St Andrews Glass Dundee

smartypantz

Dont know if anybody has read the courier today but St Andrews Glass have gone belly up.William Luke gave a statement saying he has not worked for St Andrews Glass for over a week and that he had met with the parents was bull the parents met with a man called Steve Flynn not William Luke.

As for Extreme 88's comment have a bit of heart these kids who were employed by this company had just left school and it was there first jobs.

amandada

smartypantz wrote: »

As for Extreme 88's comment have a bit of heart these kids who were employed by this company had just left school and it was there first jobs.

I couldn't agree more! They plagued the life out of me for a while turning up on the doorstep, but they were always polite with it

Extreme88

No sympathy from me, kids or no kids, its time to reflect on your schooling
And if scumbags like St Andrews Glass, want to employ numbskulls that’s up to them, I say stick in at school or move on to college if you want to avoid leeches like them who exploit people to the full, and drop them like a stone when they don’t deliver for them

Anyone who tells `kids` to annoy pensioners by endless cold calling deserves all they get

Extreme88

sideyman

And as for Arbroath Glazing coming to the rescue, it makes me wonder what St. Andrews glass have done with thier remaining order book. Have they passed or sold it on, to another dubious glazing company. Anyone can cherrypick the best of what was left! If anyone could be bothered checking the financial statue of the companies, (the last posted accounts) that if they have posted any? If people come unstuck with mickey mouse glaziers then they only have themselves to blame.

sandy20_2

Sideyman

If they have passed on their order book, I would have thought I might have had a call by now.

I feel angry at this situation, particularly if as quoted correctly in Courier the finacial difficulties go back 2 months.
It would be interesting to know how much money they took in in deposits from customers in last two months for work that they must have been aware could not be delivered?
In my case, I placed an order in April (within the last 2 months) and deposit asked for was 20% - I did not pay that much as I considered it an unreasonable amount to ask up front but did pay a deposit as I knew my project required planning permission and and after much consideration considered that a small deposit could be justified to fund this.

I take your point about checking out a companies accounts out, however most of us ordinary "punters" are not that business savvy.

I think most of us affected by this are feeling bad enough without being told or reminded that we only have ourselves to blame !!

It might be more useful and constructive to post on here where we or other prospective customers could check a companies accounts for future reference, in addition assuming that there is a fee for such info, how much does this info typically cost?

Also what advice would you offer prospective customers when buying windows, doors or conservatories?

I, and I'm sure others who read this forum would appreciate this type of advice.

sideyman

Sand 20, Let me deal with some issues.
A company does not get into difficulty over a couple of months, it normally happens over a couple of years, as they build a great black hole of bad credit.
Insurance backed guarantee's are not normally worth the paper their written on!
Anyone can get the accounts of companies at http://www.companies-house.gov.uk/ The cost for general accounts is normally approx £1-£3
Small price for peace of mind when parting with hard earned money. If it says accounts not filed, then avoid these like the plague. All bona a fida business file accounts, even if they are bad! An example of this is C. R. Smith and Lyndon of Dundee. I certainly would avoid these two. Also beware of companies that blitz advertising such as tv, press and radia at the same time whilst in an economic downturn such as we are having now. These often try and push up their business and bring in cash deposits and then go bust, not paying for the adverts and taking poor punters to the cleaners! SO CHECK OUT THE LAST ACCOUNTS. If you have to pay a deposit, then always pay by credit card. That way at least you get some protection.
Lastly, always try and do business with a company that has existed longer than the guarantee they offer. In my 35 years in this business l have seen all the cons and dodgy deals. If the deal seems too good to be true, then it will be. If its the cheapest, then you will get exactly that, a cheap product and cheap service. Go for middle of the road, and my advice is not to pay a deposit in the first place. Hope this helps. If anyone needs advice if you have placed an order with a deposit, just ask.

smartypantz

Just thought i'd say i have the information from companies house and according to the documents St Andrew Glass are still a trading company.
They were also known as Bellshelf before they changed the company name on 12/11/2004.

sandy20_2

Sideyman,

Thanks for your post which contains a lot of useful advice.

This may just help others who read this avoid the same plight in future or at least be warned!!

Much appreciated.

sandy20_2

Oooooooohhhh wrote: »

"It's also quite funny when people deal with these small companies - who are often too good to be true - but moan and expect big company service etc when things go wrong"

"Tbh I would rarely buy from small time local companies for items of this size, it would be like buying all your new cars from the local cornershop, you wouldnt have a hope when it all went balls up"

It is easy to make criticism's of others misfortunes but often its about what can be afforded with a limited budget. To use another motor car analogy , I may want to drive a top of the range Ferrari but my bank manager, he say no, so I have to make do with a Renault Cleo!! The Cleo will still get me from A to B only maybe not as quickly!! My point is that you often have to compromise on a limited budget.

For your info I got quotes from 5 companies in all and St Andrews Glass were not the cheapest, but they did offer the style and size of conservatory that met my requirements (unlike competitors). I also did a fair degree of homework -checking recommendations and the like which suggested that their work was to a decent standard, however I accept (with hindsight) this was obviously not enough!!

It is also very difficult to assess who the bad guys are out there. A well known brand or big time company is no guarantee that a) the service will be any better or b) that they will not also go bust.

As for the kids and other members of their former workforce who are also victims of circumstance. You are right to say that life often isn't fair, and of course, they will have to move on, but your comments do perhaps sound rather harsh and unnecessary.

grannybroon

Well some two years ago we got our double glazing from a 'big' local firm - Penicuick - who deal in conservatories and dg. Just when our first year guarantee ran out (supposed to be guaranteed 10 years) surprise, surprise we got a letter to say gone into receivership and if we paid a large sum our dg would then continue to be guaranteed! We decided not to pay the large sum as actually very pleased with what we got but now Penicuik still trading under other ownership! We didn't pay a penny however, until the work was totally completed.

Not quite the same issue but we got quite a few quotes and asked around and the company we went with (and there was another local one in the running who are still operative) was the best at the time. The big companies we got quotes from were outrageous (5 times more for the same job!) I don't think any amount of homework prepares for this. You do the best at the time.

I would not like to have to depend on a 'selling' job nor want my kids to do it either. I know how abrupt I am if pestered at the door or on the phone but let's face it they are only trying to make a living.

GB