Today I have decided to tackle the topic of marketing in the remodeling industry. Sadly the home improvement business is very UN-regulated here in Pennsylvania. Although we do have The Home Improvement Contractor Registration law, in many regards, companies are still free to take advantage of people through mis-information, and in some cases, flat out lies.
The biggest driver of most remodeling companies is customer inquiries, or leads. These are the lifeblood that keep businesses in business. With little effective regulation, some unscrupulous companies will put out whatever message they believe will make the phone ring, regardless of how misleading it may be.
Some examples of this are companies that offer windows for ridiculously low prices, like $188 per window or $189 per window. Can you get a window for this price, yes. Is that window efficient when compared to other major brands, No. Is it equipped with options most consumers desire? No. What it is really is an effective way to get a chance to speak with you so that they can offer you the better products or the options that most want, only at a higher price point. It seems very close to bait and switch... although apparently not close enough to warrant action by the state.
Along the same scam ridden lines is the idea of "Buy one, Get one free." This may be an honest offer for pizza's or socks, but I can assure you, there is no such thing as a free window. Since remodeling projects are sold as a negotiated sale it is very hard to prove what a window "normally" costs. Typically its a different price each depending on many variable, including what the sales person can get for it.
For example, lets say a company is willing to discount up to 50% off of an extremely inflated list price of $1,000 per window and sell it for $500, then that same company is able to offer "buy one, get one" by just holding their price high and offering none of the discounts that they normally would and thereby "selling" one window for $1,000 and "giving" you the the other. Either way, 2 windows will cost you the $1,000... its really all just a shell game with these deceptive types of companies.
My advice to someone who is looking for windows is to do your research ahead of time. Look for companies with a lot of information about themselves on their website and good standing with the BBB. Check independent 3rd party sources like www.NFRC.org... There are many good companies out there, like Legacy Remodeling, What I would not do is waste time on companies that have to try to trick people in order to get customers.
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I called the company that offered the buy one get one locally, as well as others. I found out that the company offering the one window free was the only one that offered full disclosure. The salesman that came showed me his price book that refelcted pricing effective a year ago. He made what I viewed to be honest recommendations and invaluable assistance in making this decision. Every other company including yours only discussed how their marketing was a scam. This company never discussed marketing unlike your company, they offered me a good service at a fantastic price, regardless of how they got me to call in.
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