Blew out a window at an open house with a bad showing trick

I was hosting an open house in a fancy high rise in Phoenix last month. I tried to impress a couple by showing how the windows sealed against noise, so I slammed one shut a little too hard. Turns out the tempered glass had a hairline crack already, and it just exploded into a million little cubes right there in the living room. The couple just stood there staring, and I had to call my broker to explain why the unit suddenly needed a $400 window replacement. Has anyone else had a showing go sideways that bad?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannah_perry6d ago

400 bucks is honestly not that bad for a lesson in not messing with other people's property to look cool... you're lucky they didn't sue you for the glass getting in their eyes or something.

faith_king6d ago

Just had almost the same thing happen to me last week. I was showing a condo and tried to demonstrate how quiet the dual pane windows were by tapping on one, and the whole thing just crumbled inward. There was glass everywhere, I mean little cubes all over the rug. The buyer literally stepped back and said "is that normal?" and I had to laugh it off while internally freaking out. Turned out the seal had failed and the pressure difference just made it give out. My broker was not thrilled about the $500 replacement either.

lindal135d ago

Your broker being mad about $500 is kind of funny considering a failed seal on a dual pane window usually means the whole unit needs replacing anyway. That tapping probably just sped up what was already going to happen. And Hannah's comment about you getting sued is over the top. Nobody's getting sued for a window breaking when someone taps it,especially in a showing where you're just trying to point out a feature. The seal failure is the real problem here,not you demonstrating a basic thing. Plus,$500 for a window replacement in a condo is pretty standard,not some huge loss. Your broker should be glad it wasn't worse.

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