals: When SafeCo, her insurance company balked at paying, Hansons would not release her from the loan that she wasn’t supposed to need.
Predatory Financing: GreenSky’s loan came with sky-high interest rates, despite her fixed income and vulnerable medical and financial state. Hansons’ lender, Greensky, jacked up the interest rate at the last minute to over 17%, without Susie’s permission or knowledge.
The trauma wasn’t just financial. As Susie recounted, the stress of Hansons’ stonewalling, dismissiveness, and pressure tactics culminated in a stroke; a physical toll on top of the emotional wreckage.
Fraud Starts with the Pitch
According to Susie, the fraud started with Hansons’ advertising and promotions. Promises of discounts, free inspections, and guaranteed workmanship collapsed into a reality of:
- Verbal promises that were later denied.
- Unclear subcontracting arrangements.
- No proof of income requested before pushing her into tens of thousands in loans.
Despite 1-800-Hansons NEVER doing the work, Susie had given a $5,000 retainer in good faith. And though the sale occurred in Colorado, 1-800-Hansons opened a lawsuit against her in Troy, Michigan, creating an eye-brow raising court venue concern.
When she pursued Oakland County Mediation, she was met not with solutions but with threats. Hearings were delayed or denied, and a notary involved in her paperwork was allegedly not licensed, adding another layer of irregularity.
In the end, Susie still never even got her windows installed—yet was still left with a bill ballooning past the already exorbitant $35,000 and a legal battle she never expected to have to fight.
A Wider Pattern: Customers Across the Country Report Similar Abuse
Unfortunately, Susie’s nightmare is not unique. A glance at Trustpilot reviews paints a damning picture of Hansons’ track record.
Broken Warranties: One customer reported filing a warranty claim in June 2025. After five canceled repair appointments, nothing was fixed. “We’re being gaslighted,” they wrote.
Hidden Subcontracting: Another discovered Hansons subcontracts nearly all its work, despite presenting itself as a full-service provider; an omission that leaves customers trapped when jobs go wrong.
Abandoned Jobs: Others describe paying deposits, only to have installations delayed for months, then abandoned entirely.
Misleading Sales: Flyers and mailers promising discounts have been followed by bait-and-switch tactics, leaving homeowners with higher costs than expected.
Hansons’ TrustScore sits at a dismal 1.3 out of 5; a metric that reinforces the systemic and predatory nature of these complaints.
The Human Cost of Predatory Practices
For Susie Weiss, this wasn’t just a consumer dispute; it was a life-altering battle fought during her most vulnerable years. For others, it’s been wasted savings, unsafe homes, and endless stress.
The pattern is painfully clear:
- Hook customers with promotions and “guaranteed” financing.
- Switch terms or push loans once contracts are signed.
- Delay or abandon work until financing windows expire.
- Gaslight, threaten, or ignore customers who complain.
This isn’t just bad business; it’s planned exploitation.
Enter Judge Kirsten Nielsen Hartig
Judge Hartig was placed on the case and has since denied every single motion that Susie has filed.
During one event, she stayed up late into the night to file a motion. It was 2:27 AM, and it immediately rejected, suggesting that the court put in automated rules to prevent Susie from filing anything at all.
Judge Hartig, already embattled in a Judicial Tenure Commission and being ousted as unfit to practice, has belittled and berated Susie in hearings, refusing to end 1-800-Hansons’ reign of terror, and making it impossible for Susie to fight back.
Read Susie’s Motions
- Motion to Dismiss Amended Claim – FINAL
- Motion to Disqualify Counsel
- Partial Summary Judgment – VIOLATION ADDED
- Defendant’s Verified Answer, Affirmative Defenses, and Counterclaim
Demanding Accountability
Susie Weiss’ courage in documenting and fighting back against 1-800-HANSONS shines a light on practices that too often go unchallenged. Her story should serve as both a warning to consumers and a rallying cry for regulators, attorneys general, and courts to scrutinize how companies like Hansons operate.
Because behind every bad review is a family left cold in winter, a cancer patient carrying predatory debt, or a homeowner silenced by threats. And behind those stories is a corporation that must finally be held accountable.
If you have also been a victim of 1-800-Hansons and their predatory practices, or Judge Kirsten Nielsen Hartig reach out to clutch here or contact the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
