Everest Double Glazing in administration

TheNumber

riverpeaceful said:

Hi all,

We are in a really similar situation to some others here so any and all help appreciated. We had around £20ks worth of windows and doors lined up with Everest before they went bust. Paid our deposit via credit card so potentially can get that back, but we also made a second payment of £12k on the 29th April - actually a few days after they had gone into administation but we didn't realise they had. This was done via GoCardless so counts as a bank transfer. We received a letter on the 1st May (our daughter's sixth birthday!) informing us Everest had gone into administration. Obviously this was really depressing and we were assuming the money was lost.

Then we got some great news - Anglian had taken over our order and were going to fulfil it! We completed their online form and stated our amount owing of around £4k. Next we heard was from a surveyor wanting to come and assess the situation - we had just had the Everest survey done the week before they went into administration so had all the paperwork for him to check. He went through it (brought a colleague who was ex-Everest to translate!) and confirmed all was ok to proceed with the order. No mention of money on their paperwork anywhere.

Next we get a call to book in the fitting. Scaffolders arrive on the Friday and up it goes. On the Monday the fitter arrives and after some introductions produces some paperwork for us to check. The number on their invoice does not include the £12k we have already paid so they are expecting £16k we don't have at the end of the week. Obviously we point out that is not right and he rings his manager, who rings their manager, and we wait. I refuse to allow the fitter to start work and in the end he goes home. Anglian now saying we need to get the money back from Everest somehow before we can proceed and will not compromise by for example just doing upstairs windows for now. Then have gone quiet on us.

Scaffolding is still up and no idea what is happening next. In hindsight of course we should have double check finances with Anglian before proceeding, but as we had told them what we thought was owing and they never challenged it we assumed they were getting the money from Everest directly. The administrator's report doesn't discuss GoCardless in any depth but regarding a similar payment facility Stripe says "The sale of the order book to Anglian will allow customers’ orders to be completed and thus should reduce Stripe’s contingent liability. However Anglian, as the purchaser of the order book, will be entitled to any release of funds from the merchant facility. Therefore the Administration estate will not recover any funds from this facility." So money from Stripe will be paid to Anglian to cover orders, but apparently not ours. I have taken this up with Resolve but no joy - they are now saying it is up to Anglian whether they fulfill orders or not and there is nothing more they can do.

GoCardless have confirmed the money was paid through despite them having the ability to suspend payments to a company that has gone into administration in their terms and conditions. The administrator's report mentions "In addition, approximately £300,000 was received into the Barclays trading account post appointment and enquires are underway to see whether these funds can be recovered by the Administration estate". I think this is probably where our hard-saved money ended up.

Sorry for writing such a long story but it has proven cathartic to do so. Any and all suggestions very welcome.

You can reclaim the whole amount given to Everest as you paid some of it using your credit card, because of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Tell your credit card company that you paid some on the card, but you want to make a claim for all that was paid so far to Everest

Aylesbury_Duck

riverpeaceful said:

Hi all,

We are in a really similar situation to some others here so any and all help appreciated. We had around £20ks worth of windows and doors lined up with Everest before they went bust. Paid our deposit via credit card so potentially can get that back, but we also made a second payment of £12k on the 29th April - actually a few days after they had gone into administation but we didn't realise they had. This was done via GoCardless so counts as a bank transfer. We received a letter on the 1st May (our daughter's sixth birthday!) informing us Everest had gone into administration. Obviously this was really depressing and we were assuming the money was lost.

Then we got some great news - Anglian had taken over our order and were going to fulfil it! We completed their online form and stated our amount owing of around £4k. Next we heard was from a surveyor wanting to come and assess the situation - we had just had the Everest survey done the week before they went into administration so had all the paperwork for him to check. He went through it (brought a colleague who was ex-Everest to translate!) and confirmed all was ok to proceed with the order. No mention of money on their paperwork anywhere.

Next we get a call to book in the fitting. Scaffolders arrive on the Friday and up it goes. On the Monday the fitter arrives and after some introductions produces some paperwork for us to check. The number on their invoice does not include the £12k we have already paid so they are expecting £16k we don't have at the end of the week. Obviously we point out that is not right and he rings his manager, who rings their manager, and we wait. I refuse to allow the fitter to start work and in the end he goes home. Anglian now saying we need to get the money back from Everest somehow before we can proceed and will not compromise by for example just doing upstairs windows for now. Then have gone quiet on us.

Scaffolding is still up and no idea what is happening next. In hindsight of course we should have double check finances with Anglian before proceeding, but as we had told them what we thought was owing and they never challenged it we assumed they were getting the money from Everest directly. The administrator's report doesn't discuss GoCardless in any depth but regarding a similar payment facility Stripe says "The sale of the order book to Anglian will allow customers’ orders to be completed and thus should reduce Stripe’s contingent liability. However Anglian, as the purchaser of the order book, will be entitled to any release of funds from the merchant facility. Therefore the Administration estate will not recover any funds from this facility." So money from Stripe will be paid to Anglian to cover orders, but apparently not ours. I have taken this up with Resolve but no joy - they are now saying it is up to Anglian whether they fulfill orders or not and there is nothing more they can do.

GoCardless have confirmed the money was paid through despite them having the ability to suspend payments to a company that has gone into administration in their terms and conditions. The administrator's report mentions "In addition, approximately £300,000 was received into the Barclays trading account post appointment and enquires are underway to see whether these funds can be recovered by the Administration estate". I think this is probably where our hard-saved money ended up.

