I'll start by saying that the most recent project I used Bridger Steel for had a number of roof faces and they eventually got me the steel I needed, and it is great quality. However the path there was extremely arduous.
After the initial estimate by BS, I waited till the roof was all framed before taking as-built measurements and making an order. This meant I would have the most accurate materials list, but meant I would want it as soon as possible. In absolute contrast to all the PR on their website and all the recorded staff praise you hear while on hold, the salesman was far from helpful, to the point I wondered if he was being deliberately obstinate. I supplied 1/4"=1'-0" plan drawings with graphics showing the standing seam layout as well as slope arrows and all dimensions in emailed files. He supplied an initial take-off and then called me saying he was in Great Falls and someone else would be completing the order, they would call. That's ok, but two days later when I stopped waiting and called this other person they wanted me to compile my own cut sheet. Then the first sales man was back and took back over. He sent me a layout plan, which was great because it showed that in spite of the detailed drawings he had, he ran the standing seam metal E-W on one side of a ridge and N-S on the other. I was working on the jobsite every day and could only check my email in the early mornings or evenings. He would forget one section and need to revise, or email me questions like "What kind of fasteners would you like?" one per day. I would call or email back and answer but each one wasted more time. When the materials list was complete I called and wanted to go over the items to make sure I knew which profile went where. After my second question I was told, "You need to educate yourself on our website". There were six or eight different profiles, the website manual was indeed helpful, but it would have taken five minutes for him to tell me where the pieces he spec'd were intended to go. Eventually I gave up and drove in to the shop to go over the whole thing again, an hour from my jobsite.
Once the order was in it was produced in a timely manner, but I received no notification when I had expected so I called in. It took six calls over two days to find that my order had been completed the previous week but would not be delivered for another week. I asked if I could pick it up myself and went in the next day.
I have laid metal roofing, but I don't do it every day. I did not know that mechanical lock seams require a special crimping tool. Maybe I should have known, but I didn't. After picking up the metal and taking the wrap off this was soon apparent. I went back to the online manual and though a crimper was noted in the tools section, there were zero instructions on where or how it was to be used. After the fact, it is anything but difficult, but if you don't know you don't know. How difficult would it have been for the salesman to say, "For your application we recommend a mechanical lock system, it requires a special crimping tool, but we have them to borrow (or rent)."? I did a web search and found the information on a different manufacturers instruction manual.
So I called BS to ask if they had a crimping tool I could rent. After thousands spent on the roofing I was told they would provide me one for $20 plus $5/day after 5 days. That's fine, but there's another couple hours out of another day to go back and pick it up when I could have picked it up with the order. When I get back to the jobsite I find the tool doesn't work. I call in and they determine they needed to give me a different crimper to use before crimping a second time with the tool they did give me, another couple hours back and forth.
When we were almost complete we found we were missing some pieces for a short section of roof. As it was an important section to finish off we cut up a few longer pieces thinking to order replacements. The next day, about a week after I had picked up the material, I received a call stating there were pieces in the warehouse that hadn't been loaded. I went in to the office, returned the crimpers to find they were $50/ initial five days, not the $20 I had been told, x2= $100 minimum for the use of a couple hand tools. Then the salesman comes to the counter to deride me for not calling when I found I was short some material. I finally, finally, had enough and explained to him just why I was not overly willing to stop in the middle of a project to call their office for resolution.
The BS policy is that customers are not allowed to help load, and all the cut panels were wrapped. However, my signing that I took delivery meant that I was still on the hook for the pieces they had not given me and that I now could not use. He told me I could either take them or he would throw them away, either way I was still paying.
In the end I still needed the few long panels, and more trim pieces, and they did give me a discount on those, and they did not end up charging me for the crimpers, and they delivered them as soon as they were done. But I was never trying to get compensation, I would have much preferred they just admitted they made a mistake, several mistakes, and hadn't treated me throughout the process like I was a waste of their time.
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