Champion Windows and Home Exteriors of Chicago

I was so impressed with this company. The work is beautiful!

Beautiful, very pleased. Our sales rep was Ira, highly recommend, he was spot on with what we wanted and could afford.

I have already dealt with the district manager regarding many issues, who was totally disrespectful. I wrote a letter regarding his behavior and have not heard anything back. The first part of the job was about 1500.00-can't remember exactly. I would think twice about a new job for them because they have gone through a lot of new employees who are sub par.

My experience has been great! We have been happy with them. They were prompt and I really liked the salesmen and his explanation of their products. They were very efficient during installation. The job took about 2 days to complete.

My experience was fine. They were professional. Scheduling was fine and the windows look good.

My experience was fine. They came when they said they would. They were timely and they warned us that the windows would take awhile to order. The crew were polite and they left things clean. The salesmen was great to work with as well.

Finally got my new door. It is great!

They did very good for us, they did a very good job, at a reasonable price. They were very courteous, very prompt in coming, the salesman was very nice, and no pressure. The price was very reasonable, much more reasonable then we expected. The follow up was good, and the workers were courteous. They cleaned up after themselves. We have had no problems with it since it was done. We didn't have to call them back out to do anything. I have nothing but praise for them.

My interaction with the company was a very positive experience, and while we opted not to choose siding our home at this time, the company was very helpful, gave excellent information and reasonable rates for the services they provide.

The salesman was very nice. A young guy who was prompt and friendly. He took some preliminary measurements then quoted us to replace the old kitchen door with a new one....it was over $4,000! He then offered a 5% discount if we ordered on the spot. No way. I called a competitor, who came out and quoted us $1,644 total, with installation. We went with the other company. Not sure how there can be such a HUGE difference in price for a simple door. I was not impressed and will not return.

The salesman was very profesional. The work's supposed to be done in four weeks from now, since they fabricate their own material it takes a bit longer. but since that company was refered to me by my coworker I gave it a try.I think is going to be alright,will keep you posted after the job is done. thank you...

The service was very nice. They first sent an older gentleman to explain the product and give us an estimate. They young men who did the work, did a great job and cleaned up well. They were on time, responsive, and I have no complaints. The price was a little expensive, but the we are very pleased with the quality of the windows. One of the smaller windows has a crack in it but I called and they are coming to replace it.

Champion installers arrived on time and had our old door out in minutes. They then inspected the opening for any water damage and thankfully we found none. They took great care in keeping the vapor barriers intact and then installed their drip edge with caulk to be sure of tight seal. This door is so much better than the builder grade Republic Window door. We have dogs so we open and close this door at least a dozen times a day. Once the door was installed, they took time in cleaning the door and glass and then picked up and vacuumed inside and outside and left no trace that they were there. I will be calling them again to start replacing our windows

Called toll free number to make an appointment to get an estimate on new windows. The salesman they sent, Mike, had an air of arrogance about him and was condescending and disrespectful to us and was certainly not prepared. We were looking for casement windows, not double hung, yet he only brought double hung samples. We wanted wood grain look interiors, but he only had pictures of the 3 color varieties Champion offers, not actual samples. He assured us they would match just fine. When I told him we would need an actual sample, he informed us that he had driven 1 1/2 hours for this appointment and probably would not be back in the area for weeks or even months. When I asked him to mail a sample, he did agree to that. When the sample arrived, his arrogance continued in the letter when he stated, "As you will see, it appears to be a near perfect match." The sample he sent was an English oak and we currently have a MAPLE trim. I'm not sure how this guy knew that it appeared to be a perfect match when he was physically 1 1/2 hours away, but Champion did not offer anything even close to the maple trim that is currently in the house. The whole experience with Mike from Champion was not good and the estimate he gave was twice as expensive as other estimates we received from 3 other competitive companies. I even wrote a letter to the company about this salesman and my other concerns, but never heard from them. I certainly would never recommend them to anyone.

Fantastic - it is so refreshing to deal with a company that totally stands behind its product. They were great to deal with both on the initial installation 10 years ago, and now.

Showed us the siding and the windows that they would install. Gave us a price for the job. Told us the procedure they do, including the testing for lead and the cleanup they do during the job and when they are finished. They finished the job in the stated time.

