Has anyone used The Window Store, or been a "model home?"
August 27, 2013 8:41 AM Subscribe
The other night I had a salesman come to my door from "The Window Store Home Improvements, Inc." He gave me a nice spiel about how they're looking for homes in my area that are willing to put advertising signs out front, and willing to be listed on their website, www.twshomesinc.com. In exchange they can give me new windows at wholesale cost instead of retail. The salesman also said that their windows are warranteed for 50 years, which he said was much more than typical warranties.
I googled them, but I didn't see much. They had a complaint about low-quality installation on the BBB that wasn't really resolved, and there was a very vague article on Consumerist about "model home" scams, but it wasn't incredibly helpful.
Has anyone used this company, one of its branches, or done anything similar as far as being a "model home" in exchange for discounted home improvement work?
This is in the Milwaukee, WI area.
I googled them, but I didn't see much. They had a complaint about low-quality installation on the BBB that wasn't really resolved, and there was a very vague article on Consumerist about "model home" scams, but it wasn't incredibly helpful.
Has anyone used this company, one of its branches, or done anything similar as far as being a "model home" in exchange for discounted home improvement work?
This is in the Milwaukee, WI area.
Has anyone used this company, one of its branches, or done anything similar as far as being a "model home" in exchange for discounted home improvement work?
No information about the company but ...
My bullshit detector is going nuts on this. C'mon, they are not giving you a damn thing at wholesale, a mere sign in front of your house is not enough advertising value for them to not make a profit. How many times have YOU done business with a firm because you saw their sign in front of someone's house?
And about the warranty ... How long have they been in business? The chances of them being in business in ten years, not to mention FIFTY years, seems pretty damn small.
posted by Unified Theory at 8:48 AM on August 27, 2013
No information about the company but ...
My bullshit detector is going nuts on this. C'mon, they are not giving you a damn thing at wholesale, a mere sign in front of your house is not enough advertising value for them to not make a profit. How many times have YOU done business with a firm because you saw their sign in front of someone's house?
And about the warranty ... How long have they been in business? The chances of them being in business in ten years, not to mention FIFTY years, seems pretty damn small.
posted by Unified Theory at 8:48 AM on August 27, 2013
Everything Ruthless Bunny said, & then some. I've worked in the industry & if you're getting a 50% discount they are very marked up.
Find someone local & reputable who has their own local install staff or long-relationship contractors.
posted by tilde at 8:48 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Find someone local & reputable who has their own local install staff or long-relationship contractors.
posted by tilde at 8:48 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Best answer: So I have not heard of them, but the door to door thing pings my bs meter.
If you are in fact looking to replace your windows, I would get several quotes on cost and warranty from other sources. I suspect their wholesale cost will turn out to be other places retail cost.
posted by florencetnoa at 8:49 AM on August 27, 2013
If you are in fact looking to replace your windows, I would get several quotes on cost and warranty from other sources. I suspect their wholesale cost will turn out to be other places retail cost.
posted by florencetnoa at 8:49 AM on August 27, 2013
When a deal sounds too good to be true, it often is.
Sometimes you cannot afford a bargain.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:53 AM on August 27, 2013
Sometimes you cannot afford a bargain.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:53 AM on August 27, 2013
The salesman also said that their windows are warranteed for 50 years, which he said was much more than typical warranties.
This didn't just set off my bullshit meter. It broke it.
Good, established contractors with a good client base and decent cash flow DO NOT DO THIS SORT OF THING. I work in the industry.
RB is right on the money. If you want new windows, get quotes from reliable people.
posted by futureisunwritten at 8:57 AM on August 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
This didn't just set off my bullshit meter. It broke it.
Good, established contractors with a good client base and decent cash flow DO NOT DO THIS SORT OF THING. I work in the industry.
RB is right on the money. If you want new windows, get quotes from reliable people.
posted by futureisunwritten at 8:57 AM on August 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
This scam has been going on at least since I was a kid and that was a looonnggg time ago.
posted by HotToddy at 9:48 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by HotToddy at 9:48 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
This sounds very similar to the classic Asphalt Paving scams. Someone comes to your house, says they have a bunch of leftover asphalt from another job and offers to re-pave your driveway for 2/3 of the normal cost. Then, once your driveway is ripped up, they quintuple the price.
