Budget Exteriors Inc

A company representative called in response to a drawing I had entered at the MN State Fair. They indicated they had spoken to my husband and he was interested in an estimate for insulation. I didn't check this with him until after I had set up the appointment and when I did, he said that was a generous interpretation of his short conversation with them. We decided to keep the appointment anyway since we did want to find out if our attic insulation was adequate and would consider having the work done if it was reasonable. Although they did cover the product and what they would do, they spent way to long on their presentation. It seemed canned and when we prompted them to hurry it up they seemed disgruntled. (It was late and we needed to get dinner on the table) We had to ask them for the price more than once. At the end they gave us a very confusing price scale, crossed out numbers and changed them with different discounts for this and that. I kept waiting for the "But wait, there's more..." and was not dissapointed. We were even given a form to sign saying that we rejected the offer of an additional 10% off for signing thouse today - even though we had mentioned more than once we were going to get other bids. That was the only paper they left with us - not the bid! Eventually they asked us what price would we be willing to sign for today. At this point $1 would be too much. We haven't gotten any other bids yet, so maybe their pricing isn't as out of line as it seems, but their price of over $3000 for a small house (about 900 square foot main floor) seems really excessive. Very Hard-Sell sales tactics. Not professional. It felt like the 2 sales guys double teamed my husband and myself. I would not recommend doing work with these guys. I can't believe they told us to look at Angies List - the salespeople must not know their own ratings.

Budget Exteriors contacted me in response to a card I'd entered into a drawing, indicating interest in gutter replacement. I told the appointment scheduler that I was not interested in having the work done for a few months, but agreed to an estimate. The salesperson arrived 10 minutes late, went through a long presentation but did not have any actual product samples. I was interested in a capped, leaf-resistant product but he made a strong sell that it was not necessary, and finally gave me a price for basic white, uncapped gutters that amounted to nearly $50 per lineal foot. He offered-up approximately $1000 in discounts, but ONLY if I signed to do the work today. When I told him I was not ready to sign today but would hold onto his bid, he grabbed his bid and other paperwork he'd given me and stormed out of the house, and raced away hurriedly. He obviously knew that his bid would not hold up.

To start the salesman was pushy but we decided to go with them because they were to replace any rotten wood that may be found during the job. It is an old farmhouse and were sure there might be some problems with rotted wood under the old siding. We both had to work during the job and it would be done unsupervised. The first day a pair of immigrant workers showed up to do the job, not sure what country they were from but they barely spoke english. That was a big warning sign but we made the mistake of going ahead. Upon completion the house looked beautiful with all new siding and eaves and soffits. Within a year however there was trouble, pieces of soffit began to fall off on windy days. Some of the "premium" siding was damaged by ice. They did replace that damaged siding but we had to pay for it. About 3 years later we had a hail storm, 2" diameter hail stoned pounded the roof and left many cracks and holes in the siding. We did not contact Budget. The insurance adjuster recommended a contractor and we proceeded with repairs. The siding could not be matched so we selected new siding and a new color. It seemed odd that this contractor presented better quality siding than Budget's "premium" siding... When the contractor removed Budget's siding it was apparent that the work was sloppy and in violation of any common sense and certainly was not inspected. Rotten wood was found around a window, in fact the entire wall had to be repaired. It had been in our contract that this was to have been taken care of. There was also rotted eaves under the new eave trim. It was also revealed that Budget's contractors had installed new insulation over old insulation creating a mold problem. They had also failed to tape the seams between the insulation panels allowing air infiltration through the walls. We attempted to go back to Budget for compensation for these repairs. The manager in Bloomington was extemely arrogant and refused to cooperate. He had the nerve to state that the wood in that wall had rotted in the three years since the job was complete. Further he claimed we should have gone to them after the hail storm -why, we wonder, so we wouldn't see the substandard work??? Our lawsuit was dropped because the insurance contractor refused to testify on the what he had seen.

