Custom Remodelers Reviews

Now, in the middle of Minnesota winter, I love my windows. My previous windows were painted and nailed shut by the previous owner. Explains why I could never open them. But they were still drafty. I remember last year I had to crank my heat up to 80. After the installation this year, my usual is 70 degrees. Today I was moving presents downstairs and felt too hot so I actually had to turn down the heat to 65. Also the windows are kind of tinted so no one can see me from outside during the day unless I have a light on for some odd reason or I'm standing less than 2 ft from the window. They're awesome. I do have to say, I forgot to order a peephole for my door. If you're getting a door, don't forget the peephole...

They said that the offer on the gutters will not be available after today. I said "ok" (whatever) & "thank you" & that I would get back to them in early May, like I'd said. I walked into my garage & shut my garage door on them standing in my driveway. Well, I guess they googled me, saw that I am, indeed a doctor owning clinics and then, came in for the kill, within a couple days. They kept ringing my phone off the hook, calling and hanging up, sometimes 3-4 times a day, not leaving a message. This was distracting while I was trying to focus on my project while at home. They constantly called before the time that I said that I would be available in early May. I had intended to consider their bid but the phone call harassment, distracting me from important work, turned me off. I have call logs of over 40 calls in the time span of only 3 weeks. I had even blocked their number, temporarily, just to get peace till my project was finished.

Then, they started calling over & over from another number. Went to various complaint sites to see if anyone else has had any problems, as I was now ready to get my gutters replaced. I see many complaints, similar to mine. No way, Jose! Left a msg at the last number that they were harassing me from & said to take me off their calling list. These people are creepy!

(And, their neighborhood canvassers are still working this neighborhood, now 2018 and had the nerve to bang on my door, two different times, already this year. I reiterate my experience about their sleazy salesmen, and that I do not know why they still have my info to even approach me, again & again, even after I tell the solicitors my bad experience in 2016 & all the online reviews similar to mine. And, that I would never do business with their harassing company and have alerted the neighborhood to check reviews before entertaining this company. The last solicitor, yesterday, said that those salesmen are no longer with the company & that I would not have to talk to anyone in the company if I let him book for an estimate on the remaining windows on my house, being pushy and continually talking over me as I vented my frustration with the company. I started yelling and he finally ran away.)

Custom Remodelers are a family owned, Minnesota based company that is aware of the harder winters we experience. They also entrenched in the community and stand behind not only their product, but their workmanship as well. I did not feel pushed or guilt-ed into purchasing this particular product nor any additional products or services they furnish. Westin was a "straight-shooter" who just told me like it was and had a pleasant, no-nonsense sales approach that was extremely refreshing in this day of the "fear-base" or "hard" sell era we seem to be facing.

They were prompt and precise in contacting us or returning our calls, they worked within our days off to get the project completed, they were respectful of our home and time while working, and cleaned everything up before they left. I still can't believe how lucky we are and I'll forever be appreciative to CRI. It was a great way for us to celebrate our engagement and the gift they've given us is something we'll never forget.

After a couple back and forth texts/voicemails, a measuring crew finally came out within a couple days. November 24th - I followed up to find out an expected installation date and received a story that the sales guy hadn't been to the office due to surgery but would follow up. Received response on Nov 28th that our door was at the top of the list. I followed up again on December 19th asking for an update. His text apologizes and said someone is dropping the ball for sure. December 22nd - Received a text that everything seemed shut down for Christmas.

Finally early January the door was installed (January 5th), however the screen for the patio door was not installed. Sent a text asking about that, after which I also found a note from installers in garage (why not on the table by the patio door!) that said they would send a service person to install the screen. January 29th texted sales guy again asking where screen was. February 4th, sent yet another text asking where screen door was. Finally Feb 5th, my husband gets contacted about having the screen door installed. They agree on 2 pm on the 5th, and my husband confirms that they do not need access to inside of house to install. They confirm.

Get home that evening to find screen door dropped off on deck, but not installed. Contact sales guy who says Ron had an appointment so he dropped the door and would be back tomorrow (a Saturday). By end of day Saturday, no installation, I contacted sales guy again. This time the story was that my husband said he would install it, which he would never say that. They said "it takes 5 minutes, you guys should have no problems." Well, it isn't our job. It's a job we paid for!

