Schuco vs Soft-lite Barrington

[asys016]

Hello I live in midwest in an older home with 50 windows that needed replacing. After talking with several companies I selected the Shuco Triple Pane Option. Since I needed so many windows the company and I agreed to a price of $500 per window installed for the first 15 replacement windows and that when I purchased more windows they would be in the $500 dollar range. I am looking purchase 4 more windows and when I called the window salemen he told me that Shuco had been purchased by someone else and that I could still get the windows but the cost is now way to high. He told me to get the Soft-lite Barrington Triple Pane as it was the same quality. When I was intially looking at the windows I really liked the price and the quality of the Shucos. He told me the price of the Soft-Lites would be $560 installed. Should I swith to the Soft-lites? Thanks in advance!

[JasonS]

The salesman lied to you, Schuco is out of business. They shut down their US window operation. However the Barrington is a better window than the Schuco Window. Have him do the windows with the Ultimate Glass pack from softlite at 560 that would be a great value!

[Skydawggy.]

Schuco was purchased by a group of former employees. They are in the process of relocating their factory but should be up and running soon. The new company is called Force V Environmental and they will be producing the same window as Schuco.

Jason, please explain to the people reading this board why you believe the Barrington is better than the Schuco. I'm sure people would like to know.

[Window4U (IL)]

The salesman lied to you, Schuco is out of business.

Schuco-engineered products are alive and well with the new company. http://www.forcevenvironmental.com

I got a newsletter from them yesterday that they are introducing over 20 additional German-engineered window products to the market in the next 2 years.

Jason... I'm a Force V dealer as well as a Softlite Elements/Barrington dealer. The Elements compares very nicely with Schuco and even beats it on efficiency, ...but, If you truly think the Barrington is superior to Schuco then we need to get you into treatment as you're obviously hooked on crack.

[Windows on Washington]

Krypton is so damned expensive right now that I doubt they can do the upgrade for on $60.

I too like the Schuco/Force V window, however, as far as efficiency and air infiltration numbers go, I think Jason might be correct in that the Barrington has a slight edge. That is only a small piece of the puzzle and I doubt the reasoning why he recommended it over the Schuco but I am just stirring the pot.

Sky...you seem to have come full circle on the Force V line. Why the shift?

[Skydawggy.]

Nothing in my posts would indicate I'm Pro-Schuco. I was simply responding to Jasons claim that the salesman lied to the OP.

FVE has a long way to go before I would recommend them and an even longer way to go before we would sell them. Schuco's problems were not just limited to customer service. The way they treated their dealers for a while and consistent quality control were also problems. One has only to search this site and others to be reminded of these issues.

[advanced_energy]

i too have heard all the negativity surrounding schuco. force v is a wait and see type thing. tough to open up from scratch in this economy. i have seen the schuco window and i liked it. only thing i noticed was the lack of glass space due to the glazing bead;unless i am seeing things.
another thibg is for all its hype,it only sports a .21u-factor with a triple glaze krypton. all in all its a high quality window.

[buddy11]

Nothing in my posts would indicate I'm Pro-Schuco. I was simply responding to Jasons claim that the salesman lied to the OP.

FVE has a long way to go before I would recommend them and an even longer way to go before we would sell them. Schuco's problems were not just limited to customer service. The way they treated their dealers for a while and consistent quality control were also problems. One has only to search this site and others to be reminded of these issues.

Dawgy is right. They may have changed ownership, but one of the new owners laughed in my face when I confronted him with some truth. It'll take me some time before I'll warm up to them again.

Schuco potentially had the best window in the USA. I say "potentially" because they never quite got all the ingredients mixed together properly. Like a cake without egg, it just didn't hold up. If it wasn't QC is was long leads times, or bad accounting (we had to fix there errors constantly), or damaged goods, always something screwed up the mix. Had they ever gotten it together, which maybe FVE will, they would have had a great product.

[joepeterson56]

I reallize that this is very late to post this, but I had Schucos installed in my home in March 2004. By March 2008 I have had so many problems with them, such as 2 3lite fixed center sliders that sagged so bad that the fixed panels are about to fall into the room, & numerous other prblems.

I am STILL battling with the original company that sold me these "EXCELLENT windows, with a LIFETIME Guarantee" !!!
I have been battling with them since JUNE @))* and as of right now, they still have not fixed anything or made good on anything! They are supposedly coming one day next week, but I am not holding my breath on that! I finally refused to deal with them in any format except in writing, so at least I have everything in writing for all of the actions & complaints I will be filing against them.

