In episode 18 of The Real Talk, Raquel Ramirez interviews Andrew Blanco from Advance Impact Glass System to discuss the challenges and frustrations of dealing with window companies. They delve into the issues faced from initial sales pitches to ongoing problems, highlighting the importance of choosing a reliable and reputable company for window installations.
Tune in to hear the conversation unfold and gain insights into the importance of finding trusted professionals in the window industry.
TIMESTAMPS
[00:00:49] Sore Subject with Window Company.
[00:05:26] Hiring the Right Company.
[00:10:25] Flimsy Impact Windows.
[00:13:19] Windows as a Hefty Investment.
[00:19:01] Permit Complications and Installation Delays.
[00:21:26] Window Sealing Issues.
[00:31:45] Company's Lack of Customer Service.
[00:42:28] Manufacturing Issues with Windows.
[00:43:37] Employees' Long-Term Loyalty.
[00:49:02] Brands in Window Options.
[01:04:11] Window Grid Alignment Issues.
In this episode, Raquel Ramirez and her guest Andrew Blanco, emphasize the importance of attention to detail and effective communication in running a successful business. They highlight how these factors can make or break a company's reputation and customer satisfaction. Raquel and Andrew also discuss the importance of transparency and fair pricing in a business. They mention that some companies are not transparent, and customers may not know what they are getting into. Thus, failure to communicate properly can lead to costly errors, which they want to avoid.
Overall, this episode highlights the fact that longevity in the industry does not guarantee good service. It emphasizes the importance of thorough research, seeking referrals, and asking the right questions to ensure a positive experience with a company. Consequently, it showcases how these factors can impact customer satisfaction, reputation, and ultimately the success of a company.
QUOTES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
Raquel Ramirez
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/featured_properties_intl/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/featuredre
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raquel-ramirez/
Andrew Blanco
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ay_blanco/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-blanco-ba44482a/
Company Instagram: Advanced Impact Glass
Website: Advanced Impact Glass
WEBSITES:
The Real Talk: https://www.therealtalkpodcast.net/
Featured Properties International: https://msha.ke/featuredre
Raquel Ramirez00:04 - 00:35
Welcome to The Real Talk. I'm Raquel Ramirez, your host and real estate professional here to bring you insightful conversations, expert advice, and powerful stories about what really goes on in life, love, divorce, and real estate. Are you ready? Let's get real. Hello, hello, and welcome to The Real Talk. This is Raquel Ramirez, and today I am with Andrew Blanco from Advance Impact Glass System. Welcome to the show. How are you?
Andrew Blanco00:35 - 00:38
I'm good, Raquel. Thank you for having me.
Raquel Ramirez00:38 - 05:25
I'm so excited to have you today, particularly because, as you know, we're going to be talking about Windows and Windows, Impact Windows specifically, happened to be a very sore subject for me and my family. I would say more me because I'm the one dealing with the company up until this point. I will, let's break the ice and talk about that a little bit. I have contracted or had contracted a window company two years ago. Of course, back then I didn't know advanced impact. And I wish I would have because I've just hired you now to do my front door. But had I hired you to do the rest of my windows, I probably wouldn't be sitting here two years later about to cry over the amount of issues I've had from the very beginning. From the very beginning, I think I told you We initially had, we had placed the order, right? We had, you know, the big salesman, they came, they gave us the spiel, we ate it all up. And then some, and then we thought about it. And then he sent us the second salesman. And the second salesman was supposed to be like, you know, the guy who had been in the business for like 40, 50 years. And we only send this guy because, you know, he knows what he's talking about. And we want to show you how, you know, important we are and what a great job we're going to do and blah, blah, blah. Well, that guy never showed us any samples, but he did a really good job of saying, look over here, look over here and don't see what's behind this curtain over here. And we were so excited, like most homeowners are, right? We were so excited that we said, you know what, this is a really good price. This is the time. This is the place. Let's sign on the dotted line. And we signed on the dotted line. And of course, my, you know, we'll start turning and two or three days later, I'm like, wait a minute. I don't remember us ever talking about if I was going to get any renderings for the windows. I don't remember if this is, I don't even know if this thing that I ordered is exactly what I want. So I started Googling and now I started calling them. And so that's where everything started. And just so the audience knows, I decided to order matte black windows with certain grids, right? I know that that seems dated to some people, but it's my style. I'm totally not for, not that there's anything wrong with it, like the plain white window that looks super duper modern. My house is not a modern house. It's a ranch style home. And I want to keep to the character of the house, but I want to maybe modernize it a little bit. So anyway, long story short, they had no idea. They were like, well, you know, that's really, that's not the style that we use these days. I'm like, I really don't care. You know, we're going to do what I want. So I ended up having to drive I'm talking about hours with my significant other, just trying to find houses that had what I was looking for, because I needed to see it, right? I'm one of these super visual people, and I couldn't see it. And I kept begging them to come out to the property or to send me something I could see to make sure that I had the grids in the right places, that this was going to jive with the outside of the house and the aesthetics and whatever. And so that was a long journey. Finally, I decided to draw it myself. So I took out white piece of paper and I drew it as much to scale as I possibly could. And then I, you know, I drew it and then I colored it, right? Like in black marker to really see it. And then I send this to them and they said, well, that's, those aren't the grids. that you ordered. And I'm like, well, those are the grids I want. Well, those are in prairie grids. I'm like, well, I don't know the difference. I'm the customer. I showed you on a piece of paper or on a napkin the day that you came to my house and I showed you this is what I wanted. And now you ordered something I didn't show you. So that should have been a clear indication. Then they asked me, you know, something about the grids. I didn't know that there were different types of molds, right, for the grids. So the grids come in flat, they come in like tiered, they come beveled, they come with the OG, whatever the thing is called. I learned this the hard way that when they eventually brought me the windows a year and a half, almost two years later, that all the grids were mismatched. None of them were the same style and none of them were actually the style that I originally wanted. So obviously that was another issue all in of itself. And throughout that time, of course, I found out that after six months of following up, they had actually never put in the order. So the order actually fell through the cracks. So six months after following up and them giving me dates of actual turnaround time, those dates were false. They weren't accurate. And then of course they wanted me out of the contract because they no longer wanted to honor their price they had given me, which I said no to. Oh, my God. And really, there are a lot of other issues that I'm sure we'll get into throughout this conversation. But I don't want to make this so much about me as I want to make it about the actual windows and what you do and how you can help us discern whether or not we are hiring the right company or not.
