SunSetter

I just stumbled across these reviews. I purchased my sunsetter in 99, manual with screen room and such. I’m just now replacing the fabric(2017) becouse of pin holes in it. I leave it set up from May to Oct in Ma. Never had an issue even in storms and such. I did have to replace the screens but they were still under warranty and they sent them free, that week.

I am very displeased with this awning mostly due to R and A services. If you live in Central Florida on the east coast this is who Sunsetter uses to sell and install their product. After initial installation there is no help with problems.

We bought our 2nd Sunsetter awning two years ago and the overall quality is so much cheaper than our older awning. The metal arms are thinner and somewhat flimsy. The awning fabric started to wear thin after 1 year and now after 2 summers, we need to replace it because it developed small holes where the fabric wore thin. Very disappointed in the subpar quality of this awning. Our older one (circa 1995) was 100% better. Would not buy again.

I just called there for over the phone info and a quote on a 20ft electric awning. Conversation didn\\’t go well……after reading the poor reviews I will be buying from another company.

Bought mine about 5 years ago. Installer was very unprofessional. If my wife would not have been home when they came to install, it would have been installed 10 feet from where is was supposed to be. It has worked fine until last week. All of a sudden, the fabric started coming apart at the seams. Had to buy a new one for 0 and have to install it myself. No offer to repair or install for me. Was told if I wanted it installed, contact a local dealer. Very disappointed with the service. Knowing what I know now, I would never have purchased it. I now have 00 invested in it, not including installation if I have a dealer do it and am wondering…..will I have to buy a new awning in another 5 years?

Very Poor awning and zero Customer Service! Bought an 11\\’ Sun Setter Awing from the local dealer in 2012. Enjoyed it for about 2 months!! Noticed the \\”fabric\\” start to fade and wear out in only 2 months in the Florida sun! Did not use it the first winter. Opened the awning 6 months after instillation, the fabric was starting to tear in the top right corner! Tried to call the local dealer who installed it, after 6 attempts and messages left, gave up on him! Called Sun Setter, Very Poor customer service! The agent stated it was MY FAULT for not purchasing and applying a \\”conditioner\\” for the fabric from Sun Setter! i stated it was not even a year old! Agent stated Sun Setter WOULD NOT replace the awning and I could purchase a replacement awning fabric for 9 and pay for installation! Already spent 00 on the original awning and motorized retractor! Will NEVER purchase any product from Sun Setter again and the local dealer was worthless with no reply to my request 3 years later!! Worst Awning ever! SAVE YOUR MONEY and go elsewhere!!

Very disappointed! After friends recommended these awnings as being so great I bought one and installed it myself. It took two of us and it wasn’t easy. They tell you in two places in the directions not to direct wire it which I didn’t see. It stopped working after 1 year and 9 months and when I called they referred me to the motor mfg. He said the motor was shot and call back to sunsetter for help. After 3 hours on the phone, sunsetter said its common for the motor to burn out if you hard wire it and for 248 bucks I could get another motor (of corse I had to go through all the trouble of installing it my self. Bottom line- pro rated warrenty is a joke. Now I’m stuck with winding it and unwinding it myself( the Manual and motor operated is the same gearing) and it takes forever to open and close) . Another problem with these awnings which my friends didn’t tell me about is wind. Wind will rip this thing out of the wall and of course cause a lot of damage. the service sucks and the warrenty sucks. Sunsetter sent me to Somfry who makes the motor and back and forth it went and I got a lot of “I understands” from both of them with no financial relief. Do yourself a favor and get a stationary awning which will be a lot less hassle.

