Marvin Design Gallery

Overall I am satisfied with the service. But I wish they could be a little more responsive when I call. The crew did a good job, but still leave something minor behind.

Our salesman was Scott. He took a while to respond to my original email inquiry. He was out of town. When he responded, he set up an appointment quickly and showed up on time. He was professional and friendly. He brought samples of the windows that we could see and try out (opening, seeing how they come out for cleaning, etc.). He brought the colors I asked for. He rough-measured all of our windows to give me a quote. The quote took a few days longer than he thought, but we were blown away! We thought he made a mistake. It was about 40% less than a quote we got from another window company. We signed the contract and started the ordering process. We had to wait a couple weeks for the installer to get us on his schedule. We had a hard time hooking up with him to come out and measure exactly. Then we found out he came out and measured from the outside when we were home. Very convenient that we didn't even need to be there. A few weeks prior we had a new roof installed. Because it was a metal roof, the window installer had some questions (could his guys walk on it, etc.). He called our roof installer (the sign was still up on the lawn) and took care of everything he asked all his questions. All behind the scenes. We wouldn't even have known except our roof guy told us. I was impressed with the installer's initiative and also that he wanted to be sure not to damage our new roof, and that he took care of all of this without bothering us with it. After the installer provided the final measurements, 21 windows and one sliding door were ordered and arrived in about 2 weeks. We set up an installation date and everything went smoothly. Fred (the installer) and his crew were professional and did an amazing job! The trim work on the outside was outstanding. Nicer than we even expected. We had trouble with one screen fitting correctly, and Scott came back out and tried it. He ordered us a new screen. When it came in, he dropped it off at the house for us. I don't remember Scott telling me I needed to register the new purchase with Marvin online (he may have and I forgot), but I noticed just in the knick of time and registered. I noted in the comment section that I was slightly disappointed in the sliding door because it was heavy and didn't slide as easily as I had hoped (but is otherwise beautiful and definitely works). A couple days later someone from the Marvin factory called me and told me how to fix the problem. I was very impressed. We are very happy with the Marvin Design Gallery - with the product, the service and the installation! I would (and have already) recommend them and would use them again if the need arose.

I drove to the gallery and found the window I liked. Bill was not there but another person at the gallery showed me the merchandise. A few days later I had the door measured and then waited for the delivery. I think the delivery arrived in about 3 weeks and then scheduling the installers took about a week.
The day of the installation was nice and the after 2 hours the work was done and all the old pieces were loaded in the truck and the everything was done. I would go to to this gallery again for a 1st class job.

Overall Laurence Smith Window and Door (which I will abbreviate LSWand D) did an excellent job. This company also goes by the name of Marvin Design Gallery in Bloomfield Hills. The windows look amazing. I worked with Paul Bekemeyer and found him to be very knowledgeable and honest and he had a great customer service attitude. Paul handled everything from my initial walk through their showroom, to the design, construction, installation, and follow-up. It was great to have one person to go to for everything.

LSWand D sub-contracts installation to a few different crews that they work with continuously. While Paul works well with the crew, I felt that the installation crew was not quite at Paul's level of customer service. They did a high quality job in terms of the end result but the attitudes, punctuality and capabilities varied considerably among the crew members. I thought the installation crew was too sensitive about me pointing out things they needed to fix whereas Paul was eager to solve any issue. This crew also installed Hardie siding and painted the remaining trim as well, which I contracted separately with them. The finished product (windows, siding, painting) looks great.

The process does take a long time to have the windows designed, built and installed for a project this large.

I was very impressed that Paul handled every issue that came up. For example, they found an unusual wiring issue that required them to bring in an electrician and drywall repair guy. Paul was very fair about the extra cost and gave me good information on which to base my decision before starting that work. And the drywall guy did amazing work. Other small problems they found with my house (e.g. rotten floor boards by a door) were fixed without additional cost to me.

I made the mistake of assuming they would clean the windows after all of the windows were installed (since they were dirty from the mill, garage, Marvin stickers and handling during installation). Apparently cleaning after installation is not normal. But Paul ensured the windows were cleaned at no additional cost to me. I told him that I would have cleaned them myself before installation had I known they would not do so. It is easier to clean a window on the ground than on the 2nd story. You should get clear on this ahead of time.

I also figured it was easier to paint a window in the factory than on a ladder after installation so I had LSWand D paint the windows and interior trim around the windows. They do not often do this painting, and did not want to, but did so at my request. They cautioned me about having too high expectations of the finish. However, I was very pleased with the results. They use 3 coats of Sherwin Williams best Alkyd paint. The best part was that the windows looked complete immediately after installation.

The price for Marvin windows seems to be somewhat controlled. Even for a project as large as mine, the other Marvin window quote I received was virtually identical. There are not very many companies you can find in the area who install Marvin windows. I looked at other brands but felt that Marvin windows were the best and I have been very pleased with the windows. Even though the cost was higher than for other quality name brands (maybe 30% higher), it is worth it to have Marvin windows.

I do not view any of the problems I experienced as significant. I point them out so you can understand some potential issues that may occur. I was very pleased with the experience overall. You should feel confident using this company.