Andrew Blanco05:26 - 09:10
Well, you know, unfortunately for the clients and fortunately for us, we hear similar scenarios all the time. Before I get into that, I wanted to mention that that's not old style, just because it's colonial designs. It doesn't make it old school. Certain houses, in my opinion, and I'm not an interior designer, but certain houses demand that kind of style to preserve the traditional look. I'm also not an interior designer or exterior designer, but I call it modern colonial. So instead of having all the little designs, you go a little cleaner. There's different ways to do it. Yeah, I'm a huge fan of it. Hoping to do that on my next house if it does match the aesthetic. But so, you know, it's not an old school design. It's everybody. Every house is different and it really changes the look of the house. So If you know what you're doing, it could be done well, and it looks good. Thank you for that. Unfortunately for you, you know, some companies give you the runaround. I've heard things from You know, we price aggressively. We like to land the deal and get the referrals on the tail end. And that's how we make our money. We don't advertise. We just give the right price. We give service. And the rest of it kind of takes care of itself. Everybody wins. Everybody's happy. And that's our formula. And it's been working for us. Um, but we've heard cases where a client will be like, hey, you know, your price was almost there. But this guy beat you by a couple thousand dollars. And I tell them. You know, be weary of that. There are fake companies. There are subcontractors that will show up. They look professional. They give you the whole spiel. Their price is incredible, almost too good to believe. And when you call to follow up, suddenly the phone number is disconnected. You don't panic. You look for them online. They're not online. the company never existed and they, you know, unfortunately run away with your deposit. We've had too many clients come back to us, you know, letting us know they've finally saved up enough money to do this again and do it the right way. And it stinks. It hurts me because it's. It's people taking advantage and giving Miami construction a bad name or just doing business in Miami, a bad name. It's exactly right. It is, it is. And they kind of give you the runaround. Even legitimate companies, sometimes they drop the ball. We pride ourselves in communicating with the client, being professionals upfront, so that everybody is updated to the status of the windows. You know exactly what's going on. You know when they're ordered. We give you an ETA a week into the order being placed, so that we make sure that our clients are taken care of and that they understand that They gave, you know, it's a significant investment. So you can't just give it to anybody. It's comforting when you trust the person, when they come off as professional, when they are professional and they deliver on their word. So that's huge to us because that's what brings us to referrals down the line. We have clients that are, you know, they leave us Google reviews without us asking. And it's nice to see after the job is done that they're, you know, happy with our service. They didn't have to lift a finger and we get all all the compliments. But as long as we do things right, you know, we keep getting those referrals. And yeah, we're not one of those nightmare cases where they say don't work with advanced, they don't know what they're doing. And there's, there's too many cases of that. Sometimes they're not even licensed, they're not insured. And, and things can go the wrong way really quickly.
Raquel Ramirez09:11 - 11:01
And you know, it doesn't even have to be a small company. It could be a very large company. My sister has also had unfortunate situations, and I'm not actually at liberty to disclose what some of the names of these companies are, but... We don't need to bash names. But they also in their previous home, nevermind the issues they're having in their current home, but in their previous home, they updated their windows and they decided to go the PGT route, which I'm going to ask you now to elaborate a little bit on the different brands of windows. But they decided to go with a big company, a very well-known company, and they had so many issues, they ended up having to hire an attorney. And they brought a window that they hadn't, I don't remember if it was a lower grade window, it wasn't a PGT window. And they were like, well, this is the one that we ordered and it wasn't part of their contract. And so they had to fight it out until they, you know, the guy was the owner of the company or whatever, was the one who came and gave face and said, well, that's too bad. This is a window we have for you. And my brother-in-law was like, well, that's too bad for you because that's not the window I paid for. And they had already paid for that in full. I think. And so it became this, this big thing. And then of course the guy was like, well, what am I supposed to do with the window? And my brother-in-law's like, I don't know. You can't even compare. I mean, and the property they're in now, it's actually a brand new construction home and it's a luxury home. It's an enormous place in a very luxurious community. And the windows they gave them are garbage. I mean, you couldn't honest to God, look, I'm in real estate. I when I walk into a home and they say that their impact, I always go to the windows. I test them out. I look at them. I knock on the window. There's a certain sound. There's a certain quality about a thick glass that tells you if it is impact or not. And these windows that they put in their house, I promise you, they'll give you a run for your money because I could swear they're not impact because they're so flimsy.
Andrew Blanco11:01 - 11:03
you'll hear that deep thud.
Raquel Ramirez11:03 - 11:04
Yeah, you should.
Andrew Blanco11:04 - 12:43
When you knock on a, you should, right? You should. It's funny, because there's, so there's laminated windows and that's, so laminated windows, and this is the technology behind impact windows, you have a tempered glass with a gel coat in the middle and another tempered glass. So three different layers, gel coat coats together that glass, and that's what makes it impact. When something hits it, the gel coat keeps the glass together. You still have wind protection, water protection throughout the storm, throughout whatever it may be. Then there's insulated laminated, very popular up north. It has, on top of the standard laminated glass, an air space. It's a gas, an argon gas that goes in the middle. It helps with the UV rays, but then there's a tempered glass on the outside. So when you knock on that tempered glass, you hear that that give, it's not that deep thud that you get from impact. It's actually more expensive. And if the client wants it, you know, we have access to it. But I kind of shy away from it because it's easier to crack that tempered glass on the outside from the gardener, you know, hits a rock and it's much more expensive. The manufacturers will hate me if they ever see this, but... We won't tell them. I rather do right by the client. It's going to cost them less. It's going to make us look better. It's my personal preference. So I have had clients that they're sticklers for it, and that's what they want. And, you know, I'm here to work with the client and what they want. Everybody's got different tastes, different styles. So I can give my two cents, which I probably do more often than I should.
Raquel Ramirez12:43 - 13:11
No, but that's good. You know what you're talking about. You know what you're doing. We don't. on this side, your typical consumer doesn't know that. Just like I would, I should assume that the typical consumer doesn't know much about real estate, which is why they hire me to help them with a transaction, whether it's renting, buying, selling, whatever we hire you to tell us, right. And by you, I mean the window company to tell us what products are available, what goes with our lifestyle, with our home, with our budget, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
Andrew Blanco13:12 - 13:24
It's a major investment. It's a great investment, but you want to do it once and you want to do it right. So we're here to educate you. And ultimately, you know, you get to make your own decision and style your house however you see fit.
Raquel Ramirez13:24 - 15:18
That is a good, good point. This isn't something like going to, and even then I would say, like, let's say you're going to go pick tile, right? People don't necessarily understand the importance behind certain materials, right? Certain textiles have more give, they have, they're more forgiving. You know, maybe they're not as slippery and it depends on what, where you're going to put that time. I mean, there's all these little things that a lot of times you don't learn until it's too late, right? Until it's installed. until your kid runs down the hall and takes a swipe, you know, into the wall or whatever, those things, you know, happen often. But when it comes to windows, it's like you're saying, it's a very hefty investment. I mean, yeah, you could spend a few thousand dollars in tile, but you can rip that out and it won't, you know, shouldn't set you back or into bankruptcy, let's say, you know, but. Windows are really, really important. They're not just, you know, they're not just there to let light in. They're there to protect your home and they can be very costly. And of course, you can get a credit in your insurance, you know, down the line and everything. But the installation process is really, really critical too. So I've come to learn. And, you know, I talked to JC Ramirez, who was in an earlier episode. He was actually the person who referred me to your company, to your family-run business. And I remember talking about how important it was, you know, people often try to do things unpermitted, right? They think that by hiring an inspector or by pulling a permit and having this inspector come to your house, all that's going to do is just going to jumble up the project and it's going to get your project to fail. Well, that's not true. You pull the permit to make sure that your property or whatever project is done to code and then it's done correctly so that you don't have problems in the future. Actually, they're supposed to be looking out for you and it's worth the $800 or whatever it is that you have to pay.
