Loop script question

We have a loop that works fine for user jdoe or bsmith...

for u in $over500 ;
    do
        if [ -e /Users/"$u"/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word.plist ]; then
            log "com.company.plist for "$u" exists, setting backward compatibility..."
            defaults write /Users/"$u"/Library/Preferences/com.microsoft.Word "14Default SaveDefault Format" "Doc97"
            log "Successfully set com.microsoft.Word.plist for "$u" for backward compatibility..."
        else
            log "com.microsoft.Word.plist for "$u" does not exist, moving on..."
        fi
    done

...but it's broken for DOMAINjdoe or DOMAINsmith.

I know...what the heck are users doing logging in like that?! Dunno, the naming fiasco happened before my time. :)

In any case, we need $u to preserve the back slash...it fails for those users, logs show DOMAINjdoe and DOMAINbsmith (slash was removed), so of course it won't find/change the file. :(

How do we adjust the syntax to preserve the back slash?

It's Friday, I know everyone is tired and going home...have a great weekend!

Don