Our Experience of working with Joyce Factory Direct - St. Louis MO (NOW OPERATING AS STEVE'S FACTORY DIRECT or STL Direct Remodeling)
4/24/2017 - WARNING - PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT STEVE TOWNZEN WHO WAS THE OWNER OF JOYCE FACTORY DIRECT STL APPARENTLY LOST HIS ABILITY TO DO BUSINESS AS JOYCE FACTORY DIRECT - STL AND IS NOW DOING BUSINESS AS STEVE'S FACTORY DIRECT or STL DIRECT REMODELING)
And now our review -
My wife and I decided that it was time to do some updating of our home. After doing some research on the internet we decided to have Joyce Factory Direct of St. Louis MO come out to give us a bid. Shane Slaven the Sales Manager came out to the house on July 15 2013. We sat at our kitchen table for more than 5 hours going over all the benefits of going with Joyce Factory Direct - St. Louis as well as seeing samples of their products.
(Our house before work was done)
4/24/2017 - WARNING - PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT STEVE TOWNZEN WHO WAS THE OWNER OF JOYCE FACTORY DIRECT STL APPARENTLY LOST HIS ABILITY TO DO BUSINESS AS JOYCE FACTORY DIRECT - STL AND IS NOW DOING BUSINESS AS STEVE'S FACTORY DIRECT or STL DIRECT REMODELING)
And now our review -
My wife and I decided that it was time to do some updating of our home. After doing some research on the internet we decided to have Joyce Factory Direct of St. Louis MO come out to give us a bid. Shane Slaven the Sales Manager came out to the house on July 15 2013. We sat at our kitchen table for more than 5 hours going over all the benefits of going with Joyce Factory Direct - St. Louis as well as seeing samples of their products.
One fact Shane stated that really impressed the both of
us was that he said all the installers work directly for Joyce Factory
Direct and have been with them for a very long time. He said it was only during
extremely busy times that they use local 1099 contractors. Shane went as far as to name the staff
members of his team that would be doing the work at our house. He highlighted how they are very careful to
clean up, cover flower beds, etc.
Shane started doing his calculations. He would then take a number of discounts and
gave us a price. Shane told us how he
would be checking on the work while it was being done and also stated that
Steve the owner of the company is very hands on and would also be be at the work site from time to time. Shane said that they would carefully schedule everything so we would not have to
miss a lot of work or have a huge mess for a long period of time. Based on the presentation along with what we
felt was a competitive price, we agreed to have them do the work. Before Shane left we gave him a check for 20%
of the total.
The next day my wife and I decided to call Shane back and ask him to give us a bid to also add replacement of our roof to the project. Shane returned to the house on July 18th gave us a bid and we added the roof job to our project. We then gave Shane another check for the additional amount to make a 20% deposit on our job.
We were told the project would start in 3 – 4 weeks and would take no more than 3 to 4 weeks to complete. In all we decided to have Joyce Factory Direct replace all of our home’s windows (17 of them), two exterior doors with storm doors, roof, siding, and gutters.
Shane was going to have surgery the following day so he stated there may be a slight delay in things because he was going to be out for a week. My wife and I were fine with that. Once Shane got back to work we had one of their staff members (Logan) come out to the house to take measurements. Logan was only at our house for 20 min and stated that he had what he needed. We got a call the next day from Logan in forming us he needed to come back out because his girlfriend’s kid spilled something all over his measurements. This time Logan came out with someone and was only at our house for 5 min and said he had what he needed. It was not until August 7th that Shane notified us that our windows and doors had been ordered.
On August 20th, we attempted to contact Joyce for an update on the schedule for the install so that we could coordinate our work schedules to have the work done. Messages were left because no one answered the phone. After not getting a response, we sent e-mails to the various individuals that Shane identified as those that we needed to be in contact with. We still did not get any response.
On August 26th we still had not received any communication from Joyce so I contacted Shane again and was told that he would have Matt get back with us, to which he did the following day. He apologized for the delay and said that materials were scheduled to come in either on this week’s truck or perhaps next weeks. He gave me his number for direct contact.
On August 27th – We receive a text message from Shane stating the front door we ordered in steel is “no longer available” and so they are substituting a fiberglass door instead.
