SunSetter Awnings

SunSetter had attachments so you could add a wall that slides on. We got that. When the sun starts to go down, the sun gets in under the awning. There's no getting around it. So, it's almost like hanging a sheet on one side of it to keep that sun out. But it attaches to the awning so we can put that up if we want to avoid the sun coming in. It seems like a good quality. The times we've used it, it was good.

I wish I got that sensor that causes it to close up when the wind gets strong because we've noticed if the wind kicks up, the awning can blow. There's a remote that they gave us that we use and we just press the button and it closes it up. But there is a crank that comes with it if you ever have to crank it if there was a problem with the remote.

The awning has made it more comfortable for me to sit outside on my deck. We were sitting on our deck in the evening, just relaxing, and we didn't have the sun in our eyes. It also helps to keep our house cooler because the sun beats in. It comes through the windows, it heats up the house, and we have to close their blinds, which I don't like to do because it darkens the house. So, this way, my blinds open, keeps some daylight coming in the house without heating it up too much.

But the one over the garage sunk a little bit and I had them come back three months later. The woman I talked to was giving me a hard time because she wanted to charge me $150 for them to come out but I told her that I've only had it for three months. And I didn't even put the awning out much because it was raining and we weren't in the pool. The awning is 19 feet wide and after a while, it sinks because it's heavy when they first put it in. So the guy has to come back and make it tighter. He also said that they're having trouble with a lot of the big awnings sinking. But once he comes and refixes it, it's fine. We shouldn't have to pay $150 for him to come out to do that though. Finally, the woman and I agreed that I would just tip them when they came to change the awning. Other than that, if it's too windy, that awning automatically retracts.

As for the smaller one, it's12 foot wide and when it's windy, it automatically retracts, too. We have a pool area that's under a birdcage, so it's right over the glass sliding door and it goes out over the six-person table that we have outside. We use the awning all the time during the day and the sun is beating down. We use it when we sit out, read magazines at the table, and eat lunch. It's nice and it keeps the sun off of you. A lot of people would stop and ask about our awnings. They'd say getting them is a great idea and I'd tell them that it's SunSetter's.

The other thing is they didn't explain to somebody who doesn't realize you need to check and see exactly where your sun is before you get one of these things. The location that you're putting the awning in for the sun has got a big impact on how it's gonna work to be productive for you. I spent $2,500 to purchase the awning and another $1,200 to have it installed. Basically, it's worthless. I get an hour of SunSetter shade. And because of the way the sun goes around the cottage and starts to set, the sun is pouring in on the angle on the side.

I had to get the 8-foot one because of the location that it's in. I couldn't get anything any wider. But that wouldn't have done the trick. The location of where the sun is that when it comes around to the front of the cottage, it just goes right in. The seat that I wanna sit in is covered a little bit. But as it goes around to the side where the side is, where the arms are, that just pours right in all afternoon. I get zero benefits from the SunSetter.

Next summer, what I can do is get some type of material. We have the New England Cloth Company that's really got everything known to man. I can get something very similar that I can attach to the scalloped-in that will drop the curtain down some way and that will give me some help. But as far as the right-hand side where the sun comes pouring in, I gotta get a little bit more creative. Maybe I could use the same material that wouldn't cut the wind. All in all, I love the awning. But they should be really clear about the location of the sun so the customer doesn't get stuck like I did.

My sales rep was okay but I could have used a little bit more information. The one I had was vinyl and he said this was a better material. I was pressured a little because he said he drove so far and if I could make my choice that day. I knew what product I wanted and I wanted to get done so we can enjoy it this summer. The only thing was I thought we had a local dealer. But when I called, they sent me somebody that was two and a half hours away. That aside, the installation was fine and quick. But I was not happy with the fact that the awning was not really tight. It seemed to have some wrinkles at the seam. When it's rolling up, it should go in closer. It sticks out from the house further than my other one did, which makes me nervous. This winter, I don't want it to build up with snow, and I'm not taking it down. That's my concern.

I had somebody come back out. With this second guy, SunSetter could have sent me Mickey Mouse. All I heard from the guy was, “I know what I'm doing. I'm really good at this. I can do this. I can do that.” But I'm not sure that the awning was any different than it was before he came. I figured I'll just accept it the way it is because it has a five-year warranty. If this thing doesn’t hold up, that's on SunSetter. I'm in a condo association and a lot of people are interested and they wanted to see the awning. I already had a couple come over and look at it. It looks fine other than it has wrinkles.

There were some people I know who had a company install the awning but where I was bringing the awning was five hours away from SunSetter. So, they weren't going to install that so I installed it myself. It went up fairly easy. I'm just gonna have to address the light situation. They gave double-sided sticky tape to put on the LED lights that are on the arms and the wind blew them off. I was gonna call them and see if there's a different system other than double-sided sticky tape. That's what came in the package for it and the direction for them to use that. But in the DVD, they had these metal clips that you drill into the arms. You just put the clips in there. But when we went to put it in, there were no clips. Everything else went well. But I talked to my grandmother who was up there this weekend and she said the lights were off and they put them back up. They'll probably be off by the time I get there next weekend, but I'll do something to fix them.

I call ASAP and am told by a snarky supervisor that he's "looking forward to canceling my orders" and that it will be taken care of the same day. Instead of that happening THEY SHIPPED THE AWNING. I call AGAIN and get told no supervisor is available to speak to me (surprise, surprise) and there's nothing else support can do... I mean, what did they do in the first place? The way I finally got this resolved was by PAYING for executive email addresses and reaching out to them directly. This is not the way to treat customers, SunSetter.