Monday, Feb 8th - I talk to Judy in service, and she confirms a sales guy dropped it off, which she finds odd. She gets someone scheduled to install on Wednesday February 10th, and in the mean says she will have a manager (Ryan **) contact me about my complaints with the process. Ryan calls on Tuesday February 9th, and after I detail the situation and explain my frustrations, he offers either a discount on a future service or $250. I state that $250 is not acceptable, his only response is to threaten to send me to collections. I asked to speak with his boss, who he said was the owners and speaking to them is not allowed, and said there was nothing else he could for me.

Wednesday the 11th rolls around, and the installers arrive only to call my husband and say they can't install the screen because it is too big. They give a time frame of 2 weeks when a new one will be in. I call Ryan back and again voice frustrations, which goes nowhere. I decide to file a BBB report, in which their first response said "We installed the patio door and determined the screen was defective, we ordered a new one which turned out too big. As soon as the new one arrives, we will install it per the contract". They did not acknowledge the actual issue. I did not accept their response and again voiced my concerns. Their second response was only "As soon as Custom Remodelers, Inc. receives the new screen, we will contact customer to schedule the service. When service is complete, Custom Remodelers, Inc. will expect full payment".

I again decline their response and clearly stated they were missing the point of the complaint, and asked if they would accept my request of discounting half off my remaining balance (roughly $1K). In the meantime, 3 weeks pass, and I contact Ryan ** on March 2nd for an update on when the screen would be installed. We finally contact on March 3rd, in which he tells me the screen is scheduled to be on the truck Thursday March 10th, and he will scheduled an installation for Friday March 11th. He also apologizes for the manufacturer defect, but that is out of his control, clearly informs me he is getting no discount from the manufacturer but will offer me $400. Again, he misses the actual issue here (it isn't the defect in the door), and I confirm that is not acceptable and he again threatens to hand me over to collections.

I receive a BBB response on March 7th stating the above, and we did not come to agreements. I also agree with that, and the BBB "closes" the issue but indicts I was not satisfied. I also contact Ryan ** on March 7th to confirm that no one needs to be home on the 11th, in which he says we do. So more time off from work. Currently is scheduled to be installed between 1-2 pm CST Friday March 11th.

I also ask for clarification on the entire situation, this time the story changes slightly, and now they are saying when the door was installed on Jan 5th, it was shipped without a screen (which, if you read their BBB response, that time they say it was determined there was a defect in the door). And that when the door came in, they dropped on deck, and when they finally came to install (again with me calling to complain and schedule), it was determined to be too big. The story is never consistent with these people and you have to babysit them and manage the project yourself. They are not willing to acknowledge their mistakes or shortcomings or make a consumer satisfied.

At this point, I have already lost out on getting paid and they wanted me to take off again!! I took off of work again that Friday. They show up without any of the product. They have to leave for an hour to go get whatever they need and RENT a machine to do the job. To top it off, Jason sold us "pink panther" insulation but they bring some other stuff. Who knows what it was but it wasn't what they said it was going to be. That's for sure. They work on our house for maybe 2.5-3 hours and say they will be back the next day. I'm confused by this. I thought Breanna said they don't work on weekends. They leave siding hanging off my house all around it over night and holes in the house that they were supposed to fill. The guy who is supposed to come back to my home is supposed to show up at 10:30 am but, of course, NO SHOW.

My husband and I are freaking out calling who we can to reach someone. I call the company and leave a message asking that someone by the names of Brad, Denny or Shawna (who are supposed to be managers) please give me a callback. Finally, Jason apologizes. Not much his apology did. The guy finally rolls in at 1:30 pm. He says he was caring for his wife. He comes and works on our home and says he finishes the job. My husband calls/texts Jason because he has some questions regarding the job. NO CALL BACK. Of course not. The loan is already in process and they got paid so why have good customer service right!!! The whole company is horrible. I waited to leave a review hoping someone would call me back.

Apparently, no one has to be home for them to work on your house. Yeah right! You have to babysit this whole company to make sure they do the job. I wouldn't trust them to work on our house alone. Breanna couldn't even tell me I didn't have to be home. Apparently, she doesn't know how to do her job because she also told me they don't work on weekends but I guess the actual workers do (whenever they actually show up). If I could leave negative stars I would. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!! I wish I had read the reviews before I signed my name to this. We planned on getting our gutters done by this company after winter. NOT ANYMORE! Anyone know of a good place to use?

