Vortex Doors

The service I received from Vortex was extremely poor. All that was needed at my restaurant was the boarding of a door. The technician took over three hours to complete this task. I have no problem paying a high price for quality work, but $ 540 dollars for boarding a door is ridiculous. All the technician did, was measure the plywood, and clamp it to the door. That took TWO hours (the other hour was to buy the supplies). I would expect that a professional company that charges $ 65 per 30 min of labor would be efficient enough to spend less than for such a simple task. The technician worked extremely slow (perhaps bc of the $ 65 per 30 min). Additionally, I caught him smoking a cigarettes two different times while he was measuring and cutting the plywood. How professional is that? I paid for his cigarette break? What’s worse, since it was one person, he had to ask for my help to clamp the plywood to the door. I imagine that if I had been busy and unable to help, the job would have cost me an extra 30 minutes or more. Its just ridiculous. I also had to call that same day to make a complaint because the technician left at 4:00pm, but on the work order he wrote that he left the job site at 4:15pm.
To top it off, he said that the company would send a proposal to complete the repairs the door. He said that the job would take all day, and he warned me that he would try but not to expect the door to look as it was before because the damage was significant. Well, guess what? Like I said, I dont mind paying extra money for quality work. So I hired Storefront Door Repair instead. They send three guys to do the job. They came in 6am, and finished the entire job in 3.5 hours, well before our business opening hours, like the promised! And our entrance actually looks better that it did before. It was a few hundred more, but well worth it!

RIP OFF! RIP OFF! RIP OFF!
This place is unreasonable. I will never call them again. I called them to repair a glass door that was dragging and when they came out I was quoted $ 500 and I thought that was way to high but they were here and I needed it done so I said go ahead. Next thing I know I receive a $ 700 bill! They 2 man crew was here 1.5 hours and I was billed $ 470 in labor! That is ridiculous!!! I called the office the complain and the woman just giggled about it. They didn’t offer to make any adjustments.

I have no problem with the quality of repair work done by Vortex. I have used them for a number of commercial door repairs and their work has been quality. The problem I have with Vortex and why I won’t use them anymore, has to do with their unethical billing and charging practices. Their shop is within about three blocks of me yet they charge half an hour of travel time to and from the job. When I questioned this practice, I was told that they’re not always coming from the shop and that’s why they charge the 30 minutes of travel time. When I pointed out that by charging every customer for travel time in both directions they were double dipping, I was told «That’s just our policy.» On another occasion, I had them out to do a repair and the technician brought a trainee with him. We had the same issue fixed on a different door, but because the technician was training someone, the job took longer and they billed for the extra time. When I called Vortex to complain about this they did offer to reduce the charge but not by the full amount of overage. Happily I have found a door repair company in my area that is reputable and their billing and charging practices. I will be using them and will never call Vortex again.

DEFINITELY A RIP OFF!!!
Vortex does work for us at an airport and sometimes have to repair our hangar door for various reasons. Every time they come out we tell them we have 20 foot doors and they will need some sort of ladder/​lift in order to service the doors appropriately. Without fail they show up with no ladder and then tell us they need to drive back to the shop in order to pick one up. This whole time they are considered «on the clock» and charge us for labor hours while they are making trips back and forth to the shop.
Furthermore, they repair things that we have not authorized to be fixed, work as slowly as possible to get paid for more labor hours and then try to upsale you on other repairs that they offer.
If you have the ability to, I would use someone else.

I had a simple door getting jammed. Called them and they asked for a photo to quote– then they quoted me $ 500 and said a «crew» needed to come out. Called another licensed local glass door company who came out an hour later and one guy was able to fix it in 15 minutes and charged me $ 85. This place is a rip off.

They brag about being woman-​owned, but you can’t speak to a woman or anyone high up when you have an issue. We are a non-​profit and they have been charging us for every visit without fixing the problem. When they finally identified the actual problem after telling us multiple times there was no problem, they refused to give us assurance that if the issue recurred, we would have redress. When I asked what they could do to assure me we would not keep pouring money into the issue, they actually told me that we need to go with another company. I do not recommend them.

I have an office building on Centinela and had a glass front door literally come off its closer connection to the point that it had to be locked, such that no one could enter the front. I called Vortex and was told it might take several hours, when I explained the problem and asked for a quicker response they had a technician (Warren) at my door (no pun intended) in less than an hour. He carefully explained the problem and explained that to fix right he needed a conversion kit for my 50 year old door, but would get it working in the meantime. He got it working well within the hour, and by the next day was out with the proper part which had been carefully explained including the price in advance. He installed the new part, and in about an hour the door was working perfectly, and according to Warren should for some time to come. He was knowledgeable friendly and competent. I asked him to look at different door in a bldg down the street that had a leaky closer. When he told me the approximate price (which seemed high), I asked if I could by one on my own and have a handy man install it (for way less) to which he answered yes. I pretty knew that my handy man could do that which he couldn’t on the first door. I was pleased to find him admitting that it was fairly simple, it showed integrity.
Bottom line: great service, great company the only negative is they are expensive, but if you need a quality job on a timely basis I would wholeheartedly recommend Vortex doors

I am so upset at myself for not checking Unilocal first before hiring these people to fix my door. They replaced my door closer (parts probably cost less than $ 200) in less than an hour and charged me over $ 600! Stay away from this company, total rip off!

