Conservatory issues

Guss

We've got several issues with out 9 year old conservatory those issues being a leak from the soffit ajoining the house, damp coming thru near the conservatory exterior doors and one of the conservatory roof panes has shifted. We've had them out before regarding the leak and they squarely pointed the finger at our house roof being the cause. In the end I removed part of the soffit and could see a leak coming from the conservatory box gutter so I know we are not completely if at all at fault.

Anyway to the reason I'm here. If they try and sidestep their responsibility what can I do? Can I get a 3rd party to inspect the conservatory? If the report points the finger at the installer/builder what are my options regarding putting right and recovering costs for the inspection and putting right? I've never had to do anything like this before hence why I'm seeking advice.

caprikid1

What was the original guarantee ?

Might be cheaper to get a third party to fix it ?

eskbanker

Do you have any sort of maintenance contract or lengthy guarantee from the installer, or are you hoping to make a case that the installation was flawed from day one nine years ago?

Aylesbury_Duck

After nine years you're almost certainly reliant upon whatever warranty there might be in place. I have a conservatory that is 11 years old and had fantastic service from the installers when I had three small problems inside the 10 year warranty. Any problems from now on are going to be at my cost.

Remember that conservatories are considered temporary outbuildings, they're not designed or built to anything like the standard a proper extension should be, and expectations of them performing the same are optimistic.

UnsureAboutthis

The good news is the outfit/DG company still exists.

Personally, I'd warn them that I was going to leave an honest review

of my experience when trying to resolve a leak under warranty/etc. Most

likely they would ignore it and I'd go ahead an leave a concise and factual

account of the numerous times you contacted them, etc.

The outfit, if anyhting like our double glazing, eventually responded to my Trustpilot (TP) review by contacting TP and telling them I was not a customer of theirs and more like that. I sent my infor to TP

and evdvidence i was a customer - then the double glazing said I was lying, and that got me worried and they had my review and updates removed again, but I ensured that everything I posted could be backed up.

Then the came and sorted the problem. As a good citizen, I updated my review on TP stating the

person that came out did a good job etc.

The double glazing people then wanted me to remove my review, hinting at some kind of reward. I refused, and then more threats, which I ignored and the review is still there.

What I did in my review on TP was reference their other major mistakes etc as highlighted by two others, and I guess that get them going.

Btw - I called an independent person/specialist out to ensure that the problem that required addressing under warranty was not due to a problem with our roof/gutters/joint, and it was not.

I got so fed up I rang a few puka companies asking them to come and fix and they warned me that I'd invalidate any warranty, and they did not really want to come out and fix, try to fix as there could have been a fundamental problem with the double glazing. Thankfully this was not the case.

A lot of these double-glazing outfits bang about about "FENSA" but FENSA can't help when it comes to conservatories.

Citizens advice will tell you to do this/that/etc but people like the outfit you are dealing with are seasoned

at ignoring warranty claims etc unless taken to court - I was lucky as the company had been around for years

and I think the new people/family members running it were not as caring as the people who started the company.

Therefore, if you are going to leave a review on TP/etc./etc., be very careful and before doing that, go to TP and see if this outfit even bothers to respond to negative reviews. mine did, hence their action

UnsureAboutthis

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81865479#Comment_81865479

A warranty is a warranty - if a company is easy at dising out ten year warranties, then they should honor

them unless they specially state certaain items are not included in the ten year warranty.

Locks/handles are often not part of a ten-year warranty but all other parts of the build are, hence, the company

needs to honor their warranty as it part of the contract

Aylesbury_Duck

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81865618#Comment_81865618

We have no idea if there is a warranty, though. It's not compulsory for a company to provide one, and if they do, they can set the term which might be more or less than 10 years.

Guss

We've got a 10 year insurance warranty with the company which is up next year.

Okay so a couple of their guys came out and am pleased to say there wasn't a hint of deflection as regards responsibility. They spotted issues which should have been taken care of when first installed and remedied them and righted the slipped panel. They have offered to come back to apply a gutter sealant if the leak hasn't completely gone but I believe the remedial work they've carried out should have sorted it. So relieved as I was expecting to have to put up a fight to get things righted. Such a difference compared to the last chap they send out.

@UnsureAboutthis Yes I would have gone down this route and more, I refuse to be intimidated. At least it would serve to warn others to stay away.

@caprikid1 We would have gone down this route, of getting a 3rd party, if they'd caused problems and even gone to court if reqd to recover costs.

Thanks for all the replies much appreciated. :)

Guss

Incidentally someone said this in response to my query elsewhere:

Unless you have an insurance-backed guarantee, then it isn't "their responsibility", it's yours. The maximum time an ordinary business to consumer contract can be chased for latent defects is 6 years, and even then you have to prove the fault was present at the beginning.

Is this true?

Ergates

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81866949#Comment_81866949

Not really. But not really totally wrong either.

Whilst a guarantee/Warranty can contain whatever terms & conditions the company likes (within obvious limits) they are legally binding. It doesn't need to be insurance backed for this to be the case. So, if they sell you a product with a guarantee that says "Any faults of type X,Y or Z occur within 10 years we'll fix them for free", then they have to do that.

The 6 year thing is: In England & Wales, you have 6 years to pursue a company for breach of contract, the timing runs from the point the contract was breached. So, if you purchase a product that turns out to be faulty, the argument would be that the contract was breached at the point of sale (because you paid for a non-faulty product), so you'd have 6 years from time of purchase to pursue the company. Whilst this is widely accepted, I don't know if it has been legally tested.
It's a bit different in Scotland (but broadly similar).

TELLIT01

At least the OP can now add the outcome to their review. Independent statements of faults from the outset won't help the company who put it up.