Andrew Blanco15:19 - 18:21
They absolutely do. And so I recently had an experience where I had an inspector and given, you know, we have a reputation in the industry after the inspector sees us job after job, they understand that we do a good job and they still do the inspection. So it's in the homeowner's benefit to do things with permit. For resale purposes, people are going to want to know that this was done right. And then you have a second set of eyes. But for example, this inspector, my favorite inspector, I'm not going to give out names because that's irrelevant. I don't want to get him in trouble. But he knows the quality of work that we do. He still walks around the house. He makes sure that everything is silicone. So when you don't have any water damage and you don't want it to be too late when you realize you know, there was a screw missing silicone or whatnot. So that's also part of the inspection process. But he noticed the door on the second floor that leads out to a roofed area. And they didn't have a railing to prevent somebody from falling. He unfortunately had a had a run in with a client that ended up catching the city in a lawsuit and he had to go defend himself in a similar situation. So they're not only looking that the window was installed properly, that the doors installed properly, but that everything else around you is up to code. And it's not to a detriment to the homeowner, it's to help them because it's You don't want something down the line to come and bite you when you could have addressed it earlier. So that's just an example of some of the benefits of doing things permitted. And contrary to popular belief, people would say, oh, this is going to delay my process. It's going to complicate things. We have, so we're a family run business. My father-in-law is the one that started this business about 12 years ago now. And he had some experience in the field before then. But his sister is the one that runs our permits. She's been with us for, I want to say about six years, and she knows what she's doing. So When we order the materials, the materials right now are taking six to eight weeks, a little closer to six weeks than eight weeks, but the permits ready well before that time, except for in certain municipalities where they like to complicate things a little bit, but we have They're infamous. I think if you live in Miami, you can guess which ones they are. But the good thing is that we do have practice. We've been doing this for years. They know who we are. We know who to talk to to get certain things resolved and move things along within a timely manner and make sure that the permit process is not going to slow down the installation of the windows in your home. I feel like it's a very valuable thing to go Do it the right way and do it with permits. Make sure that everybody's happy, including the city.
Raquel Ramirez18:21 - 20:57
Actually, you're absolutely right about that. From my experience also, we had, I think the permits were issued, I don't know, two months into the process. It was the very first thing that popped up and I was super excited. I thought, this is great. I mean, we're so ahead of the game. I'm thinking this is no problem. We had contracted like in August, I think it was. And they had said, we don't give you any guarantees, but we should be installing before the end of the year. And we thought, that's great. We're going to start the new year fresh. Mind you, this is 2021. And we thought, yeah, it's going to be great. And our permits were in. We're like, of course, we're absolutely on track to get our windows before the end of the year. And of course, everything else went downhill after that. But yeah, our permits were in right away. And I got to tell you, after everything that I went through with this company, I was so relieved when the inspector stepped foot in my house for the very first time. We failed inspection twice. And I was happy about it, I have to tell you, because for the very first time, I felt somebody was on my side. I remember he walked in, well, before he walked in, I actually had the company here. I don't know why on earth they didn't think to tell me this. And this is actually very important, right? Because they installed the windows between, I think it was January and February of this year, right? They installed half of it. And then we discovered that The windows were wrong and there were all these issues. They had to reorder this and then they had the grids that were wrong. And then they left the other half of the windows just leaning up against my house in my backyard, just in boxes and crap everywhere. And then, of course, I sound the alarm and I said, there's something wrong here. We need to figure it out. And then they took their sweet ass time to order what they needed to order. And so a month went by before we were able to schedule the second half of the install. Meanwhile, nobody cared to tell me that they needed to, what do you call it? Seal the windows on the outside. I don't necessarily know that, right? So at some point I ask about this, right? Because you could see that there were holes all the way around, the gaps, not even holes, just major gaps all around the windows. And so I ask about this and they tell me, someone, one of their crew members tells me, no, don't worry, we can't seal those until inspection. I don't know any better because I'm a simple homeowner, right? And mind you, I'm in real estate, so you would think that I'd know a little bit more about the situation, right? And I know certain things, but those details sort of fall by the wayside, right? Because those are things that you as a company should know and communicate to me, the consumer and the homeowner, right?
Andrew Blanco20:57 - 20:59
Well, you rely on the company to do things the right way.
Raquel Ramirez20:59 - 21:17
To do that, right. So fast forward, we don't have inspection until Oh my goodness, was it August? I think it was August. Mind you, my installation was January, February. My windows have not been sealed for six months, seven months.
Andrew Blanco21:17 - 21:18
Barely rains in Miami though.
Raquel Ramirez21:18 - 22:54
Yeah, barely rains. The entire summer, right? So we say they finish installing. They tell me we're ready for inspection. I say, hallelujah, I can't believe we're going to get through this, right? That day of inspection, I'm up super early. I had a really early morning meeting and I get a knock on the door and I'm thinking it's the inspector. I opened the door and it's somebody from the window company. And I said, what are you doing here? And the girl, they sent me a female, which is perfectly fine, but I wasn't expecting somebody. So they sent me this female and she says, I'm here to meet the inspector. I said, oh, okay. I didn't know that was the process. She's like, no, actually I need to seal up these windows before he gets here. And I said, what do you mean? I thought you weren't supposed to seal until inspection. It's just no, no, we won't pass inspection if we don't seal these windows. My response was, wait a minute, hold on one second. Are you meaning to tell me that these windows should have been sealed six months ago, and I've been exposed to the elements and God knows what, and I've been fending myself and my family from all these creatures crawling into my house, and I'm thinking it's supposed to be that way because they're supposed to see something in those gaps that's supposed to tell them that these windows were installed properly, and you're telling me that's not the case? And she didn't know what to say to me. So she gets to work immediately. She's like panting. She's trying to go fast. And then I see somebody coming out from my front door window, and I figure it's got to be the inspector. So I meet him at the door. When I go to the door, he's bent over cleaning his hands on the grass because he went to touch the caulking and noticed that it was still wet.
Andrew Blanco22:55 - 22:57
Yeah, very fresh to me.
Raquel Ramirez22:57 - 23:44
Are they cocking these windows now? And I said, yes, sir, they are. And so he came in and he was pissed. And that's when I felt a sense of at that point, I took a step back and said, I'm going to let him do it. I hope he tears them a new one. And that's what he did. And he walked around and he he chewed her new. And he's like, look, I know it's not you. You're just, you know, this person, blah, blah, blah. You tried opening windows. Some of the windows weren't working. He said, you see this. You have to seal these windows inside, outside. And the girl has the audacity, the poor thing to say, can you give us a partial pass? And he said, are you out of your mind? Are you out of your mind? Like, I don't even know why I'm standing here wasting my time while you're standing here wasting her time. And so he went off and I'm telling you, I felt so relieved at that moment to know that somebody was looking out for me.
