When you have drywall returns, it is very common to have some drywall damage adjacent to the window. As replacement window installers, they are not painters. While the analogy of going to your mechanic for a tooth cleaning is a bit of hyperbole, it helps to illustrate the point that contractors should stay in their lanes when it comes to the work they do. We talk about this potential on installations and perhaps it sounds like this company didn't quite review that potential with you or that you breezed over some of the installation documentation that may have gone into it. That is pretty normal though.

i would consider this a fault on the contractor Not communicating on what can happen and what would or would not be done.

Drywall repairs seem a fair point to quit. What, he's supposed to paint match? Paint the whole room?

Most companies will have language in their contract precluding them from responsibility for incidental damage, or in other words, damage that really is not their fault and is simply related to them completing the normal course of their work, and taking reasonable precautions in doing so. That is different from negligent damage where they screw something up or make a mistake causing damage that shouldn't have happened-- that SHOULD be fixed by them.

I like to use an example that occurred some years back where we were completing a run of the mill roof replacement, and in the process, some very poorly executed drywall work in the attic developed cracks and an unsecured light fixture (didn't even have a junction box present) fell off the ceiling. Obviously these are things outside of the control of the contractor (the poor quality workmanship of others) and totally unreasonable to expect them to address.

In this specific case, its probably appropriate and a nice gesture at worst for the contractor to patch those areas. I'd have to agree with the others though that you shouldn't have an expectation for them to texture or paint. If you have some handy to supply they may do you a solid, but generally not required nor is it even advisable for the reasons that WOW alluded to in most cases.

I didn’t expect the window installers to paint, I just wasn’t expecting them to break through drywall and have to repaint. We purchased through Lowe’s and I’m wondering if we should be asking Lowe’s to cover the cost.

While Lowes install consistency has a hit or miss track record, the reality is that this potential does exist. Sounds more like they missed some of the communication opportunities here and that is not uncommon when the installer that is doing the installation probably never saw the house before installation.