Poor customer service and poor workmanship

Dear Maxidor SA

Thank you posting a reply so swiftly.

About an hour after I posted my review, the receptionist of Maxidor Belville (Janine) contacted me to arrange an installer to come out to me two days later. I was very happy about this outcome and they arrived on time (thank you)

I had an installer here two weeks ago (apparently he has resigned since then) and he did a visual assessment without actually physically looking at the shutter door at all or going up into the ceiling where the door is mounted.

The installer that arrived on Friday past after I posted my complaint on Hellopeter went into the roof and properly assessed the door and decided that they needed to remove the shutter door as it was very poorly installed. They discovered that they needed a part and when they contacted the office, it was established that the part had to be ordered. I was told that they cannot put the shutter door back in place as it would bend. Janine sent me an email confirming the same later that day. I asked Janine to advise me of an expected date that they will recieve the part and when will the installer will return as that information was not relayed to me. I was only told that a part needs to be ordered and based on my past experience with Maxidor, I would probably have to constantly call to follow up hence me asking Janine to advise of a turn around time.

Janine rep**** to me email to advise that she will let me know before "the end of the day" when I can expect someone back at my premises. The end of the day came and went and as usual, Janine didn't get back to me as promised.

I am concerned as my shutter door is no longer in place and it is putting my family's safety at risk and I dont have an expected date that everything will be sorted out.

Also, the Manager Quentin. A. has still not bothered to contact me, not even to apologize. I've left numerous messages for him to contact me. I've been promised a call back and every time Maxidor does make contact with me, it is the receptionist, Janine. It worries me that your company leaves complaints to be dealt with by the receptionist and at times, I felt sorry for Janine because she couldn't actually answer any of my questions and always had to check with the manager Quentin. A. and then I would be promised a call back which would obviously not happen and then I would have to call again.

Please can someone of an appropriate designation who has sufficient knowledge and decision making powers contact me as I would like to get to the bottom of this.

Thank you so much

Dear Maxidor

I was contacted by Quentin on 30 June who promised me that the part was ordered on 26 June and they will get the part by latest 6 July and they will install by 8 July. I then recieved a call on the 7th July from Janine asking me to confirm installation can be done on 10 July. I turned a blind eye to the fact that I have already waited so long and stressed safety concerns with Quentin. I was just happy that it would eventually be sorted as this matter has been going on for weeks and weeks.

Today, I recieved an email from Janine reading:

"I just got off the phone with my supplier and they are looking at 10-15 days due to the delay at the powder coaters.I am doing my level best to get this done sooner, I will also get the ladies to send you the quote for these spares"

Unfortunately, I am not prepared to wait another 10-15 days. That is simply ridiculous.

Dear Maxidor

Its been a month since my last update. In this time, I have spoke to the CEO of Maxidor (Clinton) and Pebetse from head office. Everyone made promises to resolve my issue. The regional manager Ben even took over the query and I thought that the issue would be resolved. He came out to my home and took the motor and everything seemed promising. He hasnt met two deadlines (dates for installation) every time it's a different reason. Ive been patient and finally asked for a refund as Maxidor just cant get this right. I was asked to send a bank confirmation (which I sent to Ben) and now I've heard nothing. No replies.

Give me my money back so that I can get a shutter door from trellidor. Your service is pathetic, even at your highest rankings.

This is the worst company that I have ever dealt with. You have grossly inconvenienced me and put my familys safety at risk for months.

Just to add. This query is ongoing for 3 MONTHS!!!!! This is pathetic.

Update 20 July 2021

More than a year later after the original query started, and many back and forth instances. I would still NOT recommend Maxidor as a preferred service provider for ANYTHING security related.