September 3rd Colton came to our home to measure the roof and to get a “feel for the job ahead of him”. When Shane talked with us, he told us someone else would be doing our roof. My wife and I were a little disturbed because of the way Shane talked up the other guy but we were glad to have the work finally get started.
On September 10th – Colton came to the house early in the morning to let us know that the dumpster would be delivered and marked where the dumpster should go. Later that day the roofing materials showed up.
On September 12th – Colton and his team come to start work on the roof. We come to learn that Colton is a 1099 employee of Joyce and runs his own business. We also come to find out that Colton does a lot of work for Joyce.
Saturday September 14th – Colton finished our roof. Also on this day we meet Dave. Dave is the installer for our windows. Dave starts work on replacing our windows. It turns out that 90% of the measurements Logan had taken were not correct. This along with the fact that our house was built in 1956 made for a difficult install. They completed the work on September 20th. I come to find out that Dave also is a 1099 employee who also runs his own side business.
September 21st – Colton returns to the house to start installing the siding. He is challenged because the doors have yet to be delivered or installed and Joyce has not notified us as to what the status is as of this date. Colton and his team proceed to start the install of the siding despite the doors not being installed. He stated that Joyce wanted him to start the siding so that there was not a delay with the installation of the gutters. Colton even contacted Steve the owner of the company to find out how he wanted Colton to do the siding when it came close to the doors. He was told to go all the way with the siding to the door on the back door and was told to leave some space around the front door and that when the doors would be installed they would then add a frame around it to match the windows.
September 23rd – Siding was completed.
September 24th – We get a message from Matt that the doors still are not in and that they have put a rush on them.
September 27th – Gutters are installed. We also get a call from Matt stating that the doors still are not in but that he is going to travel to Ohio to pick up the doors himself and do the install on October 2nd. I told him that I was not going to take off any more work so they would have to do the install on the weekend.
October 6th – Dave comes out to install the 2 doors ordered. Once again incorrect measurements were taken thus requiring them to modify entry ways to accommodate the doors ordered. In addition they had to remove the new siding from around the back doorway in order to install the door causing even further delay in completing the project. Another issue that arose was with the front door. We were told by Shane that the front door came with a peephole. When the doors arrived, low and behold the front door did not have a peephole. The contract we had did not specify a peephole because we were told that it was standard on that door. This caused Dave to have to go a purchase a peephole and install it. Once again further delaying the project.
October 6th - I go up into the attic to check the roof vent that we had Joyce install and found that only one side had been cut. We were told that 2in get cut on each side of the roof so we called Colton and he came out and cut the other side. He reused the shingles that he pulled off. I asked him if this would be an issue and he assured me that it would not.
October 7th – Dave returns to attempt to complete the job. He still needed to install the storm doors, finish the install of the doors, and do a bit of drywall work that was still from when he installed and framed two of the windows. Once again issues presented themselves quickly. The front storm door was to be a full view door but the screen had a bar through the middle of it. The back storm door was to have a sliding window in it but did not. Steve the owner came out and stated that what we got is what was ordered but may have not been what was discussed with Shane. After going back and forth with him, he stated he really did not owe us anything and that if he were to be paid on the “process” vs the “final result” he would never be paid. He however proposed that he would take some money off of the balance due. Dave installed the front door but the back door like everything else in this project was ordered in the wrong size so mis-measured that there was no way for Dave to modify it to work. Even though the contract states payment is due upon completion of the project, they wanted payment in full and we were told they would put a rush on the new door. (It took 7 weeks to get the first order)
When doing the paper work with Dave we were not given all the warranty papers, nor the energy efficiency certificates for the federal rebates. I also had to ask for the lien waver since it was not offered up front.
So to summarize here we are 13 WEEKS LATER and the work is still not completed. We still do not have a storm door we ordered.
Would we hire Joyce again for future projects? They failed terribly on their communication and follow through with us.
To those of you considering to work with Joyce Factory
Direct of St. Louis MO, I would just have to say, don’t hire Joyce if you
expect to be kept in the loop as to where your products are, or when they will
be installed. If you choose to go with
Joyce Factory Direct of St. Louis MO make sure to have an open schedule as you probably will not get any notice as to when they are going to come and do the work. Also make sure your contract spells out
in detail everything and I mean everything!
