| Replacement Window Pricing and Tricks |
| Written by Charles Faust | |
| Monday, 28 July 2008 | |
Fake Replacement Window Discounts and Other TricksWhile it is a bold opening statement, the replacement window industry is full of pricing tricks and fake discounts that would amaze the average professional magician. Have you ever wondered how some replacement window companies can offer 10% discounts, how about 20% or even 50% discounts on new home windows? Do you actually think that some fools paid full price yesterday or that some idiot will pay full price a day from now when the sale ends. Since most shoppers like to buy when there is a sale going on, the home improvement industry seems to have a sale every day just like the new and used car dealers. Today is always the best day of the year for your new replacement windows and tomorrow the prices are going up, way up. Most people fall for these tricks and thank God that they were smart enough to find a "deal of a lifetime" before it ends at midnight. A few smart shoppers that are not pressured into buying the same day will get calls from the same salesperson over the next few days offering even a lower price than the "super sale price". If these added discounts fail to work then the sales manager will generally call with even more discounts. At this point most people begin to wonder when the discounts will end and begin to get upset because they are being treated like another dumb home improvement shopper. I just amazes me that replacement window salespeople are trying to use the same tricks as the tin siding salespeople! By now you must be wondering how you will know when you see the window company's final and lowest price. By reading this article and talking to your friends and neighbors you are more than likely prepared for several more "price drops". If you buy at any price other than the lowest price you would feel like an idiot when your friends or family get the same job done at $1,000 or even $5,000 less than what you paid! I would suggest looking for a company that does not offer big discounts and has a track record of providing one price. A simple search on Google for the company's name and "complaints", "discounts" or "specials" will show you their track history. If you see results that contain discounts over 20% then you might want to look around for another company. Generally when you Google a company for complaints any "pricing game complaints" will show up and you will be able to read how other homeowners got turned off by the pricing. About FHI Windows and Their PricingUp until a year ago my company would never provide prices over the phone. We would insist on only providing prices in a home with both home owners present. About a year ago we began providing "ballpark" prices over the phone and found that if we asked enough questions we could provide dead on prices about 90% of the time. Over the last year we have found that most people buy from us since our ballpark pricing over the phone actually matches the price on their contract. The concept is rather easy, quote a price and sell a job at the same price! This month we are starting to list our prices on our company blog, Replacement Window Prices to provide people with our prices before they even pick up the phone to call us. One of the motivating factors for this was the amount of replacement window shoppers who were upset about having to set up appointments not knowing if their budget could handle the cost of new home replacement windows. I can image how embarrassing it must be to have a budget of $5,000 and after a 3 hour high pressure replacement window presentation you find out that your project will cost over $10,000. We hope that people will be able to find a window on our blog that meets their budget and then they can select their options so they will know their replacement window project cost before we arrive at their home. If you are wondering if our prices are subject to "price drops", "special discounts" or other tricks, the answer is NO. From time to time we will offer small discounts on certain items and when I say small I mean between a 3%-5% discount. Generally these discounts are offered when we are getting a discount from our suppliers or when we are offering a discount that is tied in with a promotion. Currently we are testing a 3% discount on double pane windows and a 5% discount on triple pane windows for Angie's list members. While a 3-5% discount does not sound like much, the truth is that a 5% discount on a very fair price is much less expensive then a 50% discount on a over priced full of tricks price from some other place. If you like our up front pricing you can contact us for a free in home inspection of your window project. We service most of MA and all of RI. If you live in one of the other 48 states I am truly sorry that we can not service your area but we can forward you information to a couple professional window companies in your area if you fill out our Replacement Window Estimate Form.                 |
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