Renewal by Andersen Boston

They promised ten weeks took six months to put the windows in. The responses we received from the office was terrible. The rep called us directly and we still didn't get anywhere. Their contractors were great. We got water in our windows and called multiple times finally got a response. They did send the original contractor out and found there was a default in the window.

This was, by far, the worst experience we have ever had with any company. We like the windows themselves, but the installation was an absolute nightmare. Renewal by Andersen uses contractors to install the windows instead of having their own team to install. The on-site manager came by a couple of times, mostly when the contractor was not working. We were told that replacing the 24 windows in our house would be a three day job. The first person who came to install windows was always late, usually 2 or more hours, and made up all sorts of lies and excuses. He came a total of three days, performed sloppy work, and didn't even have a full crew with him. On the third day, he unloaded the rest of the window replacements into our house, packed up his trailer, and left, never to be heard from again. We found out the company fired him and they provided us with an actual crew of contracted workers, who finished the job and made some adjustments to the previous contractor's sloppy work. Many of the grilles we ordered for the windows came out visibly crooked. As mentioned earlier, this was the worst experience with any company we've ever had.

Unfortunately a 1st appt never happened. I set up an appt over the phone with their call center in MN which seemed to go smoothly. On Monday morning I received another call to confirm my appointment for the next day at 10am. At 10:15 I called the call center to see if the person was stuck in traffic, and the response I received was an apology and that the appt was canceled. The manager from the call center did call me back and apologize and described the situation and coverage was the issue. I decided not to reschedule because I was not properly notified that the appt needed to be rescheduled and that I was not in direct communication with the Northboro office (Also, when I was on the website to call the Northboro location, I was directed to the call center, no matter what (508) number appeared).

The workers that came out were very competent and very pleasant. There was nothing they could have done differently. My advice to others is to use them; I recommend them highly.

They didn't want to do the windows I had the most concern about. The price quote was much higher than other estimates (and didn't contain the problematic windows!) and MORE than I paid for the entire house! Company began to introduce multiple discounts, similar to a used car salesman, after I expressed disbelief at the price estimate.

We made an appointment to have Renewal by Anderson come to our house and give us a quote for replacement windows. When I called to make the appointment, I was told we'd have to set aside 1-1.5 hours and that both my husband and I needed to be present. The appointment choices are 10 am, 2 pm or 6 pm. We chose 6 pm so that we could both be there. The man who came was very nice, friendly and passionate about Anderson. The whole sales pitch lasted two hours. He counted and measured our windows and gave a very lengthy demo with different props to show the quality of the windows. He mentioned many times that Renewal by Anderson is in the middle price-wise. They're not the most expensive, they're not the least expensive, they're in the middle. When the salesman first arrived, we told him of two quotes we had received for new (not replacement) windows. Those quotes were in the $10k - $13k range. Also, we mentioned that I had literally just walked in the door from a roadtrip to Baltimore. We had not eaten and as the whole sales process lasted two hours we were quite hungry by the end. Our house is a fairly small Cape (1900 sf). When the salesman finally showed us a price for REPLACEMENT windows, it was $45,000!! Yes, you read that right. $45,000! Then he mentioned an Anderson loyalty discount and a special which brought the price down to $32,000. My husband and I were extremely surprised that REPLACEMENT windows were going to cost more than I paid for my brand new car. And he showed us the quote on his laptop - Renewal by Anderson does not give out written or printed estimates. After the initial shock wore off, we were quite irritated that we sat through a two hour long (this is not an exaggeration) sales pitch AFTER telling him we had quotes for new windows in the $10-$13k range only to be told replacement windows would cost $32,000. The windows did seem very high quality so for those people who have large budgets and don't mind the loss of glass surface that comes with replacement windows, maybe Renewal by Anderson is a good bet. For us, we'll go with brand new windows for a fraction of the price.

The project cost over $20,000. Sales person bungled the deal, so I couldn't get the project rolling. They also do business with GreenSky Credit, and I qualified for 0% interest. When Anderson reduced the project (and price) GreenSky didn't drop their price down at all, and I'm still being charged and they won't take it off my bill. They took the door part off the project, so I was only able to get the two windows, one of which was a small bathroom window. I've worked with them before, and haven't had any issues. I don't understand why I'm having issues now, and they won't let me talk to the manager who Okayed the reduction on the project. They ended up doing the project in February, where they had to shovel 6 feet of snow.

