Universalwindowsdirect

Universal Windows Direct – Columbus, OH

Day 1 – 7/25/2022 – The crew showed up four hours late past their arrival time indicated from a phone call the previous day and was only on site for 90 minutes. During that 90 minutes they were able to incorrectly install two windows while the entire team argued with each other. I heard several of them cursing at each other and I have a video of them throwing their hands up at each other and yelling at one another. They ended up leaving without an explanation and we were left with a disassembled house, ready for them to install windows. I sent an email to their district manager and never got a reply (email #1).

Day 2 – 7/26/2022 – New crew (2nd crew) showed up and they were able to fix the two windows from the previous days installation and install about 26 more windows out of the 32 required for the house. The crew shattered around 6 windows and left glass all around the property. This crew left messes everywhere around the house and inside of it. I also saw them standing and sitting on my dryer which cause the top lid to dent in a few places. I spent two hours cleaning up all the broken glass and metal everywhere on the property. I also found three screens laying on the ground, in the rain, around the outside of the house. Again, the crew left and didn't tell anyone if they were coming back again. I ended up speaking with the Chicago supervisor and they would pass my info on to the local supervisor.

Day 3 – 7/27/2022 – No Show and No call to complete installation, house is still taken apart to allow window installation. Email sent to local supervisor (email #2), no response.

Day 4 – 7/28/2022 – No Show and No call to complete installation, house is still taken apart to allow window installation. Email sent to local supervisor (email #3), no response.

Day 5 – 7/29/2022 – New crew (3rd Crew) shows up and notices the previous two crews did not remove the old window frames and did not put insulation around parts of the windows. They spent the full day cutting out the old window metal frames, while the windows were installed already, and insulated everything around the windows. My Sunroom was completely covered in metal shavings; all my plants had it in their soil, the entirety of my furniture was covered, and the carpet was covered. They used a circular saw to cut the frames out of the windows and there was metal everywhere. It took me over two hours to vacuum everything up and there is still metal in various places. I had to clean it up, and not wait for them to return to do it themselves, so my dog could walk through without getting metal in their paws. They also fixed a few windows that were also not installed correctly. They noted that there was a completely damaged frame that needed to be replaced and several screens that needed to be repaired. I again sent an email to the supervisor (Tim) of the local area documenting these findings and again got no response. At this point I called to see when they would be coming back out to finish the install and they didn't have a date in mind. Email sent to local supervisor to give them an update on what transpired today (email #4), no response.

Day 6 – 10 – 7/30-8/3/2022 – The "Good" crew couldn't come back to finish the outside installation of the flashing due to scheduling issues.

Day 11 – 8/4/2022 – The good crew showed up around 2 PM, put on 4 external window treatments and left for the day. No mention if they will be back for installing the remaining flashing that's needed on more than half the windows. Email (#5) again sent to the supervisor of the local area (Tim) without a response. At this point there is only external work needed for the window installation and repairs done to the windows. I don't know if they are not taking this install seriously or are just a lazy company that doesn't want to do any work after they already have your money. That's the bad thing about paying up front, there is no expectation of quality or timeliness for install.

Day 12 – 8/5/2022 – The good crew showed up this morning around 9 to complete the flashings around the windows. They did not bring the required trim for the quarter round window in one of the bedrooms and said it should have been ordered when the window order was placed. They did not have an estimate on when that should be completed. The crew left at 4PM, left most of their equipment around the house as they said they would be back on Monday – 8/8/2022 to finish the flashing for the fourth time. Yet to be completed: 7 windows (exterior flashing), 1 Window frame replacement, 1 quarter round window flashing, inside and out, 5 screen repairs, dryer dent repair.

Day 13 & 14 – No show from the install crew

Day 15 – 8/8/2022 – A single person crew was at the house for 9 hours and completed all but one of the flashings – I sent an email to Tim, regional director in Columbus, OH, to see what the next steps were for the broken dryer, damaged window frame, and broken glass on the quarter round window. No response for two days.

Day 16 – 8/9/2022 – The same guy showed up this morning to finish the final window – We went through the house and identified all the damaged screens and damaged items above. He didn't have an idea about what the time frame would be for the repairs, so I again emailed Tim and again, no response. I also sent photos within the email all the debris around the house, all of the tools still laying around this house, and all of the metal shavings that we couldn't clean up. I have over 8 hours of cleaning up their mess already and there is still a ton of metal shavings around the house.

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY! We met with the sales person, who sat in our kitchen and lied to us from the beginning. This will be a 1 day job, forgot about the 3 years to get to the one day. It was over 3 years for them to complete the job. All are crews work for us they said, not contracted. Lie #2. None of the crews work for them other than contract, one crew had only worked for them for 2 weeks. Day 1, they showed up without the sliding glass door and didn't know where it was. Finally found it under some other name. Showed up at leased 8 times and the crews didn't even know why they were there and when informed said they didn't have the parts they needed and would have to come back. Each time was a 2-4 hour window that you had to wait on them and not go to work yourself. The crew day 1 dropped a window on the corner and damages the frame and screen and installed it and didn't say anything about it, we found it later that day. Took them over 6 months and 2 different times to replace the window and the guys didn't even have the screen to replace and had to come back again. They installed the sliding window without shimming them and they sagged and had to be fixed with another visit. They have had to replace multiple screens on new window that were installed wrong and coming apart. They finally sent a trouble shooter out because we had so many problems and he was saying he never seen a job like this and wrote down all this info, that never was given to anyone and no one knew anything about it. He got promoted and know knows what happened to his notes. Any time you try to get ahold of anyone you are on hold forever and never get anyone, they have a nice leave a message that no one calls you back. They are problem tired of hearing all the complaints. NEVER USE THIS COMPANY! Oh, they did offer us $400 off a $16,000 job.