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Is this a genuine company? Please help..

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Leven
Leven Posts: 96 Forumite
edited 10 May 2013 at 10:19PM in Praise, vent & warnings
Hello,
not sure where I should post this thread, but I think this is probably the best place...

A couple of days ago, a salesman knocked on my door, claiming to represent a company named 'South West Designs' home improvements. We need external work on the house, so I said that he could send someone to quote.

The quote person arrived the next evening and gave a reasonable price, with a half price garage door thrown in if we go ahead with the jobs in June.

Today we received the quote in the form of an email sent from a mobile phone. We said that we would go ahead and tomorrow the man is coming here to collect a deposit cheque for 25% of the price (we will post-date the cheque as far ahead as they allow).

However... I have since done some research and
- the company is not coming up anywhere on the web when I do a Google search
- The company's web site consists of a single page and the links do not work
- The 'quote' is not on headed paper, its just an email
- We have not seen a company van
- They were not willing to give specific details of the whereabouts of other properties that they have worked on
- The address on the leaflet relates to a business park in the city where we live, but the company is not flagged on the Google map or street view

Basically, all we have is their leaflet.

In view of the above, I am now starting to wonder if this is a genuine company who I can trust with our deposit money. I am getting quite worried about this.

Can anyone give any advise on whether we should proceed and what checks we can do to verify if they are genuine?
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Comments

  • julie2710
    julie2710 Posts: 1,381 Forumite
    Personally I think it sounds dodgy and I wouldn't pay anyone anything up front.

    They get paid when they do the work in my books. I could be wrong but I've never dealt with workmen or builders who want money upfront.
    MBNA [STRIKE]£2,029[/STRIKE] £1,145 Virgin [STRIKE]£8,712[/STRIKE] £7,957 Sainsbury [STRIKE]£6,870[/STRIKE] £5,575 M&S [STRIKE]£10,016[/STRIKE] £9,690 Barclaycard [STRIKE]£11,951[/STRIKE] £11,628 CTC [STRIKE]£7,629[/STRIKE] £6,789 Mortgage £[STRIKE]182,828[/STRIKE] £171,670
    LBM Dec12 excl mort 47,207/42,784 Dec13
    Excl mortg and CTC 39,578/35,995 Dec13
    Incl mortg 230,035/214,454 Dec13

    Extra payment a week:this week £0 / YTD£1,457.55
  • fluffnutter
    fluffnutter Posts: 23,179 Forumite
    Nothing good comes of someone cold-calling and you're right to be suspicious. Don't part with your money, anticipate a bit of pressure and some guff about 'broken contracts' and vague threats which you should completely ignore.

    Seriously, don't give them a penny.
    "Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of the cancer cell" - Edward Abbey.
  • iammumtoone
    iammumtoone Posts: 6,377 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    Personally I would leave well alone. I suppose it is possible it could be a start up company who haven't had the time to update websites etc yet, but I would say its not worth the risk

    If something sounds to good to be true it normally is.
  • withabix
    withabix Posts: 9,508 Forumite
    !!!!!!.......
    British Ex-pat in British Columbia!
  • gb12345
    gb12345 Posts: 3,055 Forumite
    Leven wrote: »
    - The company's web site consists of a single page and the links do not work

    Is the website southwestdesigns.co.uk? To me that looks like a site for a web designer rather than a facia/guttering company.

    I wouldn't give them a penny up front unless you can veryify that the company does actually exist.

    Are they claiming that "South West Designs" is a Limited company or a T/A name?
  • Leven
    Leven Posts: 96 Forumite
    The website on the leaflet is:

    https://www.south-westdesigns.co.uk

    The leaflet names the company as is 'South West Designs', doesn't say limited.
  • withabix
    withabix Posts: 9,508 Forumite
    Web address Registered on: 14-Apr-2013
    British Ex-pat in British Columbia!
  • Salz
    Salz Posts: 385 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Domain Name was only registered on 14th April this year also. Would certainly not part with any money before the work is done!
    Don't Panic - and carry a towel
  • bubblegumcola
    bubblegumcola Posts: 1,100 Forumite
    None of the links work on the website when you click to see a conservatory, windows, etc. Personally the alarms bells are ringing for me because nothing on the website works, it just looks like a holding page. Just did a google search and normally with an established company you find a few links or reviews but can't find anything about this company.
    I wouldn't be handing over any money until I knew they were a genuine company. Definitely do more research, ask friends for recommendations. Why not phone trading standards and ask if they have ever heard of them?
    It just looks really dodgy to me. Do NOT hand over anything til you have satisfied yourself this is a real company!
  • gb12345
    gb12345 Posts: 3,055 Forumite
    Salz wrote: »
    Domain Name was only registered on 14th April this year also. Would certainly not part with any money before the work is done!

    Add to that the fact that the registrant has incorrectly opted out of having his details shown by pretending to be non-trading (I've reported them to Nominet, so the details will soon be there for everyone to see).
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