Accepting the Loss
You may recall that I recently wrote about replacing some windows in my house on the hilltop. Views being such a big part of the appeal of this property, windows are a clear priority (pun intended). You may recall that I chose the prudent path of ordering the replacement windows from the top window firm in America, Andersen. I have yet to find anyone who has anything but good things to say about Andersen windows as a product, and everyone knows that the best always costs the most and that was a bargain I was prepared to make. Just to recount, I ordered one large replacement picture window for the living room at a cost of $7,500 and put 50% ($3,750) down once the final measurement was made. When I then noticed a second living room picture window in need of replacement, the Andersen rep came back and told me that one would also be $7,500. I had him look at another sliding glass door pane that was going bad and he quoted me an astronomical $9,000 to replace the entire unit. I was in a window funk.
On the advice of Handy Brad (I really do have to remind myself regularly about just how handy it is to know Handy Brad), I called Stuart of Stuart Glass, a local operator, He came up and told me he could replace the sliding door pane (same dual insulated glass) for $868. I hit the bid and within a week he had come to install it. It looks brand new. I then asked him about the second picture window in the living room and he said that it was too big for him, but his old colleague Angel could handle it. During installation of the new slider glass, Stuart brought Angel with him. He big me $1,995 for the living room replacement. To be clear, there is a difference between what Renewal by Andersen does and what Stuart and Angel do. Renewal replaces the entire unit including the window frame. that involves cutting it out of the exterior wall and then patching the new unit in. What Stuart and Angel do is what these windows are intended to be able to do, which is that they remove the glass unit from the frame and then just replace that.
Having watched the slider glass replacement, which took 30 minutes tops, it is a fairly easy process. They use a thin bladed vibrating “saw” to loosen the window bond around the entire outer rim. They remove the pop-in/pop-out framing inserts on the inside. Then they pull the old glass panel out using those suction grips and take the old piece out to the truck. Meanwhile then scrape out the remains of the old caulk and put in a fresh two-sided foam tape to seal the new glass in. They bring in the new glass and set it in with the help of a few small wedges and a couple of putty knives. Then they pop-in the framing pieces on the edges and clean the glass. Voila, all done. The hard part is just hefting th glass in and out and that is why Stuart leaves the big pane jobs to Angel and his younger crew.
I accepted Angel’s bid for the second living room window and called the Andersen rep telling him exactly why I was cancelling the second order. He understood and agreed to move the $1,000 deposit over to the account for the first window, which meant I had paid $4,750 of that bill and would pay the remaining $2,750 when the window got installed. Installation is backlogged at Andersen and that is not expected for 16 weeks. Then yesterday, less than a week since I had put the order into Angel, he called and said he had the glass and could install in on Monday. I was shocked. And then it hit me, why should I pay Andersen $7,500 for a window that Angel would gladly replace for $1,995, especially when he would have it done in a few weeks?
So, once Angel installs the new living room glass on Monday and assuming that goes as well as the slider went, I plan to call up the Andersen rep and have a discussion with him. I have no intention of being anything other than 100% honest with him. Stuart and Angel have impressed me with their skills and approach and I see more advantages than disadvantages to their approach versus the Renewal by Andersen approach. My main reasons for the change are the cost, the ease and speed of installation, which does not entail removing blinds or damaging the interior or exterior walls by replacing the entire frame. I will add that Kim iis very much in favor of the new approach since her biggest fear is that the Renewal by Andersen frames will not perfectly match the existing frames and that we will be forever regretting using Renewal by Andersen for one of the five picture windows in the living room.
I will seek to cancel the order and get a partial refund. Hopefully we can settle on them keeping $1,000 of my $4,750 already paid as compensation for all their trouble. Even if they only refund me half and keep $2,375 I will be happy. If they insist that there can be no refund I will politely accept the loss and chalk it up to my stupidity and still I’ll be at least $755 better off. If I assume I would have paid Brad $245 for taking off and replacing the blinds and patching and painting any damage, that will mean I saved $1,000. If worst comes to worse and Renewal by Andersen decides to take me on, I figure I can afford the $2,750 hickey that they will bill me for, but I will tell them I will expect them to deliver the new window and rather than install it, I will put it into storage for future use. Since they have probably not even started to manufacture it and because they are a big company that does not want bad consumer vibes out in the market about them, my guess is that they are unlikely to squabble and will probably settle somewhere in the middle. They, like me, are probably inclined to be somewhat dispassionate about such things and recognize that accepting the loss is just another way of saying that discretion really is the better part of valor.
I will be quite anxious to see how Angel does on Monday. I have already left him a voicemail telling him to prepare to take an order for another window on Monday. Assuming all goes well and that he agrees, I will be calling Andersen as soon as I can after that to stop the presses on the new replacement window as soon as possible. The Andersen rep was so understanding about the last cancellation that I hope he will treat this one the same way. I am in no way dreading that conversation. I feel that everything I have learned about the products and the process bear witness to my decision and strongly advocate for this course of action. It solves so many problems and gets the job done cleaner and faster this way. If my frames were rusted or deteriorated that would be different. If I were building a new addition and needed fully framed windows, that would be different. But this is just about accepting the loss, whatever it will be and moving on with a better solution.
As a postscript, the installation went well and I ordered the other window glass and have even had that one installed now. The living room looks much better. They cost $2,345 and $2,145 versus the $7,500 apiece that Renewal by Anderson would have charged. As for my cancellation efforts, they had already refunded me my $1,000 deposit on the second window. That meant they were holding $3,750 and I would owe another $3,750 on installation. They agreed to cancel the order even though they had the window in their warehouse, but would keep the $3,750 for their cost of breakage. I figure I am still more than $2,000 ahead by doing as I did, so it’s all good by me. In accepting the loss, I’ve learned a valuable lesson about window replacement.