Maria and Laurent

We booked STEGBAR 16 years ago to help renovate all of our windows to french colonial and internal doors. That was a very successful project. Competitive pricing and execution was…

nothing short of perfection.

Back then we didn’t do two sets of windows, which we have just completed with STEGBAR and we chose the same french colonial profile with LowE for better insulation in the winter time and repel the sun in summer time for the front facing large bay window.

I did qualify the STEGBAR quote with 4 other reputable suppliers. We chose STEGBAR based on price, although at high end of quotes, but not out of range - but because of our previous experience.

We had the same sales person, and the same installation team.

They were great in the process.

Once they finished, we noticed very dirty windows. I had a window cleaner come in and he wasn’t prepared to clean the windows - he said it’s silicone.

Now, I am saying this, not to bring STEGBAR down, but to share their high level interest and intention to fix the problem immediately. At all times I felt that I had the right people involved in fixing the problem which was dealt with at a high level. I give credit to the technical director who came out on site the same day to review my qualms and spent 3 hours cleaning and reviewing every window pane.

Sometimes, despite the most sophisticated engineering, manufacturing and workflow process, sometimes mistakes happen. With this in mind, Yasin, created a plan for a few window panes to be fully replaced because of small blemishes in the LowE film and silicone and I was ok with it all because he was honest and transparent in his intention and effort to fix the problem, no matter what. The same technical director, Yasin, was the same person who did our windows 16 years ago. He is very passionate about his work and his team and the customer experience.

From that point the overall co-ordination and communication was with the Director of Customer Experience, Linda Kawarkis. I couldn’t have asked for a more committed, empathetic, professional and honest individual to help me with the end process of replacing the window panels that had some un-erasable marks, everyone should have a Linda in their team. She listened, acted and took control of the last phase which was important.

Thank you to STEGBAR for our new windows and for standing by your reputation to be the best in industry!!

Thank you Yasin, Brock, Brody, Radhika, Scott, Nikki and Linda!!!

Kitchen Gods – We chose AOL because of the great marketing to incentivise us to explore why AOL is different to other kitchen providers. Australia has thousands and thousands of joinery…

companies, but AOL is not any other joinery company. So, the marketing was fantastic, the first phone call was crisp, professional and I immediately felt in good hands with the lady on the phone, I think her name is Lorraine. She knew who I was, my suburb and had the calm professional approach, that of a mature, well-spoken ambassador of AOL. The appointment was booked with the ‘designer’. The day arrived for our outdoor kitchen consult and I met Sam Morsy. I don’t know Sam Morsy; it was the first time I had met him. He does his job extremely well and is the greatest champion and ambassador of AOL. My professional background is executive organisational culture and performance, and Sam has something special about him and potentially why he may win a lot of business for AOL, his formula is simple, but not everyone has it, it’s innate to him as an individual, he relates to the client. He immersed himself into our outdoor area and it was as if he was a healer of sorts that he absorbed every single detail, listened to every single syllable of my hopes, and wishes for our BBQ kitchen and he didn’t leave a stone unturned. He designed the outdoor kitchen with me on the side and he lived and breathed our space – to get it right the first time. Sam Morsy lives and breaths AOL, he is clever, intelligent and his AOL product knowledge is second to none. He has a charm and vibrancy that enabled a conversation about our kitchen to flow, and I believe the outcome is superb! Thank you to Sam who embodied the highest level of customer service I could have ever dreamed of and expected, he has been a beacon of excellence throughout the lead up to our installation yesterday. He championed some tricky conversations on our behalf to ensure that the outcome was not overshadowed by a small task that was achievable, if thought about with the right mindset. Sam knows that he works for a world renown organisation and as such our outdoor BBQ kitchen has every detail that we wanted and needed, including a replacement for our kitchen sink that needed its own project team, but still very worth the pain to get this made and installed. My other main contact throughout was Winnie Pang. Thank you, Winnie, for helping me understand the technical side of the project. Your very kind and very approachable style allowed the most challenging conversation become a delight. You helped with every detailed question that I had, and it was never any trouble for you. Your emails and documentation were high level and detailed and never left any detail out. Thank you, Winnie, for helping us get to the day of installation so smoothly! Installation day, Friday 13th. On some calendars, that’s an omen for bad luck. Nonetheless, it was anything but bad luck! I met Lucky and his colleague (I couldn’t understand his name I’m sorry). They introduced themselves and we walked through the plan in the kitchen area. I then met Michael, the sun was bright, and it may just have been like a halo for Michael, the engineer genius that had to tackle the uneven kitchen sink door! Michael talked things over with Lucky and soon enough there was a plan to get the pre-made island carcass onto the kitchen section. It was another typical Dubai hot, Sydney day and the team were extremely focussed, knowledgeable professionals who had an aim and as the day elapsed, Sam’s design started to come to life. The team worked so hard, despite the uncomfortable heat. Lucky was point man and he had approached every detail one by one. It was a long day, after arriving at 8.00am, Lucky didn’t leave until just 6pm thereabouts, he made sure that every detail had been done and finished off with the WURTH wipe down. We owe Sunny, Michael and the other man our gratitude for bringing the plan to life yesterday! I acknowledge that there was a key individual at the beginning, perhaps Andrew, who spoke with Sam about my need for castor wheels under the carcass. Well, Sam knows the ‘whos who’ in AOL and when he spoke with Andrew, the hope for these wheels, quickly became a plan and it was an inclusion in our kitchen design – great teamwork! Throughout the project I have had to deal with other trade companies prior to installation day and I’m happy to say that we chose the best of the best in AOL, professionalism, client centred sales and project delivery that stood out to be the most professional of all the trades that I dealt with – what an amazing feat! Thank you to the team on the ground in Adelaide who prepared the kitchen. We will send our photos to you once we’ve finished the last project items to present the kitchen, won’t be long! Thank you again for our BBQ kitchen and if I’m ever needed for any testimonial, it would be an honour to offer it to the aspiring family who wants the best of the best BBQ Kitchen area that Australia has to offer.

The only thing I would have done differently is ask more questions about the actual BBQ we bought through AOL. I would not recommend the BBQ because we have not used it because the grill plate is not cut into separate pieces, it’s one entire long piece. It’s so, so, so, so heavy to take out of the BBQ cavity and there is no way to wash it other than stupidly on the grass. You need to know that grill plate weighs appropriately 30-40 kilos. It’s impossible for me to pick up and put into a sink to wash. As I say, it was the worst decision I made with this purchase. I did not know to ask about the weight. It’s what I would call a blind-spot in this purchase. I have to be honest and transparent. I dread using it. It is still brand new and unused for this reason. Worst decision was buying the actual Heatlife BBQ.

Best wishes to you all and thank you again,

Maria Ps photos to come when area is complete