Horrible experience, for both the siding and one window!! Siding: (a) very hard sell tactics; (b) installation team included only one individual who spoke English, and he was only on-site for 50% of the time. I essentially had to "project manage" the entire effort, as the crew was unable to comply with the design plan. For example, being an older home, the porch had at one time been "open," hence it sloped downward. It was enclosed many years ago, and the old siding "drooped" with the slope. I made it clear to the supervisor that the siding should be installed straight, and not follow the 'old' sloping design. The crew, sans the supervisor who spoke English, followed the old "slope" when they installed the siding. Fortunately I was home, checked on the progress, and was able to somehow communicate with the crew using drawings and waving of arms to get the siding removed and reinstalled per my original direction. (c) when the old siding was removed, we noted the enclosed porch was missing the support posts on one corner. Instead of regrouping to determine if a change order was required to "jack" up the collapsing end, they jammed a regular 2x4 (unevenly) into the gap. I had to tell them to create "vents" for airflow under the porch---luckily I was home or they would have sealed the area again. (d) They installed a dryer vent instead of a fresh air intake to the furnace (so the flapper was continuously closed). (e) They nailed into the bathroom vent, blocking the fan from spinning. I thought the fan was broken, so I bought a new one. The fan installer discovered the nail from the siding was preventing the fan from spinning. (f) They sold me "vinyl window trim," but when I saw how it looked (puffy, with cut-by-hand ugly miters) I asked them to stop, and come back to remove the 2 windows they had already completed. I called 2 times to have them return, they never did. Summary of siding: Most painful 2 days I have ever spent with a contractor. I became so disgusted and exhausted I gave up and am living with an unsatisfactory result. You'd think I would have learned my lesson from the siding job...but nooooo....I later bought a bathroom window because I was a "repeat customer" and could name my price. When I named my price, of course it was too low, but I wanted the window done before fall an went with their deal (about the same as other contractors). Window: Almost as bad an experience as the siding. The installer put the bathroom window in crooked (about 1/4 inch off level). To get this fixed, the window manufacturer looked at it, then the installer/manager looked at it, both blaming each other for the "out of square" window. Finally they decided it was installed out of square. Installer comes back--squares up the window, and adds caulk to the outside that does NOT MATCH their trim. Plus, he did not smooth the caulk so it was a bumpy snake-like stream. Hence, another visit (this was #4-5???) to fix that. I ended up caulking the inside myself to avoid further hassle.

On that of the appointment, I was at the house as agreed but a company representative called to say there was a mix-up in scheduling and we agreed to meet one week later. On the day before that meeting, another person called to confirm the appointment and I said I would be there. One hour later, a third person called me to confirm the address and then inform me that unless my wife was also present for the appointment, they would not come to the house. This requirement had never been mentioned before. I informed them that the house was a rental property, solely owned my me and they still insisted that my wife be present. When asked why this was necessary, the company rep claimed that my wife needed to be present in order to meet legal lein requirements. Since I was only asking for a bid, that was a totally bogus argument. I explained to them that due to my wife's business demands, there was no way for her to attend this meeting and again asked them to give me a bid. Again, they refused to do so. It would appear that this company is only interested in high pressure sales as many other Angies's list members have had experiences similar to mine. I would recommend avoidance of this company for any type of work.

I discussed windows with the sales guy for about 15 minutes but did not have time to finish the conversation. He called back daily for two weeks, sometimes as late as 9:30 PM, and this became a nuisance. I finally told him to quit calling. He had poor phone and interpersonal skills, and you could tell he was in a tele-marketing center. I was suspicious of their pricing; it kept changing in the same conversation and he was going to throw in every fifth window free and free attic insulation if I did enough work. I've not heard back about the Segway.

The experience was good. It was nice not to have a drafty window. They did what they said they would do, which contractors don t always do. They came on the promised hour and they had everything ready and cleaned up well after themselves. Their price was reasonable compared to other prices.

When Budget Exteriors came to our house they did not tell us we were signing a binding contract. They are very deceitful. When I call the office I get screamed at by the owner. I have not put any money down nor does Budget have any paperwork from my insurance company. I have no working relationship with this company. Owner has trespassed on my property. I have had to call the police. He has scared myself and my daughter. He talks disparagingly of me to my husband. He has lied that we have picked out a color of siding and has dropped off excess siding from a previous job of his to make it look like we ordered siding. What contractor would order siding without any money down and without any measurements from the insurance company. He has threatened to file a lien on my house. I have had to hire an attorney. Mr. Thompson has made my life a living hell. To have a contractors license gives them the power to come into your home tell you to sign the bid and they get to collect 25% of that bid (in my case $9,500.00)if you chose to cancel because you decide you can't work with these people because they lie and threaten you with outrageous cancellation and attorney fees. I have never dealt with a more difficult company. I want out of the contract without penalty.

