Anglian Window Muppets

[Rolo]

Had two windows fitted, asked and called 5 times said I wanted WOOD window boards put. I came back and found they had put plastic in they said they would come back and sort, then cancelled day before after I chased them to confirm it was ok, they didnt have the two bits of wood in even though they had till Monday to order them.

Got to the point now where I cant be bothered to deal with them, the obviously don't care, I paid part of the bill for the windows but not the windows board, but I get the impression they don't want to come back to do the window boards.

The fitter said they were easy to replace just cut the sealent and pull out, is it that easy, or should I get someone in, chipie or window person ? They quoted £150 to fit x 2 1200mm window boards.

 

[Richard C]

Sincere commiserations; but there have been plenty of warnings on here about using the big nationals & I know it doesn’t help, but I've posted a few of them! Unfortunately, you’re right, they don’t give a stuff about the ‘finishing off’ bits as they’ve already made their ‘money’ on the inflated hardware prices they charge!

Invariable, you will pay far more for the same/similar quality product (or in some cases it can be inferior!). Unfortunately, you may get ripped off & I always advise using a small, local FENSA registered company as they usually only rely on their reputation for future work - to avoid castigation from others, I would add there are some, non registered installers that do an excellent job; but then your faced with personal compliance certification from BC unless you make sure they do it for you!

Window boards are easy - £20- £30 each max; but fitted with the main job! If someone has got to come in & do it as a day job, it will cost you a day’s money to make it worth their while but include as many board as you can

 

[Rolo]

I did get a few quotes both local and national and Anglian actually came in cheapest. Still a lesson learnt, will give them a month to sort it, to be honest Im pretty tempted to cancel the cheque. I rang them 5 times from 4 weeks before the fitting and on the week of the fitting and they said it was ok. Totally agree they dont seems to give a toss.

On the form I signed that the work was not completed, and paid for the windows only, I didnt pay for the crappy internal window boards they fitted. Will I be able to get away with cancelling the cheque or will they try and screw me over.

 

[Richard C]

Rolo;
I assume you paid a hefty deposit up front but, hopefully, if your cheque hasn’t been cleared, you still have the opportunity to cancel it! Do this immediately, don’t give them a month or your stuffed; but you must advise them immediately, by phone &/or E mail, with details of why you’ve cancelled the final payment & what you (reasonably) expect them to do to put things right. Follow this up ASAP in hard copy letter but be sure you have reasonable grounds for complaint & stopping payment; this puts the ball in their court!

A piece of advice for the future: always pay as little as possible up front 10% if you can get away with it but never more than 20% & never, ever pay the balance until your entirely satisfied. A minimum 20% outstanding balance is a hugely encouraging ‘ball grabber’ for any contractor; BE BRAVE!

 

[Rolo]

Oh what have I done, picking Anglian has now turned out to be a total fecking nightmare. I really dont know how a company as incompetent as this lot still operate. I was a pr*ck for using them, never again.

Anyway to cut a long story short, they fitted 2 smallish windows in Dec 06, I had to them wait till Friday 23rd Feb for them to return and fit the correct window boards. The managed to screw this up and rather than fit 2 they only had time to fit 1 and the one they did do isnt straight, and looks a crap. I now have to wait one more month for them to come back and sort out, so I have two windows in my hall with 1 plastic window board and one wooden.

You think that after the screws up Anglian would be helpful, but it seems Anglians customer service is based on the principle 'the customer is always wrong and it was my fault for asking for wooden window boards only 5 weeks before fitting'.

I told them today I had had enough and wanted to get someone else into finish the work. I was informed that if I did it would invalidate the windows warrenty, does that sound right even if its just the window boards.

To be honest Anglian are a bunch of cowboys, they have wasted so much of my time, left my house in a state and simply dont care. The dont care attitude at Anglian appears to be part of the organisations culture.

 

[Richard C]

Commiseration Rolo; only had time to fit one window board; Christ, how long were they there? I think your job is suffering from self employed dingo syndrome! 5 weeks notice is more than enough to allow a change of window boards, they are available off the shelf so that’s a load of crap. You could normally change the whole bl**dy window order in that time & as for getting someone else in to do the work invalidating your warranty, that’s just bullying tactics & has no legal grounding!

You must give them all reasonable opportunity to put things right but the trick now is to create as much of a nuisance to them as possible; contact your local consumer advice; complain to trading standards; & complain to FENSA - although they will probably only be interested in the glazing units, if at all! This usually gets the contractor interested enough to put things right especially, as in your case, there is not much cost involved. I used this approach successfully to resolved a problem I had with an OFTEC registered contractor last year (even I can still make mistakes in choosing them!) as his certification is his livelihood & he just didn’t want the hassle.

Give it a couple of weeks to see what happens & then write to them requiring them to carry out all the remedial works to your satisfaction within 28 days or you will get someone else in to do it & send them the bill as they have failed to fulfil their contractual obligations. Send it recorded delivery but be prepared to go to the small claims court (no big deal!) although it probably won’t come to that. Try not to loose your rag!

Your problem has only reinforced my distrust of large nationals & my belief in using small, recommended local contractors. Others be aware; it seems the only way to get some companies to stop treating their customers with contempt is not to give them your business in the first place!

 

[barnetboy]

Rolo,
I agree with Richard C. The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 lays out your rights as a consumer. Don't let them get away with it, the law is on your side!
If they don't play ball take them to the small claims court. You'll be surprised how many of the 'big' companies settle up if you call their bluff.
Good luck and let us know how you get on.
BB

 

[The-brickie]

Sincere commiserations; but there have been plenty of warnings on here about using the big nationals & I know it doesn’t help, but I've posted a few of them! Unfortunately, you’re right, they don’t give a stuff about the ‘finishing off’ bits as they’ve already made their ‘money’ on the inflated hardware prices they charge!

Invariable, you will pay far more for the same/similar quality product (or in some cases it can be inferior!). Unfortunately, you may get ripped off & I always advise using a small, local FENSA registered company as they usually only rely on their reputation for future work - to avoid castigation from others,

I would add there are some, non registered installers that do an excellent job;

but then your faced with personal compliance certification from BC unless you make sure they do it for you!

Window boards are easy - £20- £30 each max; but fitted with the main job! If someone has got to come in & do it as a day job, it will cost you a day’s money to make it worth their while but include as many board as you can

Well said that man (Being a small firm installer myself! ) and I take care of the building notice.

I do feel that all this Fensa rubbish is more 'wool' over the eyes tatics, I have seen self cert jobs and they are just as bad now as they were 5 years ago.

Sparkys' the same, I know the regs but because they can self cert they do as they please*

*Not all of them, just some I have seen.