Joyce Factory Direct of Saint Louis

The patio itself is fine but the lighting has been a nightmare from day 1. We specifically told Marty that we would only do lighting if the covers were flush with the ground to avoid a tripping hazard since we have very small children. Instead they installed metal cover that stuck up about 3 inches and were open to the elements so the transformer blew with the first rain. The transformer that is installed in our basement ceiling instead of outside - a complete fire hazard as told to me by the electrician they contracted to install it! That was FOUR YEARS ago. Since then I have called and called and worked with several different individuals - the latest Misti - who all have told me they are responsible for fixing the problem but there is one excuse after another as to why it hasn’t been fixed. That is when they call you back at all which is rare. Marty told us multiple times during his sales pitch that you could speak to the owner at any time but when I asked to I was told he does not sit down and take time to talk with customers. The latest I’ve been told is they aren’t taking any service calls right now because they are having cash flow issues. So I would warn anyone thinking of using them not to. They will take your money and you won’t see them again - even when they openly admit they performed sub standard work and need to fix it.

A company to be avoided! Steve’s Factory Direct (or by its previous name - Joyce Factory Direct) (Marty Toma, salesman; Josh Goss, carpenter; Misti Webb, construction co-ordinator; Dave Dabkus, carpenter; Jeff Rosa, roofer/carpenter; and Steve Townzen, owner) This is the worst company we have ever experienced. False promises, poor workmanship, and actual damage to our home. They should be banned from operation in the St. Louis area. We signed the contract with Steve’s Factory Direct/Joyce Factory Direct on April 1st, 2016. It has taken 16 months to tear down our old deck and construct a new medium sized deck and screen room. A job that should have taken no more than one month, still drags on. First of all, let me say that we were very impressed with Marty Toma’s, (Steve’s Factory Direct/Joyce Factory Direct’s salesman) presentation for their cedar screen rooms, as he promised the highest quality material, Canadian western cedar, a select Townzen cut, along with great workmanship to produce a top of the line new deck and screen room. We were so swayed with his promise of a superior product that we cancelled a contract we had just entered into the evening before with Integrity Homes’ Peter Kemph. Even though we had given Peter a deposit of $10,000, we decided that we wanted the best product and were willing to pay the additional $5,000 Joyce Factory Direct was charging. Let that establish the parameters of how utterly disappointed we are with their performance and workmanship on our project. And still, after 16 months, we have only a partially completed inferior deck and screen room. The following is a list of List of Grievances against Steve’s Factory Direct/Joyce Factory Direct – Items to repair, replace, or complete. It is by no means a complete list, but does cover the worst of the experiences: They did not take out the necessary building permits with St. Louis County, and thus County shut down the job for about one month until all plans were reviewed, modified, and finally approved. They did not follow the approved plans, as well as verbal agreements, in construction. Both the size of the screen room/deck and the roof height/pitch were incorrect and had to be corrected. They changed carpenter contractors several times because of poor performance or not showing up for work, at all. There was extensive water damage to our great room and family room below when they left a construction area uncovered during a heavy rainstorm. It took months for them to repair it. When the screen room roof was finally finished, it leaked so badly that it had to be entirely torn off and re-roofed. They made a tremendous mess in our yard, which if the project were completed on time would not have been such an issue, but now after 16 months, it is an issue. The grass has died under their piles of lumber, there are buckets, a wheel barrow, bags of cement, soda bottles and cans, cigarette butts, and general debris. Additionally, there is still old wood and concrete footings from the old deck needing to be disposed of. I believe Joyce/Steve Townzen tried to take on a project that they were not staffed or qualified to handle. Josh Goss tried to bluff his way through it, but his inexperience damaged, and continues to damage our home. As retired seniors, this project has taken a toll on our peace of mind and sense of well-being. Roger has had several strokes in the last three years, and this whole experience with Steve’s Factory Direct/Joyce Factory Direct has been particularly stressful and disturbing to him. We are now seeking to terminate the contract with Steve Townzen so I can hire reliable competent contractors experienced with contemporary screen rooms, and vaulted roof lines. Thanks for listening to our contractor disaster. I offer this saga as both a way of documenting our experience for possible legal action and as a means to warn other home owners about this company, Steve’s Factory Direct or its previous name, Joyce Factory Direct.

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DO NOT USE THIS BUSINESS!! Read the other reviews that speak about poor work, inability to keep promises, and bad professionalism; My experience was the same.

