Owens Corning Basement Finishing Systems Aggressive, Diceptive Sales Tactics That Keep On Coming?! Lisle Illinois

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 not be wasting your time posting such comments! - The Wife

We had a very similar situation. The rep came to the house and spoke for FIVE hours while measuring and drawing out plans on graph paper.  He quoted $75K and marked it down if we were to me a showcase home. Then after I explained to him that his price wasn't even in the ballpark (mind you this is $75K without carpet, without finishing the bathroom, and without a walkout) he called his manager like a car salesman would. His manager authorized more discounts but they came with square footage being cut from the job. He tried to convince me to lower the cost by including more "storage space" and I apologized for wasting his time. I told him that I would never have allowed this to take place had the "cold callers" not begged me to take this meeting because of the "huge discounts" they were offering for showcase homes. 

We just had a similar experience recently. We set up an appointment to get a free estimate. The Corning people said they were in the neighborhood doing someone else's house. The sale rep came and while we watched a video, measured the basement and came up with an estimate. Our experience was very similar to this one and others listed on this site. We got a quote but they would take $10,000 off if we became a showcase house. When we asked for the weekend to think about it, the sales rep called his manager and offered us a lower price if we decided right now. This was making us nervous so we insisted that we needed the weekend to think it over and he reminded us that our cheaper rate was "walking out the door".

After he left, we found a notebook left on the floor. I think we will just drop it off or mail it back since we decided we definately don't want to go this way with our basement after reading the information on the ripoff website.