Have the brand name of things outlined in your contract. (We were told that only Owens Corning
products were going to be used on our house and they were not. We were told that the peephole was standard on
the front door we ordered and it was not.)
It will be a painful process to have the contract outlined in that great
of detail but trust me you won’t regret it.
I also suggest that you have your job outlined as to what each item is
costing you. We were given a total
amount for the job. There was no invoice
that stated we paid X amount for our front door or X amount for the storm
doors etc. In fact you may even want to
record your conversation when going over the contract just for future
reference.
I also want to point out that when we started this process in July, Joyce Factory Direct of St. Louis MO only had 1 complaint on file with the BBB and it was noted that it was resolved. As of the writing of this review (13 weeks later) there are now 5 complaints showing.
I also want to point out that when we started this process in July, Joyce Factory Direct of St. Louis MO only had 1 complaint on file with the BBB and it was noted that it was resolved. As of the writing of this review (13 weeks later) there are now 5 complaints showing.
We will be happy to update this
posting to let you know how long it takes to get the other storm door installed
as well as how the product has held up.
UPDATE -
Nov. 11 2013 - After still not receiving any information about the "rushed" storm door that we still are waiting to have installed, we contact Joyce Factory Direct only to be told by Matt that he checked on it and that the door was just being manufactured. (about 5 weeks since they rushed it).
Nov. 17, 2013 - a small storm came through our area and blew off the ridge cap shingles. Several shingles hit our cars damaging them. I called both Joyce Factory Direct and the installer that originally came out. The installer answered and came out the next day to do the repair to the roof however once again Joyce has not responded. In checking with the BBB site there are now 8 complaints against them and we have just added ours now making the complaint count 9. I will keep this posted as to what happens....
Dec. 4 2013 - Joyce Factory Direct did not respond to the BBB's first attempt to contact them. (They had until Dec 3rd to respond.) The BBB has sent them a 2nd notification and has given them until the 18th to respond.
Dec. 29 2013 - Joyce Factory Direct has still not responded to the BBB. Our storm door has still not been delivered or installed. Joyce has still not done anything about the damages to our cars caused by their faulty install of our ridge gap shingles. Based on these recent events I would not recommend working with Joyce Factory Direct.
Jan 6 2014 - Joyce Factory Direct still has not responded to the BBB nor have they installed our storm door.
January 18th - Still no response from the BBB nor Joyce Factory Direct.
February 14th - I just checked the BBB site to see what was going on with our case. There I find that Joyce Factory Direct replied to the BBB yesterday with nothing but lies. (What else would they do right?) They claimed that they have been trying to reach us and have not been able to. That is funny seeing as though I can pull my phone records for both the house number and cell number and show that no such calls were made. They also claim that we are withholding 10% of their money when I have a lien wavier showing that we are paid in full. They stated they were not aware of damages to our cars, etc when they had their contractor come out to fix the roof and look at the damage to the cars. At this point I have to say STAY CLEAR OF FACTORY DIRECT ST. LOUIS!!!!!!!! They are far from a reputable company. Regardless of price or sales pitch they give - go somewhere else!!!!!!!!!! I will continue to update, if there is any further happenings.
February 20 2014 - MORE SHINGLES came off the roof! BBB is moving very slowly and has not been much help thus far. AGAIN STAY AWAY FROM JOYCE FACTORY DIRECT!
UPDATE -
June 25th 2014 - Here we are just short of a year from this nightmare starting and we are still dealing with the problems of working with Joyce Factory Direct. We have had assistance from the BBB to which we are very grateful but the process has been long and painful. In short the BBB was able to get Joyce to come out and fix the roof. The individual that came out stated that the roof ridge vent was installed incorrectly and needed to be redone. He came back out 2 days later and replaced it. So far, so good....
Joyce Factory Direct identified the fact that they were not going to install the rear storm door.
Joyce finally filed what they needed to in order for us to get our roof warranty in writing from the manufacture of the roof.
Joyce has retracted the fact in writing that we owe them any money.
Our insurance company is now working with their insurance company to resolve the damages to the cars for the roof shingle damage.
Since this process has started we have had one basement window crack so the BBB is helping us with this as well. Joyce came out and looked at it and said that it was a defect in the window and they would replace it but have yet to be back out to do so.
