How far does a basement egress window well need to stick out above ground?
Obviously there may be local restrictions, but on the 4 wells I had installed last year they highest one is about 3" above the surrounding ground level. 

I agree - that looks rather awful. I'd definitely ask them to replace it with a better sized well. My guess would be that was the one they brought and they didn't want to deal with having to go get a shorter one from their warehouse.