O'Brien Garage Doors - Twin Cities

I bought a new double and single garage door a couple years ago. I never used my single door until this summer when I moved my grill from the deck I'm working on to in front of the single car door. The door doesn't stay up. It's been that way since I purchased the dorr. I really didn't care because I never used it. Now I use it 2 or 3 times a week to move my grill just outside the door. Called to get it fixed. (tighten the spring) Literally 10 minutes of work and I was charged $47.50 for a service call and $64.50 to tighten the spring. I have to say, having purchased the entire system at full price a couple years ago I'm very disappointed how this was handled.

Our garage door came off the tracks, and I requested a quote for repairs. I told the dispatcher when I called that we wouldn't be available between 1:00 and 3:30, and was assured that would be no problem, and that they would call 30 minutes before they got there. At 1:45, I received a phone call telling me the serviceman was on his way. I immediately called the dispatcher, and informed them that there wouldn't be anyone home until 3:30 at the earliest, and that they should call my wife when they're on their way. At 4:00, I got a call from my wife, telling me that the serviceman had just left. He told her that all of the hardware (rollers, torsion springs, brackets, etc) needed replacement, and that the total cost would be approximately $700 ($350 for parts, and $350 for labor). He claimed that both torsion springs (I had just replaced them 2 1/2 years ago), all of the rollers, the lift cables, the lift cable drums, brackets, and torsion tube all needed replaced. If I had been home at the time, I would have called the serviceman out on his estimate, as it was completely out of line. I called a competitor, and they came out and replaced only the parts that needed repair/replacement (two rollers), re-spooled the lift cables, and re-torsioned the springs, and adjusted the door - for a total cost of less than $150.

I had a garage door spring break on our 2 car garage on a Saturday. Had just received a flyer in the mail from O'Brien, so I mistakenly did not check Angie's List, but called them, scheduled someone to come out that afternoon. The price range quoted started at $253 (one price each for springs, travel, installation). When the person arrived, I was quoted $403 - and more like $500 if I wanted the lifetime springs option. After having shell shock from the much higher cost than quoted over the phone, he said for no warranty springs it would be less - around $333 + tax. I declined - but was still charged $38 for the person coming out (included a 20% coupon.) IMHO, total bait and switch between phone quote and actual - humorously, the coupon said "GUARANTEED LOWEST PRICES!" ... don't believe what you read. Thereafter, checked Angies List (like I should've in the first place!) and scheduled for a complete replacement with Metro Garage Door Co for under $200 (includes travel, springs, install) with Angie's coupon.

When the tech looked at her garage door, he came up with a huge bill for over $600, ($399 parts + labor) replacing just about everything except the rails & door. He stressed the Lifetime Guarantee that came with the package. She called me to drop by and look at the parts he claimed needed replacement. I asked if the spring tension had been checked and adjusted, he said "no they were 15 year old springs installed 2002 and needed to be replaced. When pressed, he said the only thing covered by Comprehensive Maintenance $49.50 coupon was lubrication and checking nuts for tightness. Not part comprehensive maintenance. The springs were not that old, since records show they were replaced in 2013 (not 2002 as we were told). Installed 20000 cycle springs usually last 7-10 years depending on how often the door is opened. So it appears the tech was lying to me on the springs and the other parts he said needed replacement. Asked tech how much it would cost to adjust springs? He said "they could not be adjusted, they needed to be replaced". I told him this appeared to be a scam, and asked him to leave. He did not leave. Told him we would give time a check for $49.50 (to get rid of him). He did not want a check, but wanted me to leave, (so he could try and sell her the $600+ Lifetime Guarantee package). The O'Brien tech was completely un-professional. Even threatened to sue me if I published a bad review of him. It was very difficult to get him to leave but finally he drove away. ...................... I called a local door company to come out and perform the work. Which they did before noon the same day. They did NOT recommend replacing the springs or other parts, said it was a "waste of money". They said cost for replacement of both springs would be $210 but they were not needed. This was the same local company that replaced the both springs a few years back. .......... Complaints against O'Brien: 1a) False claims of parts needing replacement by O'Brien tech. ... 1b) False advertising, O'Brien tech would not honor $49.50 advertised turn-up services.... 2) Lifetime Springs advertised. Lifetime Guarantee package sold in person. Nothing in printed form explaining what Lifetime means. [It has been experience that Lifetime Guarantees are usually a scam. Even if the parts are covered, labor is not covered and can cost much more than the parts.]... 3) They promote O'Brien as local family owned business. Yet it appears, they are really a Texas based company with just sub-contractors in Minnesota. ... 4) They "advertise" Guaranteed Lowest Prices" But it has been my experience that O'Brien quoted prices are really much higher and they asked me to sign a one-sided contract.

