Armstrong Steel

I bought a 56 x 72 ft' with 16' walls to store my 5th wheel camping trailer and a lot of misc. items. First, they forgot to mention all the door openings cost extra. Not exactly an obvious extra charge, but not something I could do without. Then they told me if I didn't sign the DocuSign contract agreement by Friday (it was Tuesday) I wouldn't be eligible for the rebate which was $11000.00. Really rushed my decision (which could have been their plan all along).

Part of that rebate was because I ordered the insulation for the building through them. They did forego some of the door openings as part of the rebate but I'm sure there was an upcharge on the insulation. The insulation is being provided by a different company. Seemed like a good deal and I signed the contract. Of course one week later they called and said THEY screwed up on the square footage and needed to order more insulation AT MY EXPENSE. Had to sign another DocuSign contract before they would go ahead with the building. I needed my permit drawings from them so I could get my township to approve them. When the paperwork finally did arrive 2 WEEKS LATE for me to get approval, I couldn't get my concrete poured before the freezing weather set in.

Now that I have my building, (haven't started putting it up yet) I'm not getting any support. I was promised a project manager but she is not returning my e-mails or phone calls. Go figure, now they have my money so what do they care. My building came and I was told I have 2 hours to unload it from their truck (by myself) or I would be charged extra. Once delivered, I have found numerous places of rust and corrosion on the metal. They gave me a week to inventory the delivery of the building, but I'm not going to put it up until spring (it is now January) and I can't make sense of all the abbreviations on the parts lists. I inventoried what I could and will hope for the best.

They put a lot of demands on the customer but take on no responsibility on themselves. Buyers beware! The other negative reviews I have read on this site are all true, and all of it has happened to me from the time they got my first deposit to now. The reason for the two stars is because I still believe in the quality of the building and engineering-but time will tell. I plan on putting most of the building up myself but was counting on Armstrong Steels product support. Will keep trying to contact them but as the days pass I'm not going to hold my breath.

This company is bait-and-switch. You'll never get your deposits back. Your building will be several months late. To get the rebate you must sign off on the engineering of your building within 30 days and accept delivery in 60 days. This will never happen, you will never get that rebate. And "customer service" - meaning Kade and Kitty - will be insulting to you. Get your building from Behlen or General Steel. Deal with honest people.

I made the mistake of specifying insulation which was also added to the cost of the contract (another ~8k). In a rush, I signed off on the additional charges because my deadline was looming and I didn't have time to argue. I thought I could revisit some of the choices (mainly the insulation later). Armstrong Steel's delivery of engineered drawings caused me to miss my deadline with my Township (which caused undue stress) despite my heated attempts over several weeks to request stamped engineered drawings.

To make matters worse, when I got back in touch with my project manager, she said, 'Sorry, you are under contract to purchase the insulation and the additional building charges.' Their lawyer soon after sent me what I perceived as a threatening letter. So my "great deal" turned into doubling the cost of the building with contractually binding terms and a lawyer making threats to me. In my opinion, Armstrong Steel has no concept of customer management and employs dishonest tactics to get you hooked on the idea of their building all the while engaging in dishonest up selling. I am out the 4k deposit I made when I received the initial quote for a steel building of $16k.

I told him about my husband and I don’t have much money and I have to take this from our savings account and it will take a few days to get all the money together. Richard didn’t care. He said, “Have it all ready by 5pm Friday to lock in this price.” I said, “Does this include designing and cutouts?" (because I read about steel buildings before) and he said yes, all that is included along with a project manager. He said I had nothing to worry about and that they had built many homes in Southern California before. Okay. Then he says, “Did you get my email... let’s go over the contract together so you don’t have any problems. Did you mark where to sign it...” Okay. He says, “You are all set.” THAT WAS MY DOOM RIGHT THERE. HE WENT THRU THE CONTRACT THAT HE SENT ME THRU email and went thru it with me to make sure I signed it and that was it. I WAS OVER.

I went to Los Angeles County and they said make sure they had an ICC approval code. Of course I try to call back Richard but no way of touching him and then I email Kyle who sent me the paperwork and he said he couldn’t help me. Then the project manager Trish emails me another contract to sign and this one is 25k which was the layout I asked for with the cutouts and the extra steel to reinforce it. So now I owe them 20k plus 25k… So the building that was 20k including shipping is now 45k after cutouts with project manager. I can’t afford it now and of course they won’t give me my 5k deposit back. No one is calling me back about my money. I was counting on this building for my disable husband who lives in our garage. Please read everything before you SIGN. Please ask for everyone’s phone number.

After trying to explain to him multiple times that that wasn't even a drawing we were interested in, I emailed the paperwork again. With no response our project manager sends us docu-sign agreement for another chunk of cash. Only problem was just about everything listed was incorrect sizing, wrong insulation and additional parts never requested. After 2 emails and multiple phone calls we received a response. We asked to speak with his boss to find a new building manager and have been refused multiple times. Can't even get the contact info. They are only interested in pushing buildings out the door. Their salesman, who then contacted me 1 1/2 months into the purchase about buying the same building again, will tell you they are on record pace this year and are swamped with work.

Please let this be a big red flag to you as I didn't pay attention to it. You will not get there Armstrong Value promise "Work, for us, is about educating customers so they're able to make the best and most informed decision". We are first time buyers of a shop with friends in construction to help assemble, but not the full knowledge to do everything. We have received absolutely zero help or advice as to what are building is even going to be used for or if there may be a better option. Please don't make the same mistake I did.