Conservatory company advice

jessicar

I need some advice choosing a company to supply and build a new conservatory for me. In the current economic climate I am tempted to play it safe and go for a large company because:

a) I don't want to lose any money if a company goes bust in the 4 - 6 weeks I'm waiting for it to be built
b) I would like a 10 year guarantee but that won't mean much if a company goes under!

Therefore, I was looking at larger companies such as Anglian and Everest but if I look online at those companies the online reviews and horror stories really put me off!

Can anybody offer me any advice? I don't know many people locally who have had a conservatory done.

Thanks in advance.

minnie123

Don't go to Everest or Anglian they charge a fortune - use a local company. Most will give a 10 year guarantee and the guarantee will be through an insurance company not the actual window company so even if you did need to claim and the company had gone bump it wouldn't matter. (the first 12 months guarantee is normally with the actual company.)

Just get a few quotes of all your local companies - ask for references and remember it's getting close to christmas when window fitting dries up so if you wait until closer to christmas/january time you should be able to negotiate a better deal.

Most local companies will not expect full payment upfront but installments with the full balance being paid upon completion.

(my BF has his own window fitting business and he just told me all this)

27col

No reason to suppose that Anglian or Everest are any less likely to go under than a local company. Presumably, if you pay by credit card you will have protection should the contractor go under.

Buffy4572

Be really really careful. On the back of our experience last year - check out my thread Bad Conservatory People! - I would personally now go for a very big firm and pay more. We thought we'd done everything right, checked the company out etc., even down to doing a search at Companies House on them and we got ripped off big time. The FENSA reg thing means nothing, they were about as helpful as a chocolate teapot when things went wrong - they don't cover connys only windows and doors!!!! If we can remortgage again next year and raise enough to finish our conny, we are going for a very large firm this time and I have no intention of paying anyone anything beyond a 10% deposit this time until it's completed and we are happy with it. It's made us very very wary of small businesses, particularly limited companies because they are so difficult to recover money from.

julianashcroft

27col wrote: »

No reason to suppose that Anglian or Everest are any less likely to go under than a local company. Presumably, if you pay by credit card you will have protection should the contractor go under.

Even if you just pay the deposit with your credit card (any amount from a penny upwards) and the rest by a different method then the full amount paid is protected by the Credit Card Company, not just the deposit.

ormus

all the nationals are rip off merchants. keep away from them.
if you use a local independant then use a CC. if they refuse to take it, then find another supplier.

Buffy4572

We couldn't believe how much the quotes we got varied for a 3.5m sq edwardian conny with pitch roof and dwarf walls to 2 sides, solid full height wall between us and attached neighbour from £7k, to £8,300 to £10k and top quote from the local firm who did our original double glazing 6/7 years ago was just short of £12k!! And don't forget there's always room for negotiation. When I said oooh, that's a bit much to the £12k lot they suddenly miraculously reduced it by £2k.
A lot of advice differed too, one company put a charge in for planning permission stating we required it but the other three didn't as it would be less than 15% of the total building area so came under permitted development. And only two of them pointed out that our plan to have it open plan to the sitting room would only be ok if we had patio doors fitted to it in the future if we put it up for sale.

jessicar

Thanks everybody - I must admit I'm starting to find the whole idea quite intimidating!

Is the consensus then that even if I went with a local company I'd be covered as long as I paid with my cc?

Buffy4752 - I'm off to read your thread!

Loganfire

My advise is ask friends and family see if anyone has had a quality and good job done then approach and ask for a quote always pay by visa as you are protect for 3 month free.

sunshinetours

Providing you are not paying much up front there is very little risk if the company goes pop

There is no way that Everest or Anglian make any sort of MSE financial sense with the likely difference in price you will be quoted

As above seek recommendations

cajef

We had a conservatory built six months ago, had quotes from several local firms, the one we chose gave us a full written specification for all the work at a competitive price and were happy to arrange for us to visit two of their previous customers.

Apart from electrics they did not sub contract, they did all the foundations, the dwarf wall and conservatory erection themselves, when we asked about payment we were told we do not ask for a deposit, pay us when we finish and you are satisfied and they gave a ten year insurance backed warranty.