The technician was prompt, helpful and professional!

Good. They were on time and did a good job

Every winter my garage door would get real finicky. Every two weeks I would have to disconnect it and manually open and close it. One of the things that made me happy was that they figured out how to resolved the problem with my garage door during the winter without me having to open and close the garage door manually. No other company has figured this out.

They were very prompt, within their window period that they said they would be here. The price that they quoted was what it ended up being. Their workmanship was done very well. I was very happy.

The tech arrived 60 minutes after the robo call telling me that someone would be there in 30 minutes or less. He immediately launched into what I needed done and how he could do it right away. The list included new rollers, new springs with a 1 year warranty, new bottom weather stripping and a new gear in the 26 year old opener. When I asked about the tune up, he said he did most of it during the inspection except oiling the hinges, which were okay. I asked him to write an itemized list of each suggestion and he included a tune-up on the list! He only charged for a service call which I paid. That evening, the tension spring broke. Talk about timing! I had another company do the work. They could not work on the opener because it was not in compliance with MN Statute 325F.83 REGULATION OF AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENING SYSTEMS. Look it up, gears could not be replaced in the opener legally. The other company installed new springs with a 10 year warranty, new belt driven opener with a 10 year warranty, new rollers and the bottom seal for $150 more than the quote from O'Brien's. They were worth the cost. I would not use O'Brien Garage Doors based on my experience.

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I should have known right away when the contractor drove his rusty truck onto my front lawn that this was not going to go well but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. I had paid for standard maintenance on my garage door (an Angie's list special) which usually consists of a safety check, lubrication and balance adjustments. On this occasion I was having trouble with my remote which had stopped working. The button inside my garage would open and shut the door but the remote didn't seem to be communicating with the opener. The contractor took the panel out of the garage door opener and started to explain to me that my "dee -odes" had "shorted out" and I needed a new $500 electrical panel. I didn't see anything wrong with the electrical panel and the opener was working just fine with the inside button so I was very skeptical. Also when someone mispronounces the words as they are talking down to you it doesn't build confidence. I told him that I was not going to buy the new electrical panel and he gave me the hard sell for about an hour, all the while confirming that he didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Eventually I convinced him to return the electrical panel to the opener and to lubricate the system, I had already paid for that after all. He applied the grease and then told me to open and shut the garage door a few times! After he finally left, I went to the manufacturer's website for the garage door opener and found instructions to "unlock" my remote, I had done something to initiate a security lock out. It took me about 15 minutes to get it working again myself! This is exactly the kind of contractor I came to Angie's list to avoid. Do not hire this company unless you want to be scammed. I paid a hundred dollars for a tablespoon of grease and a lot of frustration.

very badly -- I called O'Brien on the referral of a neighbor -- "call O'Brien -- they're reasonable." I called on an Angie's List $50 coupon for garage door repair and 20% off on $38 service call. They were 2 hours late. The service tech was not interested in repairing my garage door; he insisted a replacement at a cost of $440 was necessary, along with the replacement of 12 rollers at $10 each. "might as well replace both openers while we're here...that'll be $900 please." I wrote a check for $28 (the service call fee less 20% discount) and said good-bye