We first went to its showroom in Northborough MA to get a feeling about its look and the quality of it materials. The person at the showroom was knowledgeable and professional; who answered all our questions except price. We left our name and contact info. Few days later we got a phone call and started the contract. They followed their 6 steps processes. David B was very passionate about Andersen Windows' business. He was knowledgeable about all windows besides Andersen. For example, my old windows are Harvey brand. He knew it well too. Besides determined how many and style windows we will do, David also did rough measure and checked conditions for price quote. Mike H then did preinstallation measures and inspection. It took about an hour or two. Jim C (happy to know that he lives in the same town as we) and his helper did all the hard labor work for two days. Apparently the structure of our kitchen window was somewhat not as expected after they removed the old one, so they made adjustment at the last minute. Time will tell if it holds up. However, I am very happy with the result after one month. They put plastic cover my floor and cleaned afterwards; did a great job!! While I am very happy with the process and the result, I do like to mention two unexpected. 1. Communication - you need to keep track and keep document => Renewal by Andersen wanted to do installation on the dates we couldn't and so we all agreed the following week was good. However, later someone called to remind us the dates and it was the dates we couldn't agree. Luckily, we kept everything in email so it was confirmed the correct dates after phone calls. => we first agreed to add apron to all 8 windows. Then to be consistent with old windows, we called David B to drop apron the very next day. However, this change didn't pass to Jim C. Again luckily we do not want apron so lesser work for him (although he had to fix kitchen window frame, which was not an expected.). 2. While Harvey windows have a physical stopper, there is no stopper on these new windows. It can open and stop at anywhere you like. However, when you go out, you need to decide whether keeping the window open (people can open it from outside). or locking it.

