conservatory door unusable - company don't return calls

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Hoping for some advice - had a small conservatory fitted 4 years ago with sliding patio doors. (10 year guarantee)

We had an issue at Easter, when one of the internal smaller panes of glass shattered, after many, many phone calls, the chap (one man outfit, with a few guys working for him) eventually came out, and said that he thought the damage was caused by something hitting the glass from inside - this is absolutely not true, and 2 few weeks later, after several more calls, he came out & replaced it with no charge.

Anyway, our patio door has been getting more & more difficult to open/lock, and we realised that the door seems to have 'dropped' in its frame - you have to use alot of pressure to lift the door so that it can be locked.

It has become so bad recently that we daren't try & open the door in case we won't be able to re-lock it again.

I have contacted the company several times, eventually, at the start of the summer holidays, he sent out his chaps who took one look & said that the rollers had broken & they would have to report back to the boss.

Ever since, I have been trying to ring & ring - just goes to voicemail, have left several messages. 2 weeks ago, by complete fluke, he actually asnwered his phone, and came up with an excuse for not contacting me. However, he then went on to say that it wouldn't be covered under the guarantee, and that he would come back to me with a quote.

Again, nothing since.

Firstly, in your opinion, should this be covered under guarantee?

Secondly, I just want this fixed - who should I contact, a local tradesmen, glazier or a national double glazing firm?

Cheers

phill99

If it is the locking mechanism or hinges, they are usually only guaranteed for 12 months. The 10 year guarantee is only on the frames themselves. Nothing ever goes wrong with the frames so its a bit of a con really.

inspirespirit

are the sliding patio doors from your house into the conservatory, or from the conservatory into the garden? If it is the latter, then I doubt you will be covered. They are notoriously bad in a conservatory and should be advised against. French doors or a single door is always better. The weight of the conservatory roof would, over time, cause them to drop unless a special beam had been put in.

If they are from your house into the conservatory, there should not be a problem and they should cover this under the guarantee. Would not be a big job if they have just dropped slightly.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

inspirespirit wrote: »

are the sliding patio doors from your house into the conservatory, or from the conservatory into the garden? If it is the latter, then I doubt you will be covered. They are notoriously bad in a conservatory and should be advised against. French doors or a single door is always better. The weight of the conservatory roof would, over time, cause them to drop unless a special beam had been put in.

If they are from your house into the conservatory, there should not be a problem and they should cover this under the guarantee. Would not be a big job if they have just dropped slightly.

Hi, they are doors from the conservatory into the garden. Really wish we had french doors fitted now!

capeverde

should all be covered under 10 year warranty. are you sure the wheels dont just need adjusting, its rare for them to break on doors under 10 years old. If you look at the bottom of the sliding door on each end there is a hole. With a long screwdriver (usually cross head) you should be able to adjust the door up or down simply by turning the screw. If the mechanism has broken it is a relatively simple job. The door will need taking out and the mechanism identifying first. If its something you could attempt yourself, let me know and I'll talk you through it. Try to get the company to sort it first though, do you have insurance backed warranty? If not just tell them youre writing to rogue traders and give them a week. If they dont reply, Im afraid youre better off just attempting yourself or getting a local 'window doctor' in. Probably 30 quid in parts and a couple of hours labour. Not worth going to court over.

inspirespirit

phill99 wrote: »

If it is the locking mechanism or hinges, they are usually only guaranteed for 12 months. The 10 year guarantee is only on the frames themselves. Nothing ever goes wrong with the frames so its a bit of a con really.

They are only covered for 12 months with the manufacturer to the conservatory company. It is up to the conservatory company on their own guarantee what they cover. I used to own a conservatory company and covered hinges, locking mechanisms for the full 10 years.
However, there is no way we would put sliding doors as part of the actual conservatory. Doomed to fail and would have cost a fortune as part of the guarantee. If people absolutely insisted, we would add a disclaimer.

capeverde

just to cover the posts above, its irrelevant where they are situated. If a company installs them in a conservatory they should reinforce the ringbeam, simple. This will have no bearing on the mechanism anyway. ps I spent 20 years in industry.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

capeverde wrote: »

should all be covered under 10 year warranty. are you sure the wheels dont just need adjusting, its rare for them to break on doors under 10 years old. If you look at the bottom of the sliding door on each end there is a hole. With a long screwdriver (usually cross head) you should be able to adjust the door up or down simply by turning the screw. If the mechanism has broken it is a relatively simple job. The door will need taking out and the mechanism identifying first. If its something you could attempt yourself, let me know and I'll talk you through it. Try to get the company to sort it first though, do you have insurance backed warranty? If not just tell them youre writing to rogue traders and give them a week. If they dont reply, Im afraid youre better off just attempting yourself or getting a local 'window doctor' in. Probably 30 quid in parts and a couple of hours labour. Not worth going to court over.

Thanks - will have a good look over the weekend, but the chaps have already said the runners are broken?
I have googled & have found step by step instructions to replace the runners, just not very confident I could do it - Am thinking about sending the guy a letter by recorded delivery giving him 14 days to sort out the issue. Thanks for your help

inspirespirit

capeverde wrote: »

should all be covered under 10 year warranty. are you sure the wheels dont just need adjusting, its rare for them to break on doors under 10 years old. If you look at the bottom of the sliding door on each end there is a hole. With a long screwdriver (usually cross head) you should be able to adjust the door up or down simply by turning the screw. If the mechanism has broken it is a relatively simple job. The door will need taking out and the mechanism identifying first. If its something you could attempt yourself, let me know and I'll talk you through it. Try to get the company to sort it first though, do you have insurance backed warranty? If not just tell them youre writing to rogue traders and give them a week. If they dont reply, Im afraid youre better off just attempting yourself or getting a local 'window doctor' in. Probably 30 quid in parts and a couple of hours labour. Not worth going to court over.

If she does what you are saying she will negate her guarantee. She needs to see if it is an insurance backed guarantee. If it is she can ring the insurance company and they will force the company to complete the work under the guarantee. If it is not insurance backed it is not worth the paper it is written on.

capeverde

inspirespirit wrote: »

If she does what you are saying she will negate her guarantee. She needs to see if it is an insurance backed guarantee. If it is she can ring the insurance company and they will force the company to complete the work under the guarantee. If it is not insurance backed it is not worth the paper it is written on.

if you read my post ive said about the insurance backed guarantee, we are saying the same thing.

inspirespirit

capeverde wrote: »

if you read my post ive said about the insurance backed guarantee, we are saying the same thing.

sorry, I thought you were advising her to get a screwdriver and give it a go herself.

To be fair, it is most of the smaller companies who do give insurance backed guarantees. The larger companies don't bother and just absorb the future costs of work into their prices.
Coldseal, who used to be a national, didn't (they didn't even insure peoples deposits), and when they went bust (selling literally up to 3 hours before), thousands of people lost their deposits and no-one had an insurance backed guarantee so the company guarantee became worthless.

Hopefully, she will have one and then there will not be a problem.