One of the cables broke on my garage door, so I called the technician to come out and fix it. I also asked him to provide an estimate on replacing the bottom panel since it had some rust on it. He gave me an estimate of $300 to replace the cable by itself. The last company that did this for me did it for around $90. If I hadn't known this, I would have just paid the $300. I negotiated the cost down to $175, but I still feel like I got ripped off. If it wasn't going to be a hassle to get another company out to fix my cable, I definitely would have. He also gave me an estimate of roughly $900 to replace the panel, and really tried to put a hard sell on just replacing the door entirely. I called another company to get a similar quote for replacing the panel, and they gave me a price of $400. That seems way more reasonable. They also worked with me on other options to replacing the entire panel. It seems like O'Brien should have been more willing to work through details with me rather than trying to simply sell me a new garage door. I will not be using them again in future.

Not a good experience. The technician who arrived spent 2 minutes before declaring the entire garage door opener needed to be replaced. This did not seem very thorough but I accepted it as I had taken time off work and didn't want to mess around. The options were to buy a new garage door opener from him or pay him to wait while I went out to buy one myself. Then he would install it. In the interest of time, I elected to buy an opener from him - knowing there would be a mark up for the convenience. The mark up was SUBSTANTIAL compared to what I was able to find for a similar make/model later. More importantly, the installer gave incorrect information about what he was installing. The unit came right off his truck in pieces; it was wet with some rust spots and there was no box. I had a hard time discerning the make/model of the unit. He said it was .75 hp but when I was finally able to look it up, the type that was being installed only came in .5 hp. He claimed it was the "latest available" yet the manufacturing date on the unit is from 2012, and a later search of the internet demonstrates there are newer models available. He also provided a severely waterlogged book/user's manual, but it was not for the model actually installed. He stated he would have the company send a correct manual, but - more than a month later - I have not heard from the company again. The check, of course, was cashed immediately. If I had had more time I probably would have sent him on his way when he pronounced that a new opener was needed before really examining the existing unit. I would not do business with these folks again, but I also was reminded of the perils of haste.

I contacted O?Brien?s Garage Door and was scheduled for a garage door tuneup on Friday 3/20/15 between the hours of 10 am-12 pm. I was told the technician would call about 30 minutes before arriving for the call. My name and address was given to the company. I received a call approximately at 9:40 am that the technician had called in sick and the appointment would need to be re-scheduled. The appointment was re-scheduled for the next day Saturday 3/21/15 between 10 am-12 pm. At about noon, I called to see if the technician was on the way since no one had called or shown up for the service. I was informed that the technician had just been in contact with the office and that his GPS indicated he was 28 minutes from my home. At approximately 12:40 pm, I called the office again and was told the technician was at my home and knocking on my door. I explained that no one was at my door and was told he was knocking at the door of 4640 ?? Place. I informed the person that I lived at 4640 ?? Lane and not Place. I stated that I was not aware of any 4640 ?? Place in Plymouth. I was told he would be arriving within minutes. The technician had not arrived by 1 pm and I needed to leave my house. I called and cancelled the service. I later checked to see if 4640 ?. Place existed and it does not exist in Plymouth.

So a few days ago I had an Angie's List supplier to my home for an estimate on a new garage door opener. He gave me a price and said he could install it the next day. I mentioned that I had a 20% off coupon as listed in my Angie's List catalog. He installed the opener yesterday, he did an okay job, could have cleaned up the garage floor better as there were screws/nuts that were on the floor. As he was finishing he presented the invoice and I said where is the 20% off and he said it's built in -- everyone gets it as they do alot of advertising in the "valu pak". Then I asked if they gave a discount for CASH (using my Dave Ramsey training). They don't offer a discount for CASH. With no discount for cash payment I will then will use my American Express card to get miles. He said they put another $27 on the charge for payment by American Express. I then asked if I put it on a Visa card and he said that would be another $2.50. I realize this was the installation guy and he has to collect for the work he did. I don't think that any vendor should tack on extra funding for type of payment. That is the cost of doing business. How a customer pays should not be reflected. They should actually be offering a discount for paying CASH as I was prepared to write a check but since they didn't do that I used a credit card so that I could at least get points for the charges. The installer is a "sub-contractor" for the company. He charged me extra money (paid him directly) for some "custom" brackets for the sensors. He even offered to not install the custom senor brackets that he made and I could save $25 (I said is was code that every garage door opener needs to have the sensor's on the door). He asked "are you selling your home soon?" As if that mattered.