Skip forward 2 months from this point and CRI states us that they've completed our window at the manufacturing site and will be calling in 2 weeks to schedule an appointment. I took the initiative to dig my egress well hole and wait. 2 weeks come by and no call or notification was given. I called CRI for the progress and they told me that they still needed to set up the permit but they can provide me with a rough scheduled date of installation for Aug. 19th. The 19th came by and no one came by nor no phone call notifications were given by CRI. On the following day, the person responsible for obtaining the permit came by, Steve, without any notification at all either, and observed the egress site. Luckily my wife and I were home to intervene and discuss about the permit and when they would come in to do the installation. Steve states that the installer should be able to come shortly after the permit is issued.

At the end of the week Steve tags the permit onto our front door. One week passes by from this point and no calls have been received in regards to our installation scheduling. I called CRI back in regards to this and Steve tells me that the installers set their own scheduling times and that I would receive a call from them. Later on this day, Shane ** calls me to schedule a time. We were finally able to set a date and time for 9:30am on Sept. 2. Shane states that if their prior appt. ends earlier they would be able to show up earlier on Sept. 2 to complete the installation, otherwise they have to wait for CRI office to open at 8am in order to obtain the materials.

By Sept. 2 at 9:30 I did not see Shane show up for the installation. One hour passes by and then he finally calls me to tell me that they were running behind due to problems with obtaining the window but will be able to show up shortly after purchasing the well from Home Depot. Two hours pass by and now it is 12:30pm. No call from Shane at all in regards to his tardiness. I called Shane again and he tells me at this time that they had to circle around to Lino Lakes to purchase the egress well because they were no longer in stock at the other Depot store. He stated to me now that he would be able to show up in 20min from 12:30pm.

Shane, his co-worker, and his 14yr old daughter showed up at our house at 1:30pm. First off, Shane was kind in regards to his work, but he was very disorganized and untimely. Personality-wise, no complaints. Professionalism and promptness is what his team lacked. He was upset at his daughter at our house for tools he could not find. His co-worker was smoking at our house and continued to do so after I kindly asked him not to. They completed their job as stated but lacked in so many other aspects.

When they finally installed the window in, my wife and I noticed that the window was opening toward the right, meaning that we would be facing the alley versus the neighborhood street. I told Shane that we initially spoke of having the window opening to the left. Shane stated that he could not do anything about this since he is not the person to place the custom order on the window. The next day, I contacted CRI and spoke with a manager. I told the manager that in my initial appointment with Shane, we spoke of the window opening to the left but then ended with a window opening to the right. The manager, who was unpleasant to begin with and unwilling to hear my side, stated that he cannot do anything about this since he places the order as specifically as what was written by the installer, Shane. I complained about this angrily and all-the-while the manager interrupted me.

Out of anger, I asked him to "shut-up" because he was not showing any signs of empathy at this time. First off, it is NOT my mistake for the installer placing in the wrong order. Secondly, the manager stated that ALL of their windows open in a default to the right unless "special ordered." Well, Shane was the person who asked us to decide on the options of how the window opens and if it is not in his power to decide the outcome of how the window was built then he should not have promoted it in the first place. In the end, it appears as if it was Shane's lack in written communication that led to the incorrect direction of the window and all the CRI manager could say was "It is what it is." The manager stated once more that nothing can be done.

I asked for compensation in this and he stated that Qui gave the "best price reduction." (The reduced price was only down by $500). I then placed the complaint of the lack in professionalism and untimeliness of Shane and his crew. The manager stated at this point that he will contact the installer and then contact me later in the day in regards to this. I will be looking forward to his response but I doubt nothing will be done. I am not one to complain, but this boils me up to the top since this was a costly job that resulted in call after call in regards to the progress and scheduling on my side.

After the work was all done, she got the loan information in the mail and now CRI says they are all paid in full and are not responsible for this situation, so they have washed their hands of it, and my ex-wife is stuck with a loan for $9,700 with no means to pay. We hope that the county will come through and pay this bill, but we don't know yet.

In any case, CRI has earned itself a huge black eye with their behavior in this situation. While the roof work appears to be good quality, and I'm not faulting them for that at this time. They knew very well that she could not pay for a loan and yet went ahead and deceived her and myself into thinking that everything with the county assistance was in order when it was not. She signed a loan without even realizing it, especially because there was no application for credit; just a general document with no questions about income or anything about a loan on it. We are considering our legal options at this time.