Maxidor was apparently bought over by new owners (a couple in JHB) the wife is an advocate and contacted me near to the end of of 2020 advising that my case recently was brought to her attention and she is disgusted by what I've been through and that the previous owners provided bad service and poor quality items to many clients. They are now going through the process of correcting everything to restore trust and confidence in the brand. After a lot of back and forth, she contacted me to let me know that they will be refunding me because they felt that the service coupled with the constant delays required it. She also advised that even though I was being refunded, she would make sure that I would have a working roller shutter door as customer service is very important to her. I stressed that I don't want to be refunded if it meant that they weren't going to sort my shutter door out which by this time, was not working for almost 6 months. I didnt want to have to wait another 15 working days that it would take a new company to manufacture and install a new door. In hindsight, I had no idea that the delay from Maxidor would far exceed 15 working days and I shouldve just cut ties with this company when I had the opportunity. The owner assured me that she would expedite my case and ensure that it was sorted out
She was really convincing and I had a new found respect for her taking ownership of what happened and promising to sort it out. That is what customer service is all about. She sent her nephew who was employed by Maxidor to handle the problem. Fast forward many delays and technicians sent out to fix my roller shutter door but leaving halfway because they couldn't and then putting in their resignation. This happened 5 to 6 times and each time, the technician would resign after working on my door and my door would still be non functioning. In fact, when my query started with Maxidor, my door was functioning but not smoothly as it was supposed too. I now sit with a door that isn't functional at all and is in pieces with no cover in my roof which actually leaves me worse off.

In the time that the shutter door was periodically attended too, I was invited to their year end party ( which I declined as I just wanted my door fixed. Nothing more, nothing less) I was also offered assistance with obtaining a visa for a foreign country (the owner is an advocate). All this seemed lovely but my door was still NOT fixed.

They sent out the new CPT franchise owner at the beginning of 2021. For the first time, I dealt with someone who understood construction and seemed to be very knowledgeable about what was required to fix my door. I was very hopeful as he said that he would send all the information to head office (the owners of Maxidor) and then we can get it sorted out....weeks passed and not a word. I followed up continuously and I kept getting the same answer...."I'm waiting for head office approval". Finally, in May, I followed up once again and the CPT branch owner advised that things were looking up and he would come take measurements because head office was giving the go ahead. He came on 20 May 2021 to take measurements and I was excited that after almost a year, my roller shutter would be functioning and we would feel secure at night....fast forward to July 2021 and many follow ups, we are once again waiting for "head office". I was advised that I should perhaps speak directly to the owners and when I asked for the owners email address/contact details, I recieved no reply.

It is almost August 2021. I have decided and realised that Maxidor is not going to assist me anytime soon. They can't follow through on promises or service and this has been demonstrated over and over again. In a separate issue, my mom had a security gate installed. They had to come back 3 times because they didn't measure properly. The gate was too small at first, then the gate was too big and then the lock was not the correct lock. This is an example of constant delays and time and effort because of poor service or perhaps staff members who couldn't perform their job function properly.

I have taken the decision to get Trellidor to install my rollershutter. The owner (John) came out to my home the day after I sent an enquiry. He inspected the roof and current door that maxidor installed and he even showed me how the door was in pieces in my roof. He was knowledgeable and offered me various informed options of a way forward as I explained to him my previous attempt to get a roller shutter door. He listened to what I needed and what I wanted. He showed me visuals of how the different options would look in a file of pictures taken of actual work done by them at clients home (not off a website or Instagram page). I was sent a quote within minutes of him leaving. He followed up constantly and I am being informed of timelines and updated on the progress. Now this is service! I was provided with colour options and Trellidors roller shutter has a safety mechanism that will result in the door not closing if it senses an object below it. This is a great feature as I have small kids. I have family members who have used Trellidor to install a roller shutter and they recieved impeccable service as well.

Even though I am spending money to get a new door with a new provider, I am confident that it will be installed to my satisfaction and I won't have to wait another year for Maxidor to decide to fix my issue whilst my family's safety is compromised.

Just to add, the owner offered to install a shutter something similar to the shutter guards that I have on my windows. That was definitely not the look that I was going for at the top of my glass staircase. She also offered to have a door installed that I would have to lock into the ground which would be situated in the middle of my passageway (imagine a lock in the middle of your passage) therefore, I also declined this option. My house was renovated the architect and engineet adjusted the plans with the intention of installing a roller shutter door that would be concealed in the ceiling. Maxidor participated in the planning process and even came out during the build to confirm where we should recess into the wall for the tracks. I was not going to accept product options that did not suit the aesthetic of my newly renovated house. Had I accepted any of the above offers, who knows whether they would've followed through because they have a history of doing the opposite.