chester wrote:

Just thought I would share my experiences with “Statewide Windows”
(Washington State) since a Google search of newsgroups and the Web
turned up surprisingly little. I would also lie to hear other peoples
opinions on replacement window types and quality.

We got a cold call from a representative a few weeks back, knocking at
the door, and since we did need to replace at least a few windows on the
house, we decided to arrange a time for them to “come by and look at the
windows, and give us a quote.”

After a few reschedules, they came by yesterday. My first clue there was
goingto be a problem was when one of the reps said, “I hope we are going
to by some windows today!” And then, “We prefer either one of 2 answers:
‘Yes we will buy some windows’, or ‘No we are not interested’. I quickly
told him that our answer would probably be “Maybe”. He ignored me.

This is very typical of commission sales reps in the construction
biz. I had five different sales pitches on a new roof. Four of
them told me there was only one layer of shingles on my roof. I
knew there were two, but they didn't want to listen. Two of them
said I was wrong. Two of them said if there was two layers, the
cost would increas by $1000 for the removal. They estimated the
roof at between 25 to 30 squares. I knew it was 22 squares.

The bid from Home Depot was $7500. The others were between $5500
and $4500 plus the $1000 old roof removal. The roof was not
leaking so I was in no hurry. In spite of my stating, I was not
interested in financing the work, four of them kept bringing up
financing. When the one with the 30 squares estimate finally
gave me a figure, I asked him to show me how he arrived at the
figure. He said it was fairly complicated and boring. I told him
that was ok because I was a CPA, had a Masters Degree in Accounting,
and was very use to boring stuff. So he summed it up as a cost per
square. Then I handed him a piece of paper with drawings and
computations showing it was 22 squares. I really ****ed him off
when I asked for a 27% reduction in his bid from $5200 to $3800.

The contractor who got the work walked the roof, told me it would
take 23 squares, said it had to be stripped because it had two
layers, point out that the roof did not have a roof vent and needed
one, told me one of the attic fans needed to be replaced, and a
whole bunch more. He was a fire fighter who ran a roofing company
on his days off. He knew roofs. His price including the removal
was $4850 and he did an escellent job.

Anyway, ....

This is when it really got interesting. Because, we –were- interested
in their windows (more below). So we had some questions, and then he
gave us the price: $21,700, for 10 windows, including a garden box
and a huge picture window. Well that seemed high, and then the price
started dropping. It took a LONG time, but the price eventually came
down to $14000 even, with various “discounts” and one time special
offers. It really was like buying a used car. I had the feeling if we
really pushed and were super sure, we could have talked him down more.
...

Welcome to the club! This is very typical when someone is
interested in selling fast because they can't explain more
than they were drilled on.

I would love to hear others’ input regarding window types, including
Statewide. I think the rep did himself and his company a disservice my
ragging on Milgard so much, since the research I have done indicates
that the company generally stands behind its products and they do have
some quality products. He did a lot of half information about other
windows, only showing and talking about the worst types of vinyl and
then the more expensive vinyl. I know very little about other
manufacturers, and would like to get some input before I make any big
decisions.

My 14 year old son and a friend did door-to-door canvassing for a
contractor for about six weeks for $9/hour and bonuses if sales
were later made. I wanted to replace 11 interior doors and have
them stained first so I asked my son to ask the contractor if he
did interior doors. My son said words to the effect of "Don't
hire him. He told us to tell poeple whatever they wanted to hear
in order to schedule an appoinment." He and his friend decided
they would tell people that they thought so, but the customer
should ask the contractor when he came for the appointment. They
did that and when the contractor got a phone call to confirm the
correct answer, he fired both of them.

Truly a Caveat Emptor situation.

Dick