We have a building off Sepulveda in LA and we have to call different service people from plumbers, exterminators, drinking water and lock and security. I have found that Vortex is by far the most professional and knowledgeable and they do everything on any door. They take care of our big parking garage door and our glass entrance doors, which are all wired for controlled access. They actually answer the phone live and they show up the same day if needed. As I was typing the review I noticed a few not so great reviews. Mostly people who didn’t ask for a cost. Vortex is one of the few companies that offers free estimates the same day and if you want to spend less they have come up with cheaper solutions and quick fixes if you want. They are in most cities in the west and have been doing this for over 70 years and they advertise «family owned». They must be doing some things right.
Don’t know what everyone else is talking about, but I am a fan!

They sent an «estimator over. he quoted over $ 5000 for 2 small louvered doors. I had already priced then, custom made, from USA Fire Door… at $ 2000
The guy explained «Well, I told you were are a commercial door company»…as if the word «commercial» means you need to pay more than double
Don’t even bother to contact these people, completely absurd business model, hopefully will be out of business soon.

What a scummy company!!! They came to fix our commercial roll up door and had to take down and repair the barrel. The bill was $ 6800!!! A new door costs $ 3500. They should have told us it would have been cheaper to purchase a new door. Instead, they are demanding we pay for a repair that is the cost of almost 2 new doors. Terrible.

BEWARE OF A RIPOFF.
They quoted us one rate over the phone. We agreed to a $ 300 repair and they charged us for a $ 677 repair because their guys came after hours. It was not an emergency, we could’ve easily waited until the next day.
It wasn’t the service guy’s fault at all. I could tell he just wanted to fix the door. He also seemed used to customer’s getting duped by the office.
Regardless, we won’t use again and do not recommend.

Awesome customer service, really fast work and response!

I’m sooooo pissed at this company i had enough, after 5yrs being loyal and basically stupid i had enough of the abuse and there leeching way. customers please beware and find someone else to fix and service your doors because all they want is your Money and they do a bad job so you have to call them back to do more services. Please find someone else that’s what I’m doing NOW.

We were fairly hesitant at first in calling Vortex to repair our store door due to the lackluster reviews that have on Unilocal but i am glad we did call them. They did a wonderful job, showed up when they said they were going to. The door technician was very polite and professional. Even after the door was fix the company would call and follow up. Would definitely use again.

So the battle continues. They have repeatedly called me to remind me of the bill. After one such conversation with Miriam I discovered that all initial calls to the call center are recorded. I said great… listen to mine and my repeated request for an estimate. As I explained to her I asked and even demanded an estimate, even a guess. LOL
Now they are sending it to the collection agencies. We will go to court on this. There bad business practice will finally be exposed. Thanks to those who have left me private messages and hopefully the guy I found will be able to help you.

Had to call Vortex out to fix a door this week. They showed up the same day and replaced my door closer.
I have managed buildings for over 20 years and if you need service on a door, any door this company is the only one that will show up and actually knows what they are doing. The people are always nice and they send uniformed people who are trained. I have had other people come to my building and they are usually scary.
They have been around since the 1930s around LA. Must be doing something right.
If you are not sure ask for a free estimate and they send a rep who will email a price. They pretty much do anything on any door in a business or warehouse.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! THEY RIP YOU OFF!!!
I’m SO SORRY I didn’t check here before calling Vortex out to help us! We had the same problem as the previous reviewer. We called them out to fix our door. The guy arrived and went to work. We assumed he was getting the job done but NO, with out any advance notice, it was just a $ 295 temporary fix until they got the needed part. We tried to stop him mid-​job. We didn’t need a temporary fix we could have used it as is for the time being, but he said when we called we had to specifically ask for an estimate otherwise they go right to work even if they don’t have all the parts needed and charge away. When they returned to finish the job, there was no credit back for the first visit. We were charged an additional $ 765 for a new spring.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!! THEY RIP YOU OFF!!!

I want to warn everyone about these guys. What kind of company shows up and will not give an estimate for the parts and labor when asked for one, just gets someone to sign a work order to «fix» the door and says they will send the bill later??? Scammers is the answer. I used them many times and finally realized I am getting ripped off every time. Today we had an obvious broken spring on a very nice and new building, and they tried tthis one on us. I told them to kick rocks. These guys are ridiculous!

First of all, let me say that I was highly impressed… I had a problem, they got out the same day to look at a broken gate at a rental problem and I was happy… unfortunately, the happiness was shortlived… I thought I was getting an «estimate», then the next thing I know, I rec’d a $ 275 invoice for a «temporary» repair, (which took them only 1 hour and 15 minutes) and was told that another $ 1044.00 needed to be done to «fix properly». In any case, I asked why so much and was told that this job would require a 2man crew, yada yada yada…
She did agree that it seemed high and told me that she would check into and get back to me… which she did… she said, and get this: we could send 1 guy out, but that he would require another man to complete the job… and, that I would be responsible for paying for the first trip AND the second trip to get the crew over there. I said «why would you only send 1 guy then??» and to this she replied: «well, you are the customer and you wanted us to send 1 guy to save money»? You can see where this is going… Bottom line is that if you call Vortex… MAKE SURE YOU ASK FOR AN ESTIMATE BEFORE LETTING THEM PERFORM ANY REPAIRS. YOU MUST STATE: That you want an estimate, otherwise, they write it up as a «Service Call» and then you pay $ 162 just to show up, plus $ 85 every ½ hour, plus parts.
I asked her if they would be willing to discount the additional work since they already peformed $ 275 for a «temporary» repair and she said NO. I then stated that we would pay the invoice and look for another company to repair the gate to which she said with a little bit of an attitude: NO problem, have a good day. She did not seem to be at all concerned that she was about to lose a customer.
Upshot: I found another reputable repair company to come out and give me an estimate… will report back with update.