Canterbury Conservatories - reputation?

[fellwalker5]

As an ex employee let me make some of you aware of the facts reference to canterbury conservatories, this company WAS owned by The Burnden Group Ltd which is currently in administration, they bought the midlands and northern operation in November 2008 from the administrators of Titan CWD trading as UV2.

The Burnden Group Ltd was started in October 2008 after restructuring and dissolving K2 Glass Ltd, Cestrum Ltd, K2 Conservatories Ltd etc and it was described as a re-structure Hmmm. UV2 went out of business owing 1.7 million Hmmm.

Now The Burnden Group trading as Canterbury Conservatories, K2 Conservatories, Direct Conservatories 4 U etc has also gone into administration and Canterbury Conservatories Ltd ,K2 Conservatories Ltd etc have been reborn again.

As we speak they have no Consumer Credit Licence, Finance Facility or agreement with B&Q. If you pay them a deposit via credit card or debit card I have heard it is being processed through Paypal Hmmm. I have also been told that the sales reps are receiving 1% extra commision to take greater deposits Hmmm.

If B&Q allow them to trade yet again in their store I can only believe they have no thought or consideration for their customers, and are only doing it to take their 5% commision.

Through all of the changes and so called re-structuring it beggars belief that all of the old directors are still in place, even the 2 owners of Titan CWD trad as UV2 are in the positions of Director and general manager of the now called Canterbury Conservatories Ltd Hmmm.

I would advise anyone who is not of sound mind and contemplating placing an order with the above to make a 10 pence call to the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) and request more info. Dont be fooled by the fact that they are in B&Q this is merely a concession in return for commision and nothing else.

There are many companies out there that will request a minimal or no deposit deal rather than the 15% deposit plus 40% base payment and a further 40% payment on arrival of frames with only 5% balance left to pay on completion. It is no wonder they arent keen to complete as they have had your money.

With more companies out there than you can shake a stick at surely you can find someone safer to deal with. I can only hope that you are reading this prior to placing an order and I have enlightened you to their history, for those of you that are too late, a call to the OFT or B&Q is the only way that you may get any help or stop other people being duped.

The Burnden Group, Canterbury Conservatories, Cestrum, Direct Conservatories 4 U etc also sell their conservatories through Homebase, Ebay and Garden Centres so keep yours eyes open and further updates will be placed when known. Thanks for reading.

I also was employed at the above until recently and can confirm all of the above. The company is in chaos with unpaid suppliers refusing to send items resulting them sending out the wrong components or not at all ! Also they have just lost the contract with B & Q for obvious reasons. You can say its sour grapes if you wish-but I have only one word to leave you with AVOID!

 

[staffsman]

Everything within this from ex employee is correct
Anyone spending money with this company must be MAD. I also am an ex employee and for those people who think we have sour grapes your right! not only did they not pay the suppliers or finish customers installations they didnt pay there workers.
These people who run the Burnden Group should be banned from running a company forever.
They sit in their IVORY Tower playing with peoples lives. Is this a company you would want to deal with???

 

[jotta]

Everything within this from ex employee is correct
Anyone spending money with this company must be MAD. I also am an ex employee and for those people who think we have sour grapes your right! not only did they not pay the suppliers or finish customers installations they didnt pay there workers.
These people who run the Burnden Group should be banned from running a company forever.
They sit in their IVORY Tower playing with peoples lives. Is this a company you would want to deal with???

i was also an ex employee of this company as anyone been successful in getting payment from them for jobs completed

 

[G51shopaholic]

Unfortunately for me i choose this company to build a large conservatory/extension to my home. I chose them after visitng my local B&Q. BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE!

It seem I'm not the only customer who'd having problems, however I live in Scotland and I'm getting hassle from the "sub agent" that sold me the Canterbury Conservatory. Who wants paid regardless of the fact that my contract is with Canterbury Conservatories, listed as part of the Burden Group who went into Administration in January.

I won't bore you with the details. But I'm the Cancer lady from "The Judge" in the Sunday mail. Yes they took OVER 1 YR and they fitted the wrong roof design. You'd have a great game of "Spot the difference" if you sat the salesmans drawing of what we wanted against what they actually built.

I'd like to hear from anyother Scottish customers, good or bad.

Anyone considering using them should be extremely careful - using a credit card would offer protection but going elsewhere would be safer!

 

[lordkingsley]

As an ex employee let me make some of you aware of the facts reference to canterbury conservatories, this company WAS owned by The Burnden Group Ltd which is currently in administration, they bought the midlands and northern operation in November 2008 from the administrators of Titan CWD trading as UV2.

The Burnden Group Ltd was started in October 2008 after restructuring and dissolving K2 Glass Ltd, Cestrum Ltd, K2 Conservatories Ltd etc and it was described as a re-structure Hmmm. UV2 went out of business owing 1.7 million Hmmm.

Now The Burnden Group trading as Canterbury Conservatories, K2 Conservatories, Direct Conservatories 4 U etc has also gone into administration and Canterbury Conservatories Ltd ,K2 Conservatories Ltd etc have been reborn again.

