Great windows but poor installation and service
We had our windows changed by Brookstone Windows and Doors.
In June 2021 we had a sales representative in our home. He evaluated all of our windows and said that except the three windows in the basement, all would need to be changed. We accepted the quote and he promised to have the installation by the end of August or September. The contract contained 15 openings with various sizes and types of windows, including a big front window with 3 panels and an arch top for $36,000.
Unfortunately there was a little delay and they installed most of our windows by October 14th. The front window still hadn't arrived by this time, so we had to pay for the rest and wait for that to be installed. It finally arrived and got installed on November 1st, when we paid the remaining amount.
We have mixed feelings about the whole process. I'll start with the positive things:
- We like the windows, they seem to be good quality
- The installation went relatively well, the installers were nice and friendly and addressed our questions, they also cleaned up pretty well after their job (more on this a bit later)
- They seem to have a nice lifetime warranty
- I wrote an email to the CEO of the company and he called me back to address our problems
Unfortunately we had some things that caused a lot of frustration:
- After the first set of windows were installed, we realized that for some windows we lost glass surface. The frame itself got wider and as a result we ended up with darker rooms. It would have been nice to communicate this with us before we signed the contract. Also, when I brought this up with our project manager, she assured me that she'll take care of it. She never called back to address this and when I did call her, she told me that they cannot do anything about this and quickly changed to discuss how I'm going to pay.
- To install the huge front window, they only sent two people, they struggled a lot to lift that heavy unit in place, damaging it in the process (to be honest I don't know if they did it or it came with the damage but I assume the scratched were created when they dragged it over the roof)
- After a week or so we noticed a brown spot in the corner of the front window, a leak. First they sent the same person who did the touch-ups on our other windows previously, who did some investigation and added some extra sealing. After a couple of weeks, we observed that the spot was growing. They sent back the crew who installed the windows and they added some more sealing. After another couple of weeks the spot was still growing. The crew came back again, opened up the trim and realized that there was not enough foam added to the inside which resulted in a condensation. They tried to fix it and for some days the situation was improving, the wet spot started to shrink. After this we painted the trim and thought that all is fine but unfortunately the brown spot is coming back again. Fortunately they agreed to fix it and will carry out a proposed solution in the coming week.
- A couple of weeks after the installation Brookstone called us and said they would like to come back for a quality inspection. I mentioned these problems but they did not seem to care, the person didn't even look at the scratches I mentioned above. This was not a quality inspection but an opportunity to sell us or our friends and neighbours more windows. We said that we didn't change the windows in the basement because at the initial assessment they were deemed to be fine. We agreed to have another sales person come and inspect them again. This time we were told that two out of the three basement windows are in bad shape and need to be changed... And we received a quote. We got really disappointed to learn this and also, as we used a government rebate (or at least tried to, did all the process but still waiting for any kind of feedback from the government) for the windows, we would now not be able to use them for the basement windows
- Approximate cost of services:
- $36,000.00