Double glazing - witholding warranty paperwork

martin1959

Hi

Bit complicated but will try and keep simple. We had a big extension which required a large quantity of DG and we also had the rest of the house done. The total cost was in the region of £18k.

From the very DG first installation in April there were issues which caused delays, which subsequently caused more expense as plasterers had to be rebooked, adjustments had to be made as they had mis measured openings etc.
Most installations had been completed by June, but there was a particular issue with a set of patio doors that had to be rebuilt and refitted, which was only done last week.


The whole account has been settled, less £2k. We have withheld due to the issues with the patio doors. We made several complaints over all the issues and extra costs we have incurred from out builder (we sourced the windows ourselves due to the complicated design) and they agreed in July to 'knock the odd £350 off the bill' which we said was unacceptable, and we would leave the balance of £2350 o/s until the doors had been fixed.


We have now contacted the firm and offered to pay £1250 of the o/s balance in full and final settlement of the account. This means we would have paid £17k of the total cost of £18,350. We feel reducing the account by £1,350 is not unreasonable (neither does our architect or builder) due to the stress, delay, additional expense, and inconvenience they have caused.


I have had an email back today basically telling me not to bother paying anything further, not even the 'offered' amount of £1250, and they will draw a line under the project, and write off the outstanding amount. However, they will not issue any paperwork of guarantees for any of the windows, as their company policy states that unless an account is settle in full they will withhold all guarantee paperwork.


Obviously after spending £17k on windows and doors I want some guarantee on the installations... so my thoughts are...


1. Pay the full o/s balance of £2350, get the guarantee paperwork and then 'Money Claim online' for the £1100 to cover the stress, inconvenience, delay and additional expense.


2. Sue them for (Money claim online?) for non production of guarantee papers


3. Contact credit card company as one of the previous part payments was made by credit card. Could they enforce issue of guarantees?


4. Accept their offer to walk away, which will save me the £1250, but I will have no guarantees.


Sorry for the long posting but thoughts would be welcome.....

hollydays

What actual expenses have you had.
How did you calculate the original sum of £2000?

martin1959

The £2000 was just a withheld amount until the works have been completed. The actual amount I want to deduct from the total payment of £18,350 is £1350. The builder and plasterer have invoiced me for additional costs of about £500, but the other is for the stress and inconvenience and unnecessary delay caused by the DG firms errors in measuring etc.




Cheers

naedanger

martin1959 wrote: »

The £2000 was just a withheld amount until the works have been completed. The actual amount I want to deduct from the total payment of £18,350 is £1350. The builder and plasterer have invoiced me for additional costs of about £500, but the other is for the stress and inconvenience and unnecessary delay caused by the DG firms errors in measuring etc.




Cheers

My thoughts are I would want to gauge how valuable/necessary I thought the guarantees would be. Some questions to help answer that:

1) How long was the work to be guaranteed and what would it cover?
2) Who was providing the guarantee e.g. was it the company who had undertaken the work in the first place? What if they went bankrupt? Do you think you would have difficulties if you actually tried to make a claim?
3) How well has the work been completed? How likely do you think you are to need to rely on a guarantee? (Obviously this last question is difficult, but your architect might give some informal view.)

If the work has (eventually) been completed to a high standard, and if the guarantees had not been underwritten by another party, then I would probably be inclined towards paying nothing further and take the risk of having no guarantees.

bris

You can't claim for stress and inconvenience only provable losses. To claim these provable losses you would also need to show negligence on the companies part.


It's not just a case of plucking a figure out the air and saying hey judge give me 2k for being let down, you can't win that.

Hintza

If you have any self respect then you will just walk away from this retaining the unpaid amount.

You have tried to play hardball and they have called your bluff.

wealdroam

Remember OP, you will need the FENSA certificate if ever you sell the property.

Have you got that?

martin1959

Hintza wrote: »

If you have any self respect then you will just walk away from this retaining the unpaid amount.

You have tried to play hardball and they have called your bluff.

I don't quite see how 'self respect' comes into it.....


They have not 'called my bluff', they have given me a choice which I do not consider reasonable.

martin1959

wealdroam wrote: »

Remember OP, you will need the FENSA certificate if ever you sell the property.

Have you got that?

We have some from the first windows which were fitted, and they do not state which windows they cover, so technically, I guess, they could cover the whole installation, although we do not plan to sell in the near future.


When we sold out last property in June we were asked for the FENSA certificates and just told the solicitor we could not find them. It did not cause any issues with the sale.


Thanks for pointing that out though....

Hintza

martin1959 wrote: »

I don't quite see how 'self respect' comes into it.....


They have not 'called my bluff', they have given me a choice which I do not consider reasonable.

That is your choice, but but at this point you have £2k to sort out any problems that crop up.

If you end up paying to get your warranty how good is that when they wind the company up?

If you decide to fight it how much are you willing to spend with no guarantee of a result?