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All of the windows in our home were at least 80 years old, and most of them were inoperable. They'd been painted shut and/or were nonfunctional. We wanted a home where we could open the windows and enjoy the neighborhood! Also, since our house is so old, we might have lead paint. With those factors in mind, we really wanted someone who was careful, precise and professional to replace our windows. Joyce was all of those things. Joyce creates custom windows for every order, so we were comfortable knowing that our unique window sizes wouldn't be a problem. It took about 4-5 weeks from the date of order for the windows to be delivered to the St. Louis location. Once the windows arrived, they promptly scheduled a 2-day window when we would be available for installation. Since we both work, they were flexible in working on the project without us there all day. Our next door neighbor is a contractor, and he watched the whole process. He said they were some of the best installers he'd ever seen. He referred them to a friend of his in need of new windows. The windows definitely weren't cheap, but I think they'll pay off in the long term with energy savings and with the joy of having functional windows.

We called Joyce to have them come out and give us an estimate for three windows and a patio door. The salesperson who came was definitely nice, and gave us a lot of good information in regards to windows (this is the reason we gave them a "B" in professionalism). However, he was truly a salesperson trying to make a sale. Once we finished asking him several questions he then drew up a quote on a blank sheet of notebook paper what the cost would be to do all of the items requested. That amount was $4889. We had advised the salesperson that we were getting several quotes and then he reduced the price two more times; the first being $4074, then all the way down to $3100. Kind of suspicious to me that he reduced the price almost $1800 in the matter of 15 minutes... The problems I have are this...first of all, he never gave us a written up estimate on company forms (all the other companies we interviewed did). Second, once the salesperson realized we were not going to give in and just purchase his product, he packed his bags and left. I cannot and will not be pressured into making a deal like this; it is truly unacceptable. Several days later, we received several calls from Joyce asking if they could come back out and speak with us again - one was from the CEO, remembering correctly (he advised he did not like the price that was quoted). We politely declined.

Requested windows estimate at Belleville Home Show & took their product flyers. Salesman "Bob"was very chatty about all things not window related & provided estimate of 4,580 - 549 volume discount for four double hung windows, on plain sheet of paper. No product materials, contract, warranty, or other company or other information was. He tries emphatically to explain how I could benefit by financing. I told him multiple times that I was paying cash. He asked what I thought & I said that I didn't think so. So, he calls someone & they said 2,652, but that was good today only & he got up & began packing his demo kits. They called me back 3 times in 4 days to see if I'd made a decision. On last call, they wanted to send out VP of Sales "Marty" to see if he could offer better price. Appt was set for Fri, but I had emergency come up, so I called them back to reschedule to Sat. No call, no show. After 2 hours, I called sales guy & he said he would send me "Marty's" info directly. No info, no text, no call. I called them Monday & they said person who rescheduled for Sat appt "overstepped their authority". I said that was NOT my problem & that was unprofessional & was taking them out if the running. He immediately hung up on me. BBB shows they have numerous complaints. BUYER BEWARE!!!

