ULTIMATE EXTERIORS OF MINNESOTA LLC

They never showed up. All of the phone numbers were disconnected when I tried to call them. I called the state licensing board and found that they have them under investigation. They closed down and they have customers that have paid for jobs and not gotten work. The investigator is Chris William and the her phone number is 6512845831. Their license number is BC 489489.

The completed job generally looked good. I am uncertain how well the insulation was done since they said they did not have enough to finish the job on the first day. I was not present the day the job was completed. One year later the outside frame around the windows is falling apart. I have had no luck getting a return phone call from the company. It appears that they have gone out of business. I am unable to get the Milaca Chamber of Commerce to answer my email regarding the status of Ultimate Exteriors (a member of that Chamber).

ALREADY DID ABOVE.

I would recommend them to my family and friends. The crew that I had was very good; they were very expensive, but they were good.

Salesman came to our home in October, measured and gave us an extimate. Agreement was reached, workers came in November (on time) removed old windows and installed new. The workmen were polite and neat, and did a nice job of cleaning up when they were done. The only part of the transaction I didn't care for was that the salesman insisted that the price was good for just that evening, which didn't allow for any real price comparison. If I hadn't had an idea of the approximate cost and if I didn't have my personal budget, I probably wouldn't have agreed to it.

It was a disaster. A person named Aaron made an appointment with me to check some measurements on December 16, 2010 and I left a meeting in Minneapolis early to meet with him, but he didn't show up. When I inquired about the status of the window I learned that it hadn't even been ordered yet. I cancelled the project. Pat McLaughlin called and informed me that Ultimate Exteriors of MN was going to keep 25% of the project cost, $1,131.50, because I cancelled the project after 3 days. I pointed out that Ultimate Exteriors of MN was in breach of contract for not ordering the window, and that having not ordered the window, and with Aaron not keeping his appointment with me they could not have incurred any expense with respect to my project. Pat McLaughlin said it didn't matter, stating Ultimate Exteriors of MN is entitled to keep the money based on what is written in the fine print on the back of the paper I signed. Pat also claimed that the paper I signed disallows any verbal promises, so Ultimate Exteriors can promise anything to get the customer to sign, and then do what it wants, or do nothing, regardless of what was promised to get the order. To date I have not received any refund of my $2,500. I twice asked Ultimate Exteriors of MN personnel to have owner Jon Drews call me but he never did. Completion of my project will now be delayed two months. I have no trust whatsoever for these people and would not under any circumstances even allow them in my house again, much less start cutting a big hole in it. Jon Drews stated he would refund my deposit but kept $1,131.50 because he says the fine print on the back of a document I signed says he can. Ultimate Exteriors of Minnesota did absolutely nothing and incurred no expense on my behalf, yet is keeping my money anyway. Ultimate Exteriors of Minnesota uses high pressure sales tactics and promises of everything the customer asks for in order to get the customer to sign the document. But, Ultimate Exteriors of Minnesota says that in the fine print on the back of the document it says that whatever was promised to get the job is irrelevant and doesn?t count. Thus, they can do whatever they wish, or do nothing at all, and keep your money if you cancel. Nowhere in all of the fine print do they state when they will do your job. I was not able to reach Jon Drews by telephone and I asked Ultimate Exteriors of Minnesota personnel twice to have Jon Drews call me but he never did. Rather, he sent Angie?s List a lengthy and highly creative personal attack against me as if he had talked to me. Is this the type of person you want trust your home improvement project to? I forwarded to Angie's List the email from Ultimate Exteriors that promised me 18 hours before I signed the sales agreement: "I am confident we can complete this project before New Years, and I will see what we can do to get it done before Christmas". Look near the top of Ultimate Exteriors' response where they state I was told that "we were booked for the rest of the year...job would not be going forward until January 2011." The window wasn't even ordered a month later, and with Marvin Windows closed between the Christmas and New Year Holidays the project couldn't have been completed in January 2011 either. In the end, Ultimate Exteriors kept $1,131.50 of my money after doing absolutely nothing. They didn't order the window and didn't show up at the meeting they scheduled. My Big Mistake was not checking Angie's List first. If you still plan on using this unethical contractor read carefully the fine print of the Additional Terms on the back of the Sales Agreement under the 2nd paragraph where it states: "The buyer understands that there are no oral agreements". They way they use this is that they can and will promise you anything necessary to get your signature and 50% deposit, and then they will disavow the oral promises made before you signed. Also, note that there is no place on the Sales Agreement where it promises when Ultimate Exteriors will do your job. Be prepared to wait until Ultimate Exteriors feels like doing your job. Then, read the 3rd paragraph which states Ultimate Exteriors can keep 25% of the contract cost if you cancel for any reason, including Ultimate Exteriors not doing what it promised and what you paid them to do. Then, note again that there is no place on the Sales Agreement where it promises when Ultimate Exteriors will do your job. Ultimate Exteriors plays hardball and neither Angie's List or the BBB could reason with them. Do you homework and look for a contractor with an A rating.

