Windows discontinued

lucym999

Hi, please may I have some advice. End of last year we had all the windows at front of house replaced . The windows were sash windows with Georgian bar as we live in granite property. 

Once we saved up money to replace back of house we contacted the same company 4 months later to replace the windows at back of house with the same sash windows. 

The workmen have been here 2 days and I have noticed the windows are not the same as the front of house! The site manager has come to inspect and agrees and is very embarrassed. He said he would investigate and came back to say manufacturer has discontinued the design! Nothing they can do! Clearly I did not pay or order different windows and had we been told this it would have influenced our decision to get them done at all. The MD has offered a ‘discount’ . We have paid 20% deposit so far and I am
not happy to pay balance on windows I did not order and don’t match! The manager has said he will see if he can source similar but can’t promise. I don’t want similar I want the same ! What are my rights here pleas? Thamks a lot  

JamoLew

As I understand it, you have made 2 separate purchases so there was always a risk of this.

Had you made 1 single purchase with 2 separate fitting dates then it would be different

You have no rights unIess the combined purchases were under a single contract/agreement last year 

cymruchris

Even though your purchase was recent - a company can discontinue a product at any time. So you could buy windows for the front today - they'd be discontinued the day after they were made - and then there'd be no more of that design ever. Everything has a life cycle - cars are an example, if you bought a Mini today, there's no guarantee that you could buy another of an identical Mini in 6 months time, it might look similar, but they might fit different lights or interior trim. 

Unless you had something in writing that guaranteed they could give you the same new windows within a fixed period - you're likely only going to get something similar as outlined, or take what you've got and take the discount offered, or see what they can come up with in terms of something similar. 

Was there a signed contract to say they'd supply exactly the same product within X months/years of ordering any further windows?

lucym999

Thank you! Do they not have an obligation to notify me that they are not the windows I ordered? We placed order, no contract was signed. A surveyor measured up so I would have expected that he alert me to this if there was a problem? I’m tempted to say we will only pay 50% of the total price- is this reasonable? 

I

Norman_Castle

lucym999 said:

Thank you! Do they not have an obligation to notify me that they are not the windows I ordered? We placed order, no contract was signed. A surveyor measured up so I would have expected that he alert me to this if there was a problem? I’m tempted to say we will only pay 50% of the total price- is this reasonable? 

I

No. Presumably the windows are of equal quality just a different design. How different are they? As they're on opposite sides of the house will anyone notice. Its right you're offered a discount if you asked for the same windows and they failed to realise these were different but 50% is unrealistic.

unforeseen

So they are still sash windows with Georgian bars except they are slightly different?

Unless your order stipulated an exact match and not just windows like the ones at the front then i don't see that the company has made a mistake. You have what you ordered albeit not exactly what you wanted 

visidigi

Depends explicitly on whats on your order confirmation/quote.

In theory they should never have been made if the order was so specific and the product no longer made....

cymruchris

It's hard to tell without seeing exactly what you've got compared to what you've ordered. Specs can change any time. So if you ordered 'Georgian window ultimate' - and received 'Georgian window ultimate' but a different specification, as it had changed (like my example of a Mini changing its interior or lights) - but was still a 'Georgian window ultimate' - there's not a lot you can do. If you'd ordered 'Georgian window ultimate' and received 'Victorian window supreme' - that might be a different matter. We are all guessing a little based on the information you've provided so far. How different are the windows? (I'm also not sure 50 percent is reasonable) What do your various pieces of paperwork say?

macman

50% discount is not realistic, given that the labour cost is probably half the total, and is the same for any window. I'd say that anything over 10% would be acceptable, unless they are dramatically different.
You need to push to establish what discount they are offering, then report back.

Sandtree

lucym999 said:

Thank you! Do they not have an obligation to notify me that they are not the windows I ordered? We placed order, no contract was signed. A surveyor measured up so I would have expected that he alert me to this if there was a problem? I’m tempted to say we will only pay 50% of the total price- is this reasonable? 

I

It will depend what was stated, if you explicitly stated that they were to be the identical model then they should have come back to you and advised that the model was no longer available but the fault may be with their supplier, though unlikely. If you asked for something similar, or gave a description rather than explicitly stating the same then they've met that.

You say its taken you 2 days to spot that they are different and so its clearly not a substantial difference. A 20% discount feels reasonable 

mattyprice4004

20% is what I'd aim for personally. What discount have you been offered?