I could imagine something similar happening once all your windows are ripped out and they've got you over a barrel.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 10:22 AM on August 27, 2013
I could imagine something similar happening once all your windows are ripped out and they've got you over a barrel.
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 10:22 AM on August 27, 2013
The salesman also said that their windows are warranteed for 50 years
Warranteed by the contractor or by the manufacturer? If by the contractor, FWIW their website (assuming it's twshomeinc.com, rather than the nonexistent twshomesinc.com) was first registered in 2009 and was essentially empty until 2011, so 50 years seems pretty optimistic. If by the manufacturer, then you don't need to work with these guys to get that warranty.
Looking more closely at the website, they have addresses in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Two of the three contractor license numbers listed on their home page do not appear in either the MN or WI contractor registries; the third does show in WI -- I'm not sure how to interpret the information in the listing but there it is.
But none of that matters, really. The only thing worth buying door to door is girl scout cookies; for anything else, if it was any good they wouldn't need to go door to door to try to sell it...
posted by ook at 10:31 AM on August 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
Warranteed by the contractor or by the manufacturer? If by the contractor, FWIW their website (assuming it's twshomeinc.com, rather than the nonexistent twshomesinc.com) was first registered in 2009 and was essentially empty until 2011, so 50 years seems pretty optimistic. If by the manufacturer, then you don't need to work with these guys to get that warranty.
Looking more closely at the website, they have addresses in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Two of the three contractor license numbers listed on their home page do not appear in either the MN or WI contractor registries; the third does show in WI -- I'm not sure how to interpret the information in the listing but there it is.
But none of that matters, really. The only thing worth buying door to door is girl scout cookies; for anything else, if it was any good they wouldn't need to go door to door to try to sell it...
posted by ook at 10:31 AM on August 27, 2013 [5 favorites]
When we replaced our windows several years ago, we used a local firm, and the estimator showed up with a binder full of letters from satisfied customers. Paging through those, I actually found a letter of recommendation from my own parents, who had used this same firm 15+ years earlier. Point being: window replacement is an established trade, and some people in this business have been at it a looooong time. They have local, verifiable reputations that have been built over time. You can go to your neighbors and ask them who they used, and if they liked the results.
Expect to pay the going rate for this sort of work, whatever that may be in your area. You can save a little money by choosing a cheaper window product, but in general, you will get what you pay for.
posted by mosk at 11:13 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Expect to pay the going rate for this sort of work, whatever that may be in your area. You can save a little money by choosing a cheaper window product, but in general, you will get what you pay for.
posted by mosk at 11:13 AM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'm a fan of Marvin Windows. They're a'spensive as hell, but built to withstand the test of time. I don't even think they slap 50 year warranties on their product.
I am also a fan of rebuilding old wooden windows, as I've done to about a dozen in my 1920s house. Properly done you get between 80-90% efficiency for a fraction of the price. Yes, it's time consuming as all heck, but if the prospect of $10,000 - $20,000 to replace all of your windows scares you (like me), this is an excellent workaround option.
But back to the original point: yes, this sounds shifty as hell and I would run away.
posted by tgrundke at 12:45 PM on August 27, 2013
I am also a fan of rebuilding old wooden windows, as I've done to about a dozen in my 1920s house. Properly done you get between 80-90% efficiency for a fraction of the price. Yes, it's time consuming as all heck, but if the prospect of $10,000 - $20,000 to replace all of your windows scares you (like me), this is an excellent workaround option.
But back to the original point: yes, this sounds shifty as hell and I would run away.
posted by tgrundke at 12:45 PM on August 27, 2013
Sometimes you cannot afford a bargain.
Or as we often tell our customers: the most expensive word in the dictionary is "free".
posted by tgrundke at 12:47 PM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
Or as we often tell our customers: the most expensive word in the dictionary is "free".
posted by tgrundke at 12:47 PM on August 27, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Shit, rent the movie Tin Men!
This is such bullshit. If you want to replace windows, call reliable contractors and get multiple estimates.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 8:47 AM on August 27, 2013 [12 favorites]