Awnings by Bigley & Hogshire

"Everyday we work to improve. Thank you for your kindness, and your business."

"Thank you so much for the kind words. We hope you continue to enjoy your great awning!"

"The criticism is not unjustified, and I can only say it was in significant part my own fault. The product is a highly customized product that has very strict design criteria and limitations. If they are not 100% fully properly designed, the resultant product would be completely unsatisfactory. This particular product is not a typical awning, and is one that no one else in the region has attempted to manufacture more than once to my understanding. We have more than 100 successes of this product in the Mid Atlantic, and have even made them for major universities, neighborhoods, oceanfront parks, churches, and many, many private residences. Unfortunately they do require a lot of thought and design work to achieve this success. Just before we were ready to make the shade product, I was working on the layout, and was dissatisfied with the design plan. The shape as sold to the customer was not going to provide the shade that they sought. Not getting what you hoped (or thought you paid for) is a disappointment that we want to spare our customers. So, I personally went to the home, and radically changed the size and shape of the shade product. We increased the coverage area by more than 50% over what was originally agreed upon. This required the ordering of significantly more fabric than we had originally purchased, and unfortunately more time. Despite bettering the design, and dramatically increasing the coverage area, and work on our company, we did not ask for more from the customer. While we know that we could have satisfied our contract much quicker, and less costly to the business, we felt that getting it right, and providing more for our customer was most important. We continue to strive to improve communication, and have hired more staff this year with a focus on improving it. We believe, and hope that the product quality, value, and longevity, of this 10 year product was worth the few extra weeks in design and fulfillment. Thank you for the feedback to help us continue to improve our company and products. Taylor S. Bigley President"

"Thank you for your kind words. Over the years, many businesses in our industry have popped up in the business, and not too long thereafter closed their doors. Generally speaking their intentions are good, but they are limited by their product knowledge and service. Typically these companies offer awnings as a sidelight of another business like decks, doors, sun rooms, gutters, or window installation. Unfortunately, awnings are not as simple as they may appear. There are right ways and wrong ways to make them, and there are all levels of quality in the industry. Because our customers have respected our company for more than 115 years, and achieved the satisfaction they are looking for, we sustain. Sorry for the long statement, but we are passionate about what we do. Your kind comments are again appreciated. We look forward to serving your needs in the future. Taylor S. Bigley"

"Thank you for your business. We strive to offer the best in awnings and customer service available. We are happy that you received all you were looking for. Please let us know if we can help you in the future for your next awning purchase. We manufacture nearly all styles of awnings and shade products, as well as matching seat cushions if you so desire. Thank you again for your business, and for loving the product we provide. It is important for us to know you love your awning as much as we do."

"We are happy to have received A's from the customer on the three items that are typically most important to customers. Quality - A, Professionalism - A, Price - A. The project took longer than he/we expected because it required specialized engineering, and permit. What was not mentioned in the review is that the business location falls in a special district that requires Architectural Review. The board met, and disapproved of the customers desired design, which happens to be a national identity that is carried throughout their stores, throughout the country. We did not accept defeat from the Architectural Review Board, and fought our way through the process to get our customer exactly what they wanted. This took a significant amount of time, and multiple trips to negotiate with City Hall (which additional compensation was neither requested, nor offered). We could not snswer the questions of "when are we going to get our awning" because the project was tied up with the City Permit Office. In the end, the customer got their awnings and signage exactly as requested, installed well before their Grand Opening (they were still working on the inside and computer systems when we finished our installation). I understand the customers lamentation about the timeline, as we truly wanted the project to move quicker too. Once we received permit approval from the City, the awning was completed quickly, and installed in short order. We can only control that which we can control, and City Hall is not under our control. Despite the challenges, I agree with the customer, that we would do business with them again, it was no more their fault than mine that the project was delayed by the city. Most companies would have accepted the no from the city and delivered it to the customer to force the customer to change their plans. We went the extra mile, (and a few weeks) for our client. All is well that ends well.."

"We surely wish we could have been faster in production for you. Our estimate was on 11/8/13, but the awning was not ordered until late April, and the final fabric choice I believe May 1. We fabricate awnings in the order they are received, and as most everyone waits until it is hot to order their awnings, we get inundated. Late last year we added 3 employees to our production facility, two veteran sewing professionals in custom sewing, and a new welder. While we do not anticipate being as fast in the summer, as winter, but we are confident that our staff additions will help get our customers their products quicker. Thank you for the A for quality, as that is our top priority, and the good grade for our price. I hope you accept that the summertime production concern is not unique to our company, and that we do whatever we can to meet specified timelines. Our staff works very hard, and we ask a lot of them. They generally stand very tall and we are proud of the jobs they perform for us. We, however continually strive to improve."

"Thank you for your kind words. For the Angies List Consumer benefit, the supplier that we worked with on this project was newer to us. We install a very large quantity of retractable awning products each year, and our experience, volume, and reputation are coveted. We judge suppliers based primarily on the quality of their products, as our family names are on the line. The awning was ready to go very quickly, but the drop shades were not. In hindsight, we should have installed what we had ready to go, but kept receiving assurances that the shades would be ready in short order. These delays rightfully were distressing to our customer, and therefore to us. I am happy that the quality of the finished product met or exceeded your expectations. Today, quality is the thing that has suffered greatest in our quick fix society. Our primary motivation is to build quality products that last. Our product longevity is as uncommon in our industry as in most industries, when price and speed are the measures of success. We hope you are enjoying your shade products, and are glad you appreciate the unparalleled quality. Please let us know what we can do to help you in the future. We continue to strive to find the perfect balance of speed and quality. We do not want to sacrifice quality for speed, but with a product that should last well more than a decade, we hope a few extra weeks production time will be forgiven."

"Wow, tough review. It is always difficult to recall the details of jobs performed 7 months ago (the project was actually completed 2 months earlier than the date the customer provided), but this one does stick out in our memory. The project was not awnings, but actually blackout roller shades. It did take a few weeks longer than we would have anticipated due to the fabric choice, and product combination. Most roller shades are made with fabrics that do not fray when cut, but the customers fabric choice does fray so the project took more time in engineering to determine that the roll tube was large enough to handle the hemmed fabric without creating ripples, but small enough to remain attractive. Then we had to source these nonstandard parts. We are most pleased with the quality grade, which shows that our extra production/engineering time paid off in a top quality product. This is most important to our company as we anticipate our products should give more than ten years of high quality and good looking performance. This typically makes a few extra weeks of production acceptable. If a customer has a specific timeline we need to meet, (like a party) we go the extra mile to hit the day. We were not made aware of any specific timeline on this project, but we can only assume that their expectations were not properly set by our representatives. The grade on pricing is difficult to understand. We provide pricing upfront, and only proceed with orders with customer approval. I am certain that the customer would not have purchased the product from us if the pricing was unfair, or if they had a lower price from someone on the same product. Custom made products of top quality materials do cost more than off the shelf plastic shades from the hardware store. Of course they last much longer too. In the end, we can learn from the experience, continue to work on our communication, and continue to make top quality products that outperform others in the industry. We are confident that rushing poorly engineered products into the marketplace to make them fast and cheap is not the way to go. There are too many products made overseas, and locally that can fill that low end market. As for us, we will stick with quality manufacturing right here in Virginia that stands the test of time. That is what we appreciate as consumers, and that is what we commit to for our customers. This methodology has helped us develop our 116 year track record, with still double digit growth year after year. We install well more than 1000 awning products per year."