Chesapeake Bay Shutters, The Best Window Treatments on the Bay

When Ron arrived for the initial appointment, it was surprising to see exactly how he measured the windows. We had a 20 min discussion about the shutters that would go on my back door. I was told that “these are custom and we can do what you want “. I ordered the blinds a few days later (5-23) and was told it would take 4-6wks. I paid 1/2 upfront and the balance would be paid upon completion. I had been upfront, from the beginning, that I would need a min of 2wks notice to take time off work. I was told to follow up a few weeks later to check the status of the job. A few weeks later, I contacted Ron (around 6/9) for an update on the job, and he was very short and aggressive with me on the phone. He told me that until the shutters are in the final stages, after they were painted, he wouldn’t know when they would be ready for install. I reminded him again that I would need 2wks notice so I can take time off. He told me they would call me once the final inspection was done to schedule install. I told him they would have to hold the shutters for 2wks so I could take time off, he said that wouldn’t be an option because once the shutters are ready they have to be installed with in 2-3 days. Knowing that this wasn’t going as originally presented I requested time off at 5, 7 and 9 wks after the order was placed so I could have some prescheduled days off work. When I called around 7-15, I was told my order was delayed due to another 83 window order that was taking longer than expected, employees not coming to work and covid-19. Ron told he was out of town and asked ME to call HIM back the following week when he was back in the office. So around 7-23 I called Ron and he assured me my order was at the top of the list and that someone would contact me the beginning next week to schedule the install. By 7/30, I hadn’t heard from anyone so I called again and left a message. By this point all the days I had taken off had passed. When I finally got a call back the following day, Ron was very exited to tell me the shutters were done and they wanted to set up the install for 8/3-8/4. I reminded him that I need to take time off work, and I couldn’t with that short notice. He wanted to confirm a date, I refused to schedule anything and told him I would call back with dates. After a few hours I called back and scheduled for Aug. 11 (11wks after they were promised 4-6wks). I started looking at the shutters as they were coming in. The back door shutters were not what I wanted and the installer told me what they brought is what was ordered. The shutters that I spent 20 min talking about were never ordered. Ron changed the order with out telling me. When I told the installer what I wanted, I was told that was not going to be able to be made due to several different reasons having to do with support, weight and the louvers. The kitchen window was suppose to be “inset” but still look like the rest of the windows because of the backsplash. They ended up looking nothing like the rest of the shutters (every window had the frame and these would just have the doors inside the window). The kitchen windows went back and would be installed at a later date. Some of the shutters were installed incorrectly (they were suppose to open a certain direction). While I was waiting for my last set of shutters to be fixed, Ron called me for payment for what had been installed. The agreement was 1/2 for down payment 1/2 upon COMPLETION, I refused to pay till the job was DONE. All of sudden Ron was willing to have workers come out in the evening/weekends to finish the job. Needless to say the final shutter went in on Aug 19, final payment was given Aug 20. Managing client expectations from the beginning will reduce frustration for EVERYONE. Who ever is going to be installing should do a site visit or just come with Ron for that initial visit. Looking back, I should have looked into other companies.