Let me begin by saying that the windows are of top quality; the problems lie with a company with far too many employees and not enough attention to the actual customer-once you've signed their contracts. Let me list, as succinctly as I can, the issues and why I would never recommend this company: Sales requires your spouse be there for the sales demo. If you agree and sign the purchase contract, the salesperson takes both names and SS#s. Financing for 12 months, 0 interest was what interested us. BEWARE! You have a 72 hour right of rescission-the loan paperwork arrived more than 10 days AFTER we signed. There was a HUGE discrepancy between the actual total price of the windows and installation-they added on another $5K to our credit. When I called the credit company to ask about this I was told that the loan was ONLY in my husband's name and the employee would not discuss it - since my name wasn't on the loan. In reading the fine print, if we pulled the plug on the install after the 72 hours, we owed R.B.A. 25%. We phoned the salesman and my husband AND I vocalized our displeasure with the unapproved extra $5K and 10 more days later a new loan contract arrived-dated with the SAME original contract date however with the new, corrected amount on it, however my name is still not on the loan. Not exactly above board and scrupulous... The company has someone then phone to set up an appointment to measure for the windows. Two gentlemen arrived, on the agreed date at the agreed time. This was actually the only part of the whole transaction that went as well as it should have. After measuring and (supposed) manufacturing the company then phoned to tell me when the installation date would be, telling me they had allotted 1 1/2 work days for the installation. I questioned this since I thought it was a bit absurd-unless they were sending 8 workers- but I was assured that the time frame was correct. The Friday before the Monday of our installation, RBA called to say because of problems the installation would be put off until the end of the week. That was FINE, I understood, but frankly the constant phone calls and communications were annoying, and the calls were always from different people, different departments...and emails to confirm came from yet OTHER people, so honestly, I never felt comfortable with anything about the company but could not afford to pull the plug-it would cost too much $$. AGAIN, another person called the day before the 2nd installation date and informed me that we had to take down any curtains, shades and move furniture if necessary, prior to the installation crew's arrival. Arrival time was schedule for 8 AM- 10 AM the following morning (Friday 24 April) so I insisted my husband stay home from work since the RBA had frayed my last nerve by that time plus I have a home office and needed to work-not supervise a construction crew. The 8-10 AM arrival time turned out to be 12:15 PM. After screaming at the crew (who starts a job after noon on a Friday?!?!) I reminded my husband to ask for the building permit (RBA is responsible to handle it they said) and to make sure he checked out every window as they were uncrated to be certain we were getting what we were promised. To the chagrin of the head of the crew -there was no building permit in our folder: his subsequent phone call to his boss inquiring about the building permit was never returned. (BTW, there is another department for building permits .REALLY?!). The construction crew were superb-they were the ONLY GOOD thing about this company, however, as we had suspected, the installation took a lot longer than 1 1/2 days -which even we, non carpenters, had deemed unreasonable considering we had 7 windows to remove, siding that had to be taken down and replaced and clean up plus wood trim to cut. The crew worked long, hard and quickly, were very respectful, tidy and obliging, but any company who says 3 people can remove, install properly and clean up a construction site of this size is lacking in the estimate department. The work crew seemed very nervous about this and tried very hard to meet the deadline set-I suspect they were chastised for taking longer than 12 hours for our install and they certainly didn't deserve anything but accolades. I called the Building Inspector's office and was told that no no permit was taken out, only to get a call back a few days later telling me that RBA had taken the permit out for #26-30 instead of #30-our actual address-which was the reason the admin in the Building Inspector's office had a difficult time finding our permit. HOWEVER-when our installation was finished the carpenter needed us to fill out a survey form which we refused to do, for several reasons: 1) We never saw the building permit (it arrives much later after the job was done 2) our kitchen window screen came damaged. When yet another person called to make an appointment for the company's final inspection we sat him down and gave him the laundry list of problems that had incurred. He was a very pleasant person, very patient and listened, however, like everything else about this company, just another person on a very large company roster. He did, however, call me the following day to let me know that there actually was a building permit and that he would have that office send it out . A few days later it arrived, and the enclosed letter instructed me to call RBA to schedule the local building inspector's final inspection. Being burned out on everything RBA- and since I am very familiar with the building inspector and the procedures (previous construction) I called and scheduled it myself and was finished the following day. This Friday, May 15th, will be 3 weeks that we have been waiting for our replacement screen, which has yet to arrive. I phoned the company rep at 9:30 AM today and at 2:30 PM I have yet to hear from him. It will be interesting to see if the screen ever arrives... My advice-DON'T use this company. Don't be duped about the financing-because in the end, you're paying such a high price for the windows that you've more than paid for them twice over. There are too many employees, too many loopholes, too much, too many, just NOT worth the trouble! Addendum- this is now May 19th -4 weeks after installation-and we have yet to receive the new screen to replace the screen that arrived damaged. Yesterday I phoned the finance company (the one that is allowing 12 months to pay with zero interest-called Greensky). It seems that RBA paid themselves, in full, without our sign off on the windows! This was done on 5 May...and again, we did not agree to sign off. I spoke with the finance company's dispute department and they phoned RBA but only got voicemail. Today I just received a call from a woman named Joanne at RBA who told me that the screen was ordered on 13 May. REALLY!?! She does not know when the screen will arrive there (NOT HERE!!!???) and will call to arrange installation (yeah, we are too stupid to install a screen so PLEASE DO send someone). Again, I repeat-DO NOT use this company. They are not dependable and are unethical.

It went really well. In and out. They cleaned up. They did the whole job in one day. I liked the fact that they do there own installations. They are a little expensive. I like there product so I went with them.

I am not sure of the address for the Anderson group who services us. It was "Renewal by Anderson" in our area of Massachusetts. In general the quality of the windows was fine and the installers did a reasonably good job. That is not my complaint. As part of their process of selling and installing they never made it clear that rehanging our blinds would be a problem. They offered no solutions as to how we could rehang them again once this subject was discussed. The blinds cannot be rehung as is, due to the changes in the relationship of the window to the window trim. It has been quite some time now. I think if Anderson was being really honest they would direct people to a reliable vendor to deal with such problems or come up with a solution themselves. I can't imagine we are the first people to have this issue. This is too bad for them because we could have offered them a lot more business. Our experience was another example of where a very friendly, effective salesman sells you on the job, and then someone else comes out and does the installation and you start learning things....bad things. One never sees the salesman again of course. The idea of Anderson's business is a very good one. It is too bad that it is executed in such a disingenuous way.

They were very expensive, but they did the job. The staff that came out was very good. The service was very good, and the workers were fine. It was a really good product. I would tell friends that if they had the money, it is worth it.

The quality of the windows is pretty good.

