Costly Mistake with key

Motherof3_2

This is a long thread but please bear with me.
We have a new orangary and it has 4 bi-folding doors, 1 of which has been damaged by a key being in when opened. Before this happened the key kept catching in the lock so not sure if there was an issue with the barrel first. The key then jammed in the lock.
My issues are
- at no time were we told that you couldn't open the door with the key in (even if that seems obvious now!)
- we were told an engineer would come and look at it and put a new lock on and assess door damage - he did and when he replaced the lock he said he believed "something was wrong" and we should ask for a replacment door as the damage would always be visible on the door. Phoned to see what should happen next and was told that they would wait to see what the engineer reported to them after his next visit. At 2nd visit he said "he couldn't remove all damage and we should get a repalcement, after all we had spent a lot of money on them".
- when it comes to getting the door replaced they are now saying as we left the key in it was our fault. There could not have been anything wrong with the barrel or key so it could not have been catching beforehand, in fact they have never had a customer report such a thing. They said their engineer had no right offering his opinion to me and they will not replace unless I pay an extra £400.
I have held back £900 payment which is to be paid when I am happy with everything. Do I have the right to hold this back? Are they right when they say that a barrel can NEVER be faulty and a key can NEVER catch in it? I don't know where I stand with it all.

RadoJo

How long have you had the doors? Did you get a written report from the engineer stating that the lock was faulty?

Motherof3_2

They have only been in about 3 weeks and no the engineer left with the barrel but didn't leave a report. They are now saying that it wasn't a faulty barrel and he shouldn't have offered his opinion without facts. I plan to phone them once I've had some replies from here so I will ask for a copy of the engineers report when I do.

Thanks

barvid

> - at no time were we told that you couldn't open the door with the key in (even if that seems obvious now!)

Maybe you weren't told because it's obvious? When I bought my car I wasn't told not to drive with my eyes shut. Does that mean someone else needs to pay up if I have a go and crash? You need to take some responsibility to take care of your possessions and use them sensibly.

Freddie_Snowbits

I suggest that you hold on to the final payment, as may be stated in your purchase plan, but allow for the installation/company to fix the problem. Our Conservatory had a problem with one of the windows and door, but they soon got replacements and fixed them, though it took about 5 weeks for the new door to be made.

Motherof3_2

I think I was not clear in my origianal thread but the key was left in the door as it had been caught in the lock. So yes we opened it knowing it was in but only as we could not take it out.

Motherof3_2

Quick update - was worth holding out as door replaced. Engineers report did say that there was a fault on the lock and hence why key couldn't come out.