Thompson Crook

Anonymous wrote:If you’re in Montgomery County, Crystal Exteriors was awesome. They do roofs, gutters, doors, windows and siding. Owner doesn’t sub out and is very honest and professional. No hard sales tactics.

They come to Arlington too.

Used TC several years ago and I agree with most of the posts. I almost choked when the sales guy quoted his price. We started backing off down to what we really needed which was a sliding door and then talking discounts for some windows. We waffled and got him to up the discount more and more. Finally got them to a 45% discount on everything which was still a lot but doable. Not very impressed with the installation crew who attacked our existing window frames like they were the enemy. They needed to send another guy out a week or two later to fix all the remaining issues. The guy spent at least half a day here, but he was really good and did a great touchup job. Overall pretty satisfied, but it seemed more expensive than it needed to be. Yeah, they cut out the wholesale middleman but they add the direct sales guy who makes even more of a markup.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are they saying for three hours? How much can there possibly be to say about this topic??

They come to your house, introduce themselves, do some rudimentary talk for about 30 minutes where it's a bunch of pleasantries about windows. Then they bring out the props. Pamphlets, brochures, small simple windows with lights that they shine through. Then they sine the light through your window to show you how much better their inert gas is than your current vacuum glass. When you finally get sick of the dog and pony show, they move onto the price. They write a number down, tell you this is what it costs. Then try to convince you to buy more for deals. When you spit milk out of your nose in reaction to the price, they slash through that number and write a new number TODAY ONLY!!!!! They continue doing this with various limited discounts over and over again. There is acting involved where they pretend you're taking food off their kid's table and the sort. If you've ever experienced high pressure sales as car lots, timeshares, etc, take all your experiences, put them together and multiply it by 10 and you have the experience we had.

I would enjoy reading more posts by the PP if she is still around. This post and her earlier one abut buying an urn made my day.

Totally agree. this was the BEST post. I shuddered while reading it.

If you’re in Montgomery County, Crystal Exteriors was awesome. They do roofs, gutters, doors, windows and siding. Owner doesn’t sub out and is very honest and professional. No hard sales tactics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I always wonder who actually goes with these guys! Their prices are OUTRAGEOUS and their sales techniques are awful. High pressure sales? NO THANK YOU. I wanted to throw these guys out of my house.

We ended up getting windows fro Nova Installations ( a TRULY local company) and they were half the price as Thompson Creek and were great to work with. No pressure, no bullshit, a fair price was the only price and the first price.

Do they work in MoCo also? I need a window replacement.

Maybe. They came to my second home 2hrs away to do windows there too.

Ic an't say enough good things about them. No BS.

+1. Nova Installations is excellent.

Similar experiences as others described. Thompson Creek prices were more expensive; the sales person would not leave (stayed about 2 hours - argh!); and he also was wishy washy about whether their door would fit our house (50's house). The later did not give us confidence that we would be happy with the end result. Frankly, an irritating experience.

We went with Crystal Exteriors who was very clear that we needed custom doors. The custom doors, while more expensive that HD, were not more than Thompson Creek, and we have had very good post installation service.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OH GOD NO
DO NOT CALL THEM

They will come to your house. They were at my house for 3 hours and wouldn't leave. These guys give corner used car lots a good name. Seriously, not exaggerating, DO NOT call them. Your time would be better spent buying an urn because you'll wish you were dead halfway through their sales pitch.

They refused to talk to me unless my husband was home which really irked me.

They would also say the same thing if you were male. They do this so that you can’t say “let me talk to my spouse and get back to you.” They want to put the hard high pressure sale on you and make sure you sign before they leave. As a construction product/architectural sales rep (not windows) don’t ever let anyone do this to you. It is not ethical or professional in anyway.

Anonymous wrote:Thompson creek is really, really, really expensive. I suspect their windows are among the highest quality, but their sales tactics are really quite rude. I personally believe if you have a great product and a fair price, you shouldn't need high pressure sales as part of your business model.

Their windows are nowhere near the highest quality.

I just got a quote to replace to exterior French doors — one for the deck abd the other in the basement. Vincent Nixon quoted me a whopping $26,314!!! I laughed in his face, it was so ridiculous! A person can get an entire basement finished for that amount of money. Home Depot’s quote was in the $1400 range and they even admitted that that was expensive! Either Vincent thought I was stupid, or they have really lost their mind!

I also had a different experience than those in this thread. We bought windows and doors with NOVA Exteriors and have had an overall good experience.

FWIW, I guess I was one of the lucky ones that was satisfied with the quality, price and installation of TC products. TC did a fantastic job on my gutters and doors which is saying something since I am an engineer and pretty finicky. Based on my experience with TC, I am planning to entertain bids from them to replace most of the terrible quality Champion windows that came with the house I bought some years ago. I despise Champion as much as most on this thread seemingly dislike TC. Anyway, the Champion windows seal leaked on all but four (so far) of the windows after just 3 years!! I know the age/installation date since the prior owner gave me the warranty information they received when they had them installed. Turns out, you guessed it, the warranty was worthless and not honored since a Champion warranty - at least the one I am holding- does not transfer from owner to owner nor is it prorated which is a crock of sh&* if you ask me since those windows failed so quickly. Of course, once the inert gas that is injected between panes escaped, the windows not only failed to insulate properly but also streaked on the inside surface which prevents the windows from ever getting clean. I could go on and on over the shoddy quality of the Champion windows on my house, but you get the point. Regarding the sales tactics of TC, yeah they are trying to sell there stuff but I have never been intimidated by such tactics. I told them upfront I would not make any decision until at least a day after their presentation; take it or leave it. I can see though how others could view their tactics as somewhat high pressure. True too, not a fan of hearing so many ads - it makes me think of all the overhead expenses they have to absorb in the price. Though I too prefer word-of-mouth endorsements for these type of products, I feel it is unfair to lump TC in with Nu-look - or whatever that hard sell terrible roofing company's name is - given TC does make its own gutters and windows, but does outsource the production of its storm doors though. My advice is always be willing to walk away, never fall in love with any product to the point where it affects your judgement, and learn how to respectively say 'no" or that you are no longer interested if, in fact, you are no longer interested. Sounds easy, but I continue to have trouble following my own advice, particularly the last point though trying to do so for many years....

Anonymous wrote:OH GOD NO
DO NOT CALL THEM

They will come to your house. They were at my house for 3 hours and wouldn't leave. These guys give corner used car lots a good name. Seriously, not exaggerating, DO NOT call them. Your time would be better spent buying an urn because you'll wish you were dead halfway through their sales pitch.

They refused to talk to me unless my husband was home which really irked me.

Thanks PP. I am scheduled to have an estimate completed by HD next week. I avoid TC like the plague due to this thread but I may give them a call based on your recent experience. Good luck