Andrew Blanco23:44 - 25:24
So short of some company coming and taking your deposit, you are probably the most, the most, the worst horror story that I've heard. I mean, just to talk about, you know, what you went through. Logic tells you the outside needs to be sealed to protect you throughout a rainstorm, which it rains very often in Miami. You've got floods coming in. That being said, you know, just so the consumer is educated a bit, throughout the inspection process we go and we install, we seal the outside, no window, well at least this is our practice, we don't remove any window unless it's being replaced that day, so that you aren't exposed to any conditions. The outside is sealed the inside cannot be sealed until the inspector comes but this is, you know, installation on the average house takes three days, I think that's a safe number to give about three days depending on the work to be done, how many windows how many doors. Within those three days, we have typically an in-progress inspection. They come, they check out all the wood bugs. You guys are doing a great job. You can seal all this up. Our guys finish the job. We're passing final inspection, assuming the schedule works with the homeowner. Worst case scenario, two to three days after the final window was replaced. We don't like to leave things hanging out. Nobody likes that. Nobody wins. We'd rather get there, finish the job, close out the inside, and move along. That way, you're fully protected, too. So it's unfortunate that you were that long. That's atrocious.
Raquel Ramirez25:25 - 27:33
You want to hear something else? We have no story that keeps giving. Yeah. Oh, I've got plenty. I mean, I just don't want to say the whole story from beginning to end in one shot, because we'll be here for two hours. And this will be the longest episode recorded in history, far surpassing Jordan Peterson's episodes. We're here to break records. Yeah, we're going to break records here. We have two exterior doors, right? One leading from the laundry room to the patio and another one leading from our, it's actually our cabana bathroom, you know, our guest bathroom to the patio also. They didn't tell us that we needed to buy door handles. I know that may sound stupid, right? Why would it come with a door handle? But then again, why wouldn't it come with a door handle? Nobody told us that. This is my first replacement of a door. And it came to me when they brought it with holes in it, that I was like, well, does that come with like a standard, you know, doorknob? And then I looked through my stuff, and it doesn't say anything anywhere. And so we had two doors and mind you, we're on a corner, we're not on a main on a main highway, we're not. But we're on a corner, so there is some traffic, you know, and you just don't necessarily feel safe with two open doors. And then the top of the loft, that's the, what do you call those? The latches on the top and bottom weren't working. So I couldn't lock either one of my doors for months. for months and they wouldn't tell me they wouldn't answer. Tell me. So I ended up having to run out. We went to Home Depot, not knowing what kind of lock, you know, deadbolt, not deadbolt. You don't really know that stuff. And we had to make do. But at one point I had to just seal it off with like tape so that nobody could stick. We were going on vacation. This was on my this is my 40th birthday trip that I took to Norway. We're going to be gone for 15 days. And I thought, who the hell am I going to call to watch my house for two weeks? We had to figure out what to do. So we had to rig it one of the way to rig one of the doors and then figure out how to lock the other one as best we could. And that other door, the laundry door just wouldn't seal because they had mounted it. It wasn't level with the frame, so it wouldn't seal.
Andrew Blanco27:34 - 31:08
Yeah, so the latches weren't doing what they're supposed to. Because in the worst case scenario, you have those two latches, top and bottom, and you could permanently lock the door from the inside. Well, can't get in from the outside, you lock it from the inside. Right. But I guess to touch on that, you're right. you'd think it would come with handles and also you could see why it doesn't come with handles. And the reality is you have both options. There's such thing as a three-point lock. A three-point lock system comes with the door because there's internal components on the door that those manual latches that you have are engaged automatically. There's pros and cons to that, something that I like to educate the client on. So they're aware of maybe some of the downfalls of a three point lock. It sounds convenient. They're not the prettiest and it can break after a couple of years. And then it's kind of a pain. The manufacturer has to go and fix it. They are very secure. But as a company, We like the homeowner to pick their own hardware some people like electronic locks, they come in different colors they come in different styles. Fortunately, they are all standard size, in the sense that anything you find in Home Depot. Lowe's, Amazon is going to work for the door. We have clients kind of send us if they're doing something funky. If they're getting an electronic lock, let us know ahead of time. But it's a conversation that we have because you can come across issues where there's different ways to do it, right? have the two, if it's a double door, you have what's called a dummy handle. So it's all about communication and letting them know, look, for aesthetic reasons, do you want two handles or just one with a flat finish on one side? But it's a conversation that's had, doesn't change the price, doesn't change anything. It's just to give the client, you know, the options, what it is that they want. Yeah. And we like to do a walk around, too. So for quote, it's not going to change prices. I give the clients a quote once they tell me, hey, we're ready to roll. I take my permit application. I take the quote. I take the floor plan that I had drawn out and I sit with the client. I prefer to walk around the house and actually give them a visual of what is going to be installed there now. In your case, where the colonials came in a completely different design, we would have caught that because the invoice prints out an image of the window if you was quoted. At that point, I would have shown you, hey, look at this diagram. This window is going here, and you would have said, that looks terrible. That's not what I'm going for. Let's go ahead and change that. It's just an open conversation. I give the clients an option for a horizontal roller. Do you want it to open from right to left or left to right? Doors, if you want to change where the hinges are, this is the time to do that. It makes sure that everybody is on the same page and there are no surprises come day of install. So I think that's something that, you know, there's a lot of things that separate us from other companies. And that's one of them that I think is, it brings the most value to us. And the client can, you know, give the deposit and place the order, knowing very well that what they're getting is what they ordered and what they wanted.
Raquel Ramirez31:08 - 31:14
Which is huge. I don't think people understand how scary that is. We hear it all too much. Yeah.
Andrew Blanco31:14 - 31:20
And it's just attention to detail. That's all it is. It's not rocket science. It's communication.
Raquel Ramirez31:21 - 32:29
You hit the nail on the head. I remember complaining about that because it's actually really funny. So this company that I hired has been in business, I think it's close to 50 years or 50 years. So you would think, wow, a company that's been around that long has to know something, you know, they're still in business, which means they clearly must be doing right by their clients and their customers. And that couldn't be further from the truth. One of the things that I absolutely abhor is that they seem to all memorize the same, I guess, script. Yeah. And they always tell you the same thing as per your contract, this and that and the other, because they wanted me to pay and they wanted me to pay, pay, pay, pay, pay. And I was like, well, wait a minute. Number one, we don't even have all the windows. Number two, half of them are sitting in my backyard. Number three, you're going back to reorder stuff that was incorrect. Number four, you sent me a window that doesn't fit. I don't know how or why you want me to divvy up all this money when you haven't, you're not even halfway through. Nevermind that we've been waiting a year and a half for you guys to get your, pardon my French, your shit together.