Renewal by Andersen Boston called us two days before the service day, as well as the day before to reconfirm the time of service, and ask us to move furniture away from the windows so they had a clear work area. They said they would come between 12 and 1 but they came at 10. This was quite stressful because we thought we had time to move furniture, but did not since they came so much earlier. Additionally I felt the price was high, and that the sales pitch was high pressure. Aside from that though it went well.

The window is nice and the people came out and did the job.

Their windows are composite vinyl wood and they are very tight. They are expensive but it is worth it. We face the harbor so we get all the wind from the ocean. These windows make the house warm. They were very professional. They were big windows, 48 by 48. He gave us a 5% discount because we signed the contact the day they came. They were very prompt and everything was done in no time at all. They measured the windows and went and made them at the factory.

I reached out and they set me up with a no cost estimate. Before we went through the salesman's 90 minute presentation, he told me I wouldn't be able to have the work completed for at least 4 months. I told him I wasn't able to wait that long (wanted the work done BEFORE the winter was over). He tried to argue, wouldn't budge on the 16 week timeframe, and when I told him that the installation date had to happen sooner (I was certainly willing to compromise), he stood up and walked out of my house without so much as saying goodbye. When Andersen called after to ask how it went I told them exactly what happened. They sounded horrified and asked if they could do anything to earn back my business. By the time they called I had already committed to another provider.

Fast phone call. Very high cost with multiple generations living in the house needed to justify such high costs.

The installers were great. Our salesman misled us about the start date and then failed to return phone calls. When we called the office, they were very straightforward and responsive, although they could not arrange to give us the date range we were given by the salesman. He actually told us that signing on the spot would secure us a substantially earlier install date. Our actual date was at the very end of the typical install date range. The windows are fantastic. The responsiveness, punctuality and professionalism of the install team were all A+.

The windows are on order and will be installed in January. They have a really nice product. They are very professional as well.

Super efficient. Clean work and done in a timely matter. Can't say enough good things about the experience.

The contract was done with Renewal By Andersen, but someone else did the installation. I think they were overloaded. They are a better window, and you can get windows for less, so I am happy with it. The quality seems excellent. They told me what was going to happen, and I had to wait a while, because they made the windows, but they had told me that up front. The punctuality was good, they took longer than they had estimated, but they had less help than they had expected. It took them 3 and half days rather than 2 and half days.

I spoke with them, the job that I need done doesn't qualify for this deal. When I spoke with them they were polite and professional. She was able to tell me another company that would qualify for the job that I need.

I reached out to Renewal to set up an appointment to have at least 8 windows replaced with the potential of 8 more.? The gentleman on the phone said they'd only meet with all members of the family.? When I stated that my wife has a busy schedule and can't meet and I stated that weekends don't work, it was clear they didn't want my business.? We have two kids and weekends are crazy.? I'm blown away that a company would forgo thousands of dollars because all members of the family are not present.? I suspect it's because they want to put you on the spot and pressure you into a hasty decision.? I guess I'll take my business elsewhere. Update 7/22/14 - Salesperson came out and was on time.? I tried to set expectations in that I didn't have a lot of time, I knew what I wanted and it all came down to price.? I've done my homework and have quotes from 4 other companies for Andersen replacement windows.? The salesperson tried to go through his pitch and I kindly stopped him and reminded him it all came down to price.? He stated that although I have quotes from other companies for Andersen windows, his were better.? That may be but will I ever know the difference?? Anyway, I wanted a quote on 8 windows.? Renewal came back with an estimate of 20K for replacement windows.? The other companies are charging 5K.? If you have unlimited money and believe Renewal makes a better window than off the shelf versions, then Renewal is the company for you.? Absurdly overpriced in my opinion.

The Anderson Renewal personnel were all very professional. The installation team was on time and professional. They placed drop clothes everywhere in the house where the windows were installed. At the end of each day they were meticulous with the cleanup both inside and outside the home. I would NOTrecommend Anderson Renewal windows to anyone in the future however, until Anderson redesigns the screens. Anderson screens are the most poorly designed in the industry. You won't realize it until you have the windows for an entire season, remove them for the winter, and attempt to reinstall them in the spring. The screen latches are of poor quality and design. It is very difficult and most cases impossible to get the latch to lock in place based on the tiny slot at the very edge of the frame opening. You have to have one person on the outside pushing the screen in and one person on the inside attempting to lock the latch. In most cases this doesn't even work. This is particularly difficult with windows installed above the first floor. Considering the cost of these windows, the screens should install without issue.