Deposit for double glazing

tully67

Hi
Was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of how much of a deposit is normally required by double glazing companies. We had a quote for 3 windows and front door and they wanted a 50% deposit. As I have never had windows out in before I'm not sure how it works. I thought 50% (roughly £1000) was a bit much.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Torry_Quine

Any reputable company will not want any money until the job is finished and certainly not 50%.

tully67

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Any reputable company will not want any money until the job is finished and certainly not 50%.

Thanks so much. It's a locally-owned company and I thought it a bit odd.

Old_Git

maybe they have got their fingers burnt by people not paying .50% probably covers their costs. you could simply offer a smaller deposit

LocalLad

Torry_Quine wrote: »

Any reputable company will not want any money until the job is finished and certainly not 50%.

Not sure if this is 100% correct. These and similar companies have been hit hard by the decline in the building trade. More specifically, they have been hit by the amount of building firms they were sub-contracting for going under, therefore not getting paid for work they've done.
I'm not sure of the cost of fabricating a set of windows for a house, but it can't be cheap, add to the equation that these windows can't be re-sold should the order be cancelled, then you see why a deposit is required.
BTW, I have no affiliation with double glazing companies or anything building related.

Edit: I must add that 50% does seem quite excessive tho.

irishjohn

I reckon 50% deposit is carefully calculated to enable the company to pay to have the windows manufactured and pay for them. Thus if the customer defaults on the remainder they can still pay the manufacturer and only sustain the loss of labour costs and profit.

Have you checked out the reputation and reliability by talking to other customers?

BigAl94

I would only do this by credit card so you have recourse should the company fail.

McKneff

irishjohn wrote: »

I reckon 50% deposit is carefully calculated to enable the company to pay to have the windows manufactured and pay for them. Thus if the customer defaults on the remainder they can still pay the manufacturer and only sustain the loss of labour costs and profit.

Have you checked out the reputation and reliability by talking to other customers?

Any reputable company would have accounts with manufacturing companies thus enabling them to have up to 60 days for payment.

A deposit to a local company is fine, it shows your committment but 15% is more than ample.

motorguy

irishjohn wrote: »

I reckon 50% deposit is carefully calculated to enable the company to pay to have the windows manufactured and pay for them. Thus if the customer defaults on the remainder they can still pay the manufacturer and only sustain the loss of labour costs and profit.

Have you checked out the reputation and reliability by talking to other customers?

I would agree. Thats probably roughly the raw cost so if they customer reneges at least they're not out costs.

A word of warning though - When we were building out house the company we were using for the windows / doors asked for a 1/3 deposit upon ordering - which came to £7,000. They went bust a month later. :eek:

Now fortunately they were part of the Network VEKA programme and they got another supplier to fulfil the order at no extra cost to us.

BUT, it would be worth checking what insurance / assurance is in place. I would simply ask them outright.

tully67

Thanks for all your replies. It's made me think about this company anyway especially since they wanted the deposit paid by cash and would not accept credit card. Cheers everyone.

irishjohn

McKneff wrote: »

Any reputable company would have accounts with manufacturing companies thus enabling them to have up to 60 days for payment.

A deposit to a local company is fine, it shows your committment but 15% is more than ample.

Agreed, but taking the deposit means they have the means to pay it in 60 days if the customer defaults on the installation