Wellington Windows: Total Window Failure, Part 2

So five months went by and Wellington Windows finally arrived to reinstall every window that failed the first time, but of course there were issues right away. As they went to unload the truck they found that on arrival, eight of the windows were already broken. So that's a pretty good percentage of failure right from the start. The second problem is that we assumed that we would be getting all new windows, including the sashes, but it turns out they were just going to install new glass in the sashes we already have. One problem, though. Each time they tried to remove the old failed glass from the old sash frames, the frames cracked. Not once, not twice, but every single time they tried.

After about the forth or fifth window the installer gave up! There was no way he could install the new glass in the old sashes without the frames cracking, he said. Why was this happening? we asked. He didn't know. Had this happened to him before? Not ever. The only thing he could suggest is that all the windows would need to be remade a *third* time in order to get them installed properly, and this time they would have to make new glass and new sashes in order to get it right.

While at our house we learned a few other things. It seems as if everyone in Minnesota, for six months or more, had been given faulty windows from Wellington. There had been an error in their manufacturing process, which went unnoticed for months, and every window purchased and installed in that time period might need to be replaced. From what we were told, a letter went out to all the homeowners about this problem -- a letter which we never got. The only good news is that someone got fired over the problem. And were told that things were going to change.

So what was there to do? Just sit back and wait for Wellington to make us a third set of windows in a five month period. Two weeks we were promised. Two weeks and the windows would be installed once and for all. But this time they would get it right, don't you think? The third time's a charm, isn't that what they say? But this is Wellington Windows we're talking about. And our disgust with the service and support from Wellington hadn't even come close to peaking.