Window Universe

I contracted with Window Universe based on the Angie's List rating. Unfortunately I cannot say I had a good experience. I first met with Jay (sales) on May 1st where we signed the contract for the windows. Jay had come out prior to this demonstrate the windows, review what I wanted to do, etc. and he was punctual, knowledgeable, and followed up with on about various questions I had. Next we needed to schedule the installer to come out and measure. This took a month and three attempts before he actually made it to my house, and he was still hour late from the second postponement of that day. The windows are finally scheduled to be installed on July 16th, 21/2 months after I ordered them, only to find out the windows and patio door had the wrong flat grids in them and all needed to be reordered. Since Jay and I had a long conversation about the grids when we wrote the contract, because my owner's association specified they needed to be the same, it was extremely disappointing at the end of the day. Also, there was no screen for the patio door. Really?? In case you have lost count, 3 wasted appointments to measure the windows and now a wasted day off from work to have the wrong windows and door installed. Now we have to wait another "2-3 weeks" to get then new windows and door in. On August 21st the installer arrived with the correct windows, unfortunately not the correct patio door or screen for the door. It will be another "2-3 weeks" to get the patio door, and a promise that the screen will come with the next door. September 17th the correct patio door with a screen was installed. Four and 1/2 months to get six windows and a patio door installed is ridiculous. Jay (the salesman) and Eric (the installer) were great, they both answered questions, and were helpful, respectful and polite. Any communication with the office was a disaster; from scheduling the measurement appointment and wrong orders, when the issue was identified the office stopped communicating and expected Eric to tell me what was going on and how they were going to fix it. Not only will I not recommend Windows Universe, I question Angie's List's rating and recommendation procedures because not only has this not been an "A" Rating, I think I'm being generous giving them a "D".

He was honest with the price. He did a great cleanup job and I chose them because the sales guy was great. He was pretty late that day.

The quality and installation were all that was promised, except for some delays in the installation date which we were told were caused by very believable extenuating circumstances. When talking with friends about our new windows we always give Windows Universe high points based on quality, installlation, and value.

Windows Universe Windows Universe sent a very knowledgeable salesperson who helped me through the process of selecting a special order 'eyebrow-window.' Because I was concerned about the measurements made by the first person sent, the company volunteered to send another to make the measurements. The resulting replacement window fit perfectly, matched the previous window and took less than an hour for the overall effort, including an excellent clean-up. Throughout the period it took to fabricate the special window the company kept me informed of the progress with weekly updates. Lastly, their price was half of the next bid.

Although it took 3 months from purchase to installation, the windows look fantastic. I could not be more pleased. Jose the installer not only did a wonderfully professional job, he went the extra mile and covered the old, exposed sills with white vinyl and cauked everything to make an airtight seal. I cannot eixpress how clean and fresh the new sliders are. Additionally,I can already say that the air conditioner is running less. Thank you, Window Universe!

It did not go well. But let's start with the positives: they did a great job wrapping the facia board and other exterior trim elements with the aluminum wrap. Time will tell, but so far it has held up well, even in some pretty substantial wind storms. The sales person was also fantastic -- straight-shooter, no gimmicks, great to work with. The siding however is a whole different story. The siding continues to plague us with problems a little more than a year later. Every season it seems that something else fails. To put things in perspective, the install crew had to tear down and re-install the siding on one side of our house, not once, but twice due to poor quality control. Luckily, I'm an "informed consumer" and knew not only what I had paid for, but more importantly how it was supposed to be installed, otherwise they probably would have just left it as-is and we'd have even more issues to deal with than we do already. Even after I made the foreman aware of my concerns, I still felt like I had to watch the crew to make sure it was going to get installed correctly. I had such low confidence in the installation crew that I actually ended up taking off work just to observe the work as it was happening. And wouldn't you know it, the one side of the house I couldn't take off work to watch, was the first to have a large section pop loose in a wind storm.

Excellent. From the sale to the install, these guys were professionals and knew what they were doing. Even when they encountered problems, the foreman was quick to offer suggested, workable solutions that made the finished product great. It's now more than 3-years later and we are still thrilled with the work they did (on our windows). We were so thrilled that we hired them to replace our siding too -- let's just say that they should stick to windows, which they're very good at!

