A1 Garage Door Service review: Predatory pricing. Buyer beware

BUYER BEWARE
Last week I had A1 Garage Door Service come to my house to give me a quote to replace my two garage doors, one single door and one double door. Mario the technician was polite, knowledgeable, and helpful but unfortunately that’s where it ended. We discussed what I was looking for and some of the options available, he then took some pictures of the garage and said it’ll be a few minutes more to get a quote. He came back with someone else on the phone, which unfortunately I don’t remember his name, but he said he was in Sedona. After some small talk about the classic car in my garage, which made it into one of the pictures Mario took, he gave my wife and I a verbal quote over the phone of $29,000. This quote consisted of replacing the two doors with Clopay Classic Steel doors model #9203 insulated with an 18.4 R value with upgraded springs, rollers, and a longer warranty. A bit much? Yes! After we said no, I asked them to take the fluff out and to give me a price for the same doors. He came back with $14,090.05 and then proceeded to discuss the picture of my dad in uniform hanging in the garage, which I guess also made it into one of the pictures of the garage Mario took. When I told him I served in the Air Force as well he proceeded to tell us how they like to take care of our veterans, so he gave me 10% off the quote. While I do not have the $29,000 quote in writing, I do have the second quote of $13,817.03 in writing which included the veteran’s discount. I told them I would continue to do my research and obtain more quotes and would get back with them.

At the suggestion of a friend, I went to Home Depot to get a quote. Home Depot’s quote for the exact same doors, including upgraded springs, rollers, longer warranty, and installation, came in at $4655.00 for model HDPL20, and that is before the 10% veteran’s discount Home Depot gives. I thought there had to be a reason for such a significant price difference, so I called Clopay, the manufacturer of these garage doors. I confirmed with them that the doors Home Depot were quoting me on were the exact same doors quoted to me by A1! Home Depot just uses their own model number for the doors. You be the judge.

The extreme price discrepancy—and the sales tactics used—made the entire interaction feel predatory. Whether the high quote was based on my neighborhood, the fact we are seniors, or maybe the classic car in my garage, I can’t say, but it certainly wasn’t based on the actual cost of the doors. Additionally, they gave me the line that they like to take care of veterans. How is this taking care of veterans?! The huge price difference and sales tactics left me feeling taken advantage of.
Thankfully A1 will not be getting my business, ever! Do your own due diligence before you do business with them.