Buyer beware of Sunrise windows and doors. Make sure the salesman writes down every last word he says to you,and check the contract thouroughly that he did write down exactly what was discussed.Here is my story:
When I ordered my door from their salesman Ray, I thought I was getting the item we had picked out of one of his books. But, for some strange reason, he wrote down the wrong door on the contract and I recieved a door that was over 4 1/2 inches too small for my opening. When I went in to talk to George about it he told me I recieved what was written on the contract and that I should be more carefull what I sign. Why would I order a door that was that much too small, and why would a salesman even sell a customer something that wasn't right for them I ask.
Well, I showed George the door I thought I was getting in the sales book and after some convincing, he relented and re-ordered the right one for me ...for an extra $400. I originally ordered the door on July 28th 2011 and it was finally installed on Dec 5th 2011...a ridiculously long time but I got the right door and I thought my troubles were over...well they were just beginning.
One week after the door was installed, I noticed a few problems with it, the most serious being that the sidelite would bind on the divider post when it was opened and closed. The divider post was bent. I sent an e-mail to the service dept and waited for a reply. When I hadn't heard anything by the middle of Jan 2012, I called and set up an appointment for Jan 20th. I waited all day for the service man to show up and at 3:00 I called to find out what happenned and set up another appointment for Feb 3rd.
On Feb 3rd the bent post on my door was repaired with a 1/2" x 1/2" piece of stick jammed between the window frame and door post. REALLY! This "brace " as they like to refer to it, was bending from the strain and it interfered with the operation of the blind mechanism in the window. I had a building inspector inspect the door and in his report he detailed that the door was improperly installed and should be removed and reshimmed correctly.
I again met with George to tell him I was not satisfied with their repair they had done, and I presented him with the inspectors report. He informed me that this has been a problem with these doors for some time and that he was working on an experimental repair that would be better, but I would have to wait a few weeks longer. This was the middle of Feb.
I waited till the middle of March to call and find out how they were progressing, and George told me it would take a few weeks longer. At this point I was fed up with waiting for them, especially for an unproven experimental repair, so on Mar 19th I asked them to come remove the door and give me my money back.
Well, that got me a nasty e-mail from the GM; suspiciously written in George-like language and suspiciously sent from George's e-mail address. This e-mail states that they did their best to satisfy me and that I refused their repairs,and that the bowing of door frames is not a warrantied item anyway. They also wrote that building inspectors are not qualified to inspect door installations, and they would come out and do their own inspection, but I would have to pay $125 up front, and if in their opinion there was nothing wrong,I would not get that back. It sounds like they have been aware of this door post bowing problem for some time, but they still sell these units to unsuspecting customers and then try to get away with mickey mouse repairs on them.
There are other issues with this unit that I have not written here; like the blinds not operating properly and the window lite frosting up when it got cold, but I just wanted to detail the worst.
It's easy for a company to have good customer service when things go right. It's on the hopefully rare ocassions when something goes wrong that a person really finds out where a company stands on customer service, satisfaction, and commitment to quality. Sunrise has failed on all counts in my situation and I will be telling anyone and everyone to stay clear of them.I have never been treated as unprofessionally as I have by the people at Sunrise.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $3,200.00
- Company Response
As with all reviews on the web site most reviews can be manipulated by the company or the customer, as the same can be said about Homestars............Gary Peters below was removed after Sunrise Windows complained that his review was not associated with Sunrise Windows so no resolution could be achieved to the regret of Homestars it was removed as they need reviews to validate their site..............Sadro Poles review is complete nonsense...............he ordered a standard size door with sidelite which was to replace his existing window and do to the door being standard it would not fit exactly and there would be a 4-5 inch difference that would be filled in and capped,which was explained and written on the contract of Mr Poles.............upon installation Mr Poles do not like the look of the fill-in and complained at the office to George who told him he would have to order custom size doors to make fit exactly as the window which cost more and he had to wait longer for as they are not in stock products............Mr Poles standard doors were returned and he paid the difference for his custom doors...............after the custom door was installed finally,Mr Poles came back to the office wanting to return the door and get is refund as he felt the door did not let in enough light in the house and that salesman talked him into it even know the salesman recommended a patio door............his return was declined as the door was a custom order and he should of knew about the amount of light when the first door was installed............Mr Poles was not happy that his refund was declined,after that Mr Poles continued to put various service requests and complaints regarding the door in hopes the door would be taken back including one from a home-inspector who was not certified by the home-inspector association and upon checking his experience which was provided by Mr Poles the inspector had little to no experience in window and door installations.............Sunrise Windows went to his house to review and correct any complaints about the product or installation of the product and also invited Mr Poles unqualified inspector to be present who did not show up to the service meeting............nothing was found defective upon the inspection and Mr Poles service call was charged to him............Mr Poles also put in a BBB complaint that was dismissed/declined regarding the return............the Homestars complaint is false and has no merit other then to try to deface Sunrise Windows.