Owens Corning Basement Finishing System BEWARE, Customers and Prospective Sales People, of the Lies and Deceptive Selling Tactics of Owens Corning - an Insiders View Columbus Ohio

I just recently met with two employees from this company who came into my home for a free estimate. One of these gentlemen was from "corporate". The visit began very nicely with some small talk. My wife was in the other room dealing with our 6 month old child so I asked if we could get started. The corporate representative told me that he would wait for my wife, to which I replied that it could be an hour or so as my child was being fussy and we were trying to put her down to sleep. He said that he would wait. I expressed my desire to continue with the estimate process without her and said that she would join us as soon as my daughter was asleep. He rudely said he would wait once again and just stared at me. At this point I told him that I didn't have all night to commit to this visit and he said "then this isn't going to work". I replied by saying that I was sorry and asked him to leave. He said okay but didn't move. I asked him at multiple times to start heading to the door and after a minute or two of arguing and being lectured by him he finally stood up. However, he did not start moving for the door. I told him I was considering calling the police to which he replied "go ahead, the number is 9-1-1". A moment later he and his colleague started walking to the door, all the while lecturing me about appointments. They stood outside my house for another 5-10 minutes. My wife was shaken up about the altercation and asked me to call the police, though I did not. This was the absolute worst experience I have had with this sort of business. The gentlemen who set the appointment told me this would be 15-20 minutes long and they would leave me with an estimate that would be good for a year. There was never talk about signing contracts or any type of commitment that would have required my wife to be present for the entire meeting. My wife will now have anxiety about people being in our house. This was a truly shameful display. Avoid dealings with this company!

Maybe you need to reread my post; I was a sales person, not a customer, that was taught how to lie to the customers. Our sales class unfortunately didn't know we were lying until we were out selling for several weeks. In sales meetings a couple of weeks in we were shown, by our sales manager, how he lied to us in the sales training classes and even bragged about it. The most troubling fact I found out was that they were selling the system in the Chicago area for $60 - sometimes $80 per square foot. In Ohio the same system, different franchise, were selling for $20 per square foot. If a product is that good it doesn't need to be sold in the first appointment but that is how the sales process works; it's called a "One sit sale". The price you paid could have been reduced at least 3 more times. On top of not being able to read you can now be declared a chump as well...hope you love the overpriced system!

Well, if you noticed just a small rip and had one panel replaced already then you are just beginning my friend. I have the system in my basement for about 5 years now cost me about 50k and the panels are falling apart. They never got wet or even damp and the fabric is just peeling off and if you have any animal with hair these panels are hair magnets. Just try getting the hair off or try getting ordinary dirt out. Goodluck! Soon you will be vacuuming your walls and picking little hairs out by hand but don't worry you will have to throw them in the dumpster soon enough as Owens Corning will not honor their warranty .  I spoke to a. Mr. Rhodes and he just laughed and would not even come out to look at them. He said they were abused. Sheetrock is 100 times better!

I know that these post's are old but I figured I would give my perspective on the Owen's Corning Basement Finishing System.

My wife and I are recent customers on the OC basement system. We scheduled for a "basement designer" to come out to our home to give us more information on the system as well and give us a quote for the project. The representative that came to our home was extremely knowlegable and answered all of our questions that we had on the product. I put basement designer in quotes for one reason, though he was knowlegable and he obviously has been in the remodeling business for a while, the bottom line is he was a salesman representing his Owens Corning Franchise.

Being a salesman he was there to sell. I dont understand how you people can be so judgmental of these guys. Its his job to make his sales quota, so of course he was doing everything possible to make a sale with us just like you guys do your jobs everyday. There was nothing high-pressure about it, he did not threaten us to sign nor did he hold a gun to our head. His presentation was obviously scripted and you can tell he was saying what OC wanted him to say but he added his own experiences to it which to us was very helpful.

It sounds like you guys just had a bad company you where working with. As you may or may not know, the OC Basement Finishing System is a franchise that is purchased through a contractor in your area. These OC franchises obviously, from reading these posts, do not do business the same way. We live in Roanoke, VA and I will not mention the salesman name out of respect but he was a very knowlegable and really, from day one to the last day of our install, did everything in his power to keep us well informed and answer all of our questions.

We had one complaint about one of the panels they put up after the install was finished. (it had a very small tear that was hard to see but of course my wife pointed it out) The following week the salesman had a brand new panel delivered to our house and he was willing to make the hour and a half drive to put it up for us. Fortunately, the wall system is SUPER easy to replace even without any construction knowledge so we didnt have him waste his time but it was nice that he offered.

The system is not for everyone, obviously. It is more then a drywall remodel but then again this product is made for below grade applications and comes with a lifetime transferable warranty, which you will not get with a drywall remodel. In our area I believe the contractor has to give you a year craftsmanship warranty but OC gives you a lifetime warranty that will transfer to the next home owner if we decide to sell our house in the future. This, in itself, is well worth the extra money, it would make selling our house all the more easier.