The salesman, Jay, arrived on time, seemed very knowledgeable, was able to answer all of our questions, and didn't try to push anything on us. We liked the sales pitch and needed new windows so called him back within a few days to place our order. Paying a company a few thousand dollars and then not hearing from them for a month can be a little unnerving so we were pleased that they actually sent a weekly update to apprise us of our order's status. Things were moving along nicely... until installation day. The crew was slated to arrive between 8-10am. Julio called around 9:50 to let me know that the crew was stuck in traffic and would be a little late. The crew didn't show up until 11:00. A minor annoyance but no big deal. When the windows were sold to us, we were told the company only used their own in-house teams, but the contractors that performed our installation were from MJ Siding and the foreman told me that they do work for 4 other companies. It wasn't a big deal but was a red flag. As far as the windows are concerned, they did an excellent job. I'd highly recommend them for that. The windows appear to be of excellent quality and that part of the installation went smoothly. The foreman even drove to Baltimore to get a box of caulk to match the aluminum cladding they were installing, even though white had been written on the contract and we had missed it. That was our fault but they were professional and went out of their way to accommodate us. About halfway through the installation of the windows, one of the guys started replacing the entry door. It seemed like there was a lot more head-scratching during this part of the installation, and I wasn't getting a fuzzy feeling about it, but he finally got the door in and the other guys put the aluminum cladding around the frame. The wooden kickplate we had was really old and beaten up so the plan was to replace only the wood and I would paint it. Well, l walked away for a minute and when I came back they had put two 2x4s behind it and put aluminum cladding over it so that it now protrudes from underneath the threshold. This was annoying because that thin aluminum cladding dents easily and now that it's exposed it's going to look terrible in no time. They don't call it a kickplate for nothing. The door installer comes over to me and says "Well, how do you expect the storm door to work?" I was confused and asked him to explain. He informed me that the storm door needed to be screwed onto the face of the surrounding frame but my fiberglass/foam decorative pilasters on both sides of my door prevented that, so I could either talk to Window Universe about getting a different storm door or he could build a 1" frame in front of my door and install the storm door to that (The storm door was also too small so there were two reasons for the inner 1? frame). I didn't like the sound of it so we walked around the neighborhood until we found a neighbor that had already taken this approach. I still didn't like it and it was starting to get dark so he asked if he could leave the storm door at my house and they'd come back when I rescheduled. Not a problem, but I informed him that I would not pay my balance until the work was completed and with that they left. I don?t know anything about storm doors other than that I wanted one; the salesman or the measurer should have known the correct door to order. I understand that light construction is fraught with complications caused by unforeseen circumstances (rotten wood, electrical wires, etc), but considering that the layout of the door was visible, this issue should have been caught before the storm door was ordered. I was decently pleased with the result of the entry door except for the aforementioned kickplate problem and a chip in the wood between the transom and the entry door, but the following evening I noticed that the caulk had split between the door and the aluminum cladding on both sides of the door, and the caulk under the kickplate had large bubbles all over it, so I took a few pictures and forwarded them to Window Universe. I almost immediately got a response from Jennifer saying that they'd discuss it and get back to me. 3 days passed and I pinged them to see what was going on. The following day I got an email from Jennifer saying that my "project was a priority and would be completed ASAP." 7 days passed and I get an upbeat email from Julio jubilantly proclaiming that my "storm door has arrived and is ready for installation!" Well, yes, of course the door sitting in my house is ready for installation... "How about Saturday the [a week and a half from then] between 12 and 2?." I tell him that I'm starting to become annoyed with them but I'll be there for the Saturday installation. Friday, the day before the installation I get an email from Tori telling me once again that ?everything is here and ready for installation. Contact Julio to schedule the installation?. Obviously there are communication problems in their office. I emailed them to express my frustration with the whole situation. No response. Anyway, I waited around on Saturday until 4pm and the crew didn?t show up. Not even a call this time. I am currently remodeling my house and have dealt with several different contractors; this group has definitely been the worst. This has become a big hassle and I cannot, in good conscience, recommend them to anyone. Window Universe?s slow (and sometimes nonexistent) responses, poor scheduling coordination, and overall lack of professionalism has made this a big pain.

