Pella sent me wrong doors.

[wigston]

I ordered $25,000 of windows and doors from Pella in NJ, i told the sales lady that both sets of exterior double doors should open outwards, she also asked for a copy of the elevations and floorplans so she could check everything was correct before we finalized the deal. The floorplan clearly shows that both doors open out. The doors arrived and they are the type that open inwards into the room. in-swing doors had been entered into the system by mistake, so it also states in-swing in product description on the sales contract too. After talking with them over the phone and telling them that i dont want the doors, they have said that they will take the incorrect doors back but i have to pay for the new doors, but at a discounted rate of $2500. Shouldn't they give me the correct doors for free as it is their mistake and they are getting the other doors back?

 

[quincy]

I ordered $25,000 of windows and doors from Pella in NJ, i told the sales lady that both sets of exterior double doors should open outwards, she also asked for a copy of the elevations and floorplans so she could check everything was correct before we finalized the deal. The floorplan clearly shows that both doors open out. The doors arrived and they are the type that open inwards into the room. in-swing doors had been entered into the system by mistake, so it also states in-swing in product description on the sales contract too. After talking with them over the phone and telling them that i dont want the doors, they have said that they will take the incorrect doors back but i have to pay for the new doors, but at a discounted rate of $2500. Shouldn't they give me the correct doors for free as it is their mistake and they are getting the other doors back?

You should not get the correct doors "for free" but you should not have to pay for the wrong doors (their delivery, any installation costs, the return costs).

If the correct doors cost more than the doors that were delivered, you will be responsible for the difference in price between in-swinging and out-swinging doors only.

 

[justalayman]

Are you buying directly from Pella?
Who wrote the order (with the incorrect swing on the doors)?
Did you sign off on the order?


Are these custom doors or a stock model?

It doesn't sound like it but are they refunding your purchase price of the incorrect doors?

 

[wigston]

Are you buying directly from Pella?
Who wrote the order (with the incorrect swing on the doors)?
Did you sign off on the order?


Are these custom doors or a stock model?

It doesn't sound like it but are they refunding your purchase price of the incorrect doors?

Yes i am buying direct from Pella in NJ,

The sales Lady inputted the order into the computer,

I signed the sales contract after I checked the window sizes on the contract, i didnt notice that the swing of the doors was wrong as i didnt know what i was looking for.

they are stock model, from their brochure.

after a couple of calls, she said she would take the incorrect doors back and give me a rebate of $1180, (they cost me $4800 +tax) and i can buy the correct doors at factory price $3750, so with the rebate I would have to pay $2570 plus tax for the correct doors.

They told me the correct outswing doors cost slightly more than the incorrect inswing doors i have, so I would be willing to pay the small difference in price between the products. I also just found out that the outswing door has a larger rough opening, so my framer will have to rip out the newly installed framing and re-frame!

Can they really make me pay the $2570 to get the correct doors?

 

[quincy]

Yes i am buying direct from Pella in NJ,

The sales Lady inputted the order into the computer,

I signed the sales contract after I checked the window sizes on the contract, i didnt notice that the swing of the doors was wrong as i didnt know what i was looking for.

they are stock model, from their brochure.

after a couple of calls, she said she would take the incorrect doors back and give me a rebate of $1180, (they cost me $4800 +tax) and i can buy the correct doors at factory price $3750, so with the rebate I would have to pay $2570 plus tax for the correct doors.

They told me the correct outswing doors cost slightly more than the incorrect inswing doors i have, so I would be willing to pay the small difference in price between the products. I also just found out that the outswing door has a larger rough opening, so my framer will have to rip out the newly installed framing and re-frame!

Can they really make me pay the $2570 to get the correct doors?

You should only have to pay the difference between the cost of the in-swinging doors and the out-swinging doors, this if the out-swinging doors are more expensive, and this if Pella mistakenly entered the wrong doors into their system, and this if you notified Pella of the error in a reasonable time after the discovery.