The salesman arrived on time at our residence. He first outlined the history of his company, and then the history of the company that manufactures the windows that they sell. I explained that I had made appointments with 5 different window contractors. Since we were new homeowners and this was our first big project, we intended to meet with all 5 contractors and then take a week or so to decide if this was in fact what we wanted to spend our money on, and if it was, then we would select the contractor. I was very upfront that this would be a meeting to get all the details needed to go forward if we chose them but in no way would I be signing anything that night. He did mention that it would be best if we signed a contract that night since he could offer a lower price and special financing. I again reiterated that we were very hesitant to sign off after only speaking with one contractor, and especially being first-time homeowners that had never done an expensive remodeling project before. The salesman did a demostration with a heat lamp and various grades of glass so we could feel each window and see what amount of insulation they had. He also had an instrument that measured the heat transference so we could precisely determine the energy loss. This was very informative and very helpful. He measured all of the windows in the house and provided us options on various styles, colors, and grades. The presentation was very lengthy. As we were approaching the 2 hour mark I had to ask him to wrap it up since we had the in-laws watching our kids and this was taking far longer than we expected. He was able to go into a pricing discussion at that point and finally wrapped up around 30 minutes later. He again mentioned that the price was only good today and pushed us to sign a contract immeadiately. The main difference between the salesman here at Ultimate Exteriors, and the salesman at the company we ended up going with - Builders and Remodelers - is below. This was their closing pitch. I think it really sums up the difference between the companies and their mentalities in customer service... Ultimate Exteriors: This is the best window and the best deal around, so sign today. You won't regret it and if you want to shop around the state of MN has a 3 day recision period in which you can cancel. You need to sign today to get the special offer and the preferred pricing. This is a limited time offer. Just use our financing or give us a deposit of 50% of the project and you'll be ready to go right away! Builders and Remodelers: Take your time and get as many estimates as you want! The more estimates you get, the more you'll see that B&R will be the company you want to do business with. This is the best price I can give you, no funny business, no addons, no limited time offers, none of that. The price is guaranteed for the next 30 days so feel free to shop around. Take this list of references and visit those houses and talk to those homeowners if you want. Check Angie's list and the BBB too. We have financiang options (and here are the details) or feel free to check with your local bank. Maybe shop around and try a credit union too for the best price. We only need a 5% downpayment to get started, whenever you decide that you're ready. I really liked both companies a lot. They were both head and shoulders above the other 3 contractors I called. Angies list gave them both great reviews. Ultimately, the sales pitch style and the price (slightly, but not much cheaper than Ultimate Exteriors - and a bit more expensive than some of the others I interviewed) were the deciding factors that led us to go with B&R.

They were suppossed to come out and install a window for us, but kept putting us off. They gave us an installation date when we signed up and put half down. But then told us we weren't a priority because it was a small job and way out in Excelsior. We had to call numerous times before someone called us back. Finally, we got through to one of the sales managers and he said he would refund us our money immediately. Of course we had to call back a week later to try to find out if they sent the money. This company lacks professionalism.

What stood out was how fast they worked. They were done in 4 hours, which included taking the windows out, installed the new ones,and did a nice, neat job with everything. There were 2 things I noticed they needed to tweak. They came and fixed with no charge. The price is what drew us to them. During the time they were working, I received a phone call from the owner making sure I was happy with the progress. I appreciated that they were courteous about being in someone else's home. If I need a job like this done again, I will hire them to complete it.

They asked me the kind of windows I needed and I picked out the windows. They discussed the siding with me. I was impressed and they clearly knew the business. They had a little confusion about the organization, but they eventually did a good job. The work also fitted into our budget. We didn't have any problems with them. They were careful of the plants outside the house while doing the work.

Other than the high pressure sales tactic, the metal roof product offered by Ultimate Exteriors looks really good. However, the price was just too high for our budget. ($4,000.00)

I had some issues with the quality of the work performed and the process for remedying problems. 1) I still have gaps where caulk was not properly placed along windows and some joints that I can see housewrap through. 2) Some vinyl shakes were put on crooked. 3) Trim work was cracked and cannot be replaced now because the stone mason put stone over it. 4) Needed to ask for things more than once. 5) Workers used house foundation to clean permanent caulk off their hands. 6) I got to pick up their trash and nails on a daily basis. I could go on ... After the job was done, the owner would not complete a list of items to be fixed until we signed "his" lien waiver document, which also states that by signing, you agree that you are completely satisfied with the job (even though you may not be). His explanation was that in his experience, if he didn't have them sign it, he'd never get done with a job because people would always be calling him back.