Once they get your number they are relentless in calling you back every three months. Very high pressure sales and not real professional.

Less than stellar. The rep was on time but the whole experience was terrible. The appointment took two hours. He started by measuring the windows which took about 20-30 minutes. The presentation was read word for word and took a very long time. He reviewed the window's quality, the install process and waranty. He infilled his presentation with a lot of chatter, nothing that meant anything and the entire time he was presenting, I kept thinking its getting late and he needs to get to the point. At the end of the presentation he asked three questions, do you like the windows, do you like me as a sales person, and do you like the idea of Budget installing the windows. We said sure to all of them in which he afterward asked if we were ready to purchase the windows....we hadn't been quoted any price. I asked if we could get pricing and he said that they don't give pricing unless we are fully on board with the program. After I said that I am not on board and would like to further my research, he was adimit about not quoting us a price, though that would factor into our decision. His reaction after telling him that we were not quite on board without a price was nothing short of a pouting 5 year old. He proceeded to very slowly pack up his things and there was at least three minutes of akward silence. After a few minutes of wishing he would just hurry up and leave, his behavior did a 360 and he offered up pricing. Honeslty, at this point, I just wanted him to get out of my house. He acted like a child after we said we wanted to look at other companies as well as he was the first we had talked to. I have never in my career seen anyone behave so poorly, even though he very well could of been at the top of the list after my research. I also would of appreciated the person the phone giving me a more realistic time line.

We hired them initially due to their presentation and price (very good value for our money). They completely replaced the roof, all windows and soffit within 3 weeks time ( just as promised). We had numerous bids for the work and opted to go with Budget because of their presentation, professionalism and reasonable prices. We were so pleased with how everything turned out, we decided to have more work done by them.

Excellent. I had a sales representative that was very informative about the entire process of a remodeling project. From the first visit for the estimate and measurements to the final clean up of the installation I was satisfied with the work and product provided by Budget Exteriors and their representatives.

It went very smoothly. The salesman showed up 5 minutes early for his appointment. Was very nicely dressed and had a great sense of humor, which made the presentation much more enjoyable. Sometimes it can be very boring.

From the beginning this company was very professional. They came to our home and answered all of our questions and concerns. The workers were friendly and they were more than happy to answer questions when I had them. They didn't leave a big mess when they were done and completed the job much faster than I thought they would. All of the work they did looks so good and I would recommend this company to anyone and will definitely use them again in the future. I wish all companies did business this way. Everyone we came in contact with from this company was knowledgeable and friendly and I felt like they really cared about what our needs were and met them.

I was impressed with the sales representative that they sent to my home because he was very courteous and friendly and most importantly he knew what he was talking about. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to pay for the whole project at once and they were able to obtain financing for me that fit my budget. The whole house looks so good! It is so nice to have windows that don't leak cold air into the house in the winter and I am saving a lot of money on my energy bills because of it! The new siding is beautiful as well as the roof and the house looks brand new! I have had many compliments from my friends and neighbors about how the house looks! The people who did the installations were professional and I was impressed how well they cleaned up after themselves and they were always on time or early! Anytime I had a question everyone I talked to at Budget Exteriors was so friendly and helpful.

The salesman took 2.5 hours for his sales pitch and was extremely high pressure. He even went so far as to personally offer his time to help us out with some of our home repairs, if -- and only IF-- we purchased windows from him. He got very upset and rude when we refused to sign a contract for even 2 windows to be replaced, in order to ''lock in'' the low rate. His math seemed incorrect too, when he tried telling us Home Depot type windows only cost 20% less than his brand. When in actuality the are about 20% of what his brand costs--so really that is 80% less. The conversation ended when he tried to guilt us into signing the contract ''I know you will never call us back...''

This company failed to show up for an evening appointment to give me an estimate on wrapping my windows. They did not give me the courtesy of a call to tell me they weren't coming, nor did they call to apologize or to reschedule, and I had just talked to them earlier the same day to confirm the appointment! I had a bad feeling about this company from the time I spoke with them at the St. Paul Home and Patio show, and they didn't have any brochures or business cards available! But they were very high pressure, both when I talked to them originally and when they called to set up the appointment, which they didn't keep.