Badly...when we talked to the salesperson we made it clear that we did not want the roof installed if it was going to rain. When the appointment was scheduled we also stated we did not want it installed if it was going to rain. The night before, rain was forecasted. However the crew showed up bright and early. When I looked out at them it appeared as if no one spoke English to communicate my wishes with them. The office does not open until 9 a.m. and so there was no way to reach them. The crew started quickly, and I was out of luck. Our fears came true, and a very hard rain started when the back den roof was not put on at all. The crew was rushing to cover up all their equipment and my roof was being exposed to the elements. Rain was dripping down the walls and coming in through light fixtures. I called the office, and they called the crew supervisor, who then called me. He explained that they would take care of any damage, and he would call the site supervisor. He came to talk to me, which I wish he would have done before he started working in the first place (which only reinforced my thought that no one could speak English). He looked at it, and said he would send someone in to help me and would take pictures. That took quite a while actually - and I was very stressed because our home was being ruined. I took pictures while it was in this condition. The helpers dried off the fixtures and walls. Quite a bit later the supervisor finally took the pictures, of which I felt he should have took them sooner to show what was really happening. I talked to the upper management supervisor on the phone again and explained my fear of mold., etc. He belittled the idea - and I feel that since he was not here experiencing the amount of water - that was not a fair assessment to make. We had the site supervisor check to see if it was wet inside the ceiling, and he said it was not. However when we checked, we found wet insulation. I called the upper management supervisor again, and told him what we found and he said they would replace it. The next day the ceiling was starting to dimple, and I knew this was going to be a bigger problem than we thought to the point of water being behind all the walls and ceiling. The upper management supervisor said he would have to make a claim then. I got a call from the site supervisor and he said he would meet with us on 2 separate occasions because he could fix it. He never showed those 2 times, and said he forgot the first time, and had a injured employee the second time. The second time can be forgiven if that is true, but I lack trust in the company after they bragged about their services, and told me things would be taken care of when it is a week later and nothing has been done. This is our "home", and I feel that they should treat it as such. Lip service is not "taking care of the problem". Fact - we paid $11,000 to get our home ruined. When a company says they are going to do something stand behind your word. Update 8-5-2013: From the beginning we have been told that we are lucky it happened with a company like them. They stated they would not only fix the problem, but leave it in even better condition than it was. Well - that was over 2 months ago and we are still waiting for it to be fixed. We did not realize it until recently, but they used a contractor who carries his own insurance. In actuality he did not contact his insurance agent until a few days ago, because now we are being told that they want a home inspector to see it and make an evaluation. It will now be ANOTHER week gone by. They have already seen the damage; know we have damage; but are dragging this on and on and on. This company needs to step in where their contractor lacks and fix it at this point. A simple clean shell is fine to us and we will take it from there. Drywall, insulation and paint can't be that expensive, and they already have the manpower. This has been nothing but a nightmare from the beginning.

no one showed for the appointment.

Pricing was good after a little negotiations. Negotiations were not difficult. The men came when expected and did a great job. Clean up was great as well. One window had a flaw and it was replaced as soon as a new one could be made. We also had the lock replaced on the patio doors with no questions asked. They are great to work with. I would highly recommend them to everyone!

The service call was scheduled quickly, everyone was on time and acted professional.

Called and set up an appointment. There was 3 week wait and then they didn't show, call and cancel or reschedule. Very unprofessional. Went with a local vendor.

