windows.. are larger companies cheaper?

KELY

I have a standard 3 bed semi house which is in dire need of new windows. We need 7 and I'd like a bay in the front room. We had a couple of local companies come out to us last year and with a composite door there prices were £5500 (without bay window) . I'm wondering whether the bigger companies I.e safestyle etc would come in mych cheaper? We no longer need door either as have had that done now.

Dan-Dan

KELY wrote: »

I have a standard 3 bed semi house which is in dire need of new windows. We need 7 and I'd like a bay in the front room. We had a couple of local companies come out to us last year and with a composite door there prices were £5500 (without bay window) . I'm wondering whether the bigger companies I.e safestyle etc would come in mych cheaper? We no longer need door either as have had that done now.

They might be cheaper , but it`ll be a false economy , the chaps sent by the `big boys` will be doing each job as quickly as its physically possible

Personally , i would gather recommendations of a local firm that i felt i could deal with on a more level playing field

Furts

I second Dan Dan.

Approach Anglian, Everest, Safestyle, and some of the regional players, at your peril.

I am not mentioning the regional ones because I do not know know what region you are in.

The giveaway with the suspect companies is the presence of flash, commission hungry, sales people. Typically, such people do not have any succesful track record of accreditation, qualification, or technical knowledge. Their interest is not you or your windows, it is how much money can they pocket out of you.

katejo

Furts wrote: »

I second Dan Dan.

Approach Anglian, Everest, Safestyle, and some of the regional players, at your peril.

I am not mentioning the regional ones because I do not know know what region you are in.

The giveaway with the suspect companies is the presence of flash, commission hungry, sales people. Typically, such people do not have any succesful track record of accreditation, qualification, or technical knowledge. Their interest is not you or your windows, it is how much money can they pocket out of you.

And they are likely to try and offer you a lower price (which may still be expensive) if you sign up on the spot. I have had my windows done by a smaller fairly local firm.

The_Deep

I have justed placed an order with Safestyle. for two patio doors, a front door with side panel and two back doors.

I obtained six quotes, four from small local firms, one from a medium size semi local firm, and one from Safestyle.

Estimates were £4,100, £4,750, £5,000, £5,800, and £6,100. Safestyle were the lowest, but their quote was hand written on a piece of paper torn from an exercise book.

I called them and asked them to put some flesh on it, and their Area Manager suggested that he come round, to which I agreed.

To say that he was a rough diamond would be an understatement. He totally refused to break down the estimate, refusing even to tell me what the labour cost was, and insisted that the original quote was a good one.

Eventually, after about 20 minutes of very robust debate, I gave him an ultimatum, give me your lowest price and I would either sign a contract there and then, or I would show him the door, no second chances, no telephone calls, !!!! or leave the pot..

He quoted £3,490 and I signed.

I have since asked a couple of the other companies if they can substantially undercut it, (say by £250), and they told me they could not.

We will to wait until January to see what the product and work are like, but I do not have to pay a penny until I am totally satisfied..

Furts

The_Deep wrote: »

I have justed placed an order with Safestyle. for two patio doors, a front door with side panel and two back doors.

I obtained six quotes, four from small local firms, one from a medium size semi local firm, and one from Safestyle.

Estimates were £4,100, £4,750, £5,000, £5,800, and £6,100. Safestyle were the lowest, but their quote was hand written on a piece of paper torn from an exercise book.

I called them and asked them to put some flesh on it, and their Area Manager suggested that he come round, to which I agreed.

To say that he was a rough diamond would be an understatement. He totally refused to break down the estimate, refusing even to tell me what the labour cost was, and insisted that the original quote was a good one.

Eventually, after about 20 minutes of very robust debate, I gave him an ultimatum, give me your lowest price and I would either sign a contract there and then, or I would show him the door, no second chances, no telephone calls, !!!! or leave the pot..

He quoted £3,490 and I signed.

I have since asked a couple of the other companies if they can substantially undercut it, (say by £250), and they told me they could not.

We will to wait until January to see what the product and work are like, but I do not have to pay a penny until I am totally satisfied..

You may be OK but I would never do business like this. There is more to windows than seeking the lowest price and then going with a dodgy company. My neighbour recently went with Dunraven and got shafted. Another neighbour recently went with a small local company and ditto. Another neighbour has just had fascias, soffits and gutters done and ditto again.

All had not looked at the specifications, quality or technical standards. Indeed, none of them thought this was necessary. They are all now regretting this to varying extents.

The_Deep

Indeed, you need to be very aware in the DG game. As a retired property developer and landlord I like to think that that I am up to speed.

Furts

The_Deep wrote: »

Indeed, you need to be very aware in the DG game. As a retired property developer and landlord I like to think that that I am up to speed.

I am sure you are up to speed, but in fairness to all mse users you made a conscious decision to swim with the sharks. You probably relished the business meeting and you did well at knocking down the price. However, such action is beyond the capabilities of many people who post on this forum. That said, two points concern me;

First, you have stated that you "will have to wait and see the product and the work". This does not sing the praises for Safestyle.

Second, as a forum user I took the conscious decision to take my windows order to the next level. Namely, establish who are the mega manufacturers, place the order with the factory, obtain the longest guarantees on the market, obtain my own fitters, have the work fully inspected, then get a Building Control Inspection FOC to check and sign off the work. Finally, the windows were paid by credit card with the manufacturer knowing this was for my protection, should things become troublesome.

By doing this I specified and monitored, as best I could, the quality of everything. I accept that I paid a little over twice what you did, but for that I got two pairs of patio doors, two external doors, a composite front door, structural repairs to numerous window and door openings and twenty two windows. Finally, there was no unknown, or risk, regarding the product or workmanship.

Hence, I may have done better than your deal.

I respect your decision to go with Safestyle, but I still maintain that there are no positives in anyone placing business with them.

teddysmum

A large chunk of what you pay a large company goes as commission to the rep.


My son once worked on the production line of one and was told by a rep, that anything the rep added to the company's fixed prices was his for the keeping and the amount illustrated by his and his colleagues' swish cars. A lady I knew also told e that her son had a beautiful car, large house and lovely clothes all thanks to his commission.


I once had a quotation from such but for two different products. What should have been the cheaper one was quoted as higher, so I went to the showroom with my quotation, decide to go for UPVC and got a (subject to measurement) quotation that was lower. when someone else came out, the price was different again. The overall difference was £1000 on a £4500 job.

Furts

A few entries down the list of recent threads is one from The Deep.The Deep says dealing with Safestyle is not for the timid, and also implies that Safestyle is not a good company. On these two points I agree.

The Deep is commenting about Safestyle having no concept of Customer Service. My intuition is that the "Rough Diamond" that dealt with the order could not give a ---- about Customer Service.

The 15% saving offered by Safestyle is not to be sniffed at. But everything comes at a price and in this case it may be the omission of door handles, door number, locking mechanism etc.

As I have stated in my post , The Deep may have enjoyed the interaction with the Rough Diamond, but at present the Jury is out on who is winning this scenario.

I stand by my comment, "I respect your decision to go with Safestyle but I still maintain that there are no positives in anyone placing business with them"

Perhaps this thread will serve as a warning to all mse users about the risks of doing business with Safestyle!

C_Mababejive

You need to know what window system they are quoting for

Not all windows are the same

You also need to know if they have their own manuf plant
I wouldnt entertain the big companies selling their cheap rubbish. I got a well recommended local co . They told me what they sell,what they fit,they have their own plant and it all looks like good quality kit and i m very happy with it.