We had mail today from someone seeking help, its a true story but we’ve deleted their details,
Dear Sir/Madam
Could I please ask for your advice. In August, I had double glazed windows, sliding patio doors and a composite door fitted to my property. Unfortunately I am dissatisfied with all of the fittings, and despite two meetings with the owners of the company, I still have major problems.
The window cavities hold water (not where the drain holes are) the sliding patio doors are insecure (as agreed by a Police Crime Reduction Officer) the composite door and the frame are colour mismatched and all of the fittings have been poorly ‘finished’ with black silicone on top of brown (all fittings are black.) At the time of this email, I have 32 issues.
As I understand, under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, any double glazing installation should be done with reasonable care and skill and the windows should be fit for purpose. I am extremely disappointed with this company and have no faith at all in their products or services. I believe that they have failed in their duties as prescribed by this Act, and therefore feel that I am within my rights to have them remove the fittings without payment.
I await your professional opinion.
Well where do you start? Firstly we must point out that we are not qualified to comment upon any specifics on this matter, and we do not offer professional opinion and have no knowledge or dealings with either party, just this email calling for help.
So lets take things in order. The products were installed in August and you have spoken with the owner. That’s good but we each forget to WRITE letters these days. If sending Emails then keeping copies is easier, but do keep copies of all correspondence so you can detail out who said what when, otherwise dates become muddled.
You have indicated your unhappiness to the company and given them the opportunity to resolve the issues, that’s good because many people don’t give companies a chance. However, now they have had the chance and still you are unhappy, you must confirm in writing your unhappiness, giving them a “reasonable” deadline for completion, before you issue legal proceedings.
This sounds overkill and its not nice but you must set out at the earliest opportunity, what you are unhappy about, what you expected to receive against what you actually received, and what you expect to happen, BECAUSE:
- Either the company will sort for you, or
- They don’t and you must get an independent third party to arbitrate for you, or
- They dont belong to any arbitration scheme and you must defend their unwillingness to rectify the problems, to your satisfaction, through the legal process.
Now, check to see if the company is a member of the GGF, DGCOS or TGO.
The GGF has an arbitration scheme covering every member. All GGF members (not GGFi that’s different), must install products that work and compliant with building regulations. They have a FREE (to home owners) arbitration service, that seeks to resolve the issues between you and the member. The GGF have very few complaints that need arbitration.
DGCOS is similar in that it protects consumers against installers who fail to keep their promises. They too have a review system which can lead to their Ombudsman becoming involved. DGC understands the decision their Ombudsman makes is legally binding upon you, so it’s worth checking if your rights are affected when signing the original order.
Then there’s a new organisation double glazing ombudsman, called The Glazing Ombudsman. TGO is new so its unlikely the company you selected was or is a member yet. However companies who belong to TGO are bound by the decision their Ombudsman makes, but you are still free to contest their decision in court if you wish. In other words your rights are unaffected.
As for drainage, this is a problem if the slots in PVCu for drainage and ventilation, are missing. Drainage slots are self explanatory, they drain any water that has got through the dry glazing, to drain away. However, to do so windows must have ventilation slots (known as pressure equalization slots) to allow water to drain easily, otherwise it can build up.
Car doors sometimes show this problem. Hasn’t rained fro days but when you open the door, water dribble out from the bottom, pressure prevented it draining before!
Insecure patio doors! This is a pet hate, security isn’t a British Standard. Sure windows and doors must be fit for purpose and sometimes flimsy locks are fitted, but if that’s what you were shown, then its difficult to say you wanted a more secure one later.
There is enhanced security, BS9750 specifies the standards doors and windows must reach before their security is considered enhanced (better than average). The police, through “Secured by Design”, their preferred product specification recognise those companies who fit BS9750 enhanced security products, there’s are listed on their web site and on our database if the company has chosen to add their accreditation.
Colour matching is difficult for companies, as different materials have different reflection properties, however to prevent issues arising, most companies would want to point these out to you or at the very least, shown you a sample. If the resulting product is different from the samples then its fair to expect to receive what you were shown. Remember most companies will have a clause that says “products can be substituted without notice” but still if its not what you ordered……ask it to be changed.
So, if dialogue still exists between you and the company, do discuss how things will be changed, (keeping a record along the way, even ask him to sign what was agreed).
If dialogue has broken down, find out if they have a third party assessor or independent arbitrator or ombudsman to mediate for you. Otherwise prepare to consider either the small claims court or high court (more expensive) to seek redress.
Moral of the story, make sure the company you chose to buy new replacements windows, doors and conservatories from, belong to some sort of body that has an arbitration service for you to fall back upon. Don’t be afraid to as before you sign the order, most companies don’t go bust and many see memberships as additional, needless expense, but you’ll find them INVALUABLE should things not turn out as planned.
