Clear Choice Shutters, Inc.

  This eliminated the huge condensation problem. 

In August of 2009, I purchased an electric roll-down aluminum hurricane shutter from Clear Choice Shutters for our lanai and paid $ 8400. At the time they were the company Toll Brothers was using for their new homes.

In July, 2014 the shutter became disabled in the down position. I called Clear Choice and was referred to the Manager, Ryan who verified that there were two motors, a receiver and a synchronizer on our system and that they were all under warranty. He told me that the defective part would be replaced but there would be a labor charge. He scheduled a visit for one of his repair crews. At no time did he mention a $75 diagnostic fee plus a $135 per hour labor charge just for coming out. Had this information been presented it would have been a very clear indication that they do not value their previous customers and I would have looked elsewhere for someone to do the warranty repair. Shame on me for not asking but believed I would only be paying for the labor when the defective part was actually replaced.

After that first visit, Ryan told me the diagnosis was that the receiver was defective and he ordered the part. A week later another crew showed up to install it. They arrived at our home clueless about where the receiver was located. There was no coordination between the first crew who diagnosed the problem and these guys who were sent to do the installation. They were outside starting to take the hood off when I had to go get them and tell them that the receiver was located in the attic. During that visit they left the premises on two occasions to go purchase supplies and tools that were needed. The visit concluded by this crew telling me that the new receiver did not resolve the issue and that they would have to replace the synchronizer. In all they were at our home for two hours but gone to purchase supplies and tools for at least one of the two hours.

The next day Ryan confirmed that he had ordered the synchronizer and was just waiting for the delivery confirmation information and that as soon as the part was delivered he would give it priority and have the installation scheduled immediately.

The following day I received a call from Christine at Clear Choice that she wanted to schedule an
appointment for later that afternoon. The same two guys showed up at 5 pm that day and started setting up in the back of my house. When I inquired about the synchronizer being located in the attic, he told me that his boss decided to just take out the two motors that I had and install a more powerful motor so that a synchronizer wouldn’t be needed. The install took three hours and after all of the troubleshooting adjustments they left our home at 9:45pm.

When I spoke to Ryan the next day he told me that he thought it would be better to just put in a new motor with the capability of handling the size of our shutter and needed to figure out the billing and he would get back to me. Naturally, I was disappointed when he called back and informed me the total was $964.50.

I told him that the amount was unreasonable and wanted to know how he arrived at that total. This was the very first time I was informed of the by hour billing of $135.00 per hour and the $75 diagnostic fee. I can take the blame for not asking how this labor charge was to be determined but any good business will inform you if you can expect to receive a by the hour labor fee of $135 per hour.

I also can’t help feeling cheated because the new synchronizer would have taken an hour to install and he decided to remove the existing motors that were in good working condition and install a new motor instead resulting in an additional four and three quarter hour labor charge (classic bait and switch maneuver).

The most troublesome aspect of my entire experience with Clear Choice was that Ryan never attempted to inform me of their billing policies and unilaterally made the decision to install a new motor without even discussing the matter with me to get my permission.

At this point he apologized that I felt this way and tried to explain all of the reasons that he decided to take the course of action that he did and volunteered to take 20% off of the invoice. He never attempted to apologize for not consulting and discussing his motive and actions before changing the agreed plan of action .

I have offered a reasonable resolution to put this matter behind us without any further action with respect to complaints and reviews of my experience. I felt that a fair resolution would be billing only for the four and one half hours it took to replace the motor which would total $600. This would also match a quote I had received from another company that installed an electric aluminum shutter on our front entrance.

Naturally, I told him I would not be contacting Clear Choice in the event of any future problems with respect to our shutters and requested the pertinent information (Manufacturer, Model, Serial #) regarding the Motor, Remote and Receiver that were installed.

My request for the pertinent information continues to be repeatedly ignored.

Although lengthy my review is an accurate blow by blow account of my experience with this company and intended to inform anyone considering using this company not to make the same
mistakes I did.


Update 9/25/2014:
After reading the company response, I am compelled to express my thoughts. Their "personal attack mentality" and manipulation of the facts to justify their actions continues to ignore the two main reasons for this complaint.

Primarily, it should have been the customer's decision to either wait two additional weeks for a new synchronizer or whether to replace "two perfectly good motors" with newer technology. "Their solution to the problem" described as a "big favor" was at my expense not Clear Choice Shutters as they would have you believe. Let me be perfectly clear that the “new technology solution” was never discussed with me prior to being installed and I was never given the opportunity to make a choice. Furthermore, I firmly stand behind every aspect of the very detailed account of this transaction as previously submitted to Angie’s List.

Secondly, I would also like to state “for the record” that Clear Choice failed to provide the pertinent information (Serial #'s, etc.) of the parts that were replaced. Consequently, it becomes impossible for the customer to research the warranty validity of each part if needed for future reference. This information has been withheld despite being requested by the Complaint Resolution Case Manager for Angie’s List.

If this company is as transparent as their response tries to purport, you would think it would have been very easy to add one more satisfied customer to their lengthy list. This could have been easily initiated by issuing an apology for not discussing their solution and its ramifications with the customer; and by providing the pertinent product information.

Instead, their antagonistic behavior will certainly make anyone who takes the time to read this complaint realize that a reputable business would never represent itself in this manner.

I was the one who arranged everything and as a member of Angie's List I would be proud to recommend this company to everyone. The owner was outstanding told me exactly who would be coming out to my Mother's home and what time. They were exactly on time. I would without hesitation highly recommend this company above all others. The work was done by Sam and Leo two of the finest and honest repair men I have dealt with. They completely reviewed and corrected all the parts and explained everything to us in great detail not in a hurry as most repair people are. If you have electric shutters and are looking for a company that will exceed your expectations this is the company. My name is Dawn Bradshaw.