The installation went really well. The installers came a little late, but called me. They stayed until the installation was finished around 7 pm. They cleaned up after themselves and we've had some heavy rain and snow since the installation and the windows are terrific. They were careful not to let my pets out were pleasant and polite. We experienced torrential rain on the original date of the appointment, and I felt like they were pressuring me to keep the appointment because they install in all weather. I rescheduled because I didn't want rain pouring in through the open windows and I truly believe people can't do their best when they are uncomfortable. They rescheduled without an argument. My only gripe comes with the sales rep who also was knowledgeable, but maybe not the best communicator? I live in a homeowners association community and our exterior windows are required to be a specific color. If you come into my home it is obvious the interior windows have to be white. All of the trim in my home is white. Window Universe came in much lower than competitive installers. As it turned out - and this is partially my fault because I didn't understand. I think it was his job to make me understand. The sales rep was quoting me windows that were beige on the inside as well as the outside. Every other company quoted me on windows with a beige exterior and white interior because it is obvious. When they arrived, I flipped. I do think it was up to the sales rep to point out to me that these windows would not be two colors. The information is in the contract, but in small type and not part of the body of the contract. I was forced to buy a second set of windows, so the job ultimately cost me much more than planned. However, I paid for one installation. If at that point, I said screw it and ordered windows with a competitor contractually I would have been paying for labor twice. To add insult to injury, the owner tried to make me feel as though he was doing me a favor by pointing out that I could get a tax credit by donating the windows to a non profit. I chose not to accept delivery of the first set of windows because I had not place to store them while we waited for that non profit to show up. I do hope they found a good home.

Associate visited home to provide an estimate and found that the damaged windows are still under manufacturer warranty and I could save money if get the service from the manufacturer. I am totally impressed with such honest suggestion.

It was all good, just that after a couple of month we had one problem with the window and since i called them, they came out the next day and fixed the problem. They were quick on the job and cleaned up. They were competitive in price compared to other companies.

We decided to go with Window Universe for several reasons. First, they don't employ the high pressure sales tactics that other companies use. Jay came over and met with me without requiring my wife to be present (other companies require both husband and wife to be there so they can pressure you into signing that day). He briefly walked me through the features and energy savings that his windows could offer. The price for all the windows and the door was far less than any other company we received an estimate for. Jay responded to my questions via email in a timely manner and was thorough in his answers. The only problem I had was scheduling an install date and asking questions to the girl that worked in the office. The 4-8 week install time frame ended up being more like 8-12 weeks. The girl that worked in the office was difficult to get in touch with and was not knowledgeable about the products offered. The crew arrived on the install date and worked effeicently and quietly to complete the work. They damaged some of my window frames and later offered to fix them but the damage was already done. Overall I am satified with the work completed and my new windows look great. I waited 12+ months to write this review to ensure that the windows would hold up.

Everything started off great, we signed the contract in mid December and were told it would be done in 4-6 weeks. It is now the end of February, and it is still not done. They kept "putting off" taking final measurements until mid/late January because it is a couple of windows at a couple of different houses within a close proximity that we are replacing. They said because of that it was taking a little longer. We did have to reschedule once because of something on our end, but all other delays have come from them. We were emailed on February 20th saying our windows were in and that they would set something up and that if we had any questions to reply to the email. I did reply to Julio Santos and reminded him that time is of the essence and asked a question. That was 5 days ago. I finally had to call today only to be told that Julio would have to call me back to schedule something. I am really surprised by all of the non communication. They are highly rated on Angie's list, and I expected more from them. I understand weather is a cause for delay, but it is now almost March and still no windows. Their failure to communicate with us is a problem, I shouldn't have to track them down for answers. I am hoping to be able to amend this review with a positive outcome, but only time will tell...

