San Diego Door & Window

DO NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION!!!
They will harass you! They do not take no for an answer. I got an estimate from them & I regret it. They will call you everyday, multiple times a day. They are rude, dishonest, & unprofessional.

SDDW did a very good job for my parents replacing windows, doors and some HVAC work. They advertised, quoted and installed just the same as any other small business in SD. The work was done almost on time (but coming from a family of contractors, this is understandable — home improvement is hard work and estimating how long it will take to improve a home is like predicting the future). The workers were friendly, funny, and honest when they ran into problems.
I feel like a lot of these reviews are from first-​time home improver that haven’t had experiences with contractors… SDDW is a hard working company that provides an exceptional product. =)

They won’t take no for an answer, call too many times

Do not bother contacting this business they will waste your time. First they will insist that the spouse be present for their free estimate of a door replacement, next they do not show up at the appointed time, after you make your spouse wait for the appointment. Next they arrive 1 hour later and provide a half baked verbal estimate because they can’t figure out their price chart and insist they will email it to you that day. Never received, call about it, guarantee email again, not received and in the end their estimate was so high it was unbelievable. They wanted to replace items that were unnecessary and at triple the actual cost for the job. I felt as though they were casing my house.

My contract with this place was a disaster!
They quoted me one price then after they started the job, kept telling me it didn’t include this and that. Ended up increasing the price another 20%.
Was told the job would take 1 day, it took 2 and the guys didn’t even clean up after themselves. They left debris EVERYWHERE.
I made sure there were people home whenever the workers were there so furniture could be moved and questions answered for them. Instead of asking us anything, one guy stood on my night stand and broke it, then said it was our fault for not moving it.
My roommate went into her room and found a bunch of old window stuff piled on her bed with her panties ON TOP OF THE PILE! That would mean the worker had to pick up her panties from either her dresser or her laundry and put it on top AFTER he took down all the window stuff.
When I complained to the owner, he of course backed his workers 100% and offered to ask them to «fix» my nightstand. He didn’t even offer to replace it.

My experience has been the same, although happily I am not out any money because the salesman (Jim) didn’t want to drive out to the coast to give me an estimate since I wanted a wood entry door and not a fiberglass one. Think we’ll just refinish the beautiful wood entry door we already have…

Horrible… Horrible…Horrible customer service. I have had my windows since 2003, have had one good experience where my window was shattered and it was replaced free of charge as that is the contract, insured for the life while I own the Condo, that is my only positive.
I have been calling for two weeks regarding my door handle to be replaced with several phone calls in one day, being told someone will «definitely call you back, I’ll make sure of it», no phone call, not even to say, Hey I know you’ve been calling, we appreciate your business, we are looking into your situation-​I received not ONE phone call back.
Then my husband calls asking to speak with a supervisor as we are tired of getting the run around, and suddenly we’re told that they were trying to reach us the day before without being able to reach us… Really!!! I only have a cell phone, and I received two phone calls that day neither of which were them!!! So, not only do they lie, they cannot stop lying!!!
An appt was made for TODAY… between 9:30−10am to replace my door handle/lock…I receive a call at 9:48 saying the person who was supposed to do the job «called in» saying he won’t be able to come in until later!!! Really!!! And no one else can come get the job done!!! «later today» was the answer, now I have to sit and wait until they call and say that this man is ready to now come to work to do his job!!! My door is unable to lock!!! I have to put a stick in the door so no one just opens the door!!! and their next appt isn’t until Monday, leaving my door vulnerable for another 2 days. and I’m sure some other excuse will come up where it will be delayed.
The people who answer the phone are nice enough, however, I do not appreciate being told how they’re working on some project, or pay roll or whatever is taking this person’s time and cannot return a phone call or order door handle!!! Absolutely ridiculous!!!
My worse experience has been in replacing my screens… It took them TWO years to get that done!!! TWO YEARS!!! After several calls and a year… someone finally came out to take measurements… It then took another year because that person was fired or quit and the new person who finally took care of me was better however… she has now like her predecessor. I hope it’s not another year before I get my lock fixed…

This is a real shame – a business that makes a good product, but is managed so poorly that I am sure they are leaving a lot of potential business on the table. Getting anything done (appointments, delivery, installation, etc.) requires multiple phone calls, and no one calls you back for days at a time. The owner (Alan) moans about how «it’s a recession out there» and times are tough, but then the way he deals with customers leaves them angry and vindictive enough to post nasty reviews like the ones below. We live in a neighborhood where Baby Boomers are moving in and tearing the old places apart – yet our last encounter will assure that we do not give SDD&W any references. Our door was painted the wrong color, and the final trim work could have been neater. They have agreed to fix it, but we’ll have to wait and see how it turns out. My suggestion would be to keep Alan in the office haranging his workers, and send somebody else out into the field to meet with customers.
Update: Well, they did finally come out and refinish the door, on site, under terrible conditions – heat, bugs flying around, etc. Not ideal for staining a door. Plus there were multiple screw-​ups, late arrivals, no-​shows, etc. All in all, I’d say shop somewhere else. We were really excited about getting a new, beautiful door, and instead I wince a little when I look at it. Over five grand later, that’s not where you want to be. (Oh, and PS, it’s not done yet – there’s still inside caulking to be replaced because they used the wrong material.) I’m withdrawing my second star.