My point here is, I was told by this same company that Schuco sold their residential vinyl window division to a company called FORCE FIVE ENVIRONMENTAL, who supposedly promptly decided to relocate the manufacturing plant some place down south, the partners had a big fight with each other & so far nothing has happened while they do battle. My problems seem to be a combination of inferior quality combined with piss poor installation! Also, this company I purchased from is now apparently doing business aledgedly as Insulsash. So far an internet search tells me that Insulsash windows no longer exist either. Can anyone point me in the right direction on any of this, other then the fact that I will be filing suit against the company I have been dealing with on 3/21/2011, as well as filing complaints with the state, the BBB, and going everywhere on the internet that I can to trash them with my horror story! HELP!!!!!!

[joepeterson56]

The salesman lied to you, Schuco is out of business.

Schuco-engineered products are alive and well with the new company. http://www.forcevenvironmental.com

I got a newsletter from them yesterday that they are introducing over 20 additional German-engineered window products to the market in the next 2 years.

Jason... I'm a Force V dealer as well as a Softlite Elements/Barrington dealer. The Elements compares very nicely with Schuco and even beats it on efficiency, ...but, If you truly think the Barrington is superior to Schuco then we need to get you into treatment as you're obviously hooked on crack.

As of 7:15 PM Eastern Standard time today, I went to the Force Five Website, dialed their number and got a recording that the phones are not in service

[joepeterson56]

FVE has a long way to go before I would recommend them and an even longer way to go before we would sell them. Schuco's problems were not just limited to customer service. The way they treated their dealers for a while and consistent quality control were also problems. One has only to search this site and others to be reminded of these issues.

Dawgy is right. They may have changed ownership, but one of the new owners laughed in my face when I confronted him with some truth. It'll take me some time before I'll warm up to them again.

Schuco potentially had the best window in the USA. I say "potentially" because they never quite got all the ingredients mixed together properly. Like a cake without egg, it just didn't hold up. If it wasn't QC is was long leads times, or bad accounting (we had to fix there errors constantly), or damaged goods, always something screwed up the mix. Had they ever gotten it together, which maybe FVE will, they would have had a great product.

FORCEVENVIRONMENTAL won't be getting anything done for anyone it appears. I have just done an exhaustive search on the internet for them & every phone number listed for them has a DISCONNECTED recording & the contact us link on their website doesn't function either! It appears that they have folde, or maybe they are just so good & so reputable and so busy, that they don't need any new customers!

[Delaware Mike]

This is just my 2-cents, but I would imagine that the owners and investors of Force-V most likely lost their backsides over the whole Schuco thing? As a dealer myself I would be more worried about my local reputation than just trying to apologize for the manufacturer's mistakes and misfortune. There were a lot of problems with those inline sliders but in all fairness, many of them weren't installed by the best window mechanics. I had to suck it up in the past and just rip something out and start over with a new window or door. It sucks to lose money on something, but some of these dealers don't look at the bigger picture with reputation and the power of the internet.

[joepeterson56]

Thanks for the input Mike. As a former business owner, I can understand what you are saying. When I purchased my business from the former owner, I spent almost my entire first week in business making good on warranty work repairing his screw ups, all done during the time period between us agreeing on the business sale & me taking it over! At the time this happened, if you purchased a business up here you were liable for all the problems covered under warranty. I have no idea if it is still like that here or not.

As far as force Five goes (who I had never heard of prior to Jan 09), as I said, it was explained to me that the company who purchase Schuco's residential window line was comprised of 2 partners who purchased it, & immediately decided to move the entire manufacturing facility & all supplies down "south" from here in CT, because it was much cheaper to do business down there, and immediately after moving everything down there got into a big fight over expenses & $$, and they never even opened the doors of that part of the business.

After finding this website during internet research on Schutco windows and the company up here (who I also found out thru these searches has been doing business down in NC & is incorporated in Delaware for some reason, has a far less than stellar performance record in both states than was available at the time I researched them & made the purchase) I began trying to contact force five, to see if frames and other parts for the Schutco's were still available. I found quite a few links to force five, but using the info on every one of them, I was unable to contact them through either email or direct web links & every phone number I found & tried was out of service.

Needless to say, I am both very frustrated as well as furiuos that I now have about 18 thousand dollars worth of "top of the line" windows, that were actually less than top of the line & that was compounded by piss poor installations. It certainly appears to me now that I will end up purchasing new replacement windows for my replacement windows!
I am just hoping to get a reliable source on here as to one of the best windows to put in now, & after having been burnt to the $ tune that I was, will probably dust off my laddersd & tools & do the installation myself. I cannot afford to be taken by unscrupulous businesses anymore.