(Update 2012/04/18. I am happy to report that after much going back and forth, and after people from Lifestyles coming out to say that the job was as good as could be, I was unable to reach the General Manager and ended up leaving a message with the owner. Shortly after that, someone came out and said it was not a good job and Lifestyles did remove and re-cap all the posts. They look good now. Still not worth the money, but at least they did follow up and fix the issues. The lesson here is, if you have to deal with Lifestyles, avoid the General Manager and speak with the owner.)
Very poor quality, and worse customer support.
Lifestyles had a beautiful product offering that the salesperson showed us photos of while sitting on our patio. When I looked at the specifications I thought it could not work but he assured me that they had done many of these and it would. Whats more, he assured me that they would have people who would come out to verify so that we could be absolutely certain this would work. I was right, it would not.
Since they could not use the aluminum posts that they promised, they said they would wrap our posts in aluminum for both beauty and to protect the wood underneath. In the end the workmanship was very poor. The wrap has visible gaps through which water will be able to travel and rot the wood beneath. I think it would be better without the aluminum wrap.
I spoke to the general manager. He was very courteous and promised to take a look and determine how to fix the problem. I have not heard from him since. The company keeps calling my wife even though they have been repeatedly told to call me, and they have just left her a message saying they sent the invoice and want to know when they will be paid.
I had a larger project I wanted done, but I cannot recommend Lifestyles for anything since they could not successfully complete so simple a project as wrapping the posts on our deck.
(Update 2012/02/05) Lifestyles sent someone out again last week. In spite of being asked to contact me directly when they determined what they would do, I have not heard from them. I did hear from my mother-in-law, that the person who came out said that the work that was done was the best that they could do. It seems that I am going to have to fix this project myself. I strongly suggest that you avoid this company.