About 6 years ago, I purchased a Sunsetter awning. My son-in-law and a friend, both of whom had building and construction experience, put it up for me. It looked beautiful that first summer.The second summer, about halfway through, the awning began to leave the channel. Bit by bit, the awning began to collapse, and by summer’s end only about 4 inches on the right hand side was still hanging on. Five of my neighbors helped me roll it up; we secured apparatus that supposedly supported it with bungy cords and rope. I called Sunsetter– after all, it was guaranteed for 5 years.The woman at Sunsetter told me that they’d be glad to sell me a new awning for 9. This did not seem to fit with the guarantee, but after much conversation, the best I could get was the name of the Sunsetter contractor in the area. I called him.He left me a voicemail saying he’d drop by and take a look and I never heard another thing from him, though I did call 3 more times. I called back Sunsetter and got the same song and dance, so I started looking around for a contractor to fix it. No one wanted to try it.Just this past June, however, I found someone who believed he could fix it, and he and his team came and worked on it for 3 hours and seemed to have put it to rights. I rolled it up and looked forward to using it all summer. However, the 100+ degree temperatures discouraged sitting outside, and it was just the other day that I rolled it out. My grandchildren were over and we sat out for awhile on the porch, then went down in the yard. When I turned back around to admire the awning, I saw that it was started to come out of the channel again, and then– suddenly, this time–it gave way and fell with a crash..The heavy apparatus is supported only by the tension of the awning itself, which appears to only glued into the track. If the tension gives way, the apparatus gives way. And, though, the first time it gave way little by little; this time, it gave all at once, with hundreds of pounds of apparatus collapsing right where my granddaughter had been sitting just minutes before. It didn’t occur to me until today how she might have been killed had it fallen on her. Since my first catastrophe with the awning I’ve been angry; but, today, I became terrified.The contractors are coming today to take it down; I’m done with it. I’ve asked them to build me a porch roof. Not as pretty or versatile as an awning, but a whole lot safer. They are going to credit me with the cost of their repair since it didn’t work, but it seemed to me it was about time I told this story for those of you who are considering buying one of these awnings. Perhaps the automatic ones work differently as there are some good reviews about them here, but the ones you roll out yourself– the one I got– can be dangerous. Not to mention, of course, that the Sunsetter guarantee isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.

While Sunsetter has a good product, they have THE worst customer service I have ever experienced. Be forewarned that should anything go wrong with your order, you will have no recourse. I ordered two solar powered window shades from Sunsetter on April 23, 2016 and promptly received a confirmation that my order would be delivered in 2-3 weeks. It is now July 20, 2016, 3 months later and they still have not been delivered. Sunsetter has sent the shades three times and three times, UPS has lost the shades. Each time the shades were lost, I had to wait five days until they confirmed that the shades were really lost and then start the 2-3 week wait again. It is impossible to speak with anyone at Sunsetter beyond the clerk who answers the customer service line and only has pre-written scripts to tell me how sorry they are that I am being inconvenienced. For the past three days, I have tried to get someone\’s attention to this matter and have been promised that I would receive a call back multiple times and no one follows up. One would think that management would care that the same shipment has been lost several times and that, as a result, they have a very unhappy customer, but evidently they do not. I had also purchased an awning from Sunsetter last year that was also lost by UPS before it was delivered at 5 weeks. I will not purchase from them again and will strongly recommend that no one else does as well.

One of the shades was shipped with the wrong color holding clips. I bought cream and they shipped brown. I called on Sunday and we told they would ship out the correct clips within 3 business days. I checked the status of the order today, 3 days later, and it said it was “pending”. So I called and was told: “Since you are informing us of this need to implement a fast shipment we will make sure the items will ship to you within 3 business days of TODAY!” They refuse to ship over night or 2 day since “our items can’t be shipped air” This is less than a 1 pound package with two small clips and some screws. LOUSY customer service, and they could care less. NEVER again deal with them. There are others making the same products on the internet for less. I will deal with a smaller company that actually cares about their customers. Costco find better companies to support. These people are a joke.

Have had Sunsetter Motorized XL awning for 4 years. 14\\’ wide, extends out 11\\’8\\”. Purchased and had professionally installed from a local dealer. Mine is roof mounted because there is inadequate space for a wall mounting above our sliding glass door on our ranch. I had installed a 10\\’ foot wide motorized Sunsetter on a wall myself (bought via Costco) with 2 helpers on another home and it wasn\\’t difficult, took a couple of hours. But I had just had a new roof put on my own home and didn\\’t want to chance making a mistake with the mounting on a brand new roof. This is a larger size and with the installation included it was about ,200. Awning works great, no problems with it the past 4 years. Wish the permanent aluminum cover provided covered the whole awning like the vinyl ones do for the wall mounts but it works ok. Covers the top and sides, front is exposed when rolled up. Roof mount in New England means leaves and other tree junk collect around the awning in the fall and have to be cleared.No maintenance needed so far except a bit of oil on the motorized hinges when they squeaked this year. Awning structure and the awning material has held up well. I nearly always pull it in for the night and when we\\’re away – don\\’t want to risk a sudden wind snapping anything. Of course pushing the button makes that a cinch. Material for this larger size model is cloth and water resistant, not vinyl and waterproof (too heavy they said for the larger width model) but it\\’s held up well. A heavy rain will leak through after a while but I put it up when that happens. Occasional pooling on the cover – I just push it up with a broom handle to get it off.Sun in the afternoon is pretty harsh on one side cutting down on shade by a third. So I\\’m ordering a Windbreaker for that side, YouTube videos make it look a cinch to put up and take down. Wish they made screening for this model to keep out the evening bugs. There are better motorized awnings out there but they\\’re quite a bit more expensive. For the money I recommend the Sunsetter.

