Are there any double glazing companies that don't give you the hard sell?

[Hollis]

I spoke to Anglian Windows 20 years ago and it was a deeply unpleasant experience.

Had another firm around last week, and it was really annoying. No I'm not going to make a decision there and then..

Had anyone found a decent company that offers quotes without suggesting that your mad if you don't take up their offer?

 

[WouldBe]

Not had a problem with Polar windows but they are local to me (Chesterfield) and not sure how big an area they cover.

E2a: they do have an online quote thingy as well.

 

[two sheds]

Ask them what their repayment times are.

 

[kalmatthew]

Where are you in the country? My mum had a reasonable if not perfect experience with someone in the SE Herts area

 

[cupid_stunt]

The simple answer is avoid the big national companies, they tend to employ high pressure sales reps on very low basic wages & high commission or commission only, so they will keep pushing to get a deal done there & then.

Look for small independent local and well-established companies, ideally ask around for recommendations and check out reviews, if they actually manufacture the units themselves that could be even better/cheaper.

And, and when they turn up always tell them they are the first to be seen and you will be seeing two other companies for comparisons before making a decision, which should reduce any chance of them getting pushy, but should they still, just remind them and make it clear that you have two other companies due to quote, so you will not be making any decision on that day.

 

[Bus Honeygun]

Christ yeah! Anglian are insane. They just kept phoning and phoning, over and over. 28 times I think over the course of about eight years.

'Please stop phoning us and take us off your list.'

'Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll do that right now."

'Yeah, that's what the last person said..."

And then four months later they'd call again.

Weird business model. Net result was that we wouldn't recommend Anglian to anyone despite them doing a good job of the windows.

 

[A380]

I’ll just go and ring my boss to see if he’ll let me tell you that information. But there’s a special deal on telling you that ends at 1030 this morning…

 

[dessiato]

I’ll just go and ring my boss to see if he’ll let me tell you that information. But there’s a special deal on telling you that ends at 1030 this morning…

And there's a surveyor in the area, so we can cut his fees from the quote.

ETA I got a job selling double glazing, many years ago. I lasted two days on the training course. It was so dishonest.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I used a company local to me - The Window Clinic in Selhurst - and have no hesitation in recommending them.

As others have said - avoid the big, national companies and ask for recommendations from locals.

 

[BassJunkie]

If you've got a local independent hardware shop they can be very useful to ask for recommendations for all kinds of trades. They know who's good and wouldn't be recommending any national sales people. They should know who's local and sound.

 

[teuchter]

It doesn't really matter too much if they are big or small or national or local - just avoid the companies whose while business model is selling to domestic customers with little knowledge of what they need or want.

Windows are important; put some time into deciding what you need, get at least three separate quotes and compare them carefully.

Ask them to send you specifications and details of the specific window system they are proposing. If they are evasive on any of this, take them off your list.

 

[Elpenor]

The one time I did I got my colleague’s dad and brother to do it for me as a private job. They worked for a local Berkshire firm and were allowed to get glass in at cost and use their van and tools.

Cost me about 1/2 of the other quotes and paid in readies of course. Gave them some money for a drink on top.

 

[spudulike]

We got a load done last summer. We had one guy from a regional company come first, told him he was the first and we'd be getting other quotes but still got "discount if you accept in a couple of days as we'll have vans working in the area" spiel. When his boss phoned up a few days later I said that although we liked the products, the red flag went up as soon as they "couldn't" hold that discounted quote for a month.

Went with a local company who came when they said, finished when they said, cleared up perfectly every day and were great to have around. