You aren't alone. We made the decision not to consider any window we couldn't physically touch ourselves. We're investing way too much money to buy something so important sight-unseen.

Kellumou77

i highly doubt anyone at Okna ever told you that. In order to see a product by okna, soft lite, or sunrise, you need to contact a local dealer who will bring the window to your home or he will direct you to his show room.

okna would never tell anyone to buy a window without seeing it. Your statement is absolutely ridiculous. Perhaps they told you there is no local dealer near you and you forgot to add that to your post ?

Thanks, dbrad. I appreciate your comment.

Window1: The conversation I had with the woman from Okna was indeed as I described. Ridiculous? Yes. Fictitious? No.

What she told me is that there's someone in town who installs Okna windows, but no "dealer" in the entire state of Michigan. I then asked her how I can find someone with inventory I can see, and she said, "I have no idea." When I probed more and asked if people are just purchasing them sight-unseen, she said, "I guess so. I have no idea how to tell you to see inventory any other way."

Because I agree that this answer was completely ridiculous and probably not representative of the company as a whole, I'm posing the question to experts on this forum who do seem to have a lot of experience with Okna and other reputable vinyl window companies. I am hoping someone (specifically people who have purchased these windows or who are dealers themselves) will be able to offer helpful information about how to see them.

Therefore, my first question still stands: does anyone on this forum know how I can see these windows? Incidentally, I also have a call into the installer in my area to see if he has installed any in local homes that I could see. However, I haven't heard back from him yet.

If any customers or dealers can offer helpful suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks.

You must of misunderstood her. If there isnt a dealer, there is no way for someone to install them. How can someone install a window if they have no access,.

Okna would never ship windows to an installer, they must be an authorized dealer.

I'm planning to call them today to verify. One of my searches pulled up a dealer about 45 min from here, and there appear to be tons in the Detroit area. I've heard very good things about Sunrise and they have a very good website, so I'm optimistic about being able to see those in person and get some solid information. I'm just confounded about the others, though.

I'm guessing that most of these premium vinyl brands don't have stores/show rooms. Is that correct?

Most of the premium vinyl brands will not have dedicated showrooms, but their selected vendors will have product to demonstrate and show.

Hey, I'm in southeast Michigan and purchased our Soft-lite windows from Pro Brothers in Brighton. I know it's the other side of the state, but if you can't find another dealer, they might be an option. They were great with our new build, even holding our windows for over a year in their warehouse while we went through our builder troubles. Here's my GW post about our install.

Seems like a weird situation. As mentioned above, there are either dealers in your area, or there are not. A company that sells and installs the product is a dealer by definition. I completely agree that you would not want to purchase a window sight unseen. The strange part about the conversation is if it was stated that "someone installs them there", but there is no dealer. Those statements contradict, and I just wonder if there was some miscommunication... On the plus side, I'm sure that Sunrise and likely Softlite are available to you. Two great options if Okna does not have a dealer there.

kellymou77, I'm wondering if you found a dealer in the area or what you decided to go with? We're not far from Grand Rapids and are having a hard time finding any recommendations other than low end brands we've already ruled out & the closest Soft-Lite dealer I've found is Muskegon:(

I concur that finding dealers and showrooms is very difficult for the upper tier vinyl windows. I could not find a decent okna dealer here in MN and had to use google to find local sunrise dealers. When i contacted Sunrise, they gave me one dealer. I then replied saying these are who I found, can you just give me a list of all the dealers in your area, and he replied that one of my listed dealers was highly regarded. I was taken aback and told him that I dont understand your logic here. Dont you want to sell your windows? You’re making it difficult for would be customers to get access to your products. I’d like to look ay all of your area dealers to get some quotes and get a feel for their workmanship before I commit to anything. He never did provide me with a list of dealers. Fortunately, I liked one of the dealers and his price... but they make it more difficult than it needs to be.

Best of luck. Use Google to your advantage. I looked at every high rated window dealer in my area, scoured their sites, called, or emailed to see if they were a dealer for the windows I wanted.

Nice story Steve, glad to see your homework paid off.

Quick question, how do dealers show a patio door for okna/sunrise when there isn't a showroom?

Pull the sample out of there car or send you to another dealer or they don't do it.

Sounds like Todd was alluding to the fact that there are mini doors available as portable show units... cut aways as well.... it also not entirely out of the ordinary to buy based on sales literature and some due diligence in research. Operating a sample is definitely a plus, but I’d say far less than half of folks that purchase a patio door actually come in to the showroom to see it.

I also live in MI and called to Okna to find a dealer (obnoxious that you can't just put your zip into a website dealer search like most businesses have). It seemed annoyed with my question and referred me to someone hundreds of miles away in Wisconsin!

They probably don’t have a dealer in MI, WI may be the closest.

Call Bertrand windows great windows made in Europe
They have vinyl wood and aluminum windows and doors
They in Illinois but they have dealers all around us
Very nice guy Art 3129567981