Coastal Energy Window Coatings

Firstly, this place is the only business between New Orleans and Panama City that installs Huper Optik brand film, which is consistently rated as the best brand of tint on the market. It demands the highest price of any installation, and rightly so. After about two months with it, I can honestly say the tint works. With an black-​on-​black leather interior, this tint has drastically reduced the heat inside my cabin after setting in the sun all day.
That said, my first impression was that this place would be a high-​end tint shop. Jeremy, the owner, was very communicative leading up to scheduling my installation. Driving in from Pensacola, I needed flexibility in when I could drop off my vehicle and pick it up. After a few emails back and forth, it was settled that I would drop off my car on a Thursday while I was out of town for an extended weekend and pick it up Tuesday of the next week, essentially giving them 4 days to work on my vehicle (Jeremy mentioned in a previous email that he could do vehicle installations in one day while you wait).
Thursday: While arranging to drop off my car, Jeremy offers to meet with me after hours to accommodate my long drive in from Pensacola (one hour to and from). On the way, Jeremy informs me that he will not be available to meet me and that an associate will be in the office to receive me. I arrive in the office and it is completely empty and unlocked. After 15 minutes, I text Jeremy and soon after, his associate (a young high school-​looking kid) arrives to take my order.
Monday: I arrive the Monday after and text Jeremy to get an update on when I could pick up my car. He says that the car will be done that evening and ready for me to pick-​up, but I cannot arrange a driver so I rearrange my plans to arrive Tuesday. He says that this is no problem and it will be ready to pick-​up Tuesday afternoon.
Tuesday: I arrange for a friend to drive me from Pensacola to Orange Beach (one hour drive to and from) in the afternoon and Jeremy offers to meet me after hours for pick-​up. Again, he is not there and a young lady (who apparently doesn’t work there) receives me. I process my payment and get in the car before noticing the quality of the installation: really bad – bubbles and dirt in the tint, adhesive tape left on the windows and worst of all, the cutting job of the film is so bad, the margin from the edge of the tint and the window ranges from between a whole three-​quarter inch to a quarter inch. The edges jagged and uneven.
I inform the girl of the quality and she calls Jeremy on the phone to discuss. I take photos and send them to Jeremy. For the first time, he meets me at the shop and sees the installation for the very first time. Recognizing that the installation was bad, he offers to have it re-​tinted at no charge and offers to tint my sunroof for free. Additionally, he offers to provide a discount and also have me picked up from Pensacola when the tint is installed.
Wednesday: I get no response from Jeremy at all on the updates. After calling/​texting him, he tells me it will be ready for pick-​up Thursday.
Thursday: Again, no updates from Jeremy or his shop. I text in the afternoon for an update and he says that my car is finally done and that he is driving to Pensacola himself to pick me up.
After an awkward one hour drive, I arrive to see that my vehicle has been re-​tinted. Jeremy opens the doors to look at it himself, and when he does so, we both see that his installer did not clean up after himself; leaving his work belt and bottle of tac on my backseat. There is also stains left in my leather and my rear brake light cover (in the rear dashboard) is removed and not installed back on.
The installation is much better this time, but still not perfect. Jeremy informs me that the Huper Optik tint is thicker and more difficult to work with. After a few moments, I ask about a discount and Jeremy’s first response to me is, «well let me think how much I have into it,» and after a few moments offers me a $ 50 discount. Unsatisfied, I request a $ 100 discount and he agrees.
I should note that I didn’t notice until a few days later that because of the numerous attempts at installation, the leather on my driver’s side door was water damaged. Apparently, this place does not use protective sheets for interiors.
Lastly, Jeremy says that he’ll send me the warranty information and issue my refund the next day. I don’t receive a refund until a month later (by check), and don’t receive my warranty information until a whole two months later.
As I said at the beginning, I’m not sure how to rate this place. Expectations ran high, but execution fell really low. Jeremy did try to make things right, but added insult to injury with his small offer of a discount, especially after having my vehicle for a whole week.
I would not recommend this place to anyone.