Category: Window Complaints

Polaris Windows Complaints – What’s Wrong Here?

When you’re shopping for new windows you can find complaints about almost anyone. That’s certainly true with Polaris windows complaints too. It’s important to understand what is causing these complaints.

You’ll want to understand what causes these complaints so you can avoid finding yourself in the same situation. Maybe you can make better choices than the customer who finds themselves complaining or maybe you should avoid Polaris windows altogether. Let’s find out.

What causes Polaris windows complaints?

The most common cause of Polaris windows complaints is the sales process. This is really something caused by their old fashioned dealers rather than by Polaris themselves, but it’s something customers need to deal with.

In my experience many Polaris window dealers will still use commission based in-home salesmen who use some of the most old school window sales tactics out there.

Window salesmen scams and tactics
Most window salespeople are great folks, but if you’ve been in this business long enough you’ve surely met some characters like this fella!

Dealing with a salesman who is paid 100% commission can be a real hassle. They can be pushy, they can full of misinformation, etc. You see, these guys and gals typically don’t make any money if they don’t sell you windows right now.

Worse than that, they even have to pay for gas and tires and depreciation on their cars to get to your house. So, if they don’t get the order right away they’ve lost money. It’s not always a great deal for them and it’s often not a great deal for you either.

Other causes of Polaris windows complaints can be the limited features available or the limited Polaris warranty which we’ve also written about.

Are these complaints serious?

They can be. If you get a pushy salesman who isn’t 100% accurate with the truth you could easily find yourself in a pickle. These sales meetings can last 2 hours or more so a lot gets said but nothing gets recorded.

The risk there is that if the salesman tells you something that is inaccurate you don’t have any recourse down the road. He’ll say he never told you that and you swear that he did. It can turn into a sticky situation very quickly.

How can you tell if the company selling you Polaris windows is doing this?

It’s easy to see what is going on when it’s time for them to finally show you how much the new Polaris windows will cost. If they show you one price that is very high and then another price that is lower if you buy today, you can be sure you’re not getting a very good deal at all.

I know they can seem like very genuine, nice, helpful people. That’s their job. Just remember, if there’s a problem down the road nothing will matter if it’s not in writing. When you ask about efficiency ratings, air infiltration ratings, labor warranties, etc be sure to write all of that in the actual contract. If they won’t let you do that you should not buy their windows.

The pricing gimmicks can also be tricky. For example, if the regular price was $30,000, why is he offering to sell you the windows for $12,000. Does anyone ever actually pay the $30,000 or is that just a trick to make the $12,000 seem low?

The world of commission based in-home sales can be like the wild west. Be careful out there.

What’s the bottom line?

The Polaris windows complaints I’ve heard over the years tend to be more about the sales process than about the windows themselves. Overall the windows are decent and you can find more info in our reviews of the UltraWeld, ThermalWeld and DynaWeld windows. The options can be limited since they’re a smaller manufacturer but I’d say the products are fine.

The complaints tend to stem from the in-home sales process. Everyone says they would never fall for the old school sales gimmicks, but these window dealers sell a lot of windows so someone is buying them.

If the prices go down every time you say “no” and the salesman won’t leave your living room you should probably kick him out. Almost nothing is still sold this way, like it’s 1970, but windows are an exception to that. Buyer beware.

Other posts about Polaris windows that you might find helpful:

How can you find a great window company?

That part is easy.  Check this section for recommendations of window companies all over the country. There’s no better way to get new windows.

Other posts you might find interesting:

Vytex Windows Complaints – What’s Wrong?

When you’re shopping for new windows you’ll find complaints out there about almost everyone. It’s certainly possible to find Vytex windows complaints and it’s important to understand what is often causing these customers to be so unhappy.

What causes Vytex windows complaints?

There could be a few causes, but one is probably the fact that Vytex installs windows for many of their dealers without the customers knowing about it. The fact that Vytex does the installations ins’t bad, but the fact that many of their dealers will lie about this fact is cause for concern.

For example, years ago I was in the Vytex manufacturing plant picking up a sample and I overheard one of their customer service reps calling a customer. She said she was calling from one of their dealers to schedule a measurement appointment.