I needed two exterior doors replaced because I had these terrible wooden doors that were cracked and you could see outside through them. I had 4 companies come out to give me estimates, and incidentally, all the companies use the same door manufacturer and doors. In spite of this, I got wildly different estimates from all the companies. Window Universe gave me the best price, far and away. The sales experience was very pleasant. There were no demands that I sign a contract that day or I would lose the price (as another company did). He did not try to upsell me on fancy handles that I did not need or want. The salesman was just very honest and straightforward, which I appreciated. I ended up buying the doors, and they came out promptly with the contract and to do the measuring. The doors were ordered. The installers were great. It was an all day job. They were prompt and protected my floors from their work and cleaned everything up afterward. The doors look great. I had a couple of minor issues that I will mention in the interests of doing a thorough review. The doors ended up taking over 8 weeks because apparently the door manufacturer closes for 2 weeks over the holidays. WU did inform me of this around the holiday time so it was not unexpected but if you order around this time be prepared for a delay. They only do installations during the week so if you have job issues it is good to know this. Finally, the person who runs the communications in the office is a little not on top of things. I was told I would get an email every week updating me on my project status, and in the 8 weeks I think I got 3 or 4 emails. The emails continuously referenced my windows, when I bought doors. When I got the email about how to prepare for my installation, it was how to prepare for a window installation. I emailed the girl back and was like, "OK, but I ordered doors" and she never responded with the proper information. These issues, however, were minor in the grand scheme of things. The salesman, the measurer, and the installers were great and so it compensated for the communcations problems with the lady in the office. I am pleased with the quality of the work and the price was so much better than the other companies. In addition, I really appreciated the low-pressure sales approach. If you do good work at a good price, you don't need to be pushy, and WU seems to understand that. I would use them again.

They replaced our upstairs windows. They did an excellent job, and completed the work in just a short few hours. They left no mess, and the windows are great. We are very happy with the results.

It was pretty good. They came out soon after I purchased the big deal. It costed more than the big deal purchase. It's just part of the discount. They were pretty professional and they seemed to have a reasonable price. Overall, we were satisfied. The people who did the work were professional. Everything went well. I would continue using them in the future.

The windows were delivered on time and installed in a professional manner A++++ We have used Window Universe on numerous projects and we always get top notch service and performance. We intend to use them on all our future projects.

We met with several providers including Pella, Anderson, Home Depot, Home Visions, Simonton, and others. We invited Window Universe back for a second meeting and finally chose them because of the professional presentation; using Revere's Berkshire line of vinyl replacement windows; and price. I really liked the pricing model and the use of a price list. All the other vendors appeared to be sizing us up for how much we might spend rather than providing a competitive price. Installation was great and the two installers were very professional, clean, and respectful of the fact they were n someones else home. Great Job guys!! I will use them for my remaining 6 windows and would highly recommend Window Universe on the vendor short list for any window project.

Generally, we were pretty satisfied with Window Universe. Our first real contact with the company was with Jay when he came to our house to give his sales pitch and provide us an estimate. Jay was on-time, friendly, knowledgeable, direct and very low-pressure which we VERY much appreciated. We'd met with other window companies and mostly knew what we were looking for so it was nice that Jay didn't waste our time in areas that we didn't need. Also, we met with some other companies that tried just about everything to get us to sign an on-the-spot contract, including getting belligerent when we refused to sign. That was not the style of Jay or Window Universe. As an aside, we also got a quote on a door but decided not to go with Window Universe for our new front door. The company only sells ProVia doors which are great quality but they are higher-end doors and we were looking for something more middle-of-the-road price-wise on a door. Window-wise though, they gave us one of the best price quotes, overall, and we were able to take advantage of an Angie's List coupon on top of that. Once we committed, Jay worked with our schedule and came to us to have the contract signed. Within 1-2 weeks a measurer came out to custom measure for us. That process was easy and well-done. From there we were a little disappointed with the promised "weekly update" emails. They provided very general information and the one time I did respond to a message with a question, it was not answered. I offer that thought mostly as constructive criticism - if a company is going to make a big deal of it's weekly update emails then they should truly be a means to communicate with the customer. When my emails to Kayla (the person who sent them out) weren't answered, I always felt like I had other avenues for contacting the company if I had questions and I did pursue those avenues and did receive answers. My only real frustration was that our install had to be rescheduled by one week because, it was reported that, one of the installers got sick. I had taken the day off work and I was called only 10 minutes before the window of arrival time began and told they would have to reschedule. More notice would have been nice. It's tough for me to believe an illness judgment call wouldn't have been made prior to 8am on the day of install. So more than the fact that they had to reschedule, they manner in which they handled the reschedule was frustrating. The install was rescheduled one week later and a crew of 2 arrived at the end of the arrival time for installation. Both gentlemen were very friendly and worked diligently and did a great job. We are very happy with the installation job. The windows look good and were installed well. Also, the installers were very clean - no mess or trash left behind! Further, the follow-up contact from Window Universe has been great. We've felt like if there had been any problems (which there have not been) they'd be happy to assist us. We would recommend Window Universe. Overall we're very pleased with the price and quality of our windows and installation. The windows look nice from the inside and outside. Additionally, our bedroom used to get extremely hot in the afternoon from the sun beating down and the new windows have really helped with temperature regulation. I would hire Window Universe again.

