Double Glazing - South Wales

andyt01

Sorry - new here & hope this is right forum.

My 86 year-old mum has just has 3 replacement upvc double glazed windows plus front door fitted in a small terraced house in south Wales - without telling any of the family about it so as "not to worry anyone". I’m worried she was fleeced.

There are 2 x 1st floor windows (no scaffolding needed) approx. 800mm x 1300mm each with top light and tilt/turn panel underneath. Ground floor window is 1500mm x 1700mm with 2 opening top lights. All are standard openings – brick surrounds and no bay windows. One new cill on upstairs window. New front door seems very sturdy with small fan-light above. Mum thinks salesman said windows would be argon? / gas filled to keep cool in summer and warm in winter but can’t see any markings on windows or paperwork to say that.

Door-to-door salesman met Mum alone and she agreed to pay £4,500. She has already given £900 deposit on her debit card. Windows have been fitted but top 2 have to be replaced as they are not tilt & turn as ordered and bottom window has one fan-light to be replaced as fitted with obscure glass. Fitters knew order was wrong but went ahead anyway.

Fitters coming back next week to correct fitting.

1 - Has mum been ripped-off?
2 - If so, what can be done?
3 - What is a reasonable price?

Desperate for any advice before fitters come back next week.

Andy

greenface

welcome andy . price seems steep without seeing it I would be looking for a max of £3k Tilt n Turn are more expensive so 500 each window and 1.5k the door . that's my top price . don't concern yourself about the argon . it wont say it anywhere unless the lables are still on and argon or no argon is buttons difference .unfortunately age isn't a stumbling block although I think it should be . Its a thin line in sales about getting people to sign a contract . I called at an elderly ladys home and was talking to her daughter about all the different styles etc and the old girl piped up .its my house and I'm paying so talk to me . Legally I don't think there is any recourse but it would be interesting to get a savvy neighbour to get them to price the same job to se what they could knuckle the rep down to , make sure they do all the work and correctly . provide all written work and receipts . talk to your mum about how things work with door to door sales and tell her to call you or a member of the fambo to sit in to help her choose correctly . and not overpay . to be fair it could have been more expensive . keep us up to date

Furts

The extent of the remedial works suggests things are wrong here. One has to ask why the wrong windows were supplied. Errors like this do not just happen.

For rough guidance on typical prices check out Wickes for prices. Get a catalogue, or check on line. Bear in mind this is supply only, but aimed at retail customers. Add say £150-200 per item to cover fitting and overheads and you will get an idea of value. Then add an arbitrary profit if you so wish.

What can be done about this? My intuition is very little. But ultimately you have a duty to all fellow human beings to name and shame the company that has taken advantage of your Mum. The icing on the cake would be to name the sales person as a low life, unscrupulous, individual. This might act to make them think before doing such a thing again.

andyt01

Greenface & Furts - thanks both for replies. As both of you say, probably no legal recourse and will have to pay up. I'll give update if anything changes.


Thanks again - good advice.

greenface

Furts wrote: »

What can be done about this? My intuition is very little. But ultimately you have a duty to all fellow human beings to name and shame the company that has taken advantage of your Mum. The icing on the cake would be to name the sales person as a low life, unscrupulous, individual. This might act to make them think before doing such a thing again.

wow the sales rep hasn't done anything wrong here . even the mistake with the T&T windows may not be down to the rep. maybe mum should have shopped around more or shared her price with the rest of the fambo . the price is pricey but not highway robbery here

greenface

andyt01 wrote: »

Greenface & Furts - thanks both for replies. As both of you say, probably no legal recourse and will have to pay up. I'll give update if anything changes.


Thanks again - good advice.

did you have trickle vents in the old frames before change

House_Martin

Looks like your mum accepted the first price the salesman offered.
I had one in two days ago for a new kitchen door (not composite ) and three very small windows.
His first quote was £4500, which dropped to £2450, which dropped to £1450 after the usual con of "phoning his manager " for the "at the death price ".
I think he would have gone even lower.
£4500 is ridiculous for three windows.Trade price for these would ve been £250 each approx , so shes paid over £3k for fitting, not even 4 hours work for two fitters. Not a con but not far off it taking advantage of the vulnerable.
My man spotted I was nt an easy touch and I set about trying to sell him a set of golf clubs I d bought on the boot sale this week!

