My garage door opener was busted and one spring broken. I contacted 4 companies based on the reviews (I am copying my review in the sites I used to read reviews). All offer LiftMaster chain or belt drive at about the same price range. Aladdin's (Reg) price was marginally better.
Favour Points
- Fast response to emails.
- Reg was the only of the 4 companies who came over to have a look before quote.
- He booked my job very quickly (the next day).
- Installed in the time frame he had said.
- He is passionate about his work (as he said).
- He ran the safety issues with me at the end (except the disfavour points below).
Disfavour Points
- Answers before listening the complete question, and sometimes in a rude way.
- From the beginning Reg talked down my old garage door over a new one and he repeated it over and over in the conversations and emails too. There is basically nothing wrong with my garage door except that it is not insulated and needs paining every few years. Recently, I was thinking of replacing it, but his unsmart pushy way made me reluctant.
- Safety Reversal System and Protector System must be tested after installation. This is a highlighted WARNING in the manual to perform this test. He might have been confident that both were working, but didn't demonstrate the tests until I asked for it. He even sounded a kind of reluctant to do it when I ran the tests myself. I think he was running late (he said that) and wanted to finish it fast.
- Workmanship quality was not the best, examples as below. Just to note, I am a technical and handyman person, familiar with codes and standards.
--- The safety reversing sensors must be installed no higher that 6" from floor. This is a WARNING statement highlighted in a box with capital letters in the manual. I measured them after he left to find they were at 13".
--- He used electrical tape to connect the new reversing sensor wires to the existing wiring instead of using wire nuts. I don't think it is a code violation, but it's not the best practice either.
--- He dropped several lock washers during dismantling and didn't put them back saying it's not required. This is not correct. This system is under vibration the whole time with the risk of bolts and screws loosing their tightness. Again, probably because he was running late.
--- The chain he installed was twisted two turns, that can easily happen for a novice when adjusting the tension. It was overly slack too. Chain slack has a definition in the manual. It should be 1/2" above the base of rail on the midpoint. It was actually hanging below the rail and was hitting the trolley and base when travelling, making noise (I noticed after he left).
--- Reg used the existing header bracket that sounded fine to me. By doing it, expectation is he assessed the risks and owned the quality of installation. But it appears he didn't check the tightness of the lag screw. It was completely loose and making noise (I noticed after he left).
--- At the end, I noticed a big gap at one side of the door bottom when closed that didn't exist before (unlevel door?). When I brought it to his attention, without checking the door level, he immediately said it is standing the way it should be and the gap is due to the sunken floor. He again said new doors come with thicker bottom air strips to cover uneven floors! The next day, I bought new tools and spent hours to find out the floor is sunken less that 5 mm while the door stands more than 35 mm (1.5") higher than the other side. I emailed him and he responded he was booking for more than two weeks later. When I said he should come back to complete the work instead of a new booking, he offered $80 in return if I wanted to do it faster by others. He then rebooked for a few days later. He never showed up, neither for the faster appointment nor for the more than two weeks later.
I educated myself and took care of the door level. I am sure it would have been no more than 15 minutes of his time had he used a simple tool to check the door level in the first place.
I think I should actually thank Reg in a way!! Now that I handled the flaws myself, I am more confident to take care of it next time. However, one should consider there is a lot of stored energy in those springs makes it a high risk job that incidents can end up with serious injuries, if not fatal, for those who have no experience. Obviously, I'm still alive and uninjured.