After 6 years and not a lot of use the motor burned out after the warrante expired.Hundreds of $$$ to replace it. NOt A GOOD PRODUCT Very poor service. Save your money and do your homework

We purchased a sun setter awning four years ago. This year, we noticed that the binding on the edge of the awning was coming loose. Since the warranty was still in effect I called the company and found that the warranty only covers shipping and handling. We would have to pay for replacement material and for someone to install it. I wish we had checked before we bought it.

Purchased a 20 foot motorized XL ‘Pro Model’ via a certified dealer to whom Sunsetter referred me. Went top of the line including LEDs, wind sensor, protective hood, patio lights and all weather warranty which is a good thing because it ripped in less than a year. I’ve received the new awning but I’m being told it doesn’t cover the installation for which I must pay. So, basically because of their junk product I’m out an additional $300-$400.

Interestingly, prior to purchasing the awning I spoke with a competitor who warned me of Sunsetter lack of quality but I didn’t heed their advice.

Never again…..

We bought an awning from sun setter. Our goal was to provide a place outside for our son( a quadriplegic) . We DID have it installed professionly. Big joke. Once up, it had to be taken down and roof mounted because our brick was too hard and mortar too soft. Of course we had to pay extra for some illogical reason. We had to have the fabric replaced which, again, we had to pay more. Every time someone came out to do something they poor mouthed, griped, and complained. I believe this is the worse experience with what is supposedly a reputable company. Now, get this. All this took place within a three week period. And now, the motor is not working. After the first two months if we wanted to use it we had to manually open and close. It is such a job, we simply don’t bother. I called to ask for help in the way of a professional, and was told a couple of things to try. Didn’t work. It is stuck on the house waiting to be used or taken down. It will probably be the latter.

This might be an OK product if you never have to contact the company about a problem. We installed a 20 ft awning in September – lowered it a few times before winter, then lowered it a few times in the early summer. I lowered it on the 4th of July for a family picnic and the end sagged several inches to the point I would have hit my head on the bar if I walked past it. I did the things the instruction booklet suggested in the event of problems. Nothing fixed it. I called Sunsetter (the awning was still under warranty. The person I spoke with seemed to know nothing, and could only read the material from the instruction book to me. He finally said we bought such a big, heavy awning that it was bound to sag. A mechanical engineer who helped install the awning looked everything over and could not see any change from when it was installed. I wrote a long letter to Sunsetter describing the problem and my level of dissatisfaction; it was never answered. I\’ve sent numerous emails to Sunsetter with the same no response.If you buy one of their awnings, you are ON YOUR OWN. And that\’s what I tell anyone who drives through our neighborhood and stops and asks about our awning.

Bought the XT1000. Lasted a few years fine. The first really high wind. One of the metal arms completely broke causing the fabric to rip. Tried to order the parts that I needed. 594.00. really. After spending 1000. and guarantee would with stand wind. Come to find out they have a limited warranty. Heck replaced with a cheaper one at least when it tears or breaks I can affordably fit it. I thought I was paying for quality

i called Sunsetter and agreed to pay over 00 for an 8 foot retractable (non-motorized) awning. The were exceptionally nice when taking my order.. but that was where it ENDED. I had to wait 2 weeks before UPS called to schedule a delivery. They insisted it I had to be there to sign and they would deliver any time between 1-6… I sat around waiting all day and NO DELIVERY. When I called UPS.. just platitudes and no answer as to WHEN it would actually be delivered. Then I called SunSetter…they said it wasn\\\’t their responsibility after product left their facility. They were no help and for my inconvenience.. sitting around for 6 hours waiting for a delivery that never came… when I needed to be elsewhere..they wanted to send me some cover for free. I told them that my time was worth much more and that IT WAS thier responsibility, I was paying them 00 for an awning…and resented them telling me there was nothing they could do nor that is wasn\\\’t their problem. I was so incensed by the time they refused to do anything to support a customer (who by the way had bought other product) that i told them to just Cancel the order and I\\\’d go somewhere else. OF COURSE that\\\’s when all of a sudden they cared. Bottom line here is: A) this company\\\’s products are over priced compared to competitors, B) they don\\\’t provide a quality service and support. I will never buy from them again (and I own a number of small rental properties and put awnings up from time to time)… and I would HIGHLY CAUTION anyone from EVER buying from this company. I hope they see this… there is nothing they can say to make this any better at this point.