I had an experience similar to Jeffrey’s. When I called for my appointment, I told them that I was doing all of my estimates in one day and asked if they could make it on the date I had set aside (I had taken the day off of work specifically for this project). They said that they could and we set a time. The morning of the appointment, the sales manager called to tell me that someone was sick and that they couldn’t make the appointment time, but they could come the next day at any time that was convenient for me.
Since I was doing all of my estimates in one day — and I had been very specific about that — that didn’t work for me. So I called and left a message letting them know that I would not be rescheduling my appointment. (As an aside, it wasn’t easy to return the call… I had to call several times. I got several busy signals and one of the times someone accidentally hung up on me!)
You’d think that would be the end, but… they decided to send someone out anyway. They *did* have the good sense to call and let me know that someone was coming after all. By that time I wasn’t interested in doing business with this company anymore. I *might* have given them a chance to get their act together if I hadn’t already read the reviews on Unilocal! Thankfully, I knew that this was just their way of doing business.
When I called to tell them not to send someone out, the person who answered actually argued with me when trying to convince me to give them a chance. And, not knowing (I assume) that the sales manager told me someone was sick, she told me that they had accidentally double booked a salesperson and that’s why they couldn’t make my appointment. Maybe it was a misunderstanding, but I felt like I had been lied to. As lies go, it’s not the worst. But it didn’t inspire confidence in the company.
I consider myself lucky that I didn’t hire this company. If this is how I was treated when they were trying to get my business, I can only imagine how I’d be treated once I signed a contract. As Ali B.‘s review shows, it doesn’t get better.

I thought I had a scheduled free home estimate to have a couple of security screen doors installed and aligned. I called them up to find out why they were an hour and a half late. The lady on the phone told me we don’t do that service, I asked well then why did you schedule an appointment? She informed me that Jerry looked at the appointment and decided this is something their door & window service company does not do (What?) so no one bothered to call me and tell me that they had cancelled my home appointment. Makes you wonder what quality of service they do if they actually show up.

Stay away unless you want your project stalled indefinitely. I was so dissapointed with the service these guys provided because they semed to be knowledgeable and responsive at first. But as soon as my order was placed, problems began. I had to chase after them with phone calls and emails to get confirmation on delivery and once the windows and door were delivered, one window turned out to be the wrong size and a door was not correctly drilled for the lock. After some calls, they agreed to replace the door and window and said 2 weeks at most was needed. Well, four weeks later (six weeks after original order) and no window in site. Not only that, but they do not return calls, which only adds to the frustration, and keep giving excuses and false promises about when the window will arrive. Remodeling is stressful enough without dealing with unreliable suppliers.

This was a fantastic experience! Scott was the best. I was overly impressed and gave it five stars for the following reasons:
1. PRICE — these guys by far beat the socks off of everyone else. They don’t mind if you get other estimates and they will match whatever you counteroffer if someone actually is able to beat their estimate. Great price.
2. SERVICE — These guys were very flexible for installation scheduling. After I was late, they understood and waited for me to show up.
3. FOLLOW UP — after I had the door installed, and realized that I had forgotten to ask them to install a handle with lock, I was concerned. After calling Scott, he was able to find the part and meet me at my house the very next day (a Friday!). He installed the part/​lock himself and was in and out in less than 30 minutes. His fee for the fix/​change, which was clearly my fault, was done at minimal expense.
Very well done Scott and San Diego Door and Window! I will come back again next time.

My experience with this company has been nothing but horrible. I went into the store a few weeks ago looking for a fiberglass entry door. One of the salesman there (with a title of campaign manager or something) told me that he has one in stock and because he wants to get rid of it, he will give it to me at a special price of $ 400. To install it is $ 400. He has only one of that size and it is first come first serve. I stupidly fell for that classic marketing bait.
I signed and paid the $ 400 deposit they asked for (I did ask why it is so much since I recall that it is supposed to be 10% deposit in California. They told me that does not apply for retail walk in customers).
Exactly a week after I signed the contract, I found out the door I paid for is available in places like Home Depot or Lowes for around $ 150. I also discovered that including installation (but not changing out the frame), the door should be only around $ 450 max. And this $ 450 price generally includes weather stripping and what not. I went back to San Diego Door and Window to confront them with what I found and to renegotiate. The same sales guy was very confrontational and took a very threatening stance. But in the end, he offered to reduce the price to $ 600. That is, I have to pay the company another $ 200 (instead of $ 400) after the door is installed. This time, I also made sure they wrote in what is included in the installation. At this point, I found out that they would provide hinges, but the total price does not include something as simple as weather stripping. I deeply rue the day I walked into that store!
The saga continues. Last week, they came out as schedule for the door. The workman who showed up was really quite nice. But he was flummoxed that I didn’t have hinges. He said they told him at the shop that no hinges are included. Luckily, I had a contract to show him otherwise. He called the «production» manager and we rescheduled for them to come back out this morning to install it.
Morning came and went but no one showed up. After numerous calls, I finally got the production manager who assured me that someone will be out there by 2 pm. No one came. Then, at 3:30 pm, I called and the receptionist told me it may be 5 pm before they come around to my place. I called a couple of times to try to talk to the production manager about timing and rescheduling, but he nor anyone else called me back.
So, I’m still waiting for the door. I guess I’ll see if it ever shows up and if it does, it is the same door they are supposed to sell me.
In conclusion, there are plenty of other doors and windows companies in San Diego. This company doesn’t seem to care about its reputation and really has no sense of customer service nor basic courtesy nor ethics. I have to admit that I was really stupid to not have done my research, but hopefully this post helps others avoid the mistake I made.