Safe-way Door installed a complete two-bay garage door in my home in late 2010. Less than five…read moreyears later one of the garage door springs broke, rendering the door inoperable and stuck in the closed position. This happened late on a Friday night, with my vehicle trapped inside of the garage.
I called the "24-hour emergency" number listed on a sticker that was affixed to my garage door. The number rang to their office and voice-mail picked up. The message gave my the newest 24-hour emergency number, which rang directly to the manager's cell phone.
The manager, Aaron Metzger, let his phone go to voice-mail, which is understandable since it was 11:00pm on Friday night. I advised that I was interested in have my garage door fixed sometime over the weekend. Aaron returned my call the following morning, but I missed the initial call. I attempted to call him two more times on Saturday, leaving voice-mails both times. Neither of my calls were returned.
On Monday morning I called the general office number and spoke with Deb. I explained that Aaron had never called me back regarding my spring replacement request. Her response was not "oh I'm sorry to hear that" or any other typical professional response one would expect. She simply said "Well he's right here now if you want to talk with him", implying that he was sitting right next to her when she answered the phone. I told her that I did, and she put me on hold.
I then waited on hold for some time while until Aaron, who was previously just "right here" could answer the phone. When he finally did pick up, I explained who I was and asked why he had never called me back. His response was that he's been busy since his wife had to go the hospital. I told him that was totally understandable, even though I didn't believe his excuse.
In order to believe Aaron's story, when he called me on Saturday morning his wife was presumably fine. But a couple hours later when I called back she wasn't fine. Then on Monday morning she made a dramatic recovery, which allowed Aaron to resume his duties at work. Then Aaron would have neglected to tell Deb the secretary of his wife's illness; who would have then told dissatisfied customers that he there was a private matter that required his attention at home. And finally, I wouldn't have been on hold so long if he were "right there" next to Deb.
Moving forward, I then explained to Aaron that I needed my garage door springs replaced. I also explained that his company did the installation, not five years before, and asked if there was a warranty on the springs. Aaron advised that the warranty on the springs was three years, so it would not be covered under warranty. He advised that they could replace both springs for $190. No discount was offered for being the original owner of a door they installed or having not called me back after calling the emergency number. I politely told him no thank you, and that I would call another company to do the work.
Bottom Line:
Safe-way door has terrible "service after the sale". If you need a garage door installed I would think twice before hiring them. The manager is in over his head, and has no idea how to treat customers right. He likely lied about his wife being in the hospital, rather than being blamed for dropping the ball on customer service. The general public will never know the truth, but hopefully the company's owner will read this review and make a few inquiries.
As for the Safe-Way product, we have one car that gets parked inside of the garage and a work vehicle that does not. 4 1/2 years is the lifespan of spring-steel? I've owned two other homes and have never had the springs break, let alone ones that were only 4 1/2 years old.
On the other end of the customer service spectrum is Levy and Sons of Fort Wayne. I called them directly after my experience with Safe-Way. The woman who answered the phone was very professional and accommodating. I will write a full review on them under their company's review section.
To sum up Levy and Sons, they told me that they could come out until Thursday. When I explained that my truck was trapped inside of my garage, she immediately called out to the crews and explained this to them. She then said they would squeeze me in today, which thoroughly impressed me. I then mentioned that I had learned of their business on Angie's list, and she took an additional 10% off of the price. The total price will be $157 for two springs to be replaced, opposed to the $190 that Safe-Way quoted. Pay attention Safe-Way, this is how you build customer loyalty!