I’m very surprised of all the negative reviews. We ordered our awning 14 years ago (largest one they offered at the time- I think 18 feet – motorized) and it has been great. We use it A LOT. It’s down almost every day in the warm months and, as long as there’s not rain or wind (over 25MPH), it pretty much stays down. It’s made quite a difference in helping to keep the house cool. About 2 years ago we noticed that one side of the awning had dropped down around 4 inches from the other side. We had tried several times to raise the arm, and although the directions were very clear, it wasn’t working. I called the customer service this morning and the woman was very nice and gave some additional advice. We listened to her, it although we could only get it to raise up about 2 more inches, it is enough that we don’t have to duck under the bar anymore. The do offer service house calls. If we have any more issues with the height, we’ll probably go that route. All in all, other than switching from oil to gas heat, it is one of the best investments we’ve made when it comes to the house.

I have to add something positive to the reviews because I cannot say enough good things about my own experience with SunSetter. I am a normal do-it-yourself type guy with no relation to SunSetter except as a happy customer. I bought my second SunSetter awning about two months ago. It was a 12 ft motorized awning with laminated fabric. I bought it directly from the website. I found the website a breeze to use and I could actually get prices and special offers without having to call in. I got emails with a rep\\’s name from SunSetter almost instantly asking if I had any questions and telling me my info packet was on the way. I ordered online and got all kinds of order and delivery confirmations by email. They said it would arrive in six weeks and it came in two. One special offer for a free rug had been discontinued, but I called in to ask if they could extend it for me and they did.The unit came via UPS in a giant indestructible cardboard tube that was packed perfectly and in great shape. It could not have been packed better. Instructions were in perfect English anyone could understand, not the poorly translated stuff you see (I am a tech writer so I appreciate good instructions). It was so easy to install, instructions were almost not needed, but I was very careful to mount the brackets correctly exactly as they instructed with the drill bit included. It seems like there is a lot of torque on those when the awning is open, but they work fine. My unit is mounted to a brick wall. The unit slipped into the brackets, plugged in, and it just works perfectly. It would be hard to imagine an easier, better, more convenient awning at a lower price considering what I got. It even came with extra coin-shaped batteries for the remote (would a company trying to cut corners do that?) and a cool indoor wall hanger for the remote. We replaced our 11 year old manual SunSetter awning with this one. Our last one was the solid green laminated fabric with the diagonal supports and we kept it open nearly 24/7/365 in direct sunlight (SE exposure, no shade) without a single problem for 11 years. I\\’d pull it in for snow and hurricanes, but it simply lasted and lasted and never faded one bit. If I made a list of the 5 best things I ever bought, my original SunSetter awning would be on there. Time will tell if it will be replaced by our new motorized one, but so far we love it.

I just finished installing a 15 foot manual XT9000 unit on vinyl siding house. The unit is of good quality and operates beautifully. This just made my deck usable again so I\’m real happy with it. Sunsetter said I wouldn\’t need a header for the unit, but on vinyl siding it seems a must, so just do it. That being said you should be pretty handy because its no small task getting that header in right. The unit installed easy after the header was installed. Highly recommend the manual crank, its smooth. Love it!

Purchased sun setter retractable ( motorized) awning in 2012. Have had no
Problems with it. Do retract during high winds or when gone. Easiest installation
Have ever made for a house addition. Everything provided for installation on
Brick. Being an amputee usually have problems with an item that install above
Shoulders, but this was easy after drilling mounting holes a me putting
Brackets in place. Awning snapped into place with just 2 people lifting
While I inserted bolts. Took less than an hour. Installed so overhangs
Porch railing and when rain drip line beyond porch. Thinking of getting
A second one for other half of porch.

Just purchased and install a 15 ft this week. So far so good. Looks beautiful and seems to work fine. Motorized with wind sensor, cover and 5-year all weather warranty. Had it professionally installed. Watched very closely as it was being installed. The team did a top notch job. It is very stable. Did not give it a 5 on overall rating because of the short time I have owned it. I think I paid a bit more from the dealer but I wanted it installed by professionals. Time will tell if this is a lemon or not. I expect not but I will update if there are any issues I feel should be shared.

Purchased a sunsetter 4 years ago great awning for a great price.I would buy again.

I love my Sunstter Awning. It keeps the weeds down in my back yard. Within the first month of installation, the awning tore and the side bars bent in half. Getting no satisfaction from the company, I threw it on the weeds growing in my backyard and the weeds have not grown back. What a $1600.00 mistake. If i was allowed to, I would give them no stars!!!