There can be a problem when you sign a contract that contains an error, which is why all contracts should be read carefully prior to signing. However, an error of the sort you describe here should not prevent you from rejecting the doors that were not ordered by you and having them replaced with the right doors. This is assuming your acceptance of the contract was reasonably induced by the difficulty of discovering the error until after delivery/installation (i.e., if you had no reason to believe the wrong doors were listed).

If there is a problem with Pella, you can consult with an attorney in your area. I believe from what you have said here, however, that the law supports you.

 

[Zigner]

The OP signed off on the contract stating that the doors, as entered in the system (ie: in-swinging) were correct. I find it pretty low that the company won't simply take the doors back and exchange them for the other doors with a restocking fee to cover shipping, and with the OP paying the difference between the two door styles...but I don't think it's illegal for them to do so.

 

[LdiJ]

The OP signed off on the contract stating that the doors, as entered in the system (ie: in-swinging) were correct. I find it pretty low that the company won't simply take the doors back and exchange them for the other doors with a restocking fee to cover shipping, and with the OP paying the difference between the two door styles...but I don't think it's illegal for them to do so.

Doors that expensive are normally customized to a great extent, so that may be part of the problem.

 

[Zigner]

Doors that expensive are normally custom made, so that may be part of the problem.

The OP said they are "stock model" - I take that to mean that they are not custom made.

 

[LdiJ]

The OP said they are "stock model" - I take that to mean that they are not custom made.

Even if they are a stock model, they do not just keep them around as finished products, because each order is a little different and therefore it would be too costly to do that. The same applies to windows. In swing vs out swing, door width varies, pre-drilling for door hardware and hinges varies...even the finish can vary. So, what happens is a company like Pella keeps the raw materials available, possibly partially finished for the most popular models, and then finishes to the customer specs. $4800.00 doors are never going to be kept in stock in a finished state. It would take too much space and too much money invested in inventory to do so.

Next time you are in a Home Depot or Lowes take a look at how doors are stocked there. Even the cheap doors are generally unfinished, although they are often pre-drilled, which limits what hardware can be used with them.

 

[quincy]

I do not see wigston as being responsible for shipping fees, if sending the wrong doors was the result of Pella entering the wrong doors into their system, this despite signing off on the contract.

The duty wigston has to Pella, if wigston notified Pella of the error as soon as the error was discovered, is to take reasonable care of the wrong doors for the time it takes Pella to retrieve and replace the wrong doors with the right doors.

If Pella is a smart company (as I believe them to be), Pella will not argue any additional costs other than the real difference in price between the doors, this especially since wigston has a total order with Pella for $25,000 worth of windows and doors.

 

[FlyingRon]

I'm going to bet that even if the place he ordered those windows said "Pella" on the door when he went in, he was NOT dealing with Pella. Those places are all independent companies (much like your local Ford dealer isn't Ford).

The one around here is pretty abysmal. He should not have to pay for the wrong unit, period. Getting them to commit to delivering the right may be more difficult.

 

[Zigner]

I'm going to bet that even if the place he ordered those windows said "Pella" on the door when he went in, he was NOT dealing with Pella. Those places are all independent companies (much like your local Ford dealer isn't Ford).

The one around here is pretty abysmal. He should not have to pay for the wrong unit, period. Getting them to commit to delivering the right may be more difficult.

The guy signed off on the wrong doors on the work order. He should be willing to offer to pay the shipping costs...

 

[quincy]

Yes i am buying direct from Pella in NJ ...

... they are stock model, from their brochure ...

wigston said s/he ordered direct from Pella in New Jersey.

Getting the right doors is probably not going to be that difficult since wigston is holding the wrong doors "hostage." The doors should not be paid for until the replacement doors have been received.

And I disagree that wigston should pay for additional shipping costs. It was Pella's mistake that the wrong doors were entered into the system and delivered. The technical specifications for the doors were not only described by wigston but wigston provided Pella with blueprints showing the specifications. The costs fall on Pella to pick up the wrong doors and deliver the correct doors.