Andrew Blanco32:29 - 34:56
It's distasteful. It is distasteful. I love that you said that. There are things that come up. For example, in Miami Beach, we have an apartment where the window, it has a spring system that keeps the window from sliding down and you get to keep the window open. That came faulty from the manufacturer. They have warranty to cover these things. The manufacturers that we work with are incredibly responsive. So it's something that gets addressed. but I put myself in the client's shoes every single time. And that assures me that the client's gonna be happy. If I'm not happy with how this looks for my own house, then the client is not gonna be happy. And if we treat everybody like that, I'm not gonna, that client, even though the payment is due as per your contract, I'm not gonna enforce that. There's no way that I, have it in me to, to try and collect one to me, even though it's a manufacturing issue, the job is not completed. And I'm not collecting final payment until the job is completed. Inspection is passed, everything is functioning, client is happy. And do you know, things do come up. I had today completely unrelated. My wife sold something on like Pinecrest Marketplace. And I had the guy come and pick up and I turn around and he sees the the company information. He's like, I need your help. And the so he had another nightmare story. They installed these sliding doors. And these people left the client the boxes of handles on a French door. You can figure it out. It's not that complicated on a sliding door. It's not that simple. And they just left it there and told them, figure it out. They had collected their final and they just don't answer the clients. And we hear that all the time, you know. Oh, yeah. To them, they've moved on. They've collected, they finished the job. And I tell clients, and some of them do it, some of them are like, I'm so sorry. I'm like, I told you when we met, if anything happens, it could be a month from now, six months from now, a year later, give me a call. It may be a simple solution, something I can pass by, quickly touch up, adjust the lock, whatever it may be, but we're going to show face. And companies do not do that.
Raquel Ramirez34:56 - 34:58
Well, you value relationships, clearly.
Andrew Blanco34:58 - 36:09
It's everything. We don't advertise this. What I'm doing right now is as much right. But, you know, it it it stinks that people deal with companies like that and probably pay a lot more. And you have that big company feel. You think, man, I'm in great hands. They've been doing this for 50 years. It's a big company. But the reality is you can get lost in another client. You're just a number of times. I'm not going to bash everybody because Every company's different, but you could just become a number and they dismiss you because that job is done. We are a family owned and operated business. It's my father-in-law, it's my brother-in-law, my mother-in-law, my father-in-law's sister. And everybody was asking me, how's it like working with the in-laws? And they are awesome people. You've met them, they're a trick. So I have a good time. I think I mess with them more than they mess with me. It makes work fun. But because we are a family business and we're small, we treat you like you would like to be treated, how we would like to be treated. And it works for us. It works for us.
Raquel Ramirez36:09 - 39:19
I love that. And you said that you, you end up being more like a number. I can't tell you how many times throughout the process, actually the first half of the process, I felt like they were just handing me off to somebody else who didn't know what they were talking about. I'll never forget this one call that I had. When I finished the call, I fell to the floor and I'll be very honest with you. I started to scream and cry. My 16 year old was home that day cause he wasn't feeling well. And he, freaked out. He didn't know what to do with himself because he had never seen me in that state. But this man, if I could call him a man. called me with this whole like schmoozing sort of, I'm calling to make sure you're super happy, you know, cause our goal here at this company is to make sure that you feel X, Y, Z. I'm like, oh, okay. I took the call and I was like, this is great. He's calling me about X, Y, Z issue. And he did his whole intro, right? And I quickly realized he had no idea that we were, yeah, I don't remember what we were struggling with at the time, but there were some issues and I still had some of those windows sitting in my backyard. And I said, wait a minute. Well, actually, we're at this stage. It's not any other. He's like, great. You need to pay. When are you going to send us the payment? I need you to really sign this document. I said, wait a minute, wait a minute. You didn't hear what I said. He's like, oh, no, I'm perfectly aware where you are with your with your with your project. And I said, well, then you would know that my attorney sent an email and that everybody was copied in this whole update. Oh, no, I'm perfectly aware. So all of a sudden, this guy flips a switch and he starts insulting me. And I mean, when I say insulting, I mean, I've been in business probably longer than than you've been in your own business. You know, I know what I'm doing and this and that. And I was like, sir, listen, I don't understand why why we're resorting to this kind of, you know, you called me and I'm telling you where we are in the projects. Clearly, you know, I have every email and I will. Do you have this one? Do you have this email? Do you have that email? So this started to become this like This fight. Yeah. And so I tell him I have these grids here that do not match. I have three different styles. So even if one of them was correct, I have two that don't match. So I'm trying to explain this to him and he has the audacity to tell me that that's not possible. I said, sir, I'm looking at them. I'm looking at them. They're literally in front of me this very moment. Would you like me to send you a picture? This man and I have gotten to a screaming match. And I told the only thing I really wanted from him was for him to put what he was telling me in an email. I said, I just want you to send me this update that you claim to have. I need you to put it in writing for me because we're going to hang up this phone and then the next guy is going to call me and they don't know where we're at. And he refused. He gave me every I mean, it was just ugly. I said to myself, how does anybody employ someone like this? to call someone and berate them because that's what he was doing. So when I finally said, I don't want to speak to you anymore. I don't want to speak to you anymore. And I hung up the phone. And when I hung up the phone, I fell to the ground. And that's when I was just I couldn't believe the things that this man had said to me. I called my husband and I said, you're not going to believe what just happened. And he freaks out because I tell him he's like, who can we call? We're going to sue that company and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, we're already in the middle of that. What are you talking about?
Andrew Blanco39:19 - 39:21
I'll help me, Howard.
Raquel Ramirez39:21 - 42:09
I'll help me, Howard, for real. And so and this person, quote unquote, was the spokesman for the company. He was calling to make sure that we were exceedingly happy with the product and service that they were offering me. And I'm like, no, I'm not happy because we're not even halfway through this. Nobody's called me about the situation. And so this was the this was the communication. Every time we would speak to somebody, nobody would know. I still have people who come to my door. because they subcontract their installation and all that, by the way, which I'm gonna ask you about in a second. And so every time they come, they don't know what they're coming for. So when I open the door, I always say, do you know what you're here for? And they look at me with a weird face. I'm like, I know, here, I know this is not your problem specifically, but you are here today to do X, Y, Z. And they're like, oh, well, I don't know if I have that in my truck. I'm like, right, right, exactly. And so the last time they were here, which was two weeks ago, They were here to put the cover plates, which for people who don't know are the plates that cover where all they drill, you know, the whatever, those big screws, the screws into the frame and all of that. They're there to put those on. And apparently those cover plates help the window keep it like straight and, you know, be able to open and close it without it getting stuck, apparently. And then so they were supposed to do that. They're supposed to change out all the grids that they hadn't done yet. And they were supposed to do some touch up and make sure that all the caulking, which was horribly done, was fixed and all the stucco that they still left torn and broken everywhere was repaired. OK, well, they were here for six and a half hours. They didn't do any of that because they could hardly put the cover plates on, because according to that kid who came with another with a new guy that they hired on the installation crew, they couldn't remove the windows. And so at some point they took out some of those springs, some of those tension rods or whatever, and they left them sitting in my living room. I have three. My daughter's room doesn't my my daughter's window doesn't open. No. They don't open because they took them out and they had no idea how to replace them. So they blamed it, everything on the window company and that they're all these windows are now, according to him. And I don't know what expert he is, but according to him, ES manufactured all of these windows incorrectly because clearly he can't take them out. So he can't put the cover plates on. So he left those springs just sitting out in my, my, and I'm like, what am I supposed to do with this? He just left them sitting in my window sill. So needless to say, nothing else was done. I only have two cover plates on two windows, all the stucco, all the caulking. And of course, so I went through every single one of those windows and I took pictures and I wrote down notes on everything that each and every window needed. It's like a two pager. Okay. And of course doing the inside and the outside, I realized that there are two windows, three windows actually, that are not properly sealed from the outside. They're just major gap right there. Just water and humidity.
