#4
Post
by jhsu » Sat Feb 27, 2016 11:23 am
Thanks for the input. He actually did mention their windows have a DP (Design Pressure) rating of 50. When I asked about air infiltration he referred to that number again.
That's one of the things that bugged me, I realize a DP of 50 is really good, but I have nothing to verify it, and he didn't give me an air infiltration number in the end.
I spent a while going through their reviews on Angie's List, and they do have consistent reviews going back to 2009. I specifically looked at low rated reviews, they were mostly for dissatisfaction with the sales process and only a few for performance.
Overwhelmingly the reviews were positive, almost everyone has been satisfied with the installation for the price, even with a few mentioning they came back and replaced windows when there was cracked glass or other defects.
Even though Delaware Mike mentions his experience of poor workmanship with other types of installation, I still haven't found a single example of someone saying their double hung windows are categorically bad after scouring the web for 3 days. I also talked to a local contractor who was also sceptical of the price, saying he couldn't offer lower than $3800 for 8 windows, but again hasn't seen or heard anything bad about ALCO.
In the end, I think am going to go with them. I've gotten 5 estimates so far and this is still the best one.
I actually already gave them a deposit to "lock down" the price, even though I loathed to do it.
The sales guy said signing the contract and taking a deposit now was mostly so he wouldn't have to take a second trip if I wanted to move forward, but I still can cancel the order. This actually made sense to me, he said he was giving me a really good deal, I figure for a good deal you have to concede somewhere, and if it's so the sales guy doesn't have to make multiple trips I'll take it.
So I negotiated to change the cancellation period to 1 week, marked it on the contract, and dated the check a week later to be safe. I still have 3 more days.
Hopefully everything goes okay, either way I'll try and post a follow-up.