Joyce Factory Direct has not been in contact with us what so ever during this process with the BBB. I have to say that without the BBB we would not have gotten this far. Even after the window gets fixed I do not think that this will be the last time we have to get the BBB involved in Joyce Factory Direct issues that come up.
CHECK THESE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THESE PEOPLE:
https://www.bbb.org/us/mo/saint-louis/profile/remodel-contractors/steves-factory-direct-0734-310473388/complaints
https://www.bbb.org/us/mo/saint-louis/profile/remodeling/stl-direct-remodeling-0734-1000006110/complaints
UPDATE -
Nov. 11 2013 - After still not receiving any information about the "rushed" storm door that we still are waiting to have installed, we contact Joyce Factory Direct only to be told by Matt that he checked on it and that the door was just being manufactured. (about 5 weeks since they rushed it).
Nov. 17, 2013 - a small storm came through our area and blew off the ridge cap shingles. Several shingles hit our cars damaging them. I called both Joyce Factory Direct and the installer that originally came out. The installer answered and came out the next day to do the repair to the roof however once again Joyce has not responded. In checking with the BBB site there are now 8 complaints against them and we have just added ours now making the complaint count 9. I will keep this posted as to what happens....
Dec. 4 2013 - Joyce Factory Direct did not respond to the BBB's first attempt to contact them. (They had until Dec 3rd to respond.) The BBB has sent them a 2nd notification and has given them until the 18th to respond.
Dec. 29 2013 - Joyce Factory Direct has still not responded to the BBB. Our storm door has still not been delivered or installed. Joyce has still not done anything about the damages to our cars caused by their faulty install of our ridge gap shingles. Based on these recent events I would not recommend working with Joyce Factory Direct.
Jan 6 2014 - Joyce Factory Direct still has not responded to the BBB nor have they installed our storm door.
January 18th - Still no response from the BBB nor Joyce Factory Direct.
February 14th - I just checked the BBB site to see what was going on with our case. There I find that Joyce Factory Direct replied to the BBB yesterday with nothing but lies. (What else would they do right?) They claimed that they have been trying to reach us and have not been able to. That is funny seeing as though I can pull my phone records for both the house number and cell number and show that no such calls were made. They also claim that we are withholding 10% of their money when I have a lien wavier showing that we are paid in full. They stated they were not aware of damages to our cars, etc when they had their contractor come out to fix the roof and look at the damage to the cars. At this point I have to say STAY CLEAR OF FACTORY DIRECT ST. LOUIS!!!!!!!! They are far from a reputable company. Regardless of price or sales pitch they give - go somewhere else!!!!!!!!!! I will continue to update, if there is any further happenings.
February 20 2014 - MORE SHINGLES came off the roof! BBB is moving very slowly and has not been much help thus far. AGAIN STAY AWAY FROM JOYCE FACTORY DIRECT!
UPDATE -
June 25th 2014 - Here we are just short of a year from this nightmare starting and we are still dealing with the problems of working with Joyce Factory Direct. We have had assistance from the BBB to which we are very grateful but the process has been long and painful. In short the BBB was able to get Joyce to come out and fix the roof. The individual that came out stated that the roof ridge vent was installed incorrectly and needed to be redone. He came back out 2 days later and replaced it. So far, so good....
Joyce Factory Direct identified the fact that they were not going to install the rear storm door.
Joyce finally filed what they needed to in order for us to get our roof warranty in writing from the manufacture of the roof.
Joyce has retracted the fact in writing that we owe them any money.
Our insurance company is now working with their insurance company to resolve the damages to the cars for the roof shingle damage.
Since this process has started we have had one basement window crack so the BBB is helping us with this as well. Joyce came out and looked at it and said that it was a defect in the window and they would replace it but have yet to be back out to do so.
Joyce Factory Direct has not been in contact with us what so ever during this process with the BBB. I have to say that without the BBB we would not have gotten this far. Even after the window gets fixed I do not think that this will be the last time we have to get the BBB involved in Joyce Factory Direct issues that come up.
CHECK THESE FOR MORE INFO ABOUT THESE PEOPLE:
https://www.bbb.org/us/mo/saint-louis/profile/remodel-contractors/steves-factory-direct-0734-310473388/complaints
https://www.bbb.org/us/mo/saint-louis/profile/remodeling/stl-direct-remodeling-0734-1000006110/complaints
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