Obviously she was working for Vytex, not for the dealer, but the customer couldn’t have known that.

It’s strange to me that some window salespeople will lie to their customers about something so simple, but it happens all the time. The salesman says his company has the absolute best window installers when they actually don’t employ any installers at all. The salesman might also say that they never use sub-contractors when the manufacturer is hiring subs to install the windows.

In my experience this happens all the time.

Why does this cause Vytex windows complaints?

Usually the issue is communication. Since the salesperson only works for the sales company he probably doesn’t know anything about installation. The installers are usually subcontractors working for the manufacturer so they’re a few steps removed from the commission based salespeople.

These salespeople are often only focused on getting the order so they make their commission. Then the order gets turned over to the installers and the salesman goes on to the next sales lead.

How can you tell if a company is doing this?

It’s basically impossible to find out if this is happening. Everyone involved knows that they need to fib about this. The installers know that if you ask who they work for they need to say the dealer. The reps on the phone know that they need to say they’re calling from “Window Company X” when they call to make an appointment. It’ just the way the system works.

What’s the bottom line?

Overall I’d say this isn’t a huge issue. I do always suggest avoiding the high pressure commission based in-home salespeople. That’s true if you’re buying Vytex windows or any other brand.

If you get a good quality product from a company that will be honest with you from the start it’s likely you’ll get a good result at the end.

How can you find a great window company?

That part is easy.  Check this section for recommendations of window companies all over the country. There’s no better way to get new windows. You can find my company here and you can find recommendations of other companies in other parts of the country here.

Other posts you might find interesting:

Provia Window Complaints – What’s going on?

If you’re reading Provia window complaints online you may be wondering what’s going on. It’s always hard to navigate online reviews, especially in the window business. Are there issues with the windows, is it just a bad installer or bad warranty service or just an unsatisfiable customer? We’ll find out.

What causes Provia window complaints?

The Provia window complaints you’ll see online will fall into a couple of pretty common categories for window complaints and that’s a good thing.

The first is a customer blaming the manufacturer for an installation issue. This happens all the time to all manufacturers. In fact we wrote about it in our post about Alside window complaints and you’ll find it happens to Provia too.

I found an example of a customer blaming Provia for air infiltration on a window. That can be caused by manufacturing, but it’s almost always caused by the installation of the window.

Sometimes people buy windows from small installers who don’t have the resources to reorder a window if the measurements are wrong. The installer may force a window into an opening even if the size is off and that can lead to air infiltration or a draft in the window. It’s not the manufacturers fault, but the customer doesn’t know that. The manufacturer gets blamed for something they have no control over.

At the end of the day the customer is complaining about Provia windows but her problem is really with the installer. The only thing that will fix it is a new window that is the right size.

The second common cause of Provia window complaints is the customer not understanding what they ordered.

Unfortunately this happens more than anyone would like.

I was just reading a complaint from a customer who ordered a Provia door with a pet door. The customer said they assumed they would get an “extreme weather” pet door even though that is not listed anywhere.

That’s not anything Provia even offers so why would the customer assume that? Who knows. They ordered a pet door, they got a pet door. Then they said it wasn’t as nice as their old pet door. Provia didn’t do anything wrong, but that doesn’t stop someone from complaining.

What’s the moral of the story? Be sure to ask questions and do as much as you can to make sure you understand what you’re ordering before you order it. If you have specific expectations about your pet door, or any feature, put them in writing.

If something shows up that is different from what you expected I’d suggest starting by looking for a solution with the dealer rather than blaming them as they want you to be happy too. Nobody wants an upset customer.

What’s the bottom line?

At the end of the day you can find complaints about any product online. This is especially true with custom made products that are professionally installed.

There are a lot of variables involved and it’s best to work with the installer and the manufacturer to find a solution to any concern rather than blaming people and getting upset. We know that’s sometimes easier said than done.

If you’re shopping for new window I always suggest finding a great installation company before you fall in love with a replacement window model. We see people work with problematic companies all the time. They do it to get a window model that they want. The trade off isn’t worthwhile.

The best place to start is with our list of the best window companies around. You can find that right here. You can also find detailed window reviews here and information on window ratings here. Have fun out there!