Loft insulation via walk-in surveyor?

jackieb

We had someone at our door. We were quoted £99 but because I have a son who gets DLA we got it for nothing. They added another foot to the 2-3 inches that were all that was there originally. I would have happily paid £99 but £1000 seems hugely excessive. I live in a 4 bedroomed, 2 storey house. Not tiny, not huge.

unhappyone

I had two young men knock at my door offering insulation and after drilling a hole in the wall decided i needed wall cavity ..followed by a brief look into the attic.. I needed the loft done as well.
I spent weeks gradually clearing the attic and storing everything into my spare room which meant i could not accommodate the grandchildren while this was ongoing!
The job itself was passed onto yet another company from Stirling! I was given a date which was to be tomorrow 18th only to receive:mad: a message the day before due that it was cancelled! One man had an accident so all bookings had to be cancelled and another date would be more than a month away! Another month without having grandkids to stay and clutter. I thought this was a large company but obviously i am wrong when one mans mishap ceases all operations!!!
I cancelled altogether and no apology or even a shed of concern!
Very poor show!!!! NOT TO BE RECOMMENDED :mad:

kristian3105

I have been reading through this forum this morning a little concerned as I am having loft insulation put in next week by SIG...
I decided to give the Energy Saving Trust a call (0800 512 012) which was free, and an adviser told me that SIG are legitimate so I think I will give them a chance. I don't have to pay until I am happy with the work.
The government have given the top 5 energy companies grants to insulate homes fast. SIG / Miller Patterson's are legitimate and apply for the grant through your energy company.
I do understand people's frustration... and some people's experiences seem awful with regards to getting the surveyors (Sales men/women) out of their homes. I will let you know about the work soon! Thanks

Twang

Hi, This company are still trying to rip people off with doorstep sales. My mum who is retired had someone today and got her to sign up for cost of £600 which she is due to pay £200 so they made it sound like a bargain. Thanks to reading this forum I have spoken to my mum and she will cancel the contract, and has learn't her lesson with doorstep sales people. But what worries me is they are still at it, is there anything that can be done to stop SIG Energy Management doing this to other people?

UglyMuggins

I had exactly the same experience today. And I signed up, foolishly it seems. I spoke to our supplier and they said that SIG would not turn up unannounced on their behalf, it would need to be arranged directly through them, and that the work would be free (as opposed to £199. Originally it was going to be free, according to the SIG bloke, but it then morphed into £199). I have to say that this is not what I was told earlier in the day when I called the supplier (British Gas). On the earlier call they essentially said it's all fine and don't worry about it. Sigh.

Did you have any problems cancelling the work in the end? I am sending it by registered post tomorrow first thing.

Gallifrey_Girl

I have to say, following certain recent events, I'd be interested to hear about the follow up to cancellations too. The lack of any such stories from posters who've said they're cancelling suggests that these peeps do genuinely just simply go away without a fuss, but given everything else that's being said about them here, I find that just a little unlikely.

Tigger1000

Just had a "surveyor" call at my door, and try to persuade me to have new loft insulation. On being informed that we'd had it done 2 years ago, he tried to tell me that the "regulations have changed about 4 months ago", and it needed to be thicker! He did give up when I told him that our insulation was about a foot thick. Didn't manage to get as far as "I don't buy at the door" this time to get rid of him!

I can't recall having seen any change in the regulations, but it's the first time I've met that particular excuse. I am right, that there's been no change, aren't I?

lojk

Just had the same negative experience with a doorstep 'surveyor' (they have been prowling up our street all day apparently). (edit: my wife reminded me we had another one the other day that i turned away who in hindsight also said they were from SIG)

Very pushy, using misleading words (surveyor, grants) argumentative when challenged and all the classic phrases 'one time offer', 'not a sales call', 'didnt you get the leaflet?'. Implying that everything would be free when ultimately it just comes down to a £200 doorstep sales strategy.

They are NOT (directly) government appointed AFAIK and even if as they said, 'they are appointed by my energy supplier' they didnt seem to actually know who that was ;-)

If you are on benefits it's probably free (at least in part) but we're not and this just all felt really inappropriate at my doorstep. I'm a pretty strong character/large physical prescense but i could understand many people feeling pressured into at least permitting access to the house/loft and/or signing/commiting to something they didnt want.

Nobody can pass over my doorstep without invite or appointment and these guys had neither - I would recommend closing the door as soon as you feel uncomfortable too.

AndrewE99

wish i had read all this first. I usually shut the door on doorstep sales people but I looked up SIG and they seemed respectable.

Anyway, just waited in all day for them. They just called at 4pm to say they're not coming. They couldn't call earlier to tell me because they were stuck in someone's loft! And they then had the cheek to try and book another day with me. I told them where to go.

Avoid SIG/Miller Pattison. Total cowboys.

msspiggy

I had one of these SIG Energy pushy salespeople on my property yesterday. A young lad, clearly couldn't read my 'no doorstep callers' sign which I had to point out to him. His opening sales line was 'I'm just checking you've had your insulation done'. I know full well I've had my insulation done as me and my husband did it ourselves a few years ago. I wasn't at my door at the time instead I was on the pavement outside. Thankgoodness because I definitely would not have opened the door to him. I was assertive with a firm NO, bordering on rude as he tried to follow me down the street!! I'll never buy from that company based on their sales tactics.