COMPLETELY TERRIBLE SALES EXPERIENCE SEEMED FRAUDULENT AND FULL OF LIES. CLINT AND ANOTHER GUY STAYED 3 HOURS EVEN THOUGH WE WANTED THEM TO LEAVE. THEY WERE VERY HIGH PRESSURE AND BID $26K AND WOULDN'T LEAVE ANY WRITTEN BID WITH US. HE PROMISED TO MAIL A BID BUT DID NOT. HE WOULD NOT TELL US WHAT THE PRODUCT BRAND WAS. OTHERS IN THE INDUSTRY SAID WE WOULD GET ANOTHER CALL FROM BUDGET IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS OFFERING A LOWER PRICE AND SURE ENOUGH, WE GOT THE CALL. SHE TOLD US THAT THEY LOOKED AT THE BID AND DETERMINED THE ESTIMATOR BID TOO HIGH AND THAT THEY WOULD BE SENDING ANOTHER TEAM OUT TO REBID. I SAID "NO WAY". THE OTHER 7 BIDS WERE FAR LOWER AND MORE FLEXIBLE.

THE WINDOWS WERE NOT GREAT QUALITY, AND MANY HAD TO BE REPAIRED OR REPLACED. I WAS UNHAPPY WITH THE SALES PROCESS, THE SALESMEN SEEMED EXCESSIVELY SLICK. THE INSTALLERS WERE GREAT, AND THE SIDING JOB WENT VERY WELL. THEY ADDRESSED ANY COMPLAINT.

TOTALLY UNPROFESSIONAL, CALLED LATE AT NIGHT, WAS LATE FOR THE APPOINTMENT, NO COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SALES REP AND SALES MANAGER, NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, HIGH PRESSURE SALES EXPECTING IMMEDIATE AGREEMENT TO ESTIMATE/OFFER. I WAS CALLED A "LIAR" BY THE SALES MANAGER WHEN I CALLED TO REVOKE THE OFFER AND NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY.

THE SIDING LOOKS GREAT AND WE LOVE THE WINDOWS. WE WILL BE BUYING MORE REPLACEMENT WINDOWS IN THE NEAR FUTURE. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GUYS. THANKS AGAIN.

THE SALESMAN WAS A COMPLETE LIAR. I WAS TOLD THAT WE DID NOT HAVE TO REPLACE OUR AGING EGRESS WINDOW WITH A NEW ONE AND THAT A REGULAR DOUBLE HUNG WINDOW WOULD SUFFICE, WRONG! NEEDLESS TO SAY THE WORK, PUNCTUALITY, CLEANLINESS, PRICE, ETHICS ARE LOUSY!

SUGGEST YOU GIVE ANY WINDOW REPLACEMENT COMPANY ONE HOUR ONLY TO GIVE YOU A WRITTEN ESTIMATE AND A BUSINESS CARD. IF THEY CANNOT GIVE YOU A ESTIMATE AND ALL THEIR SALES PITCH IN ONE HOUR THEN THEY DONT NEED YOUR BUSINESS.

ORDERED WINDOW IN JULY. THEY SAID IT WOULD TAKE SIX TO EIGHT WEEKS. WE JUST RECEIVED WINDOW OCT. 31ST. THE COMPANY CALLED THURSDAY TO SET UP INSTALLATION AS MONDAY, NOV. 4TH. THAT DAY, THE INSTALLER CALLED AND SAID HE NEEDED TO PUSH BACK UNTIL TUESDAY AND THAT WAS FINE. ON MONDAY NIGHT, MY HUSBAND CALLED THE INSTALLER AT 9:30 AND SAID THAT HE WAS TAKING THE HARDWARE DOWN, AND COULD WE EXPECT THE NEXT DAY. THE INSTALLER SAID HE WAS FINISHING A JOB AND HIS PARTNER BROKE THEIR FINGER. HE ASKED TO PUSH BACK ANOTHER DAY. THE TUESDAY, I CALLED AT 6:40 AND ATTEMPTED TO CONFIRM THE APPT. THE INSTALLER SAID HE NEEDED TO FINISH A JOB AND PUSH BACK THE DATE. I ASKED FOR A REALISTIC TIME FRAME AND HE SAID MONDAY, NOV. 11TH.

THEY DAMAGED THE FASCIA AND FLASHING, AND THE ROOF TIMBERS ARE GETTING WET FROM RAIN. THEY'VE BEEN COMPLETELY UNRESPONSIVE TO MY CALLS.