July 15 2013 ? Hired Joyce Factory Direct. We put 20% down. We were told the project would start in 3 ? 4 weeks and would take no more than 3 to 4 weeks to complete. In all we decided to have Joyce Factory Direct replace all of our home?s windows (17 of them), two exterior doors with storm doors, roof, siding, and gutters. (Logan) come out to the house to take measurements. Logan was only at our house for 20 min and stated that he had what he needed. We got a call the next day from Logan in forming us he needed to come back out because his girlfriend?s kid spilled something all over his measurements. This time Logan came out with someone and was only at our house for 5 min and said he had what he needed. It was not until August 7th that Shane notified us that our windows and doors had been ordered. August 20th, we attempted to contact Joyce for an update on the schedule for the install so that we could coordinate our work schedules to have the work done. Messages were left because no one answered the phone. After not getting a response, we sent e-mails to the various individuals that Shane identified as those that we needed to be in contact with. We still did not get any response. August 26th we still had not received any communication from Joyce so I contacted Shane again and was told that he would have Matt get back with us, to which he did the following day. He apologized for the delay and said that materials were scheduled to come in either on this week?s truck or perhaps next weeks. He gave me his number for direct contact. August 27th ? We receive a text message from Shane stating the front door we ordered in steel is ?no longer available? and so they are substituting a fiberglass door instead. September 3rd Colton came to our home to measure the roof and to get a ?feel for the job ahead of him?. September 10th ? Colton came to the house early in the morning to let us know that the dumpster would be delivered and marked where the dumpster should go. Later that day the roofing materials showed up. September 12th ? Colton and his team come to start work on the roof. Saturday September 14th ? Colton finished our roof. Also on this day we meet Dave. Dave is the installer for our windows. Dave starts work on replacing our windows. It turns out that 90% of the measurements Logan had taken were not correct. This along with the fact that our house was built in 1956 made for a difficult install. They completed the work on September 20th. September 21st ? Colton returns to the house to start installing the siding. September 23rd ? Siding was completed. September 24th ? We get a message from Matt that the doors still are not in and that they have put a rush on them. September 27th ? Gutters are installed. We also get a call from Matt stating that the doors still are not in but that he is going to travel to Ohio to pick up the doors himself and do the install on October 2nd. October 6th ? Dave comes out to install the 2 doors ordered. Once again incorrect measurements were taken thus requiring them to modify entry ways to accommodate the doors ordered. In addition they had to remove the new siding from around the back doorway in order to install the door causing even further delay in completing the project. Another issue that arose was with the front door. We were told by Shane that the front door came with a peephole. When the doors arrived, low and behold the front door did not have a peephole. The contract we had did not specify a peephole because we were told that it was standard on that door. This caused Dave to have to go a purchase a peephole and install it. Once again further delaying the project. October 6th - I go up into the attic to check the roof vent that we had Joyce install and found that only one side had been cut. We were told that 2in get cut on each side of the roof so we called Colton and he came out and cut the other side. He reused the shingles that he pulled off. I asked him if this would be an issue and he assured me that it would not. October 7th ? Dave returns to attempt to complete the job. He still needed to install the storm doors, finish the install of the doors, and do a bit of drywall work that was still from when he installed and framed two of the windows. Once again issues presented themselves quickly. The front storm door was to be a full view door but the screen had a bar through the middle of it. The back storm door was to have a sliding window in it but did not. Steve the owner came out and stated that what we got is what was ordered but may have not been what was discussed with Shane. After going back and forth with him, he stated he really did not owe us anything and that if he were to be paid on the ?process? vs the ?final result? he would never be paid. He however proposed that he would take some money off of the balance due and we could keep the doors. Dave installed the front door but the back door like everything else in this project was ordered in the wrong size so mis-measured that there was no way for Dave to modify it to work. Even though the contract states payment is due upon completion of the project, they wanted payment in full and we were told they would put a rush on the new door. (It took 7 weeks to get the first order) I decided to short the payment to make them have some ?skin? in the game to attempt to insure they would return and install our door. Nov. 11 2013 - After still not receiving any information about the "rushed" storm door that we still are waiting to have installed, we contact Joyce Factory Direct only to be told by Matt that he checked on it and that the door was just being manufactured. (about 5 weeks since they rushed it). Nov. 17, 2013 - a small storm came through our area and blew off the ridge cap shingles. Several shingles hit our cars damaging them. I called both Joyce Factory Direct and the installer that originally came out. The installer answered and came out the next day to do the repair to the roof however once again Joyce has not responded. In checking with the BBB site there are now 8 complaints against them and we have just added ours now making the complaint count 9. I will keep this posted as to what happens.... Dec. 4 2013 - Joyce Factory Direct did not respond to the BBB's first attempt to contact them. (They had until Dec 3rd to respond.) The BBB has sent them a 2nd note and have given them now until the 18th to respond. As of this date we still do not have the storm door installed.

I am removing me recommendation until they come to correct the errors on the deck. I choose them because they stated they would stand behind the deck. I have called 3 people in the organization, the last one is the boss. I did learn that if they are in a rush to finish, just tell contractors to come back. They would probably have to in the long run. Do you wonder what I am waiting for? They rushed to put the railing on and in their speed they shot the names straight through. That is a safety consideration that must be fixed. The great thing about this deck is the fact that no wood touches the ground. There are cement pilings in the ground and then metal bracket and then wood. Well there will be when they remove the temporary wooden post from the ground. I still have hope that they will get the work done. My deck looks great. But service is critical and I am sadly still waiting.

We asked for financing and they had some banks through which they wanted to get us financing. These people made me sign the contract and did not contact me till 4 days to talk about financing. Then they say that we are not qualified (by the way we have good credit) and when wanted to pay by cash. I had enough cash to pay for the project but i wanted to go with financing and so they said cancel the contract. They were not even concerned that iam cancelling they said that they were happy to do it. And its been more than a week they did not send back my deposit check. They claim that it takes two weeks. I got a call yesterday from some one in this company and when i gave them this feed back he claims that they never treat a customer like this. Wanted to let you guys know. I will not get any work done with these people again in my future.