compensation from delayed completion of windows replacement

TiffJack

Hello. I am new here and I hope I can get some advice.

I recently had windows replacement for £10K. The internal finish wasn't the one agreed on the contract, which the glazing company agreed to fix it. On top of the two no-show appointments, it took extra 2 months to have the job probably done. 

With the un-satisfactory of the customer service, length of time it took, disruptive and inconvenience caused, I emailed the company who replied below:

As a demonstration of goodwill, and on a no-admissions basis we propose to offer you an e gratia price reduction of £425. As part of this, both you and the company would accept a binding reciprocal obligation on both parties to keep entirely private and confidential any history or discussions leading to this agreement, as well as the existence and terms of the agreement.

I am not happy with the amount of they offer. I am not happy they do not accept their wrong doing. I am not happy that they are trying to shut my mouth. 
But, what are my options here? Is it a reasonable offer? 

Can someone help me with the above, please?

lincroft1710

£425 is an odd figure it's not even 5%. Ask them if they would increase the offer to (say) £750 (7.5%). If not, take the £425. If you tried to go to Small Claims, you would have to show an actual monetary loss.

tightauldgit

TiffJack said:

Hello. I am new here and I hope I can get some advice.

I recently had windows replacement for £10K. The internal finish wasn't the one agreed on the contract, which the glazing company agreed to fix it. On top of the two no-show appointments, it took extra 2 months to have the job probably done. 

With the un-satisfactory of the customer service, length of time it took, disruptive and inconvenience caused, I emailed the company who replied below:

As a demonstration of goodwill, and on a no-admissions basis we propose to offer you an e gratia price reduction of £425. As part of this, both you and the company would accept a binding reciprocal obligation on both parties to keep entirely private and confidential any history or discussions leading to this agreement, as well as the existence and terms of the agreement.

I am not happy with the amount of they offer. I am not happy they do not accept their wrong doing. I am not happy that they are trying to shut my mouth. 
But, what are my options here? Is it a reasonable offer? 

Can someone help me with the above, please?

Option 1 - take what they offer

Option 2 - ask them for more

Beyond that? Unless you can show you actually suffered a loss (for example you took unpaid time off work for the two no-show appointments) then there's nothing for you to recover legally.

Aylesbury_Duck

Option 3 - be too greedy and they withdraw the offer they have made and you'll have to prove your actual losses in court if you seek compensation that way.

eskbanker

TiffJack said:

I am not happy with the amount of they offer.

You have the option to try to negotiate a better one, but it's up to you to justify it, i.e. nobody on here can really judge how severe the issues were, but it sounds like tangible losses were minimal?

TiffJack said:

I am not happy they do not accept their wrong doing.

The fact that they're making an ex gratia offer without admission of liability is unlikely to change, so I suspect it would be counterproductive to pursue this angle.

TiffJack said:

I am not happy that they are trying to shut my mouth.

Not an entirely unusual position for companies to request/insist that settlements are kept confidential - they wouldn't want customers going on social media bragging about how the company rolled over, for example (not that enforcing an NDA in such circumstances would be particularly viable).


So, in your shoes, I'd focus very much on the first of these three sources of unhappiness....

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

TiffJack said:

 On top of the two no-show appointments, it took extra 2 months to have the job probably done. 

If the job is properly done now then generally there wouldn't be any entitlement to a price reduction as the service conforms to the contract.

Had you sought to claim a price reduction earlier due to significant inconvenience or an unreasonable time it would generally only be the cost of having the work finished anyway so without any direct costs suffered £425 probably isn't a bad offer to accept  

Alderbank

eskbanker said:

...So, in your shoes, I'd focus very much on the first of these three sources of unhappiness....

Unlike the American Declaration of Independence, the pursuit of happiness is not a right under UK consumer law.

Take the offer.

eskbanker

Alderbank said:

eskbanker said:

...So, in your shoes, I'd focus very much on the first of these three sources of unhappiness....

Unlike the American Declaration of Independence, the pursuit of happiness is not a right under UK consumer law.

Take the offer.

Yes, just to be clear, my point was that out of OP's three sources of unhappiness, trying to improve the money offered was the most likely, or perhaps the least unlikely, prospect of securing any movement - I wasn't actually advocating it as a good idea though, unless OP is able to justify this in terms of quantifying the issues experienced (or has reason to believe that the first offer may not be the best and final one).

TiffJack

thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I should have said that they initially offered £245, then up to £475. When I said I would take the offer. They then added a clause of keeping it private.

Aylesbury_Duck

TiffJack said:

thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I should have said that they initially offered £245, then up to £475. When I said I would take the offer. They then added a clause of keeping it private.

Why is that a problem?  Have you got plans to tell lots of people about it?  If so, tell them you'll accept their first offer of £245 and tell who you like.

eskbanker

TiffJack said:

thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I should have said that they initially offered £245, then up to £475. When I said I would take the offer. They then added a clause of keeping it private.

Yes, there was nothing in your OP that suggested you were at the end of a negotiation rather than potentially at the start of one, which is undoubtedly pertinent information!