Annie_Wilson

Sorry I'm new here and don't know how to start a new thread but I need advice on our double glazing which is currently being installed. 3 of the 6 windows are wrong and whilst they have agreed to fix 2 they are refusing to replace the 3rd one which is completely the wrong style and sticks out like a sore thumb on the front of our house. The problem occurred because we have chosen box sash slide up/down style and was told the bathroom window would be easier with a 'dummy' sash with a push out opening. It was not explained to us that this would be a completely different style - not like a box sash at all but quite a chunky framed window which is certainly more frame than glass. It does not sit happily with the beautifu bedroom window alongside it and is really quite ugly. We spoke to the company who told us this is what we ordered - and I suppose it could be argued we did - but we thought we were ordering something similar in looks to the rest of the windows but just a 'dummy'
We asked what is would take to have it replaced and have been told we need to pay a further £650. We think that is extortionate for something that we feel wasnt explained to us clearly but we offered to split that cost and pay £350. This was refused point blank. We threatened to withhold the cost of that one window from the final bill until we could resolve the issue but the manager rang the fitters and told them to stop work which left us with no front window downstairs and no front door. Work only resumed when we promised to pay in full.
Do we have any legal course of action or have we to just accept it was our fault for misunderstanding. Please help...as pensioners this is our last chance to afford home improvements and it is so important to us that our home looks right.
Thank you in advance
Annie Wilson

Furts

Annie_Wilson wrote: »

Sorry I'm new here and don't know how to start a new thread but I need advice on our double glazing which is currently being installed. 3 of the 6 windows are wrong and whilst they have agreed to fix 2 they are refusing to replace the 3rd one which is completely the wrong style and sticks out like a sore thumb on the front of our house. The problem occurred because we have chosen box sash slide up/down style and was told the bathroom window would be easier with a 'dummy' sash with a push out opening. It was not explained to us that this would be a completely different style - not like a box sash at all but quite a chunky framed window which is certainly more frame than glass. It does not sit happily with the beautifu bedroom window alongside it and is really quite ugly. We spoke to the company who told us this is what we ordered - and I suppose it could be argued we did - but we thought we were ordering something similar in looks to the rest of the windows but just a 'dummy'
We asked what is would take to have it replaced and have been told we need to pay a further £650. We think that is extortionate for something that we feel wasnt explained to us clearly but we offered to split that cost and pay £350. This was refused point blank. We threatened to withhold the cost of that one window from the final bill until we could resolve the issue but the manager rang the fitters and told them to stop work which left us with no front window downstairs and no front door. Work only resumed when we promised to pay in full.
Do we have any legal course of action or have we to just accept it was our fault for misunderstanding. Please help...as pensioners this is our last chance to afford home improvements and it is so important to us that our home looks right.
Thank you in advance
Annie Wilson

What type of company were you dealing with? If it is one where a sales person called, commission is being paid, advertising and marketing are being done, the there should be room to come to a compromise. In other words, you will be paying vastly over the odds for your windows so there is money in there to divvy around.

If you are dealing with a small local outfit, I would have have thought something could be done. Plus they would want satisfied customers to recommend repeat business.

Your post sounds like you are dealing with bullies. If so, you may have to name and shame them on social media, in the local press, and so on. They may then negotiate more.

greenface

Does sound bulling . asking the lads to down tools . I can read youre upset here and welcome to MSE . Interesting they've replace 2 from the 3 you say are wrong . a pic would be useful but you need to up your posts first . If you've ordered sliding sashes and they've done a few of them in pvc and had a top opener and bottom dummy . even with a internal Georgian bar inside the middle . wouldn't look anything the same and better left as narrow even with sash horns on . this could be a cheaper compromise than . pics inside and out would be good TBH sash frames and standard profile could never look the same .

greenface

House_Martin wrote: »

Looks like your mum accepted the first price the salesman offered.
I had one in two days ago for a new kitchen door (not composite ) and three very small windows.
His first quote was £4500, which dropped to £2450, which dropped to £1450 after the usual con of "phoning his manager " for the "at the death price ".
I think he would have gone even lower.
£4500 is ridiculous for three windows.Trade price for these would ve been £250 each approx , so shes paid over £3k for fitting, not even 4 hours work for two fitters. Not a con but not far off it taking advantage of the vulnerable.
My man spotted I was nt an easy touch and I set about trying to sell him a set of golf clubs I d bought on the boot sale this week!

spot on post and reply