Steel Design

I ordered steel doors from this company and I cannot get a delivery date for them. I have been calling and emailing and I've heard nothing. Please contact me. This is crazy - I don't understand why they can't get in touch with their customers. Please read the reviews before engaging this company to avoid a super stressful experience.

dont waist your time ...they are a sham...don't give a deposit...couldnt care less once they have your monies – booked and and gave a $50000.00 deposit told a 10 -12 week wait ....then increased to 7 mths ....tried to check in with company monthly re when following up delivery times ....non committal kept saying 30 th sept the only time they contacted us was ...2 wks before delivery ...email says oh by the way we cant do the order until late Jan......… Read more

....and the worst part is ...we cannot do what you ordered ?....Have held up the build for 7 mths ....they couldn't care less ...don't waste your time with this company.Be careful of giving a deposit!

The most unreliable company - DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY – I wish I read the reviews of this company before we ordered our steel doors as we have had the WORST experience with this company! When we ordered the doors we were told there was a 8 - 10 week lead time, which we planned our entire renovation around. We are approaching the 10 week mark and have contacted the company numerous times to confirm… Read more

delivery dates and we keep getting a standard response of “ leads times now vary between 10 and 20 weeks”. It is beyond comprehension how you can not 1. Keep you customers informed if their are delays and 2. Not be able to provide exact dates based on your production schedule!!!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

NOT Recommended – This review relates to a $60,000 contract for frames to residential project in Melbourne. Atrocious to deal with. Provide total anonymity of dialogue and absolute lack of collaboration. Numerous grievances relating to misrepresentation, Australian Standard compliance issues, etc. I encourage other unsatisfied customers to contact me to share their experiences to take matters further with Consumer Affairs.

Classic steel frames – I flew in from Sydney and visited their showroom yesterday and found their products to be very nice and true to the Bauhaus era. I've used Crittall Windows in the UK before (I've worked as an architect in London for 10 years) and they are very similar. Love your product Steel Design, we will be ordering from your standard range. Thanks!  Show reply

Nightmare – I had almost the same experience as the BCE review, I have been 40 years in the Building business priding our selves on to top quality. The company is a joke or it would be if it was not so serious. I lost 20k in trying to recover and make the product comply with the Australian Standards. There is no rating low enough for these guys. The promises… Read more

and talk is just rubbish even denying that a previous complaint review was a customer!

Think you have picture

Do NOT deal with Steel Windows and Doors Pty Ltd t/a Steel Design 501 High Street Prahran Victoria – This is a zero star review - worse than terrible. I wish reviews like this had been written before I dealt with Steel Design so I did not have to experience dealing with them. From time to time in the building trade you chance upon individuals and companies that simply don't care. Sometimes, and luckily only very occasionally, you meet an… Read more

altogether worse type of person and company that not only does not care, but holds the opinion that in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, it must be everybody else who is wrong. Steel Windows and Doors Pty Ltd trading as Steel Design is one such company.

Dealing with this type of person and company may be manageable if you are able to correspond with them - even talk to them or meet them. However, you cannot correspond with Steel Design like you can with a proper company. Steel Design should be avoided at all costs.

If we were to buy steel doors and windows ever again, we would go elsewhere every time and we recommend that you save yourself a great deal of frustration and money by choosing an alternative supplier too.

This review represents our opinion of the company and the company owner based on our experience. The owner of the company appears to be the only person who now works there. We have received emails from other people at Steel Design, but for reasons similar to the other reviews on here, we have no evidence to suggest that these other people exist.

Do not get caught up in the imagery of fancy renovations and new builds on their website. It is good marketing, but the product and service is far from good. Take inspiration from the pictures and go elsewhere.

I would be amazed if the project managers, owners and builders of the projects depicted on the website have not had similar poor experiences to ours. In fact, we know of one very large residential project in Sydney where the windows had to be remanufactured. Having worked in engineering consultancy to the construction industry for 13 years, I find it hard to believe that the clients on the larger projects depicted haven't pursued Steel Design through the Courts, as we have. It is one thing to give private individuals and small builders the run-around, but bigger builders and clients simply would not stand for the behaviour we have experienced.

Steel Design supplied steel door and window frames to our residential renovation project in January 2012. A number of defects were immediately evident in the frames and the longevity of operable parts has proven to be poor. Steel Design has a history of being unresponsive to correspondence and dismissive of any claims regarding defects. Further, they do not respond to requests for specialist spare parts, which to the best our knowledge cannot be obtained from anyone else.