It went perfectly. I would call only these people back when and if I ever had a problem again. He also lubricated and tuned up and he also instructed me as to what product to use for lubrication. I couldnt be more pleased!

Their price was affordable and reasonable.

The technician arrived, he introduced himself and asked what was happening with our garage door, he adjusted the sensor, tried the door and it worked. He then fixed the bent rail and programmed a new remote and showed me how to use it. He then filled out the paperwork and gave it to me and explained the charges. I paid him, he gave me a copy of my receipt and thanked me. He was so quick, thorough and very professional. I was very pleased with the prompt service too.

My garage door would only go up half way so obviously I couldn't get out. I called about 1PM, was told he would be here between 2-4. Brent was here shortly after 2 and pretty quickly diagnosed the problem and had it fixed in no time. Somehow or another, the locking mechanism that one uses when they don't have a garage door opener had gotten engaged. I felt really stupid (he didn't make me feel that way), but thankful that it wasn't something more expensive. (I got the Angie's list discount!) He also was very informative about maintenance on a garage door.

They were great. He gave me a quote of how much it would be and that's how much it was. They were the best. Everything was fine. I give their name to all my friends.

They were excellent. Our normal company couldn't come out for 4 days and I couldn't wait that long. I called around and O'Brien said they could come right out. The technician was really thorough. He cleaned everything and he oiled the springs and a lot of the hardware because it was really loud which took care of that problem. He replaced parts and he showed me everything that he did. He was really excellent. The price was reasonable. I didn't think it was out of line at all.

I responded to a coupon they had for a garage door tune up. On 1-2 a tech came out. He said I needed to have a spring replaced and along with 10 rollers. I knew I needed to have some things done, that's why I called them. I also told him the bolts on the hinges were loose but he stated they don’t repair this type of door. He said he would place smaller bolts next to the lose ones and left me with 9 loose bolts. He had me run the door up and down a couple of times but now there is a popping noise that was not there before. He said the popping noise would not be a problem. I tried to repair the lose bolts myself but the popping noise did not go away. I called them and he came back on 1/10 because the popping noise was still there. He told me it was a hinge and sprayed silicon spray on the hinge that dripped on my car. The motor is better after replacing the spring but the popping noise is still there. They kept telling me there was no problem with the popping noise. I was going to document the noise in a letter to them in the event the noise is worse than the tech says but I can’t find an address on their business card or on line.

The technician arrived on time, and the company called ahead to say that the tech would be arriving within 1/2 hour. The problem was quickly resolved and at what I thought was a very reasonable cost.

O'Brien showed up on time. The technician had a polite, professional manner. He did a first class job replacing the springs with what appear to be high quality parts and did it in a timely manner. I thought that the price was a bit high but his advertisement said guaranteed lowest prices so I paid the bill, about $365. Then I joined Angie's list and found another company offering the same service for only $198. Only difference is O'Brien claims to have lifetime springs but the other company guarantees theirs for 5 years or 20,000 cycles. The original 10,000 cycle springs lasted 23 years and 20,000 cycle springs could last 50 years. O'Brien's lifetime springs can't really last forever. There is an ultimate limit somewhere around 20,000 and 100,000 cycles and no telling where O'Brien's springs really fit into that range. In any case, I ended up paying $165 extra for something that probably won't break again even if it were from the budget priced company. I called O'Brien about their guaranteed lowest prices but the manager never called back. I've been ripped off but $165 it is not worth taking any sort of legal action so I'm posting this review instead so some of you may avoid getting ripped off like I did.