Andrew Blanco42:11 - 42:31
When we go to install your door, we'll take a look at that because that's something that I think we can help you with. And I think the manufacturer will even be willing to send over new covers and we can put that on. It's not a manufacturing issue. P.S. is they're awesome.
Raquel Ramirez42:31 - 42:32
That's what I hear.
Andrew Blanco42:32 - 42:49
It's an awesome company. Their service, their attention to detail is great. And you'll see it. And watch, I'm sure they're going to tell us. We'll go ahead and send you the covers. Just have your guys pop them in and we'll do that for you. The spring, we're going to need new springs because I can't, I don't know why they...
Raquel Ramirez42:50 - 42:53
I wish I was close enough to grab one to show it, like show and tell.
Andrew Blanco42:53 - 45:52
That's so bad. But, you know, so how are we different from something like that? And our team of installers and what's that process like? In a typical situation, you know, which wasn't the case with you, and I'll explain why, you deal with one person from our company from quote to closing the deal, getting signatures for permits, everything. You're going to deal with one person, so the line of communication is with me. If you come with me or my brother-in-law or my father-in-law, but we're going to be very well aware as to what's going on in your project. When the time comes to do the installation, It's clockwork at this point. The installers have been with us. All of the installers, except for these two guys that we've hired in-house, have been with us for over 10 years. Those in-house guys, we send them more to do these tedious little things, pick up the store and deliver it to the group of installers just to not take time away. They They facilitate the process. That's kind of what we have them for. And they do small, odd jobs. But for the most part, it's the team of installers that have been with us forever. They get there with the floor plan. They get there with the quote, everything in the measurements identified as to which opening is where. If one of my guys ever gets here and asks you what they're doing, today that may be their last day because it's not a good look. They're very well aware, even throughout the process, because they'll go and install and they can't do the interior finish until you've passed inspection. When they do the interior finish, it's the same guys that were there doing the install. They know the job. They know exactly what's going on. They'll call me, hey, what's going on with the inspection? I'm ready to, you know, and I have to talk with them, but they're very involved with the business. They're family at this point. They've been with us forever. We're fortunate that we have really good guys. We have installers from neighboring window companies come and ask us for work all the time. And we couldn't be luckier to have them. And then why I said that your case was a little different, you walked into the warehouse and you said, hey, what's going on with my job? And I I don't know if you could tell, but I turned pale. I'm like, that's not what I want to hear from somebody. And I was ready to rip my brother-in-law apart. And then I looked into it and he had done everything. The order was placed. The financing was moving along. And so, you know, things were things were falling into place. He probably could have done a better job to communicate it to you. But but we're That's the good thing about having a small family business. It's a quick phone call. It's not, let me send you to the accounting department or this department. We can deal with things right away. It's a phone call away to my brother-in-law. He's like, we're good. That's been placed.
Raquel Ramirez45:53 - 46:53
Yeah, no. And I actually have a very easy time communicating with him. I'll send him a quick text or a quick email. I remember when we were talking about doing the door, I said to him, I said, I'm sorry if I'm a little traumatized. I'm coming with a lot of baggage from a really terrible company who did me terribly, terribly wrong. And so I have a lot of questions. And he said, no problem. And so I sent him this email and I remember getting ready to hit send and thinking, is this a little intimidating? Because it was like 15 questions. And it wasn't like, what color does this come in? It was something more to do with, well, after this process, does this take place? Or would you do, you know, I read through the contract and it was so simple. I thought to my, you know, I even asked them something about the permitting, something that was on your contract. And he took all of maybe, I don't know, three hours to respond with answers to every single one of my questions. And I remember looking at Carlos and saying, this is legit. They just answered all of these questions. And I was being a real pain about it because I asked him 15 questions. And he answered them all. I was so relieved.
Andrew Blanco46:53 - 47:45
It's not a complicated process. Obviously, this is what we do every day, but we're here to educate. And it's a big investment, so you don't want to assume anything. If we don't do the communication up front, it can be such a costly error that we don't want to deal with it. We don't want to revert to it's what you ordered. It's on the contract. No, get it right the first time. Once the order is placed, we can't make any changes. That's why we do that walkthrough. So we say, Hey, just making sure all the windows are white and you're ordering the door in a wood grain color. You're good with that. As redundant as it may seem, it's incredibly important. And it prevents, you know, the he said, she said, which is all too common in this industry. If you do it right from the beginning and everybody's on the same page, you only do it once. There's no issues. You only do it once.
Raquel Ramirez47:45 - 49:02
I say that here in my house. It's something that's very near and dear to me to say, if you do it right the first time, you only do it once. And who wants to do something two or three or four times? I try to tell my kids that. I don't know that they understand it yet. I know I did when I was a kid. I'm like, I totally want to do this right and I want to get it done and out of the way. But anyway, before I forget, because I wanted to ask and I wanted to make sure that people know that there are options in terms of not just the style and the color of window, but the brand, the quality of the window. And I know I actually called you guys out to give us a quote, by the way, that I'm pushing through to some of my buyers to find out if they want to buy this house. And we're going to give them the windows, by the way, this is for a property I have listed. Your brother-in-law came out. He did the quote. It's a very fairly priced quote. I was actually very surprised. But he did tell me, he said, this is not ES and it's not PGT. It's not the lowest grade window. It's somewhere in the middle. And it's a window that people in Cocoa Plum would be happy to have in their homes. It's a window that you guys have sold before. And it's a good quality window. It's not just, it's not the king of the windows. It's also the topper. So it's somewhere in the middle, which got me thinking, you know, it's true, very much like you have brands of clothing and shoes and cars and whatever, builders, you also have brands in windows. So tell us a little bit about that.
Andrew Blanco49:02 - 50:34
Yeah. So you have, you know, even within ESW, they have what's called their multi-max series. That's their entry series. It won't have things like the screw covers, which is an important finish to somebody who's living in the house. Say you have an investment property and the windows are chalicey windows that are falling apart, and you just want to upgrade them to impact windows. You may not have an endless budget to get as creative and make the house as beautiful as possible, but you do want to give the tenant the benefits of impact windows, then you can go with the Multimax series. You're going to see the screws, but if that doesn't bother you or if it's not within your budget, it helps keep the price down. Then you have the Elite series and then the Prestige series. So even within the manufacturers, there are different tiers. That being said, the reality is you have your ES windows, you have Eco windows and Mr. Glass, which are your entry tier windows. There are some below that, that we really don't push because within those three, and I feel weird saying this in case the manufacturers listen to me, but I'm gonna say it either way. ES Windows is my favorite because of the quality that you get from them, the price that you get, it's very competitive and the homeowner is gonna be very happy with the product that they get.
