Double Glazing Scam?

Jib111

We are going to be having double glazing installed in the next few weeks and like I always do I rushed into things and rang this company in the yellow pages who was not FENSA resisted.

Two shifty looking blokes turned up and quickly offered me a no VAT deal if I paid them cash in hand. They was going on about how times are hard and they can keep the cost down that way.

They didn't want any cash upfront and was happy for me to pay them after the work was completed.

I was starting to think that they may be OK until i got an email off them this morning, they say they can do the 8 windows for £1540 parts and fittings.

That seems extremely cheap and I would like to know peoples opinions on this. I am now in the process of getting 4 quotes off FENSA registered tradesman and I've met 2 already and feel much better/safer.

McKneff

Anybody turning up at the door offering services must be short of work., It makes you wonder why they are short of work eh.

I could be wrong but, it has to be up to you.

Email them back and just tell them that you cannot come up with the finance as the bank has turned you down.

I would wait till spring now to get the job done.

Dont go for the biggies though, get quotes from local tradesmen and take them up on references.

I did this once and went to a house, the resident told me 'I wish I had never seen them and I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole'
Needless to say, they didnt get the job lol.

jamesingram

You could ask to speak to or see previous jobs, customers.

Depends on your window sizes , but DG windows trade to a small buyer can be around £120m2 ex vat , a good two man team, on a good run could fit 8 in day
Old rule of thumb used to be 2xsupply cost to fitter = price,
this is well out of date and if you add on fensa, salemen, office etc then the skys the limit ( or perhap a well known tall mountain )
Top off my head guess, £2500++ would be average stat point for 8 basic windows for a no frills local installer, be interested to see what your other quotes are.

jamesingram

if you are going for a reputable local installer and really want DG , ask
about triple glazing (3G) , supply cost is around +15% , but reduction in heatloss could be 30-40% more than DG . Might improve payback figures

rogerblack

jamesingram wrote: »

if you are going for a reputable local installer and really want DG , ask
about triple glazing (3G) , supply cost is around +15% , but reduction in heatloss could be 30-40% more than DG . Might improve payback figures

Double glazing will almost never pay back in pure energy saving terms, compared to single glazed windows that can be draughtproofed.

jamesingram

It'll pay back in terms of comfort and reduction in condensation and all related problems around that , from day one.
Depending on heat source and future fuel price rises the currently long payback term may well reduce, fitting 3G may well imporve this payback figure by 30-40% for a initial additonal invest of less. One problem is, will the windows last long enough
Using paybacks as a guide is useful, but if an item needs renewal as it has reached the end of it life, then it makes sense to buy the most efficient product budget will allow. In these cases payback relative to the original product is a bit meaningless

Martyn1981

Regarding payback, better draughtproofing might help a little bit, but there will also be better soundproofing and better security, these have value, but won't show up in energy bills.

Actually, sudden thought regarding security, I'm stretching here, but there may be a small gain on home insurance(?)

Mart.

C_Mababejive

Dont do it. So many people make the same mistakes and it all revolves around tut tradesmen and the old nudge nudge wink wink culture. How many people have had cheap and carp jobs done on building,plumbing,heating,boilers,electrics,car fixing etc,,,see how many hard luck stories are on here?

Pick a reputable local company .What window system are your bodgers proposing by the way?

rogerblack

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Regarding payback, better draughtproofing might help a little bit, but there will also be better soundproofing and better security, these have value, but won't show up in energy bills.

Actually, sudden thought regarding security, I'm stretching here, but there may be a small gain on home insurance(?)

Mart.

This is strongly dependant on your area, I think.
I have tried specifying no security all the way up to the maximum with insurance providers, and gotten no benefit.