As we speak they have no Consumer Credit Licence, Finance Facility or agreement with B&Q. If you pay them a deposit via credit card or debit card I have heard it is being processed through Paypal Hmmm. I have also been told that the sales reps are receiving 1% extra commision to take greater deposits Hmmm.

If B&Q allow them to trade yet again in their store I can only believe they have no thought or consideration for their customers, and are only doing it to take their 5% commision.

Through all of the changes and so called re-structuring it beggars belief that all of the old directors are still in place, even the 2 owners of Titan CWD trad as UV2 are in the positions of Director and general manager of the now called Canterbury Conservatories Ltd Hmmm.

I would advise anyone who is not of sound mind and contemplating placing an order with the above to make a 10 pence call to the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) and request more info. Dont be fooled by the fact that they are in B&Q this is merely a concession in return for commision and nothing else.

There are many companies out there that will request a minimal or no deposit deal rather than the 15% deposit plus 40% base payment and a further 40% payment on arrival of frames with only 5% balance left to pay on completion. It is no wonder they arent keen to complete as they have had your money.

With more companies out there than you can shake a stick at surely you can find someone safer to deal with. I can only hope that you are reading this prior to placing an order and I have enlightened you to their history, for those of you that are too late, a call to the OFT or B&Q is the only way that you may get any help or stop other people being duped.

The Burnden Group, Canterbury Conservatories, Cestrum, Direct Conservatories 4 U etc also sell their conservatories through Homebase, Ebay and Garden Centres so keep yours eyes open and further updates will be placed when known. Thanks for reading.

Thanks for this, We ordered a conservatory from Canterbury in July 2009 they started in September and it is still not finished , 48 e-mails, 36 phone calls and 5 recorded letters, they are not interested, the company is full of lies and deception, B&Q finally kicked them out, how can companies just go in to liquidation and then start up again using the same name phone number. The insurance back warranty is not worth the paper it's written on, no one will finish it off , 5 companies have been out and will only pull it down and fit a new conservatory which will cost another £12,000 plus...... Never use this company. Sour Grapes what a load of ****

 

[pastCustomer]

It's really sad to hear some of the sories on here and across the web. We had work started in Spetember from these cowboys, which was supposed to take 6 weeks - yeah right!!

It eventually got completed in March 2010!!

We had to phone and phone to find out when the workmen were supposed to be coming.

They are nast and horrible people to deal with - rude and offensive. At one point I had their so called general manager calling me shouting and screaming down the phone at me. Very unpleasant.

My advice is to find someone honest and relaible from your own town if you can. It will be a lot less hassle.

My conservatory cost the best part of 19K and I had to bloomin' project manage it - which is of course what I paid them to do.

I'm still fighting to get back my £500 cashback.

Canterbury conservatories will go to any lengths to get your money off you and then go even further to not give you what you paid for. They are a disgrace to the whole industry. I really feel sorry for the poor workmen who graft all day for these leeches and then don't get paid.

I also feel sorry for anyone who has paid money to these cowboys. I only wish I'd done a search for reviews on this company before I employed them.

 

[lala2006]

Also as an ex employee, I strongly advise you NOT TO BUY from Canterbury or Direct Conservatories 4 U: from day one of starting work there, it was evident that the company lacked morals, expertise and were not legitimate in any way. You wouldnt like to know how your money is handled, manipulated ect. They will always try to con you in some way as they are in trouble with money themselves....

....however, they still manage to buy big company cars etc. It's a shame as I worked with a really nice team who would completely agree with what im saying. The people on top ruin it as they are greedy and havent put enough money into customer care etc to create repeat business. I'm sure that alot of their practices are illegal. All day we would recieve phonecalls from customers saying that things were broken or missing and there were 2 people on customer services! more than willing to help, but unable to!!!!

Please do not buy from them!!!!!

 

[Hugh Jaleak]

One for Matt Allwright and co?

 

[Nige F]

One for a Decent government - because so long as a company can play silly buggers with it`s name etc . there will never be any redress Bust on Friday - new name etc. on Monday - Good old Little Britain - 2 steps behind Greece

 

[decatis]

I ordered a conservatory from Canterbury Conservatories (CC) in October 2008, requesting delivery and installation in March 2009 and have had nothing but trouble with ths company since.

They delvered all components in December 2008 which lay in my Garden for Three months unprotected. They insisted on starting civil works installation in Feb 2009 just as the big freeze started and we are still sorting out problems in September 2010.

I have have raised papers with the local County Court and by doing so have managed to get Canterbury Conservatories Ltd, as they now call themselves after going into administration in Feb 2010, to finally start dealing with the outstanding issues and compensating me for their breach of their contract terms.

