Portes Bourassa (“PB”)was contracted to manufacture and install a wood door, at the price of a small car, and the experience has been terrible.
The door and frame was contracted as the heart of a larger construction project at the front of our house. Knowing that coordinating the multiple parts during the spring months would be difficult, the process was started in the middle of winter. During the selling process, PB presented itself as highly professional and efficient. The sales person was prompt, provided me with samples of the wood and stone finishes selected, told me these were mine to keep, took payment, and made commitments to deliver the door in the spring. From here things went precipitously downhill.
When the time for the installation of the door came, there were constant excuses as to why this was going to be late. The backlogs were more than they could handle and weeks added to weeks. The rest of the construction was delayed and I was forced to try to schedule around the problems being incurred with PB.
When PB finally arrived to do the installation, the problems compounded. The colours of the wood and stone were both substantially different than those that had been selected. When shown the samples, the installers offered to take everything back to the shop to correct, but this would of course add more delays that I could not afford. They also tried to tell me that the samples belonged to PB and that they needed them back, which I refused.
Upon installation, the door worked well. However, as the winter months arrived, we experienced difficulty closing it. Given the cost of this, I called PB back in the next spring to request that they honour their warranty. Another technician arrived and made an effort to reshape the metal lip around the door. He clearly saw that there was a bigger problem, did not fully explain what it was, and told me the shop would get back in touch with me.
The shop did get back in touch and explained that the wood door was warping due to changes in humidity and temperature. They said they would need to make an appointment to come back, take the door back to the shop for a repair, and would reinstall it. This seemed like a monumental enterprise to me and I asked what would be put on the front of the house during the few (promised) weeks it would take to do this. I was told that a “steel door” would be installed. I imagined something akin to a door you may see at a big box store and satisfied myself that it would only be temporary, but at least would be functional.
When the technicians returned again, they did not arrive with any steel door. Instead, they arrived with plywood and a knob that is roughly one step more secure than what is likely on your bathroom door right now. I was so shocked I did not know what to say and allowed this to proceed. When my wife returned home later that day, she was horrified. A neighbour familiar with the saga was in disbelief that this would be installed on someone’s home. While this was clearly more cost efficient, no self-respecting company should ever have been willing to subject a client to this.
The next day, I called PB back after a night of anger, and still livid. I was patently unkind to everyone that I spoke to, but PB and their staff did not seem to understand why this may be. Given my anger, they said they would reinstall my original door right away and the president of the company promised he would return to decide on a solution. They did return to reinstall the original door, and this was the last I ever hear of PB or their employees.
Be extremely wary of the promises from this company. They are not much more than a marketing machine, unwilling to stand by their products or promises.
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