Did you find this searching Evans Glass or Eurocraft windows? Be warned! Do not let the Eurocraft window guys into your house unless you are willing to buy windows from them that day. They use will high pressure sales techniques and waste a lot of your time. I can not speak to the quality of their product as their sales techniques were such as to ensure that will never buy anything from them.
If they’d showed up two weeks out, things might have ended differently, though not due to anything they did or did not do. After all, I responded positively to the hardware store pitch, willingly gave out my contact information, agreed to a visit from the crew, and let them in the house. It was my own fault. But about half an hour after they’d arrived, I was done. I could not wait for them to leave. And they were here for two and a half hours.
Two and a half hours. God help me, I wanted to kill them.
The problem was that I already wanted what they were selling, I just didn’t know if I could afford it. Our new home has very old windows, see, and many of them are painted shut. I would have been happy to buy new windows, absolutely delighted to. Thing is, I didn’t know when they walked in the door if I could afford them. I still don’t know, now that they’re gone. This has nothing to do with their prices, it’s all about my bank account, something over which, thankfully, they have no control.
The sales guys weren’t having any of this. “Listen,” I said, “it might not look like it, but this is my work day. Are you going to need a whole lot longer?” “A little,” they said, and it was another hour and a half before Patrick, let’s call him Patrick, was saying “Well, I like to think we had a good time, maybe made new friends…” And even while backing off our front porch, Martin, let’s call him Martin because that’s kind of an older guy name, was still talking. “You want to get those windows in now while the house is new to you so you can enjoy them. It’s the best money you’ll spend on your house…”
“Stop talking! Just. Stop. TALKING!” kept going through my head. J., as always, was more patient. “I think it’s the old guy,” he said. “I’ll bet he’s a friend of the owner. They draw straws back at the shop to see who gets to take Martin out for the day. You can bet Patrick was slapping his forehead in the car and saying ‘Why do I have to take him again?'”
“Why don’t you put some more coffee on, sweetie,” said Martin. “Excuse me,” I responded, “I have to make a conference call.” Meanwhile, back at the kitchen table, J. was subject to more displays, more visual aids, more laminated Power Point slides. When I came back from my call, Martin started over again. “I showed him, let me show you…” I tried to divert Martin in to talking about anything else. I wanted him to charm with me with stories of his personal life. There was talk of dance lessons, of senior centers, of his unwillingness to retire, but it all came back to the quality of the company. I wasn’t interested anymore. They’d lost me at hello.
Patrick was out in the car crunching the numbers or maybe calling 1-900 numbers, who can say. He came back in the house and started to lay out the bottom line. Sort of. “Here’s what I’ve got… but since you have the discount card, you have the discount card, right?” Even this part took forever. First we had to talk about the discount card, then about the order today price vs. the order next week price. Then, oh, okay, actually, if you’re hesitating on cost, let’s give you an additional 25%. We had to discuss financing, too, and the quality of the bank through which they finance. “Listen,” I said, this isn’t going to happen today. Next week, maybe, two weeks from now, maybe. But today, no. Not gonna happen.” “Well, just so we don’t get in trouble back at the office, let’s show you the company cost. We sell the windows to you at our company discount.” Of course you do.
There are a few useful lessons in here, take note. One, and duh, if you don’t know this, please, pay attention, never, never, never accept the first price offered by a guy in tassled loafers, I don’t care what he’s selling. Two, ask on the phone how much of your goddamn day they are going to take up so you can plan accordingly. I’d set aside an hour – you’d think that would have been enough. Finally, find out ahead of time if there’s some same day deal and stall until you’re ready to buy.
I hate this kind of hard sell and I hate being sold to. Plus, it was a waste of my time. I already wanted windows, I was absolutely willing to consider theirs. But I was so unbearably aggravated by the time they left, I had such a headache, I was so freakin’ tired of them that even if I had wanted to buy today, I would have sent them away and told them to come back in three hours after I’d had two aspirin washed down with Vodka. A-hem. Well, who can say if I’d have done that.
Consider this a public service. Don’t invite the window guys in until you’re ready to buy. Set aside your entire morning and put the coffee on, sweetie, get your checkbook ready, and prepare for a standoff. Don’t blink until they’re packing up the briefcases and heading out the door.
Other pissed off consumers:
I admit that at times I go all pidgin with the Czech to discourage people from pitching me. I don’t suppose you can do that with English but you might want to think about it. It also helps to pretend to be a little “off”– not exactly crazy, but liable to tip. They tend to stick to the pitch then, and try less to chum you up. Which, it’s the chumming that takes time. And by “takes” I mean “wastes”.
Ugh. How horrible to be subjected to that in your own house where you can’t just walk out.
Uh…just wanted to comment on your experience and reiterated that this same thing but much worse just happened to me last night. Mind you, I just got in from Vegas on Monday night at 1100 running on about 8 hours sleep total for the weekend. Went to work only to return home to a 4 and a half (no joke) hour sermon shall we say by “Rick” the f-ing window guy. I loved the windows but that is an entire miserable night of my life I will never get back. I have been doing research today on the internet and it looks like these guys want your business so bad that you can talk them down about 75% from their original quotes. Since I wasted so much of my time I may call them and see what they can do to repay me for my time, like give me a freakin’ reasonable price on windows minus the BS. Good luck..I need some sleep.
Simlar thing happened to me tonight. A canvaser showed up at my door yesterday offering a free estimate for home windows. Sure, I thought – I will eventually need windows and a quick estimate wouldn’t hurt (little did I know). I set the appt for the next day and was surprised that the salesman needed both my husband and me sitting at the table before he would begin the pitch. My irritation grew over the next 30 minutes – The salesman began with how great a company it is, then went into technical specifics of window construction – It not like I need to have a PHd in Window Technology to buy them. Fortunatly we had another appt to be at and had to cut him off, which was a difficult task in itself – but even after wasting 30 minutes of our time he refused to give us a price – even though he had already measured all the windows in the house and gathered all the nessecary information. We told him that we were upset that he would not give us a quote and that we would not be calling them again, he seemed to have a mental block to anything we said – all he could do was ask us over and over again to call them when we were ready. What an idiot – Do they really train their sales staff to do this? What suckers does this kind of marketing work on? I will never purchase anything from Evans Glass and my husband and I plan on warning all our friends and workmates about them.
Can I just say, “I FEEL YOUR PAIN!” We had in the “window guy” And boy oh boy!!!! I just thought it would take no more that an hour. Was I wrong. How about 3! I was told it would be an hour too!! Ticked off and right at dinner when we were very hungry! So, let me just tell you “window guys” how to do a sales call. Start by introducing yourself…no more than 30 sec. Then look outside at the windows for any damage. Then go back inside and take measurements. Show me your window and the difference of the “other” window…now this should only take you 15 minutes tops! Tell me about your company…5 minutes tops. Ask me if I have questions…if I don’t, then proceed. Tell me what your prices are for my house and ask me where I stand. That’s it. If I want to invested and buy I will. If I want to think and call you back I will..Do not try and waste my time with BLA BLA BLA!!! If I say NO then go away!!! I like the windows but not the price and really NOT YOU! All companies that do bids for people just show up and tell you what the price will be. It doesn’t take THAT long!!! You’ll get more biz if you don’t waste my time and make my angry! I will not be telling anyone to buy your windows due to the fact that your sales tactics suck! Thank you!