Raquel Ramirez50:34 - 50:34
There is-
Andrew Blanco50:35 - 51:32
There is CGI, which is a step above. Excellent product. There are some restrictions within CGI, but it's under the PGT umbrella, and everybody knows PGT. PGT is up at the top. They have a spectacular finish. It is costly. So you have to consider that. Now, part of the conversation at the beginning, you know, what's your budget? Are you looking just to upgrade to impact windows? Is this your home? Do you plan on selling it? And so you kind of find the right fit for the client. They are. It's kind of what we lead off with, because we can sell you the Mercedes-Benz and we can sell you the Ford that also gets there. You know, I drive a Ford, so I can't. It's a Ford Bronco. I love my car.
Raquel Ramirez51:32 - 51:34
Oh, you drive a Bronco? Is it one of the new ones or the old ones?
Andrew Blanco51:35 - 51:43
It's, you know, I kind of wish it was the old one. I love the old Bronco. It's the new one. But now the old ones are super popular.
Raquel Ramirez51:43 - 51:49
Who knew that would come back? Yeah, I know. Kids were sporting mullets a few months ago, so I guess anything's game.
Andrew Blanco51:50 - 52:39
Yes, that's very true. A lot of baseball players rocking the mullet, bringing it back. So so to get back to Windows. Yeah, there's there's all different types of manufacturers and they serve different purposes. So it really depends on what the client's looking for. And if you have an endless budget, you know, I'm there excited because the change and it's not the money we're making, it's not the anything, but The finish that PGT has is is unmatched. It's a beautiful window. And so actually, that's kind of, you know, the differences are very minimal. And when I say finish, I mean where where the two metals meet. Yeah. In some cases in the entry trim of the entry levels, you'll see raw metal.
Raquel Ramirez52:39 - 52:39
Mm hmm.
Andrew Blanco52:40 - 52:56
In some cases, it's not to say, oh, it's going to look terrible because they look beautiful. So it's tough for me to even say that. But that really is where the difference comes in. The windows will slide a little better. PGT is the Mercedes-Benz of impact windows.
Raquel Ramirez52:56 - 52:58
They're the king of the windows. Got it.
Andrew Blanco52:58 - 53:12
Yeah, and why I'm excited is to see that before and after. I love, especially when a client with modern colonials or they're changing from white windows to black and they're passionate about what they're doing. I'm like, this is going to be awesome.
Raquel Ramirez53:12 - 53:13
I should sell windows.
Andrew Blanco53:13 - 54:07
You get to see the before and after and it's awesome. And the clients are super happy. They call us and they're like, my house is freezing now. Cause you're not leaking. Sometimes I go and measure a window and I put the tape up to the glass and I feel the cool air, which is nice in the summer for me, but it's AC that the house is leaking. And the second you put impact windows, that's gone. And the house is freezing aside from the UV rays that that the window can can, you know, bounce off the light penetration. It makes a huge difference sap noise reduction. So if you're in a busy street, there are certain products that you can get that will really muffle out the outside noise. And it becomes incredibly quiet inside the house. And that's true even with the standard thickness of impact window. you're still going to get that noise reduction.
Raquel Ramirez54:07 - 54:58
Yeah, it's so true. The first thing that you said about the AC. Oh my goodness. So we have a sliding after after they caught though. No, this is before this was with our old windows. I remember we would sit like in the summer, we'd watch TV and we have a sliding glass door. And when the AC would turn on, obviously would cool down and you could see it, you could see it like condensed, leaving the house, because it was going through all the cracks and everything. We had very old windows. And so we did just our energy bill was through the roof because it was leaking from every possible Orifice you could find here at every window had a leak. And so obviously that prompted us to do the windows sooner rather than later, even though it took two years anyway. But I digress. The point is that, yes, it helps keep the energy in, you know, your AC, your energy levels down because your AC stays inside the house where it should be.
Andrew Blanco54:59 - 55:42
Yeah, and you have impact protection, which helps you throughout a storm, helps you in the case of a robbery. We had a client, good friend of mine, where she had these ring cameras and they captured the robber. He made three different trips back to his car to get different tools, given he destroyed the hardware on the windows, bent it, He bent the handle trying to get in, but it's a testament. It's a test. You can't break this glass. It's designed to keep its integrity. Yes, you'll shatter it. You can break the frame, but it's going to keep its integrity and it's going to keep weather and people who should not be in your house out.
Raquel Ramirez55:42 - 56:20
Yes. I do like that. I do like that. I was actually showing a place today and it was next to, it was actually in the Edgewater district over by Biscayne and like 18th. And they're building a whole new, like a North tower to one of the buildings here. I forgot which one it is, to be honest with you, but major construction, major construction. This was like on the 16th floor. And, you know, we didn't realize it because we came on the opposite end of the street. And so we walked in and when we walked outside to the balcony, we're like, oh my gosh, major construction, but this building has impact windows. And the minute you step inside and you close that sliding glass door, nothing.
Andrew Blanco56:21 - 56:23
Yeah. No, it's impressive.
Raquel Ramirez56:23 - 56:44
It is. It is. It provides just this peace and quiet and the safety barrier from the elements, from the sun, from, from, from the rain, from everything. It's just impact windows are great. And I couldn't wait to have them. I actually love going back to, you know, the style. What do you call the ones that you said your grandmother's house back in the seventies? I had like a little crank. What are those called again?
Andrew Blanco56:44 - 56:58
So jealousy windows are like the old school windows that will open up like this. But the in impact windows, they don't that doesn't exist. And in fact, you know, casement windows that open out like a book that one and they have the crank. I love those windows.
Raquel Ramirez56:58 - 57:03
Yeah, amazing. But somebody tells me those are like three times more expensive than a normal window. Is that true?
Andrew Blanco57:03 - 57:06
It's not three times more expensive.
Raquel Ramirez57:06 - 57:06
I wanted it.
Andrew Blanco57:06 - 58:07
You just brings up a good point. When you see people advertising, buy one, get one half off. 30% sale or buy two French doors, get a French door free. It's all bogus. Like it really is. And people fall for it. Yeah. They're charging you three times what the cost of the door so that they can sell you too. And they don't mind. Um, we keep our prices fair. We don't have any promotions. If the manufacturer comes out with a promotion, we always push that along to the client. So there's additional savings that happens sometimes at the end of the year. Um, and it's unpredictable. It's not like they do it. It's not like they do it all the time. Um, but it does happen and we push that along to the client. So we keep our prices fair throughout the year. We don't need to come up with any promotions or any deals and whatnot. Yeah. So I think it's fair. You know, we we keep our prices fair. We're transparent. And you know that what you know what you're getting with us, you know, and there's companies out there that you don't.
Raquel Ramirez58:07 - 58:44
No, that is the understatement of the episode. It's true. It's true. You really don't know. You have to be very careful. One of the things that I talk a lot about in all my episodes is to do your research, people make sure that you're asking the right questions. And if, and when you can work with a company that was referred to you, because that is truly the best way to know if your friend, your cousin, your parent, your neighbor had a great experience with a company, have them tell you about it. Not just, yeah, it was a good company, whatever. Have them tell you what the experience was and see what you can catch in there that makes sense for you and your family and your needs, because it makes a world of a difference.
