Every industry has its tricks. When it comes to getting you to buy, window companies are no different. Unfortunately, the competition for business is so fierce today that many companies have resorted to bad-mouthing, fake reviews, and outright lying just to make themselves seem more appealing than the competition.

Unfortunately, the party that most commonly suffers in this situation is the homeowner. Because price is the major contributing factor in a homeowner’s decision to go with one company over another, a lot of dishonest companies lie about the windows prices, about warranty, create fake discounts, or quote for completely different windows than the client wants. All in an attempt to win the contract. What usually happens in the end is, once the company has the signed contract they go back to the client and adjust the quote to the right, and obviously much higher one.

You can get acquainted with the prices of our company right away:

There are many ways bad window companies scam clients into contracts. Let’s look at some of the most common ones:

Fake window and door discounts
If you are like most homeowners in Calgary, chances are you get fliers from the same window companies over and over again. If you actually bother to read them you’ll notice that month after month they offer incredible “limited time” discounts on windows of 20, 30, 40, as much as fifty percent. But if the same discount is featured over and over again, can it really be considered a discount?

What really happens, is window salesmen recognize that people generally don’t know anything about window pricing, and prey and exploit that. They can initially overblow the price and if the client isn’t willing to take the bait they can use the premise of a discount to sweeten the deal, make the client feel special, or simply to beat out another company’s quote.

If a window company is offering these massive discounts, you need question how the company can afford to sell high-quality windows for half of their supposed price. And if they offer such a big discount constantly, shouldn’t that just become the regular price of the windows?

Quoting for different windows than ones you want
Window companies recognize that you often want something different from the existing windows you already had. They also understand that window replacement can be one of the most expensive projects in your home. That’s why some salesmen will blatantly give you a quote on a lesser quality or cheaper window. That way when another company comes to quote your project, their windows will seem ridiculously overpriced and you will be more likely to go with the original company.

In reality, most of the time companies are able to get away with this by not giving you an official quote. A proper quote should specify the exact type, model, and size of the window as well as any additional features that are included.

Not using calculation software in coming up with a window quote
And we’re not talking about an actual calculator. What most homeowners don’t know is that trustworthy window companies usually rely on automated software to generate a window quote. The software takes into account the measurement, desired window type, and all additions. If you do end up going with the window company that same software is then used to order your windows. This ensures that the order is placed accurately and to exact specifications. More importantly, the software ensures that your quote is estimated properly and you know exactly how much what costs.

Don’t accept quotes written on a business card, or sent as a personal e-mail. Much like a window contract, your quote should resemble an official document where just as much detail about the window order is provided as you would expect on a contract.

Another connection between your quote and your contract is that the price between two shouldn’t change. There are very few circumstances when additional expenses arise during installation (rebuilding a bay is one of those). The rest of the time a change in the price is either mistake of your project consultant, or deliberate meddling on their behalf to get you to sign the contract.

At Ecoline Windows, we believe that honesty is the best approach when it comes to pricing or quoting a window replacement project. We understand that our windows may not always be the cheapest, but our prices are a true reflection of the quality of our product. We prefer to let you know exactly what you will be paying for if you go with us, without any hidden costs or gimmicks. Our project consultants rely on sophisticated software to derive an accurate quote for your replacement. That’s just one way we ensure your window replacement is what it seems, and nothing else.