Sorry for writing such a long story but it has proven cathartic to do so. Any and all suggestions very welcome.

Speak to your credit card provider asap about a Section 75 claim.  The order comes in under the maximum threshold so they're jointly liable for the whole sum.  There may be some tricky unwinding to do regarding scaffolding costs if it's determined you implied agreement for Anglian to start work, but that's a secondary battle.

My advice would be to stop all work and concentrate on retrieving the money you've paid Everest to date.  Once you have it, engage a local firm based on recommendations to do the work.  I don't have a high opinion of Anglian's work and I suspect that a local fitter will be cheaper and do a better job.  A local business relies on local reputation, they don't have millions to spend on slick national advertising campaigns.

Helonwheels

I need a repair doing to my patio doors but because the part is specific to Everest local installers have not been able to find a suitable alternative.

What is confusing me is that their website is still up and running with no mention of the fact they have gone into  liquidation, which there was in May.  You would have thought that if the bill is not being paid they would take it down, or at least have a holding page explaining that Everest have gone bust.

MeteredOut

Helonwheels said:

I need a repair doing to my patio doors but because the part is specific to Everest local installers have not been able to find a suitable alternative.

What is confusing me is that their website is still up and running with no mention of the fact they have gone into  liquidation, which there was in May.  You would have thought that if the bill is not being paid they would take it down, or at least have a holding page explaining that Everest have gone bust.

There's a good chance Anglian have acquired the website as part of their deal. They acquired Everest's Brand and Intellectual Property.

born_again

Helonwheels said:

I need a repair doing to my patio doors but because the part is specific to Everest local installers have not been able to find a suitable alternative.

What is confusing me is that their website is still up and running with no mention of the fact they have gone into  liquidation, which there was in May.  You would have thought that if the bill is not being paid they would take it down, or at least have a holding page explaining that Everest have gone bust.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02540020/filing-history

Southviewer2024

I paid a proportion to Everest by Bank Transfer, over £9000, I didn't have a credit card at the time. I have now been told that there is not enough money to pay any money to unsecured creditors, which is what I am. I keep getting the brush off from Anglian as each time I ring they say they can't get in touch with the warehouse. I was foolish to order from to a cold call from Everest, (which I had used before and therefore I trusted), Somebody has got my money. Could anybody advise me of any further options that might be open to me as it is a lot of money and left me thinking that this was a scam from the beginning as they new things were going downhill. Or have I lost it all. Thank-you in advance.

fghd

Hello Southviewer2024,
I'm in a similar position. Agreed new windows and doors in March. Paid £3000 deposit by debit card. 3 weeks later paid £11000 by bank transfer. Everest started to install , put in new front door and kitchen window, next day went into administration.  Resolve never replied to any of my emails or phone calls. Waited many weeks to see what would happen.  Managed to get £3000 deposit back from my bank. No joy with the bank transfer. Anglian contacted me and I tried to negotiate a good will gesture of not charging me for the outstanding doors and windows but negotiate a fee for the installation instead. As I had lost the £11000 and they had not cost Anglian anything. Unfortunately,  I've had no further contact for many weeks despite numerous emails,  and promises that they will "look into it".
I think I have lost my money and am not able to pay them all over again, even with their offer of 20% off. Sadly they just don't care.

Aylesbury_Duck

Southviewer2024 said:

I paid a proportion to Everest by Bank Transfer, over £9000, I didn't have a credit card at the time. I have now been told that there is not enough money to pay any money to unsecured creditors, which is what I am. I keep getting the brush off from Anglian as each time I ring they say they can't get in touch with the warehouse. I was foolish to order from to a cold call from Everest, (which I had used before and therefore I trusted), Somebody has got my money. Could anybody advise me of any further options that might be open to me as it is a lot of money and left me thinking that this was a scam from the beginning as they new things were going downhill. Or have I lost it all. Thank-you in advance.

What correspondence have you had from Anglian since Everest went under, and what exactly did it say?

gilesco

fghd said:

Hello Southviewer2024,
I'm in a similar position. Agreed new windows and doors in March. Paid £3000 deposit by debit card. 3 weeks later paid £11000 by bank transfer. Everest started to install , put in new front door and kitchen window, next day went into administration.  Resolve never replied to any of my emails or phone calls. Waited many weeks to see what would happen.  Managed to get £3000 deposit back from my bank. No joy with the bank transfer. Anglian contacted me and I tried to negotiate a good will gesture of not charging me for the outstanding doors and windows but negotiate a fee for the installation instead. As I had lost the £11000 and they had not cost Anglian anything. Unfortunately,  I've had no further contact for many weeks despite numerous emails,  and promises that they will "look into it".
I think I have lost my money and am not able to pay them all over again, even with their offer of 20% off. Sadly they just don't care.

I am in similar position too. I have had my initial deposit back via Chargeback, through my bank - but my "release to manufacturing" payment (£18,452) is still waiting to be refunded to me which is due by the end of September or beginning of October. Everything is on hold as far as the work is concerned - as the money is not there until it is refunded - I seriously doubt I will go with Anglian as their offer to Everest customers is now expired.

If you paid by Debit card then you need to go via Mastercard / VISA through your bank to dispute payments you made to Everest. If you paid by Credit card then you need to go through the Section 75 thingy.

It goes without saying never make payments for products or services by bank transfer, unless you have already received the products or services.

oliver2345

On Wednesday BBC one show watchdog did a small story on Anglian. You can watch it on iplayer