Since writing this review, several things have happened:
1) I am being threatened with a lawsuit by the owner of the company, Jerry Griffin, because of the review and given a few days to take it down, "or else." Yes, he put it in an email to me and I'm willing to publish it.
2) The owner of the company has replied to my review listing my full name and place of residence, which is personal information and should be confidential. I am pretty certain that violates Yelp guidelines. I don't mind my name being out there but my address has nothing to do with this and could put me, a female, in a security risk position.
So here is my edited review:
1) After much haggling and with a third party intermediary, the windows were installed at the price originally agreed upon. In a separate agreement directly with the installer I chose to have additional work done. I paid the installer directly.
2) The install went well and Emerson and the guys at Covenant Glass (subcontractor) were professional, courteous and did outstanding work. I would recommend them in a heartbeat. They are a subcontractor and, as far as I know, are not beholden to Discount Windows and Doors.
3) The windows work well and as advertised.
And to rebut the owner's comments to my original posting:
My issue with the company was not that they did not come to measure the window openings before hand, but that they had one subcontractor come and measure the window openings before purchase then changed installation subcontractors and gave us a much higher invoice for installation once the windows came in. And this price increase was done without the second installer coming to see the condition of the window opening, etc.
The second subcontractor first gave a price by mistake. We can live with that. Then gave another price that was still higher than the original, which was unacceptable. After many discussions with an intermediary the windows went in at the originally agreed upon price. Again, I chose to have additional work done so I created a separate agreement with the subcontractor and paid him directly.
The way that Jerry treated us during the dispute was unprofessional, in my view. Over the phone in one sentence he quoted us three different prices for the install, then said it was his right and "industry standard" to increase the price. That was my biggest complaint and the thing that set me over the edge. He was unwilling to abide by the original price quoted for the install. If he has nothing to do with the install and it's a contract between the installer and the homeowner then he should not be providing a quote at all.
I also take issue with his publishing my home address. There has got to be a violation in there somewhere and if push comes to shove I'm sure there is an attorney out there who will help me get some money off him if I really want to go that route. I don't really want to do that but if I am pushed I will definitely push back.
Would I recommend anyone buy anything from Discount Windows and Doors? Absolutely not. You can get the same windows elsewhere without the hassle. Make sure you call Emerson at Covenant Glass to do the install.
My best advice is to get everything in writing. Don't pay 100% up front. And have your attorney take a look at the contracts. It's worth it in the long run.
The fact that the owner of Discount Windows and Doors is willing to take legal action because of a negative review (of which there are several about his company here on Yelp but he chose to single me out specifically) is telling.
The funny thing is that prior to his making a to do about this review, I would guess only a handful of people would even take the time to look at it. Since he chose to escalate many many more people have taken a look to see what the hubbub is all about.
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I can only hope that people will not be like me and actually check the Yelp reviews BEFORE choosing to do business with Discount Windows & Doors. Jerry talks a good game but you have to listen closely to what he says because he will use many words in an attempt to bamboozle you.
Long story short we bought windows from them and when it came time to install they jacked the price of installation 40% and claimed it was "industry standard" and they had the right to do so.
And here's the thing: They increased the install price WITHOUT EVEN COMING TO OUR HOME TO INSPECT THE WINDOWS.
Jerry went so far as to say that we could find another installer to put the windows in for us. Well, here's something: I bought the windows with the installation, not just the windows. My contract is with him and he tried to push it off on the installer.
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. read more