Let me start off by saying I hate having to leave negative reviews. But, I believe in warning others when I've had a poor experience, so they don't have to endure the same poor experience. Read the 1- and 2-star reviews--they are on-par with the service we received. I wish I had read these reviews first.
We purchased a home last year that has 2 garage doors, one double, one single. The previous owners never had an opener installed on the single door, and we needed one installed. After spending hours researching products, I started calling different local garage door companies and discussing specific Liftmaster brand models and pricing. We first called in late summer (July-ish) but ended up needing to postpone getting the garage door installed. I called around again for quotes in October, including some Costco-associated dealers. The most affordable Dealer was $625 (for an 8ft door) with a 10% rebate (Costco cash card), so basically $563 out-of-pocket expense for a Liftmaster belt-drive with 2 remotes and a keypad--installed. Brown's had previously quoted me $425 for a chain-drive Liftmaster product and no keypad, which was fine because our other unit was a chain-drive, and we already had the keypad. My husband called in October to verify the quote and schedule a time for installation. He was told they weren't at the office the first time he called, and they would get back to us. We waited, and the call never came, so we called the following Monday. It was confirmed that $425 was the price. No discussion of brands or models took place because we were just calling to verify the previous quote in which the brand and model were discussed at length.
Installation was scheduled for a Monday. Brandon was late, so I called the office (his mom), and she said he was still on his way. When he arrived, he didn't even know what product he was installing. He asked, and I showed him what we currently had and said a similar one, meaning a different model but the same brand--as I'd discussed with his mom. He said he had something similar in his van, but it wasn't for an 8ft door and would need to come back. He rescheduled for Wed. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there because of a previously scheduled appointment. My husband made time to be there, and I told him to make sure it was the same brand we were quoted, Liftmaster. (I was worried after Brandon said he didn't have the rail for an 8ft door and would need to get an extension piece, which should not have been an issue as the rail should have been a single piece.) My husband double-checked with Brandon when he arrived and was told it was the same thing. When I got home from my appointment, I was shocked to find a Chamberlin product with a multi-piece rail installed. Keep in mind I had done my research and already knew the same company manufactured Chamberlin and Liftmaster. But, I specifically wanted 1) a unit that matched my existing unit, 2) had a single 8ft rail--not a multi-piece rail, and 3) had a remote with multiple buttons so we could open both doors with all of our remotes. Not only was the brand something I could have bought at Home Depot for under $140, but we were charged $75 more than our quote! My husband was told the extra charge was for the 8ft rail, which was total BS considering the rail came in pieces. The next day I found out the remote only had one button, which meant my husband still had to get out of his car to close the other garage door every time he pulled in/out for work. I was furious.
After two phone calls to "make things right," we ended up having to pay another $80 ($155 extra and $580 total) for the unit we were quoted $425. I wish we had never gone with Brown's. Not only would we have a better unit (belt-drive), but we would have less overall out-of-pocket expense for it and wouldn't have been bait-and-switched. I guess I'm lucky, though; at least they came back, took the other big box store unit out, and replaced it with the one we were promised the first time. It sounds like others weren't so lucky. The entire experience was awful. The way things went down was very deceptive, and I will never do business with Brown's again. In fact, I would advise everyone to stay far away. If you're a member, go with a Costco-recommended dealer. You'll get a better deal, a better product, and likely a more professional encounter. read more