Meridian Windows & Doors...

[Nufy]

Any one ever used them / heard of them ???

I have seen a few of their signs in the neighborhood and was thinking about getting a quote for some Windows & Doors....

[jefferson2]

Avoid them.

Biggest disaster ever.

We got them for new windows, and it was the worst decision ever.

They provide the cheapest quotes, and the worst service.
(we got quotes from 10k-17k, they were 2500 lower than anyone else we went to, which we thought nothing of until they had finished the job)

All our other window quotes were Calgary based, as in the windows were stored at a calgary depot.

These guys were the only ones that shipped the windows from Ontario, and yet were also the cheapest? If you've ever lifted one, you'll know any large window is ridiculously heavy, and trucking these from ON would have been expensive, yet they were still the cheapest? The lousy installation and unskilled work negated the shipping costs I suppose.

We had ~10 low E windows installed(ranging from 12ftx6ft to 4ftx4ft), they took forever to arrive (understandable), but they did the worst job I've ever seen anyone do on windows, and weren't even polite about it.

Main contention points:
-Big gruff, russian guys who made no effort to speak english while on the job or when we talked to them. Loud, aggressive guys with broken english make open discussions extremely difficult. Them yelling over your shoulder in russian while you're trying to talk to them about trim didn't help either
-Didn't remove any of the old caulking before installing flashing.
-knocked out a piece of what was clearly rotten wood while pulling out nails with a hammer, and when he thought I wasn't looking tried to cover it with trim.
-brought the WRONG SIZED TRIM, and got annoyed when I told him that was too big.
-used spray foam insulation and did a completely amateur job of it.

When they "finished" with the windows:
They didn't put the blinds back up properly (stripped the screws on the support the first time and nearly broke the window when it fell, we had extra screws luckily)

I swear they used our house as a training session.

To top it all off, they asked to use OUR vacuum cleaner to suck up nails, wood, plaster, and insulation, nice try.

Left all the stickers on the windows, which took forever to get off, and accepted checks only.

here's their website - doesn't exactly sell itself, but we didn't even know it existed until afterwards.

www.meridianwindows.net - is the calgary one.

The ON one looks much more legitimate

Your best bet is to educate yourself completely about what's involved, and get everything anyone says they'll do in writing, so they can't con you later on.

These guys were the biggest headache of the year.

For more info on what's supposed to happen on window installation...

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/step/0,,218006,00.html

Good luck

[89s1]

What do you need done?

How many windows?

[InRich]

Originally posted by jefferson2
Avoid them.

Biggest disaster ever.

We got them for new windows, and it was the worst decision ever.

They provide the cheapest quotes, and the worst service.
(we got quotes from 10k-17k, they were 2500 lower than anyone else we went to, which we thought nothing of until they had finished the job)

All our other window quotes were Calgary based, as in the windows were stored at a calgary depot.

These guys were the only ones that shipped the windows from Ontario, and yet were also the cheapest? If you've ever lifted one, you'll know any large window is ridiculously heavy, and trucking these from ON would have been expensive, yet they were still the cheapest? The lousy installation and unskilled work negated the shipping costs I suppose.

We had ~10 low E windows installed(ranging from 12ftx6ft to 4ftx4ft), they took forever to arrive (understandable), but they did the worst job I've ever seen anyone do on windows, and weren't even polite about it.

Main contention points:
-Big gruff, russian guys who made no effort to speak english while on the job or when we talked to them. Loud, aggressive guys with broken english make open discussions extremely difficult. Them yelling over your shoulder in russian while you're trying to talk to them about trim didn't help either
-Didn't remove any of the old caulking before installing flashing.
-knocked out a piece of what was clearly rotten wood while pulling out nails with a hammer, and when he thought I wasn't looking tried to cover it with trim.
-brought the WRONG SIZED TRIM, and got annoyed when I told him that was too big.
-used spray foam insulation and did a completely amateur job of it.

When they "finished" with the windows:
They didn't put the blinds back up properly (stripped the screws on the support the first time and nearly broke the window when it fell, we had extra screws luckily)

I swear they used our house as a training session.

To top it all off, they asked to use OUR vacuum cleaner to suck up nails, wood, plaster, and insulation, nice try.

Left all the stickers on the windows, which took forever to get off, and accepted checks only.

here's their website - doesn't exactly sell itself, but we didn't even know it existed until afterwards.

www.meridianwindows.net - is the calgary one.

The ON one looks much more legitimate

Your best bet is to educate yourself completely about what's involved, and get everything anyone says they'll do in writing, so they can't con you later on.

These guys were the biggest headache of the year.

For more info on what's supposed to happen on window installation...

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/step/0,,218006,00.html

Good luck

Serves you right in my opinion... you wanna be cheap? expect your service to be cheap. Next time you call someone for renovation work, tell them straight up before they even come out. I'm cheap, and I'm looking for the cheapest quotes in the city... Our company started pre-qualifing ppl like you so you dont waste our time coming out and seeing you. Cheap is NOT good, and GOOD is not cheap. Remember that...

[Stunt66]

Originally posted by InRich


Serves you right in my opinion... you wanna be cheap? expect your service to be cheap. Next time you call someone for renovation work, tell them straight up before they even come out. I'm cheap, and I'm looking for the cheapest quotes in the city... Our company started pre-qualifing ppl like you so you dont waste our time coming out and seeing you. Cheap is NOT good, and GOOD is not cheap. Remember that...

:thumbsup: You couldn't have said it any better. There are definately good deals out there but when it comes to anything house related you're playing with fire by going with the cheapest quote.

[ExtraSlow]

Western windows.

[dinyur]

Wow! sounds like you are very pissed with these guys...
I saw their signs as well and I know that my neighbours were very pleased with them... I checked them on BBBand they have A+ rating...maybe you should call them and see if they would somehow make it up to you...Nobody wants bad publicity...Just try it and see what happens...

[Tomaz]

There are very few companies I would even consider when it comes to windows. Both product and installation. The people who are pleased with lower quality product are usually the ones that think "a window is a window". Not saying that it is a bad thing to think that, as long as you are ok with having sub-par product/install.


InRich, Who do you work for?

[InRich]

Originally posted by Tomaz
There are very few companies I would even consider when it comes to windows. Both product and installation. The people who are pleased with lower quality product are usually the ones that think "a window is a window". Not saying that it is a bad thing to think that, as long as you are ok with having sub-par product/install.


InRich, Who do you work for?

I own one of the larger exterior reno companies in calgary. I have 21 full time workers.

[Nufy]

I have an Uncle in Ontario who has over 30 years in teh Window / Construction biz.

He told me they were crap as well.

Currently looking at either Supreme Windows or Gentek.

[Nufy]

Originally posted by InRich


I own one of the larger exterior reno companies in calgary. I have 21 full time workers.

Interested in giving me a quote ??

I am looking at a front door replacement and a Patio door removal / replace with window.

After that I am looking at replacing 4 - 6 basement windows.