Timeline: In August 2009, we contracted with Champion to install a 13'x15', 4-season sunroom, including the concrete foundation, for $30,000. We were told that it would be complete for Thanksgiving. It was completed Mid-March 2010 due to all of the delays caused by Champion's multiple errors - a full 4 months late. Drawings and Permits and Foundation: The first project manager was a nightmare, drawings delayed, he didn't return our calls, didn't meet his own deadlines, clearly didn't have a good working relationship with the Village. The Village made him re-submit the drawings three times. For a professional construction company, we were surprised. It was only the beginning of the nightmare. Finally, we planned to be out of town during the pouring of the foundation. The manager called us in Mexico to ask us ~where to pour the foundation~. No, I'm not kidding. We asked him to please consult his drawings that were approved by the Village, and if there were further questions to ca ll us. When we got home, guess what? They didn't pour the foundation where they were supposed to! It was off by a full foot. I was furious, my husband said it'll be fine, it's still going to be a great room, does it really matter? So rather than have them jackhammer the foundation and re-do it, we decided to just keep going. Huge mistake. Roof: Since the room was placed about 10-12 inches further toward the east side of the house, once the construction began, Champion had to cut into our roof eaves to make the roof of the sunroom fit and still have the right pitch. They did this on a day when my husband was not home, but when he saw it, he was furious. They said "oh don't worry, we do it like this all the time." Well, my husband's Dad was a general contractor, and my husband knew this was going to be a nightmare from then on out, and it was. Now that we were so concerned about the eaves and flashing, my husband inspected their work every day. He made them re-do the flashing around the "cut-out" a few times. We are keeping an eye on the corner eaves of our home , because we don't know that the rotting won't begin any day now from water damage in our existing home, from the installation of the new sunroom. Sliding: door and Windows: There is a sliding door between the room and the house, where they had to tear down the bricks and remove an existing bay window. They had to add more brick to the top (which is standard procedure) to that the doorframe would be the correct size. Well, they put a 5 inch high step-over for the sliding glass door, and covered it with a piece of siding. My husband tore that off when he got home, and they had used wood shims all along the floor to prop up the the sliding glass door frame to the right height so that the frame would fit the window. They kept trying to tell us that it "would be fine." After stepping over this frame for a couple of days, we just weren't ok with signing off on a safety issue like this, where someone could take a serious fall. It was like stepping over a curb. We made them take it down, and correct it from the top, like it should have been. The one sliding window above the heating unit caused a significant warp in the frame of that window, and the window didn't slide open, it got jammed. We didn't know this until later in the Spring when the weather was good enough to open the windows. They tried to just shave and shim a solution. Once again, we had to force the issue and make several calls to come out and fix the issue, not the symptom of the issue. Yearly leaks: As it is. we now just expect that we'll have a leak at some point during the winter, and they will visit and re-flash. Although all of the workers and subcontractors they have sent out were very nice, and they keep trying to make this work, but the bottom line is, we have had leaks from flashing, leaks into our eaves, leaks into the skylights, and the flashing has to be re-done every winter because of leaking. Thank God there's a lifetime warranty. The initial manager was finally fired partway through the initial construction, so we didn't have to deal with him anymore, but once a foundation is poured incorrectly, there's only so much "nice talk" that a new project manager can do - he's left sitting with a mess. I'd love to say that the other problems were only because of the original foundation mistake, but they weren't. Champion continued to try to make cosmetic, half-way fixes rather than doing the work correctly. If my husband weren't so knowledgable about construction, we would be in way worse shape than we are. Now that we've got a few years behind us, we're not angry anymore. We just know that every year, without fail, there will be a leak, we will call Champion, and we have to be prepared to have my husband home so that he is satisfied with the work they are proposing for the latest fix.

It was wonderful. I checked other places, for the money you got a superior product. The guarantee is awesome. It's a lifetime guarantee. The windows are fantastic, I'm saving tons of money with the new windows.

The installer was on time, clean, personable, and experienced. The salesman was also on time, clean, personable. In addition he put a rush on the replacement door because it was a shattered door. Therefore the door came in only three weeks, rather than the standard eight weeks. I recommend this company to others.

On August 15 we signed a contract to install a sliding door window. They asked for a down payment and I gave them $1000.00. They told me it was going to be 6-8 weeks. I asked if they would get the permits and they said they would. A girl from the office called and said I need to get a permit and I argued with her saying I was told they would get it. They called and, again, said I would need to go downtown and get a permit. I told him to forget about the sliding glass door and just put in a window but he said I would still need a permit. I called the permit office and they said I would not need a permit. With all of the frustrations I wanted to cancel the contract and get my money back. They called me back and said I could not cancel and that the project is in place. They refuse to cancel the contract and that is all I want to do because I now feel like I have been bullied and do not want the work to be done by Champion Windows.