Our old neighbor had these put in. I am familiar with their TV ads here in the Chicago suburbs but not the product itself. I have never heard her complain about them. I think they are midwest only as several times people have asked about them but never seen much response.

Feldco has been around about 30 years. The orig. owner Feld, sold out about 5-6 years ago. They are not factory direct, since they have never made a vinyl window in the history of the company. Up until the last year or two, they were buying Accuweld windows. They now have switched to Thermal Industries. They do a decent job overall. Have had their share of complaints, check better business bureau.

Like most window companies in the Chicago area that they compete against, they advertise like a car dealer. Low price ads only to find that the window they bring you is junk and they are happy to tell you all the problems associated with that window. They then pull out the window that they want to sell, "Sophia Series", which is 2-3 times higher in price. They claim to use their own installers but 90% of them are self employed and work for themselves. Again a common tactic that most of their competitors do. They do sell a lot of windows in the area, because they spend a ton in adverising. Guess where that cost is passed along to. There are comparable windows on the market with equal energy ratings for about $50 to $100 less. Check their "U-Value" and it is comparable to everybody else. Foam filled frames doesn't add much to a windows energy rating. Lots of bells and whistles, Krypton gas...but they never tell you the ratio of Argon to Krypton. The only accurate way to compare window energy efficiency is the NFRC sticker on the window. Don't think you will find one on a Feldco window because NFRC independently tests windows supplied by the manufacturer. Since Feldco doesn't make windows they don't have a NFRC rating. Remember, a good installer is as important as the window.

Just an update.

We had the sales rep come over. Generally, Feldco has a nice, moderate priced replacement vinyl window.

When the sales rep was writing the quote a few red flags went up. The sales rep said "our sale ended last weekend, but I'll give the same discount now", (when I went to show room, he said the sale ends at the end of the month), then moments later he says" I really hate to come all this way out here again, you should sign tonight", and then there were a few other high pressure sale phrases which in the end turned me off from the entire company.

An investment in replacement windows needs research for your application. Not some sales guy pressuring you to sign and say "you can back out within 72 hours if you change your mind".

So I've decided to stay from vinyl replacements entirely. I have moved to aluminum clads.

Feldco - I'll decide when and where I'll spend my money, not you.

So, because of one bad experience with one window rep from one company you've written off the entire vinyl window industry?

--"So, because of one bad experience with one window rep from one company you've written off the entire vinyl window industry"?--

No. After long consideration and reviews, vinyl is not for my house. Maybe vinyl is good for another application or environment, but not in my home. As far as Feldco, you earn each customer, not pressure them.

I just had a three-pane picture window installed by Feldco. The windows themselves seem high quality and were installed well. However, the caulking around the windows on the outside of the house looks terrible --- very jagged, lumpy, unsightly, and unprofessionally done. I had a follow-up visit from a service representative who basically told me the installers had to follow the jagged lines of the stone masonry bordering the windows and that he thought there was little that could be done about it. I'm pretty sure that there is *something* that can be done to make the caulking look more presentable, but I'm not sure that Feldco will follow-through appropriately. If not, the other windows in my house will be replaced by another company and Feldco will be getting a bad rap from me.

I purchased 70 windows from feldco, and the quality of the Sophia window is better than their cheaper windows, if they still even offer such. The windows seem to let air in through parts of the frames. The installers for the most part did a rush job. The caulking is now separating from the capping, probably because it was compromised as a severe rain storm blow over during the time they were caulking. These windows were installed Aug 07.
I have an appointment with a rep from Feldco on Dec. 29, 08.
Any addvice as to how to handle Feldco?