Pella Windows and Doors Showroom of De Pere, WI — Local services in Town of Lawrence

DO NOT USE PELLA. To start, Joe F. (sales) has very hard sales / must-sign-now-pay-in-full tactics and promises are not kept. We paid almost $23k in July 2020 to replace 13 windows on Oct 7-9. Now 13 may sound like a lot but several are 2 windows side-by-side joined by a pane so only 9 window holes. We couldn't afford to do our picture window or patio door with Pella at ANOTHER $11k. Mid-Sept I reached out to confirm our install dates as we needed to request time off but were told our dates were Oct 21-23 – we hadn’t been told of the change. Also two kitchen windows would not make it in time for our install! We were told at signing they do not use sub contractors but that’s what arrived. When I questioned this, I was told they are “certified Pella installers” but they are sub contractors. They started to install windows incorrectly – as simple replacement windows when we paid for full frame replacements. Installers said they wouldn’t have bid on the job if they had known it was full frames and that this happens all the time with Pella and did not have materials they needed! We gave them some of our OSB boards to use until their supplies arrived. They installed 8 of 11 windows that were onsite Day 1 and finished inside trim for the morning of Day 2 and left at noon due to rain and did not show up Day 3 due to rain. Monday they call to say they are coming to pick up their equipment to go start another job!! I was panic stricken!! Tried calling everyone at Pella but got no one to call me back for hours and the workers had come & gone with their tools. NO outside trim had been done on those 8 windows and our house was exposed to the elements. Was told they’d reschedule for NOV 20. NO!!! Unacceptable! Our house was exposed! After a full nightmare day & night of fighting (plus migraines, stress, no sleep) I figured out how to reach the GM (Gina D.) and Owner of Pella (John C.). Gina got us back on track a few days later with apologies from everyone and they finished the 11 windows but we had to take additional time off from work. The added stress was horrific and apologies only go so far after what we experienced. The last kitchen windows install date of Dec 30. On install day a new crew arrived and asked if WE had all the needed materials and we said no, they took it all when they left in October and we just kept some scrap pieces in case it was needed later. They said they’d have to reschedule our appt and reorder materials. We had taken the day off again for this! They looked at the scraps and said we could reschedule/reorder OR use the scrap pieces we had which is a different size trim from the other kitchen window. Honestly we wanted them out so we agreed to use the different sized trim. When they finished they had us go outside to see it. They had installed nail heads at the 4 corners of this window in the metal outside trim that NONE of the other windows have. Also put caulk inside on the trim that none of the other windows have. THIS is why you do NOT send different installers to the same job. Even tho all were certified by Pella and from the same sub contractor, they all install differently! They did not have enough nails or time to do all windows. We talked to a supervisor that night and he suggested he send US the nails to install ourselves. WHAT?! We did not pay $23k to do work ourselves. NO. End of Jan said they will come install the nail heads the next day but we had FOUR FEET of snow around our house at the time & couldn’t shovel all of that. Since then we decided to leave the 1 window different. We wanted to be done with Pella. After my numerous complaints, we were asked what comp we should get and I suggested they make offer on doing our picture window and patio door – thinking instead of $11k it would be $8k or less. They came back at OVER the price we had been originally quoted citing their prices had gone up and NO other offers! Pella windows are not worth this. A horrible experience deserves comp for stress, delays, time off, etc & they need to...

5.21.21 Update: Two representatives have reached out from Pella; our sales rep's boss and our sales rep. They explained that the inquiry was just looking at options and there was no intention to change my account. I believe them, but let them know it made me uncomfortable that they didn't speak with me prior to speaking with a company about my loan. I appreciate the amount of courage our sales rep had to have to call, having seen my review and talk through everything with me. I hope that the transparency we experienced today continues for the rest of our time with Pella as we finish this project.

5.20.21 Update: Our experience with Pella has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. I've tried to make this bite sized for consumption. See photos for proof.

Order windows with Insynctive Security feature from Pella Installed windows won't connect to our phones as advertised Contacted sales rep; they say they're looking into it; haven't resolved in 2+ weeks since the install Sales rep learns they didn't know an extra part was required, which doubles the cost of the feature Prior to speaking with us, sales rep calls our financing company, tells them we gave consent to increase our credit limit, and charges our account for the extra part (amount charged $685.17) Sales rep calls us and explains the extra part and cost ($680), we refuse to pay by outlining that the windows were sold to us with a $500 fee for this feature (Highlights from the conversation include: "I've never sold this, so I had a learning curve;" "I can't take this charge to my management team;" "I know it's not your fault, but you need to pay it anyway") Sales rep does NOT tell us they charged our account I check my email and learn finance company emailed for approval to release funds to Pella; I call finance company and learn what happened I reach out to Pella and explain what their sales rep did Radio silence from the company until I receive only a text from the sales rep stating he has no idea how this happened

Apparently, the company is fine forcing us to work with an untrustworthy rep who knows we spoke up about him. How can we trust any actions he takes are in our interest?

No one's apologized or offered an explanation. What if all of their sales reps are charging other customers for items and they don't notice? How many other people has this happened to?

This is a company that, in my experience, has NOT lived up to its reputation.

Original: While Pella may not be the lowest cost, I believe they more than make up for it in the options and care you receive. We have a large window other companies told us was impossible to replace at that size. Luckily, we connected with Pella. He told us from day one we’d find a solution to keep our window size in a more energy efficient model. He was right! He listened to our needs and made sure he found the best option for us with patience and answers everyone deserves when making a home investment. We’re excitedly awaiting the installation of our...

I first contacted Pella on 9 July regarding a structural issue (see photo) with a Pella sliding glass door covered by their warranty. Over the next 60 days or so, despite providing e-mails, photographic evidence, and numerous follow-up phone calls – including a visit by a Pella representative on 11 August – I received no responses. In short, no one from Pella ever called me or returned my calls. In frustration, I drove to the Green Bay Pella showroom (recently moved to De Pere, WI) on 3 September and spoke to their Director of Operations, Mandy Lutz, the only employee to date whose performance was praiseworthy (and the ONLY reason I’m not giving a 1-star review). Following my visit, I had to endure two more home visits from Pella as Green Bay stated the corporate office in Iowa was unable to open Green Bay’s cell-phone video attachments: somewhat difficult to believe given today’s technology. Finally, at the 9-week mark, I was informed that Iowa approved replacement of the entire unit and that the new door could be delivered in about four weeks, but that Pella would not (and could not) do the installation; they could install a single panel, but not the entire unit. I contacted Pella service on 25 September, who stated the replacement unit would probably not arrive until mid-November (7 weeks). Recently, they provided a date of 19 November. The takeaways from this: Pella may make a fine product (?) and provide solid customer service to those purchasing new, but my experience, combined with conversations with contract door installers and other residents, gives the impression that Pella is unresponsive to warranty work. If you want them to act on your warranty issues, my advice is to press relentlessly. Pella is inflexible. To incentivize them, I offered to upgrade the door and pay the cost differential. That way there was something in it for Pella. They wouldn’t even consider it. When you speak to a Pella representative, you never know who you’re talking to or where they are. Are they local or corporate? Are they in the office/showroom, or working remotely? My advice is to log every communication. Keep good notes. Don’t assume that because you provide a case number that the information Pella has on file is adequate or that the person on the other end is knowledgeable. I rarely spoke to anyone who appeared to have a grasp of the project details. In closing, 133 days from first phone call to “resolution” (we’ll see) is their best-case scenario? Back in my Navy days, we had a term for...