Sahara Window and Doors

The installation went great.

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I was impressed that the job was scheduled quickly (within a week) and they was absolutely no hassles.

Salesman and installers professional and polite. Completed as prormised. Good clean-up. Roofers who came later said they did a good job.

I called to make an appointment, and a salesperson from the store was out a few evenings later. Because Sahara was local, I was excited to see how competitive their prices would be. The salesperson took a few measurements, and sat down to discuss options with my wife and me. After asking us a few basic questions ("did you want it to have split windows?") the saleperson pulled out a brochure and pointed to one of the more expensive options. He said we could go with the less expensive options, but they weren't as high quality. My wife asked in what way the quality was lacking. The salesperson responded "well, you get nicer hardware options, and . . . well, it's just better. I think it's just a better door." Naturally, it was disappointing to hear that the company's representative couldn't outline any benefits of one product over another. After explaining that we didn't want to spend 700 dollars on a screen door, I had expected to discuss other lower-priced options. The salesperson, clearly seeing that this wasn't worth his time, quickly handed us a folder with his card and left. He didn't even move to shake our hands on the way out. The cap to the whole experience came when my wife found the SAME door he was selling, online, for a much lower price. We won't be doing business with Sahara.

We also had other multiple other companies give us estimates for the very same job. One of the other companies informed us that we only needed a few of the windows replaced. We were also informed of windows that should have the glass replaced and they recommended another company which would do this for us. Sahara merely gave us an estimate to replace all the windows with no further investigation.

Years ago, this company replaced all of the upstairs windows in my home and did a great job with no complaints at all. However, the company has since changed ownership, and my experience with them completely changed. I went into the Mt. Prospect showroom to ask about basement windows, and the saleslady knew about doors but very little about the windows they sold. So I called back on another day, trying to get the Mt. Prospect store, and my call went to a Chicago office. I asked whether they replace basement windows, and also repair cracked concrete around basement windows. I was told that they do both. Both people were cordial. The salesman arrived from American Thermal Window Products, and informed me that they do not repair concrete, and he gave me no references for making the repair. He also continually tried to sell me windows for the entire house, not the basement windows that I made the appointment to discuss. Twice I told him that I wanted to talk about basement windows, but he persisted, and wasn't going to talk about them until he had his chance to give me a pitch to sell me windows for the entire house. He wanted to take control of the meeting and dictate what I was to buy, so I told him to leave. He still didn't get it why I threw him out. In summary, I had three separate recent encounters with the company, and none of them went well. There is a lot of good competition out there. I am an engineer and have worked successfully with very many contractors, and I never had such problems with any contractor.

Our several years we have had various window companies give us estimates on the cost to replace our ten awning type windows with identical windows. The cost was more than we could afford. Some salesmen recommended installing all casement windows but we didn't like the look on our biggest opening. Our neighbor was very pleased with the Great Lakes Windows that were installed on his entire house by Sahara several years ago. The Sahara representative, Joe Fano, was very helpful. He had no long sales presentation. He showed my wife and I the important features and encouraged us to look at more than awning windows for replacements. We decided on two casements in each smaller opening and a picture window with a casement on each side for the larger window. The price was good, we took advantage of a sale promotion they had running (Triple pane for the price of double pane) and the $1500.00 Federal Energy Tax Credit really helped. The windows were ready ahead of schedule. On the installation date, two installers arrived at the time promised. They placed tarps inside and out before starting work. The installers were friendly and professional. They never took a break. The job took approximately five hours to complete. The work area was cleaned and vacuumed before they left. There was not one single nail or piece of debris anywhere. I have never experienced a cleaner installation. There was nothing for me to clean up when they left. One installer showed me how to work the window, remove the screen, and explained the warranty. The installation was perfect. The exterior was caulked cleanly and the portions that required aluminum coverage were done flawlessly. The interior trim was done with equal craftmanship. The windows look great and are keeping that hot summer sun from heating up our house. My wife and I were extremely pleased with our entire experience with Sahara Window. We will definitely call on Sahara Window again for any future windows.

Bill Wiedow, who came to our house to complete the proposal, walked us through our various options. No sales pressure at all. The installers were true craftsmen. The quality of the installation was much higher than what I have seen done for my neighbors by the big home center stores. A week after the installation, I noticed that the upper corner of the side storm door was sticking. I called Sahara. They had a crew out the next day. We were very pleased with the entire experienc.

From start to finish, from sales person Iver Johnson to installation crew, excellent!

EXCELLENT. Timely, clean, and professional. I will definitely use them again.

I was very upset with them because they really did not want to be bothered with my business. When I requested them to do the work, they wanted me to pay more than what I purchased the awning for, simply because I did not buy the awning from them. I won't be calling them many more.

It was a slow process. I wish they would have kept me more informed on the project.

Sahara's bid was much lower, than the other bid I received. The job turned out to be a little more difficult, than anticipated. They thought it would take 2 days inside to install the windows, but it took closer to 4 because, some of the lintels were a little warped, and the building has settled a little over time and the window openings were not quite square. Eventually all the windows were finessed or muscled into place. They all look great, especially from the outside! The crew were all quite pleasant to work with. My one minor annoyance, occurred when I left work early to meet the crew, late on a Friday afternoon, to give them access to the inside), but they decided to leave just before I arrived (understandable, but a message would have been nice). I would recommend Sahara to anyone.

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