Understanding Warranties

The warranty can be one of the most confusing aspects of choosing replacement windows for your home. Many companies offer good warranties and stand behind them, but when you are investing thousands of dollars into your home, you want to make sure that you have a solid warranty to back up that product just in case something goes wrong. 

Don’t make the common mistake of assuming that a “Lifetime” warranty means that everything from the product through the installation is covered forever.  During the sales process, companies often use the warranty as a tool to sell their product by creating the impression that the warranty they offer covers everything that might happen. Then, when problems occur down the road, they use the fine print included in the warranty to shield themselves from being responsive to legitimate claims from people who trusted them. 

Be sure that you thoroughly understand what is being warranted and what is not. For example, many warranties do not cover improper installation. This should be a major concern for any homeowner hiring a company that employs sub-contractors to install their windows.  Since sub-contractors are paid for each window they install, they are usually in a hurry to install your windows quickly and move on to the next job. This creates a large opportunity for error that could ultimately affect the quality of your window efficiency and affect you, the homeowner. Understand the terms of the warranty (what is covered and for how long) and what happens if you have a claim. Be sure there are no hidden service charges. 

If the company you are considering offers a Lifetime Warranty, ask them to define what that means.  Lifetime can be interpreted in a variety of different ways. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) uses the example of a car muffler with a lifetime warranty.  Lifetime can mean the life of the car the muffler was installed in, it can mean the length of the time the car is owned by the person who purchased the muffler, or it can mean the actual lifetime of the person who purchased the muffler. 

It's essential to understand the warranty on your new window and doors before you buy, not after, because by then, it will be too late. It pays to be a cautious consumer. If something important to you is not clear and understandable to you, ask the company to clarify it in writing on your contract or in some written correspondence from the company. If problems develop over time, it’s too late to say “I was told that …”. It doesn’t matter what you were told, it only matters what the warranty states. For many of the unfortunate folks affected by a misunderstood warranty, the complaint process or litigation can take months, even years. It happens more often than you think. Nobody enjoys waiting on a verdict and some action from a manufacturer to satisfy the terms of their warranty, especially when the issue may be the fault of the company in the first place.