Our 10 main issues are
1 They failed to deliver to agred time scales,
2 They changed the design without consulation or customer approval.
3 They insist on a signature for delivery of components and glazed units Big Note: DO NOT SIGN THIS FORM. I found out when refusing to sign that if you have financed this build through Barclays Partner Finance (BPF), by signing the receipt of goods you are allowing full payment of the borrowed sum to CC which could leave you with a debt and a poorly installed conservatory. The contract between BPFand CC is set to different terms compared to the contract that you sign to take out the loan which states ' balance of payment on completion of installation'. BPF aren't interested in your problems with CC and even knew when I was threatening to take BPF and CC to the Small Claims Court, that CC were going into administration. to the financial ombudsman. BPF still give loans on behalf of CC and have not altered the conditions of payment.
4 CC employ loads of diferent sub contractors to undertake different parts of the build and in our case did not engage a project manger or site supervisor to over see the work.
5 I had to have a gable wall, footings and surface water drainage system totally deconstructed and rebuilt due major build issues left by the first builing contractor. I still have a buried foul gully and surface water pipe which are both encassed within my floor slab, due to shoddy workmanship.
6 The fitters looked pretty competent and were quick, however I now have a leak from a box gutter joint and electrically operated roof vents that don't work correctly as the rain sensor was fitted incorrectly (Three times) Both issues still need to be repaired.
7 We had to have two roofing bars (framework components) replaced due to delamination of the finished coating
8 We have had 8 sealed units replaced as the originals did not fit the frame correctly
9 I had to have the plasterer back three times to resolve shoddy workmanship
10 We are still in dispute and still waiting to clear damage and defects to our property (drive) and a public footpath, caused by a contracted skip lorry and orignal shoddy work of first builder

Note; with any building works it helps if you keep a site diary and include regular progress records. I took loads of pictures and videographic evidence of the build as it progressed and the problems as they occurred and made sure they were date stamped or included a relevant newspaper headline or two.

My best advise is stay clear of Canterbury Conservatories Ltd if you can. Use a reputable local company who can show you there work and or give you reccommendations that you can follow up on or even better go and see. Employ someone who you can easily call on if things go wrong. You'll probably get a better job and lot less hassle all round.

 

[becky01543]

As an ex employee let me make some of you aware of the facts reference to canterbury conservatories, this company WAS owned by The Burnden Group Ltd which is currently in administration, they bought the midlands and northern operation in November 2008 from the administrators of Titan CWD trading as UV2.

The Burnden Group Ltd was started in October 2008 after restructuring and dissolving K2 Glass Ltd, Cestrum Ltd, K2 Conservatories Ltd etc and it was described as a re-structure Hmmm. UV2 went out of business owing 1.7 million Hmmm.

Now The Burnden Group trading as Canterbury Conservatories, K2 Conservatories, Direct Conservatories 4 U etc has also gone into administration and Canterbury Conservatories Ltd ,K2 Conservatories Ltd etc have been reborn again.

As we speak they have no Consumer Credit Licence, Finance Facility or agreement with B&Q. If you pay them a deposit via credit card or debit card I have heard it is being processed through Paypal Hmmm. I have also been told that the sales reps are receiving 1% extra commision to take greater deposits Hmmm.

If B&Q allow them to trade yet again in their store I can only believe they have no thought or consideration for their customers, and are only doing it to take their 5% commision.

Through all of the changes and so called re-structuring it beggars belief that all of the old directors are still in place, even the 2 owners of Titan CWD trad as UV2 are in the positions of Director and general manager of the now called Canterbury Conservatories Ltd Hmmm.

I would advise anyone who is not of sound mind and contemplating placing an order with the above to make a 10 pence call to the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) and request more info. Dont be fooled by the fact that they are in B&Q this is merely a concession in return for commision and nothing else.

There are many companies out there that will request a minimal or no deposit deal rather than the 15% deposit plus 40% base payment and a further 40% payment on arrival of frames with only 5% balance left to pay on completion. It is no wonder they arent keen to complete as they have had your money.

With more companies out there than you can shake a stick at surely you can find someone safer to deal with. I can only hope that you are reading this prior to placing an order and I have enlightened you to their history, for those of you that are too late, a call to the OFT or B&Q is the only way that you may get any help or stop other people being duped.

The Burnden Group, Canterbury Conservatories, Cestrum, Direct Conservatories 4 U etc also sell their conservatories through Homebase, Ebay and Garden Centres so keep yours eyes open and further updates will be placed when known. Thanks for reading.

Thanks for this, We ordered a conservatory from Canterbury in July 2009 they started in September and it is still not finished , 48 e-mails, 36 phone calls and 5 recorded letters, they are not interested, the company is full of lies and deception, B&Q finally kicked them out, how can companies just go in to liquidation and then start up again using the same name phone number. The insurance back warranty is not worth the paper it's written on, no one will finish it off , 5 companies have been out and will only pull it down and fit a new conservatory which will cost another £12,000 plus...... Never use this company. Sour Grapes what a load of s**t

Unfortunately we have only just come across this site, my hubby has just left after being a conservatory fitter for the last 2 years. What a sham of a company, its changed names several times, they owe him 4 weeks wages and we havent got a chance in hell of seeing it again, i have contacted a debt recovery company and they have checked their records and confirmed this morning that Canterbury conservatories is in administration, the burnden group is in liquidation, k2 has been dissolved and uv2 went a while ago. When i phoned their head office this morning they are still answering the phone as K2 conservatories, it should not be allowed. Why is no government body watching companies like this they should not be allowed to close and then reopen under different names, its a sham.