Bad Faith Glass Warranty?

[ET16]

I'm in a peculiar situation with a glass company that installed some glass for me.
The company installed nine insulated panes in three bay windows in 2018 for around $4,400.

One pane has failed and is all fogged up. I had someone from the company come by to take a look at it, as I had a warranty on the glass.
They agreed that the glass was under warranty, but as stipulated in the contact, labor was not. They estimated the labor at $1,800, for the replacement of the one pane.

I contacted the company to state that the price made no sense. Nine panes in 2018 were $4,400 (glass and labor). Labor to replace one could not possibly cost $1,800 in 2021.

In the interim, I got a quote from a different company to replace the failed pane. They quoted $880, which is more in line with a price I expected.

So, I now believe that the first company is just trying to get out of performing warranty work, which seems like breach of contract to me, which leads me to wonder: what recourse do I have with the first company? Can I take them to small claims court?

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Sounds like a manufacturers warranty (ie. the glass). IIRC the vast majority of window installers are contractors and not employees of the window manufacturer.

 

[ET16]

Sounds like a manufacturers warranty (ie. the glass). IIRC the vast majority of window installers are contractors and not employees of the window manufacturer.

Yes, it is a manufacturer's warranty. But the labor they are quoting seems to be about three time the rate of the initial installation.

 

[The Critic]

Do all warranty claims have to be handled by the installing dealer, or can they be handled by any authorized dealer of this window brand?

 

[samven]

Sounds about right. Call your authorized roofing contractor 5 or 6 years after they install a 30 year roof. The cost to repair or replace will be as much as a new roof. Most contractors make a big part of their profit on the material markup. If they cant mark that up they raise the labor rate so at best you might save the wholesale price of the material not the retail price.

 

[skyactiv]

They are making money on this warranty claim.

 

[ET16]

Do all warranty claims have to be handled by the installing dealer, or can they be handled by any authorized dealer of this window brand?

I don't know. Some of the panes are marked "Oldcastle" which seems to be the manufacturer. I'm not sure about the top pane that failed.

 

[Kuato]

So have them deliver the glass, free, then have the reasonable contractor install it.

 

[ET16]

So have them deliver the glass, free, then have the reasonable contractor install it.

That's an idea.