Anyone used the Mark Group?

rochyfish

Just had a couple of these guys knock at my door, they didn't have any leaflets, any information at all, just said when the form is filled in there is information on it. I was putting the kids to bed, he said he needed to drill a hole then we'd get free cavity wall insultation..... I'm not going to deal with a cold calling company that can't even leave me a leaflet so that I can check they're legit before drilling holes in my wall, I told him to sling his hook!

tevaka

For the 7th time in the last 2 yrs another Mark Group cold caller has bothered me.This is despite having told the previous 6 I don't need roof insulation as I already have the highest standard. Each time they promise to tell their company. I've also emailed Mark Group via their website to no avail
To all the apologists for this annoying company I ask for your address so I can pop round every couple of months and ask you if you want insulation
Think its time I found their director's addresses and picketed their home until they stop wasting my time and their staff get a rest from getting earache from my anger

Mergic

Door-to-door salesmen are rarely targeting specific houses or will have information about specific houses (eg. 'this house has advised they don't need our service'). If you don't want them calling, then you're best putting a sign in the window requesting 'no canvassers'. I believe there's one somewhere on this site you can print off. If they still knock then, you have more of a reason for complaint. I noticed the Mark Group salesman who called at our house didn't knock next door who have such a sign.

NickiP

Had these people come out to me a few weeks back offering free cavity wall installation. Two and a half hours later, the surveyor finally finished making a floor plan and taking photographs of every angle of my house possible. I told them I was a tenant and gave them my landlords details to get permission. I got a letter in the post saying appointment for cavity wall installation was made for the 1st November. Noone came. Today out of the blue they show up expecting to do the work. Then told me because I have a hedge on the side of my property, they wouldn't be able to do it. (At this point I'm wondering if they actually looked at the plethora of photographs that the surveyor took from EVERY angle) When I showed them the letter of the appointment date, they blamed 'Head Office. The guy continued to say they could carry on the work by drilling from the inside, which would have also included tearing up my kitchen wall which is all tiled... Of course I said NO! After the suprise team left I got a call from Mark Group. I again told them about the wrong date.. no apology.. just another blaming of Head Office. They then went on to tell me I'd be unable to get the work done unless I remove the hedge and asked if I wanted to make another 'appointment'. I told them if their work is anything like their unprofessionalism, they can forget it! Oh and I checked with my landlord.... He has had NO CONTACT from them! So they were about to drill into his house without his permission. Seems this group will do anything to get their money from the government, cut corners where need be, waste peoples time, and apparently do not have the words 'I'm Sorry' in their vocabulary!

nickg21

Has anyone had experience of the Mark Group installing External Solid Wall Insulation?
I'm disabled and [might] have had External Solid Wall Insulation, (by the Mark Group), arranged by a third party - at no cost to myself and apparently funded by one of the energy companies!!! The process to get this moving started months ago, but I heard no more until a man arrived on Saturday with a photocopied Mark Group ‘quotation’, asking me to sign and that installation would be in February. (The delay I can understand as the manufacturer’s state that their insulation should not be installed in freezing weather. Being in the North of Scotland and a winter like last year it could be July when they start).
I wasn't expecting him and certainly wasn't prepared to sign anything without reading it so I asked him to come back on Monday after I had checked some things. He said he would have to have it signed today, (Sunday), or I couldn't get the insulation installed. Call me cynical, but is this because I can't contact anyone until Monday!
The ‘quotation’ has lots of errors, doesn't even have my name and address, and as I’d been told the job was guaranteed for 25 years I was surprised to see that the materials are guaranteed for 25 years but the installation is only 2 years etc etc. It seems to be generic document that could be for anyone, anywhere. Another strange thing is that he supplied a 3 piece set of carbon paper, and told me to press hard when signing so that it goes through all the copies, (who uses carbon paper these days). I told him I would just copy them but he wanted carbon copies?? Why does he need 3 blank carbon copy sheets with just my signature and a date on???
The ‘quotation’ shows a zero cost, but as the true cost is £12,000 - £15,000 I don’t want to make any mistakes! Sorry for the lengthy post, but has anyone had dealings like this and with the Mark Group for this type of insulation?

theforumking

I would give this a SCAM RATING of: Low

Mergic

Sounds the same experience as I had with a cold caller, except they were offering hard to treat cavity insulation. I suspect your recent caller has no connection to your previous caller a few months ago. It's completely unprofessional to expect people to sign something there and then. I've done some research including contacting my local council backed scheme and the energy saving trust. They say I would need to pay for a Green Deal assessment and then pay (or get Green Deal Loan) to have work done. They advise their maybe some subsidy but very unlikely to cover whole cost. So what the Mark Group are playing at is suspicious, intriguing and worrying.
Did you sign anything in the end?

nickg21

Thank you both for your replies and my feelings are it is a complete scam - and who knows what my signed blank sheets of paper would buy!!!

theforumking, I haven't signed anything yet although he did appear around 5 this afternoon asking for the signed document. I said I wasn't prepared to do anything until I had made some phone calls tomorrow, then he left in a huff saying he had to go back to his office tonight, (about a 3 hour drive), and it's my fault if I don't get the 'free' insulation.

I too did some research when I was first contacted by the third party, and also contacted the local energy saving trust. We are all within say a mile of each other and the energy saving trust had never heard of the company and didn't know that any of the big 6 energy companies were releasing money for solid wall insulation grants. The only advice they could give was to make sure it was being done under the ECO scheme, (i.e. 100% free), and not the green deal or I would have to pay it back as you rightly said. Not an option at he moment as I'm unable to work.

I've just remembered that I was also told that they had obtained planning permission, (or obtained a building warrant) that was necessary to carry out the work. I'm not sure if this is peculiar to Scotland but I know it is required. A local housing scheme started to insulate their solid wall houses and seemed to be going great guns but suddenly it ground to a halt because they hadn't got the necessary permission to do the work or erect the scaffolding! Apparently they had a hefty fine, to be paid before work started again.

The plan is to call the Mark Group and the local Planning Dept in the morning, and then take it from there. I'll post how I get on because I'm as suspicious, intrigued and worried as you are.

Worried_of_wakefield

Absolutely outrageous, they took at least 2 1/2 hrs to do the job, and the mess....took me at least several seconds to tidy up and to make matters worse it cost me two cups of tea.

Post installation comment - Dog keeps fainting through heat exhaustion, think I shall have to have it all removed.

a_pebble_on_a_beach

Certain postcode areas in the UK are designated as "Low income areas" and as such insulation is available FREE to the householder.
Under the ECO funding the bill is picked up by the energy companies in a bid to reduce Carbon Emmisions. ECO CSCO (Energy Company Obligation - Carbon-saving community obligation

Area not in the post code areas may still qualify for free insulation if they are on certain qulifying benefits

Mark group and many other companies provide this service and obtain payments from the energy company obligation funds