We recieved different quotes from drywall contractors and the OC people. The price difference was about $5,000 more then the drywall contractor we would have went with. The big difference is the install for the basement with the OC guys only took 9 days versus the drywall contractor which would have been more around a month and a half. Plus there was absolutely no mess with our install and the suspended ceiling they put in was completely even and the lighting was placed perfectly through out the basement. This is due to the salesman's knowledge, he knew exactly how to light the basement so that there was ample light. Being we have no windows in our basement this was a big concern for my wife and I. Also all the work was done by the same two installers so there wasnt a bunch of different guys coming in and out of my home. My wife was very happy with this, being that she was the only one here throughout the day.

The golden rule in investing anything is you get what you pay for. This system guarentees we will not have a mold or mildew problem and if there ever is a water leak we can easily pull the wall panels off to address the leak and then put them back up ourselves. In the long run this will save us a lot of money in the future because being that we have a fairly new home we are bound to have some sort of plumbing problem down there.

These post's make me upset that you guys are so quick to post a blog about how unhappy you are with the OC salespeople. Like my father always said: "Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one."

P/S: The sales guy did come off with a high-ball quote (like hes suppose to) but we managed to get about $6000 off with the promotions he offered us and he put us into a VERY reasonable fianance option which we will be able to pay off very fast. If you cant afford the system then maybe you should try to manage your money a little better... dont go bashing the guys just because you dont have the money to afford the system. Its childish to post such crude remarks about your experience just because you didnt have the funds to remodel the basement the way you wanted to. Your obvioulsy upset because you had to go with another type of remodel instead of the OC system or else you would waste your time posting such comments! - The Wife

I also worked as an independent salesperson for Owens Corning Basements and though the product is good their pricing and selling practices are not The price can be discounted 30% or more from list and any giveaways "big screen TV, $1,000. debit card" are added to the price. Nothing is free. They also harp about contractors yet all their installers are independent contractors.
If you are interested in this system disregard their expertly written presentation and negotiate aggressivly.

Jim, Owens Corning figures their price on the square footage of the finished product. Your $35 per sq ft is pretty reasonable, actually. Here in Wisconsin, $50-$70 per square foot is more normal. And just in case any of you believe that drivel about those of us filing reports here "Not being able to cut the mustard", you should know that I wrote over $3 Million in sales and had $1500000 of it installed in 2007. The rest either cancelled, were lost in financimg (Very Common) or were negotiated downward(Approx 75% of my deals were). Nobody else in Wisconsin touched my numbers, except for the Manager in Madison, but he wasn't even close to me. Everything he says is what OC teaches him. Its easy to tell when an Owens Corning Rep lies.....His lips move.

Thanks for filing this report. I recently signed a contract with OC, and am now negotiating with them to get a better deal with the threat of backing out during the 72 hour grace period. My goal is to get them down to .62 of the original price or $35 per square foot. I have a question: are people estimating the square feet by the basement dimensions or the final room dimensions? At this point I've had a conversation with the sales rep's manager who is supposed to call me back to see if we can work something out. Any tips for negotiating?

Grimreaper it sounds like you could be an employee working for Owens Corning. The reality is that 5 sales people, from the same sales class, all sold exceptionally well right out of the gate. I earned over $5,000.00 in 8 days. Three of the above mentioned sales people all quit on moral grounds and walked away from the income. I even spoke to customers and told them the truth so they could cancel. The other gentlemen out of our training class have all departed and every one of these gentlemen have yet to be paid on jobs that were already approved and ready for production. The only thing that you got right was that most, not all, home improvement companies use these same sales tactics and that it doesn't make it right.

Grimreaper it sounds like you could be an employee working for Owens Corning. The reality is that 5 sales people, from the same sales class, all sold exceptionally well right out of the gate. I earned over $5,000.00 in 8 days. Three of the above mentioned sales people all quit on moral grounds and walked away from the income. I even spoke to customers and told them the truth so they could cancel. The other gentlemen out of our training class have all departed and every one of these gentlemen have yet to be paid on jobs that were already approved and ready for production. The only thing that you got right was that most, not all, home improvement companies use these same sales tactics and that it doesn't make it right.

Grimreaper it sounds like you could be an employee working for Owens Corning. The reality is that 5 sales people, from the same sales class, all sold exceptionally well right out of the gate. I earned over $5,000.00 in 8 days. Three of the above mentioned sales people all quit on moral grounds and walked away from the income. I even spoke to customers and told them the truth so they could cancel. The other gentlemen out of our training class have all departed and every one of these gentlemen have yet to be paid on jobs that were already approved and ready for production. The only thing that you got right was that most, not all, home improvement companies use these same sales tactics and that it doesn't make it right.

what we have here is a prime example of some disgruntled ex employees who couldn't cut the mustard in the commission sales business.

instead of trying to better themselves and produce income for themselves and ownes corning,they get fired for not producing,and decide to attack a company that gave them that very opportunity.

let's be realistic,every single home improvement vendor in this country uses the same or similar sales approach that as previously mentioned.
car dealerships use it,mortgage brokers use it.

it is a universal sales technique,and will always be around.

does that make it right?of course not,it is an aboslutely disrespectful and obnoxious sales technique,but it works.


let's not get naive,and think the world is one big orange grove.

as for the owens corning product,i am sure it is not any better or worse than any other basement finishing product,but that's not really what this complaint is about,is it?