Many of the defects have been, or will be addressed or worked around by the owners through expense, effort and frustration. There are certain defects however, which require specialist parts and having had no luck obtaining these parts or anything resembling customer service from Steel Design (even as something as simple as providing a door latch and lock set) we pursued the matter though VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal). The intent was that if we couldn't get them to supply the parts and service, we could be awarded sufficient funds to pay someone else to do it for us.

VCAT found in our favour and Ordered that Steel Design pays us approximately 40% of the original purchase price so that we are able to rectify the defects. The Court-ordered debt remains unpaid and now the Victorian Magistrates Court and Sheriff are involved.

VCAT is a suitable place to seek financial recompense for faulty products and services, but nothing VCAT can do can make us forget the shocking level of customer service, arrogance, condescending attitude, poor business practices and rudeness displayed by Steel Design.

VCAT found in our favour owing to:

Our expert report which demonstrated many defects in Steel Design's products.

Our expert report which demonstrated at that the doors and windows do not meet the Building Code of Australia or Australian Standards (with no provisions for weather seals similar to another review here).

In detail:

-Our windows leak

-Our hinged doors are warped

-Sliding doors are made undersize and not sealed from wind or water ingress

-Sliding door roller carriages are noisy and rough in action

-One door was made so that rainwater in the bottom sill drips into the house

-Top hung double glazed windows on friction stays cannot be closed using the supplied hardware without using extreme effort

-Not all hardware is stainless steel as claimed.

-Our sliding doors are falling apart, difficult to operate and almost impossible to service without dismantling.

Our expert report summarised as follows:

'In consideration of my ‘brief’ it is my opinion based on the review of the documents provided to me and my site inspections of the property that the windows and doors are defective as they have not been manufactured to meet the requirements of the relevant Australian Standards, Building Code of Australia.

Aside from the defects and lack of conformity to mandatory standards (which should be especially worrying for readers thinking of sourcing steel doors and windows for bigger, multi occupant residential or public building projects), there is the issue of the owner's total disregard for customers once money has been handed over. Our experience is consistent with other reviewers on here in this regard.

The poor customer service manifests itself in the following ways:

-It is impossible to phone a person at Steel Design - unless you like listening to a cheesy pre-recorded 1800 number

-It is impossible to meet a Steel Design representative - even when served with a direction to attend a Tribunal - they didn't show up! I am beginning to feel that the owner spends more time in China than Australia, and may even reside there. Incidentally, the products are all made in China

-Defects are disregarded - rudely

-After a time, the email correspondence from Steel Design stops

-It is impossible to source spare or replacement parts from Steel Design

-Steel Design uses the term ‘heritage’ as a euphemism to explain defects such as warped doors or to dismiss any feedback from the customer that is not favourable to Steel Design

It seems from the other reviews on here that there is a tipping point after which customers lose patience with Steel Design and make efforts to pursue them in order to get some satisfaction out of dealing with them - 'the straw that breaks the camel's back'. For us it was their refusal to replace a faulty lock and latch set for a door. That was our catalyst (after all the other unsatisfactory experiences) that caused us to pursue Steel Design through VCAT. What will your final straw be? I recommend that you don't put yourself in a position to have to answer that question, and source your steel doors and windows from an alternative supplier.

In summary, in Steel Design you have a person and company who makes products that do not conform to the Building Code of Australia or Australian Standards. The products have significant quality defects and the total lack of customer service means the defects cannot be addressed by approaching Steel Design. Further, you have a company that does not attend Court when requested to do so and does not pay Court-mandated financial Orders. From the other reviews on here it appears that they are also likely to face scrutiny from ASIC for their business practices.

I am more than willing to corroborate all of my opinions above to anyone who wishes to enquire with me and would be happy to hear from other Steel Design customers and prospective customers.

Want steel Windows? Do not use Steel Design – This company is one rude, unscrupulous outfit. I'm so glad we investigated further before going ahead and ordering tens of thousands of dollars of Window frames. How they get away with it is they have no phone number to speak to anyone. They have a Recorded voice message on 1800 number and email only correspondence with one person. We live… Read more

in Canberra and got a quote from 'Steel Design' and a few other suppliers in Melbourne and Sydney. At first we were impressed with their responsive quote but it lacked details so my husband who is an architect with over 15 years experience and deals with builders and suppliers on a daily basis flew to Melbourne (confirmed via email a week before he would be flying down to visit their showroom). Prior to this we decided to reduce the number of Windows and had to pay $440 for a re quote. Foolishly we paid this but we did it in good faith as we were serious about going ahead with them following a meeting to

discuss and see their showroomz He arrived at their showroom at 501 High Street, Prahran it was open but nobody was there. Shop open,

music going, no one inside. That's when the penny dropped.

