Response from Awnings by Bigley & Hogshire
Wow, tough review. It is always difficult to recall the details of jobs performed 7 months ago (the project was actually completed 2 months earlier than the date the customer provided), but this one does stick out in our memory. The project was not awnings, but actually blackout roller shades. It did take a few weeks longer than we would have anticipated due to the fabric choice, and product combination. Most roller shades are made with fabrics that do not fray when cut, but the customers fabric choice does fray so the project took more time in engineering to determine that the roll tube was large enough to handle the hemmed fabric without creating ripples, but small enough to remain attractive. Then we had to source these nonstandard parts. We are most pleased with the quality grade, which shows that our extra production/engineering time paid off in a top quality product. This is most important to our company as we anticipate our products should give more than ten years of high quality and good looking performance. This typically makes a few extra weeks of production acceptable. If a customer has a specific timeline we need to meet, (like a party) we go the extra mile to hit the day. We were not made aware of any specific timeline on this project, but we can only assume that their expectations were not properly set by our representatives. The grade on pricing is difficult to understand. We provide pricing upfront, and only proceed with orders with customer approval. I am certain that the customer would not have purchased the product from us if the pricing was unfair, or if they had a lower price from someone on the same product. Custom made products of top quality materials do cost more than off the shelf plastic shades from the hardware store. Of course they last much longer too. In the end, we can learn from the experience, continue to work on our communication, and continue to make top quality products that outperform others in the industry. We are confident that rushing poorly engineered products into the marketplace to make them fast and cheap is not the way to go. There are too many products made overseas, and locally that can fill that low end market. As for us, we will stick with quality manufacturing right here in Virginia that stands the test of time. That is what we appreciate as consumers, and that is what we commit to for our customers. This methodology has helped us develop our 116 year track record, with still double digit growth year after year. We install well more than 1000 awning products per year.