Andrew Blanco58:44 - 59:18
That is solid advice. And I've told clients too, and they're like, Hey, we're going to shop around for prices. And like, look, I would do the same thing. It's the smart thing to do. It's the logical thing to do. Make sure that they're a legitimate company. Do your research. If the price is too good to be true, it's going to be too good to be true. And I understand, you know, you want to shop around and that's why we do price aggressively because we want to get the work. But, you know, it makes sense. And we like to educate the client, even if it's not with us, make sure you're not getting robbed.
Raquel Ramirez59:18 - 01:00:46
No, that's my favorite part. It's actually part of my business model, too, is to educate. I probably work, I probably consult more on a pro bono basis, let's say it that way, than I do in charge, because a lot of people call me and I can't help but give them the proper advice. I'd rather they have a positive experience even with someone else and make sure that they don't fall into legal issues or financial issues or lose their house or their deal, whatever, than anything else, really. We're here to do right by the people that we live in community with, and that's our family, our friends, our neighbors, the people we work with. I can't thank you enough. I'm really excited about my door. I can't wait to get it next month. I'm super duper excited. I've already referred you guys out a couple of times. And the fact that you came referred to me by somebody else that I trust was important. I just wish I would have known them sooner and I would have had that relationship with them sooner. Yeah, because I would have avoided this entire thing, and we would have had our windows, and I would have been out of this. But can I tell you that in these two years, I've probably missed out on a month's worth of work. Because every time they come over, I try to work from home, but you have to be on top of them. And they're calling in here, and then something's happening over there, and then they're treading through your house and dragging metal. So you can't really get much done. So I've had to cancel meetings or work my schedule around the days that they come. And all in all, in two years, I've missed probably like four weeks worth of work.
Andrew Blanco01:00:46 - 01:01:12
It's tough. I mean, with COVID, I feel like we've been lucky that a lot of people are working from home, but we are always mindful. You have your own life and work schedule. And we have to work around that and make it work for you. So we're very mindful of the amount of time that we're taking on your project. And if it's an in and out and our guys don't even know what they're doing, that's a wasted day for you. And that's not a good look for us.
Raquel Ramirez01:01:13 - 01:03:58
Well, honestly, it's a disrespect to me. I've had to tell them that at some point because I think they seem to want to reschedule and schedule and reschedule and schedule as if I have nothing to do. I mean, it would be great if I was home like a, you know, just fanning myself all day and watching episodes, you know, on Netflix, but that's not what I do. I actually work. And I think I speak for most people that they have things to do. whether that is running out with their kids to an appointment, picking up their kids at school, or going to a nine to five. If I worked in a normal nine to five, oh my God, I don't even know where we would be right now because I can't tell my boss every three or four weeks, every three or four months, I have to take another day off because such and such companies come back to the house to undo the problem that they did and probably redo the same issue. Here here I am. Here I am. It's I have them coming back October 30th to try and, quote unquote, fix the matter. I sent them that document that I prepared, which I also sent to my attorney to come and fix. And I sent them this document this time after we scheduled because, by the way, I called them like four or five. I sent them an email. I sent actually the vice president of the company an email with the other guy that was like a big top dog there. They never replied to me in a week. And I told him this happened. I have windows that don't open. This is a this is a problem. Like you guys were supposed to touch up today. And now we're we regressed. And I don't know where to go, where to go from here. They never responded. Didn't call. They didn't text. Didn't email. Nothing. So I called my attorney and I said, I'm done. I don't know what else to do. So I said, you know what? Before you send an email. you know, with the letter, let me do one more thing. And I said, let me call the 800 number and just pretend like I'm, you know, just any other customer. And I called, I said, Hey, I just want to follow up on this work order that I have here. I just, you know, and they said, Oh, sure. You're so-and-so. Yeah. Oh, did you want to set up an appointment for that? And immediately I felt like my blood pressure come up. I'm like, do I want to schedule? So I had to, of course I had to swallow that down. I'm like, yes, of course I would love to. You know, I'm not here on such and such day. So I took it very and they were very nonchalant about it, like, oh, sure, we'll send someone. I'm like, you didn't read the fucking work order that says I've got like this. It's so long that it goes outside of the grid box for comments. That's how many things they need to do. So they scheduled the appointment. They sent me an appointment confirmation via email. And then a day later, I thought to myself, you know what, maybe I should send them that that little document that I prepared so they know exactly. And so I sent it. I copied my attorney and I said, just so we know they're in receipt of this information so that when they come and knock on my door, you know, two weeks from now or whenever and they say, what are we here for? I'm going to be like this. This is what you're here for. Your boss has this. Oh, good. You didn't get a copy of the memo. Here's the memo.
Andrew Blanco01:03:59 - 01:04:04
I, uh, man, I hope that that you get everything resolved.
Raquel Ramirez01:04:04 - 01:04:47
If not, you know, we're here to, you know, what that actually make, that does make me feel better because I have thought at some point they're not going to finish everything. I just really need them to fix the windows now that they've kind of left an operational, you know, our guys are there, you know, After that, the details or whatever, you should see how they cut these grids. Some of these grids on my door, they're like an eighth away from the gap between the grids. It's like one 16th to one eighth of an inch of gap. I'm like, this is unacceptable. This is unacceptable. I said, I don't want to be a stickler, but that, I can't accept that. I mean, what do you want me to do with a gap I can look through? I mean, so anyway.
Andrew Blanco01:04:47 - 01:04:48
It's a nightmare case.
Raquel Ramirez01:04:49 - 01:04:50
It is. It is a nightmare.
Andrew Blanco01:04:50 - 01:04:57
You're doing everybody a favor by, you know, preventing that from happening to them. Yes. And they could just call advanced impact class.
Raquel Ramirez01:04:57 - 01:05:20
That's it, that's exactly right. Make a note of it people, make a note of it. Advance, advance, impact glass, not with a D, advance, impact glass. If you have any questions on that, you can always reach out to me and I'll be more than happy to refer you and provide you with their number, their website, who to contact, and I promise you'll be in good hands. Thank you Andrew for being with me today. I really appreciate all the information. You were great to talk to.
Andrew Blanco01:05:20 - 01:05:23
Oh, this is my first podcast, I was a little nervous.
Raquel Ramirez01:05:23 - 01:05:25
It doesn't show.
Andrew Blanco01:05:25 - 01:05:27
It's like a conversation, it was fun.
Raquel Ramirez01:05:27 - 01:05:33
Exactly right. Thank you so much for joining me. And I'll have you back, I'm sure.
Andrew Blanco01:05:33 - 01:05:39
Yeah, we'll catch you up. Maybe some more horror stories from other clients. That'd be great. Not our clients. Never, never. Thank you, Raquel.
Raquel Ramirez01:05:46 - 01:06:03
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The Real Talk. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't already done so, be sure to subscribe to the show wherever you consume podcasts. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you found value in today's show, we'd appreciate it if you would help others discover this podcast. Until next time.