They are a faceless company that have no presence in Melbourne. When we emailed them to find out if someone can come and meet him that's when [Name Removed] emails started to turn rude, patronising and unprofessional.

She said they are too busy and they manufacture out of a different facility. So we emailed

again to ask can we come there and we get no answer. We have asked to speak to the owner or manager or one of their 'engineers' who are subsequently now $250 per hour to speak to. Since when does speaking to someone anoint their product cost $250 an hour???

We have since spoken with another steel window business in Melbourne that operates like a normal business and has a phone number and are helpful and knowledgable. When we told them about our experience with 'Steel Design' they said they have heard all about how dodgy they are as have had to try and repair their shoddy work. They manufacture their windows in China and have no responsibility after you pay 100% of the order after things go wrong such as poor quality, workmanship and sizing. [Name Removed] replies are patronising and rude and try to make out like we are idiots and inexperienced wanting to meet in person to discuss the details of the quote. Lines like 'you can see everything in our showroom just choose what you want'.

Well choosing Windows isn't that simple.

While we are upset and frustrated after spending $400 plus flights from Canberra but after reading the other review on here (if only I googled them first!) and speaking with other companies about them we are so relieved we didn't go ahead with the quote. I have made a complaint with fair trading and will also be notifying Victorian builders assoc of this disgraceful company. Hopefully this warns other potential customers. Stay away. They may do work around Australia but probably for other dodgy like minded builders that want low price, crap quality.

Do not use this supplier – We -- and our builder have had a very poor experience from this supplier. The problems started when the supplier claimed just before manufacture that a fixed quote made by them did not include specific frames -- so we were forced to add cost for these. The quote was to include glazing and installation, but when the windows and doors were… Read more

ready for delivery, the manufacturer's installers "were not available". And our builder could not get an installation date. When he then agreed to use his own installers, the manufacturer then said that they could not supply the glass in time, and so insisted on delivering the frames and doors without glass.

When the frames were inspected, it became clear that the glazing system selected could not work on the frames. We either had to use thicker glass -- but that would mean re-drilling the frames to take the increased thickness -- or specifying a much more expensive glazing system. Which is was we had to opt for.

So far we got: things that were supposed to be included but not, an installation service that vanished, a glazing system that couldn't work.

Then it turned out that the locking system had been fitted by the manufacturer against the builders written instructions to not fit the locks. The problem is that the manner of fitting now ran into a steel galvanized building frame, which we then had to have modified -- including changed engineering specifications -- at our cost.

The final issue was that none of the sliding frames came with window seals, or any way to fit them. Fitting unsealed window frames cannot meet the performance criteria under the Australian BCA (building code). In fact, in some areas (Melbourne, Western Sydney, Tasmania) seals are required under the BCA. Our builder had to devise a system of retro-fitting seals, again at our expense. They work, kind of. But they are not going to last more than a few years.

So, as supplied, the windows could not be compliant, and the manufacturer cannot be a certified manufacturer.

The manufacturer agreed, after a long dispute, to refund a few thousand to the builder who then took a hit on the loss. As did we.

This is a cheap, shoddy, operation which makes grand, misleading claims in it's literature and online site. Misleadingly, they claim to have "...an industry history that dates back to 1931." 2001 more like. They publish material from the UK steel windows association, without any ability to meet the quality or design principles promised there. And we caught them falsely claiming to be members of building associations in Australia.

They even claim to be "..the largest and most experienced steel frame manufacturer in the southern hemisphere". They are not even the largest or oldest operation in Victoria, leave alone Australia or the southern hemisphere.

You have to make an appointment to visit their showroom, and they are very careful not to say anything about the size and scale of their manufacturing facilities. But there is a picture on their website showing windows sitting on saw horses after welding, which says it all. This is a small operation with few staff, manually trying to emulate reputable manufacturers. They even, laughingly say that you have to contact them by email because "[they are] the largest steel window and door manufacturer." Funny that you can't find their physical address apart from a showroom that you have to make an appointment to visit.

And they are seriously rude into the bargain.

Do not, ever, use these people. I would rate them zero stars if this were possible