Product seemed excellent. - top rated in Consumer Reports and I have had excellent experience with other products from the same manufacturer (Alside). I did not have enough information on the windows (spectic product number) to make a comparison with other offerros. They had the lowest price, and the price was well below our budget.

Firstly, they did not contact me within 2 business days. I believe I waited through 3 days and then called them on the 4th day. While they were able to schedule an appointment quickly, it was not a good first impression. The person I met with for the estimate was polite, but I honestly felt like after my own research into window specs that I knew more about U-Factors and SHGC, etc. Also, with all the extra add-ons with the disposal fee ($175), extra for low-e and argon fill ($59/window), it eroded the value of the coupon for an inferior product. Other companies allow for different low-e coatings for different situations and have argon fill as a standard. Perhaps for a typical homeowner, the service and product Window Universe offers is just fine. It was not okay for me. In the end, we didn't even go with vinyl. I should have done the estimate before purchasing the coupon, but I didn't even realize it could work that way.

The sales guy was great. We met with him last fall and could not pull the trigger. We called him back a couple months ago and they came back out and gave us an updated proposal. The sales guy was not high pressure but he knew his stuff. Getting the install scheduled was a bit of a pane (pun intended). The guy who did the scheduling was not very available. The installers were terrific. We felt totally comfortable with them at the house and they did an awesome job.

Sales person who came to our house was great. He provided us all the details without it being a high sales pressure like other companies that came through. I liked their pricing and how it was layed out. Other companies said they were required to go through an hour long demonstration and I would only get the best price if I signed that day. Overall the sales process was great but we had a few hiccups during the installation process with windows being delayed, parts not showing up etc. They did say the whole process would take 4-6 weeks, which in the end I think it was just over 7. But when I asked in the beginning, I was told on several occasions it would probably be closer to 4, which may have made me more impatient.

The sales and installation were a breeze. But scheduling of the installation had a few hiccups. Overall we are really happy with the windows.

From the start, it was a very professional experience: Our sales rep, Jay, was on top of things. Instead of preaching the word of buy it now at a great price, he was more concerned about getting the right information about architectural concerns. There was no pressure to buy today, and in fact, he recommended that we get other bids if we could. This was a much better experience than the competition, who tried to strong-arm us into immediate decisions. After the windows specs & pricing were worked out, Windows Universe sent out Darren to measure all the windows & doors and get the final details together. This actually resulted in a change to the order, but at a discount which satisfied us. While Windows Universe promises weekly communications during the installation process, this sometimes required prompting from me. Not a big deal, in the long run, but something as simple as "Hey, we're still here and working on things" would go a long way. Communication did get better as the install progressed, however. When the windows were delivered, we found that one of the windows didn't show up. After an extensive search of their warehouse, that one had to be re-ordered. Also, a crack was found in one of the slider's door frames, which meant one door installation was delayed as well. This was not the installer's fault, and they rushed a reorder through at the factory for us. Darren's installation crew was top-notch. Polite, professional, and fun to talk with. They were good about helping us contain the cats & dog, and they really know what they're doing! Every window looks great! The custom metal work that Darren did to match our mid-century modern house looks as if it was designed by the architect. You can't get any better. Because of the number of windows and doors, this installation took several days. Each day they prepped the area, and at the end of each day they left things as clean as possible. My wife and I are very pleased with the quality of the windows, and the quality of the installation. We'll gladly recommend Windows Universe to our friends and neighbors.