Window World of New Hampshire

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THE STORY: On 10/31/12, Window World's sales rep came to our house, per my request, with catalog in hand. I was concerned when, in my opinion, he hastily measured the doors to be replaced, but I didn't question him because he was boasting about his background in construction. I selected a new interior door, storm door, hardware, colors and trim from the catalog. The estimated price was $3381. I prefer to pay for things up front, so I gave him a deposit check for $3000. He said the installation would take place in approximately 3 weeks. I wasn't in a hurry, and allowing for on-coming winter conditions, I figured it wouldn't happen until after Thanksgiving, because it would be necessary to wait for a good weather day. When I didn't hear anything, I figured I'd wait until after the December holidays to chase them. On 1/2/13, I got a call from a dispatcher asking for the installation to take place the following day 1/3/13 (brutally cold). There was no apology or acknowledgement of the 8 weeks that had passed since the order was placed. I was surprised, but accepted it as an understable oversight. The dispatcher might not have known what had happened. On 1/3/13, the subcontractor showed up on time. He off-loaded his equipment and set up the workspace and started to remove the interior trim when it struck him that things didn't look right. He measured the door opening and discovered that the new door was 3" too small. I asked whether the storm door was the correct size, to which he responded "what storm door?". He called Window World. They had forgotten to load the storm door on his truck, but it was also 3" too small. The sub said the measurement error was on the sales rep. A week later, I got a very reluctant apology from the sales rep who was more full of excuses than he was regret. I expressed my understanding that "mistakes happen", and asked how long it might be... he said 3 weeks. On 2/22/13, the same dispatcher called to set the next installation date. I confirmed the door sizing and swings with him. You'd think that conversation would have spawned an apology or acknowledgement of the previous error(s) and the time that had passed, but no. On 2/26/13, the same subcontractor came back. Before he began, we went over everything to make sure he had all that he was supposed to have; correct sizes, swings, hardware, trim and colors. It was all there and he did an excellent job. -- The balance due hadn't changed from the original estimate... I wrote a check for $381. So... it effectively took 4 MONTHS from date of order and deposit to final installation, when the quoted time was 3 weeks, or, to be generous, a max of 8 weeks given the measurement error. POSITIVE FEEDBACK: 1) The quality of the doors themselves is excellent. And they're made in the USA which is one of the reasons I hired Window World in the first place... I wanted to support local business AND national industry. 2) The final price did not deviate from the estimated price. 3) The quality of the subcontractor was excellent. He was courteous and polite, not only to us, but to his helper as well. The work was neat, orderly, and precise. Overall, the sub was very professional. NEGATIVE FEEDBACK: 1) Window World NEVER contacted me to apologize or to follow up. My husband and I have our own business. Customer relations are everything. I found it appalling that Window World itself never acknowledged the door size error, or the extraordinary amount of time it took to ultimately get the job done, or even to follow up to make sure we were satisfied with the installation. I don't need my hand held, and I'm tolerant, but I found the lack of customer service to be completely unacceptable from a business point of view. If I were a "normal" customer, I'd be furious! 2) Window World did not adequately compensate the subcontractor. When the subcontractor couldn't do the job the first time, due to Window World's errors, I asked him whether he'd be compensated for his wasted trip. [He travelled 250 miles (his own truck) and 5 hours round-trip just for our job that day, AND he was paying a helper.] He doubted Window World would pay, based on prior experience with similar problems (our job wasn't the first screw up), but he said he'd add the charge for that day when he invoiced for the actual installation. I gave him my email address and asked him to let me know what happened. He wrote and said he asked for only $35... and they wouldn't pay it! This DOES infuriate me! Not paying for a sub's expenses, when a screw up is the principal's fault, isn't right. BOTTOM LINE: For me to write a review of any kind is highly irregular. I do not participate in social media. This is literally my first public review, which is a testament to how strongly I feel about Window World of NH's service. I chose Angie's List, in hope's that it would be construed to be an objective review. In my opinion, positive feedback is more motivating than negative, and I usually communicate positive feedback directly. In this situation, however, the negative seems to outweigh the positive. At the very least, I feel potential consumers should know what happened to us, so they have the opportunity to make their own choices as to whether to hire the services of Window World of NH.

They gave me an estimate and I signed the front page of the contract. They didn't tell me that there was information on the back of the page, which upset me when I realized that later. They were suppose to come between 8-10. At 9:30 I said to have them call me because I was not at home and needed to know when to be there. I was told that was no problem. I called after 10, and they just kind of put me off. Finally at 12, the guy called me. He said the job wasn't given to him until 9am, and he didn't have everything he needed. I called them and asked why they hired someone to do it that didn't have the right materials and tools. I told them that I wasted my morning and did not want to keep spending my day waiting. They said they could come on Saturday, but I said at this point I just wanted to cancel. First she was quite rude and said that the back of the page that I signed obligated me and they would not be refunding my money. However, they did eventually refund the charges and sent me a letter of apology.