ARIZONA SPECIALTY WINDOW

Arizona Specialty is the certified installer for Milgard Windows and doors for the Phoenix area and is the only installer that is contacted when using Costco home services and purchasing new Milgard windows and doors through the member discount site. The initial quote/estimate process went well and after asking many questions about the installation process and methods used, we decided to buy the windows through Costco and therefore, have Arizona Speciality install. When we were notified that our new windows/door arrived, we were promptly scheduled for install the very next week. We were very excited and were impressed by the short wait time between receiving and installing. However, our excitement turned to skepticism as the first day of installation started by getting a call from the Arizona Specialty office telling us the "truck" used to carry the windows to the install job was broken and not sure when it would be fixed. Arizona Specialty told us they hoped to have the installer out the next day to begin installing our five new windows and new sliding door, but we were surprised that they had just one truck capable of transporting the windows/door. My husband had arranged to work from home on the scheduled install days, so he was a bit frustrated by this development. The next morning, the installer arrived early in the morning and began unloading all our new windows, but not the door. The installer said he couldn't bring our new door because the guy who was supposed to help him with our install project called in sick. The main installer is an older gentlemen who has a very slight build and my husband was a bit concerned about him carrying heavy windows and door by himself. My husband helped the fellow carry the new windows upstairs and the old windows out of the house. The first four windows were smaller and were installed without problem on the first day. Our master bedroom window, however, is a bit bigger and was more difficult for the installer to get it. As with the first day, the main installer did not have any help from his company on the second day either and my husband had to help him lift the window and assist in the install. The measurements taken by Arizona Speciality seemed to be a little off because the window was slightly too large for the opening and the installer bent the new screen frame as he struggled to get the window in. He was finally able to align the window and then caulk the gaps, but not before our brand new window screen was bent. The second day of installation ended with the installer leaving our house shortly after Noon as he told my husband that he was getting old and didn't have the energy to continue. He also told my husband that he couldn't wait until this job was over because he was supposed to be retired by Arizona Speciality asked him to do this one last job. This fact was repeated several times through the entire install process until my husband got irritated by the comments. Thankfully, the only item left to install was the new sliding door and the installer came back on Saturday to finish. Again, he arrived with no support to carry the 6-foot door and frame and my husband once again (and at one point myself) had to help him carry the door. After removing the old door and prepping the frame area for the new door, I helped our installer carry and then hold the door in place while he banged into place. Once it looked like the door was in, we stepped back and looked at it. Apparently, the door frame was a good inch+ higher than the door and it created a very large gap between the top of the door and frame. Immediately, the installer told us that this wasn't his fault and the door comes in one standard size. My husband and I had done enough research on the doors to understand this, but our installer did nothing to offer a solution on how to close the gap and didn't bother to find a way to attach the top of the door to the door frame. Basically, he eyeballed the sides so that they were in the frame area, screwed them in, and then totally left the top un-attached to the frame and a inch and a half gap that air, dust, bugs, etc could come into our house. It wasn't until my husband told him this wasn't acceptable that he offered to go back to the shop and get a "adapter" or piece of aluminum trim to try and close the gap at the top. Then he left to go back to Arizona Specialty and said he would be back within an hour. While the installer was gone, my husband got up on the ladder (we have a two-story house) to inspect the caulk job that he did around the windows from the previous day. To my husband's surprise, the caulk was carelessly done and left large gaps on either side of the new window frame. When the installer returned to the house from the Arizona Specialty shop, he did not have the correct size of adapter to close the gap between the door but said he was going to put a temporary one in until he could come back the following week! We told him that we had painters coming the following week to paint the exterior of the house and he had until Tuesday to get the door taken care of. We were very upset and disappointed that there was no assistance in making the door secure or look properly installed and again we were told that the installer was supposed to be retired and he couldn't wait to be done with our job. This was very apparent in the lack of interest in finishing our install correctly or making the install look professional and complete. Thankfully, my husband is a very handy and skillful man and was able to secure the door where the certified installer could not and trimmed out the door to where it looked great. In addition, he climbed back up the 20-foot ladder and carefully caulked around our new windows so there was no deep gap on the sides. The only nice thing the installer did do was to leave my husband a few extra tubes of special caulk from Milgard as it matched the window frame exactly. In the end, my husband felt as if he installed the windows and doors as he was such a help to our installer and finished the job the way you would expect a professional would. In the end, we love the actual windows and door, as Milgard is a great windows company and Costco provides excellent pricing. We are still, however, waiting for a response back from the owner of Arizona Specialty to address the extremely poor installation job and have yet to hear back. This is the capstone of this unprofessional and frustrating window/door installation project and I hope no other homeowner has to endure.