I bought a SunSetter motorized retractable awning six years ago directly from the factory and have been very pleased with the product, with one exception, and that was my mistake. I bought the Laminated Fabric instead of the superior Woven Arylic, which has 100% dye penetration; therefore less color fading. I immediately found the company extremely helpful to deal with, although I wish I had arranged for professional installation instead of installing myself. Even so, the installation instruction are clear. The awning continues to operate perfectly and I have added a Wireless Wind Sensor and Aluminum Hood(not available when I originally bought).

We purchased a 20 ft. Motorized Pro from a local dealer in Riverside county last June. After reading nothing but negative reviews on this page, I felt it was my duty to write about our positive experience with the SunSetter’s product and installation. We hired the installer crew from the dealer and watched them install the awning on our soffit. My husband and I realized at that point how thankful we were that we didn’t hire a regular handyman to do their job. They knew exactly what they were doing and even took the heavy cardboard tube with them (saved us on cutting it down and spending a few weeks of putting pieces into our recycling can). The pitch is perfect (approx. 8 in slope) and the wind sensor comes in handy during our high winds that pass through every so often. The built in weather breaker in the front bar allows our child to play outside even with the strong afternoon sun. We purchased the Wheat colored woven acrylic fabric. Great job SunSetter and our local dealer! No issues, but if there will be, our dealer said they would deal directly with SunSetter for us. We paid a little more for a professional to install and have no regrets ESPECIALLY after reading the other reviews. I would recommend a professional to install your next awning. You get what you paid for.

Bought the XT1000 14feet wide. After 7 years the fabric has many holes in it. Called about replacement fabric and found out that the cost of fabric is $422.00 regardless of how wide it is; i.e. an 8ft. wide would cost the same as an 18ft. wide. What a screw job that is.

I bought a SunSetter 11X9. Costco carried them. Have to replace the motor already after 6 years and $400 without installation. (5 year prorated warranty) Included laminated fabric (Looks like plastic tarp material) is completely worn out too. Wears like plastic too. Not good. Ordered replacement in their upgraded Acylic Woven Fabric for $500. That’s $900 in materials alone not including installation of those worn out parts on top of their normal online price of $1700 without installation. Maybe I should have started out doing more research. Doing research or business with “them” is difficult if your patient or impossible if you’re not. I wish they were better. Plenty of negatives out there online though. They (product, warranty & customer service) are pretty disappointing.

The sunsetter is pretty lightweight – it looks like a mobilehome or RV design. We went to look at a few that have been installed – there are plenty around – and it seems like they are really showing wear after about 5 years. We really like our home and decided to pay a little more and get a better awning. Can’t really rate the service because I would have had to install it myself.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/sunsetter.html

Wish I had found this website before I pulled out my credit card…I got burned, don’t make the same mistake!
DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!

Everyone knows about Sunsetter, but the natural progression is that everyone is then sick of sunsetter once they purchase from them. The lack of quality is apparent. Ours lasted only about 9 months (we were quite diligent about taking care of it). NEVER again. Next time I will do my research better and come on this site first

I ordered my SunSetter Oasis free standing awning for use by my pool. We went for the manual unit which was a mistake. My wife has trouble retracting it with the crank handle. The overall design is good but the base legs do not provide enough stability. A couple of times in sudden winds I thought it was going to blow over. If you are considering an Oasis go for the motorized version and MOUNT the base legs into concrete.

I fell for their slick advertising and bought by impulse not realizing that I have no means of installing it. I called a couple of local awning companies and I have found out it cost more to install than the original price of the awning.
Needles to say it is still sitting in it’s box in my shed. A complete wast of money.

There are pros and cons to buying an awning from Sunsetter. Like most awnings, they provide shade and come with an optional motor for retracting. Another plus is it comes with a five-year limited, albeit prorated, warranty. However, the do-it-yourself installation was not easy. I’m now finding that the awning is vulnerable to rain and wind, and there were some customer support issues as well.

I have had the SunSetter Awning since 2000. I bought it brand new and had my first problems within eight months of buying this product. The retractor springs broke first, and after negotiating with the CSM department, they decided to send the springs to me if I paid shipping.

I should have known then that I was doing business with a bad company. My awning has not been used very much, but now the main seam is coming apart and should of course be covered under the warranty. The CSM department now says that the seam is not covered under warranty because the thread is weathered. What a joke! I would not consider buying any product from this company since they will not stand behind their product.