The $35,000 Mistake We Caught

The $35,000 Mistake We Caught – Because We
Pay Attention To EVERY Detail

How Our Relentless Scrutiny And Scrupulous
Focus On Detail Saved This Project When It Was Almost Too Late

At Rockman Windows & Doors, details are our thing. When we receive a signed quote from a customer, we review it… and then we review it again… and then we have a team-member review it AGAIN. An 80-page estimate? Most companies will flip to the last page and sign off if the price is right. Not us. It takes us four or five hours, but you can bet we read every word. Call us obsessive – but time and again, we see how our thorough process halts HUGE errors in their tracks.

We’re not talking about mistakes that cost a few hundred dollars and take a few days to fix. We’re talking about mistakes that cost thousands of dollars and take endless months to correct.

This order was extremely close to the production stage when we caught this $35,000 mistake. In the nick of time, we saved this customer $35,000, months of recovery time – and a lot of frustration.

Just Another Day At The Office…

The project started out like any other.

We gave the customer a quote, received his deposit check, and began proofing out the estimate – a 4 to 5-hour process that involves getting the product line specified by the architect correct. Once we received the all-clear signal from the architect, we created the shop drawings and sent them to the architect and builder for approval.

Over the next few weeks, we communicated back and forth with the architect and builder about small and large change requests. Every time they requested a change, we redid the estimate and sent them a revised version.

Finally, the architect, builder, and customer were all on the same page for production. We have four critical documents that need to be signed – and the architect, builder, and customer signed off on every one.

Order Management Once-Over

Typically, when we give the customer a detailed proposal, they’ll give it a cursory overview – or none at all. We usually get the 120-paged estimate back with a signature within a few minutes. No one wants to comb through thousands of boring details. That’s why we do it.

Our Order Management team reviews EVERYTHING. Nothing passes through their hands without undergoing thorough scrutiny. Every member of our order management team has years of experience under their belts – they know exactly how to parse out an order.

In this case, our Order Management team reviewed the final order and gave their approval. At the time, they had no idea they missed something.

STILL Just Another Day At The Office

The manufacturer received our order. Everything seemed to be going perfectly, and the project was poised for success… And then, on his own accord, the sales rep decided to review the 65-paged order confirmation document from the manufacturer with the detailed breakdown of the order.

This is not something we usually do or something we have to do – since the customer, builder, and architect all signed off already. In fact, the last page of the signoff package had an email from the builder with a correction and a statement that everything looked good to go. On top of that, it passed our Order Management scrutiny.

But our team’s spur-of-the-moment choice to review the details again saved this project. Whether due to a computer glitch or an oversight, one line item with a quantity of 3 doors had a listed height of 86 inches instead of 81 inches. No one knows where or why this error occurred… and no one caught it until now. Those three doors – worth $10,000 each – wouldn’t have fit into the door openings.

What If We Hadn’t Caught This Mistake?

This was no minor project. The overall dollar value of this window and door package was $132,000. It began in August 2020 and concluded in September 2021. What would’ve been the damage if we hadn’t nipped this problem in the bud?

In this case, three doors wouldn’t have fit into their openings. The doors cannot be cut down to size, so the manufacturer would have to produce three NEW doors. The cost of the re-manufacture and the labor would be around $35,000. And it would probably take about six months to correct – during which time the three plywood openings would be doorless.

Contact Rockman Windows & Doors

At Rockman Windows & Doors, every member of our team has the training and experience to ensure the success of your window and door project. We don’t overlook details, we’re not scared to triple check our work, and we don’t ever leave anything to chance. Contact us today to talk about your window and door project!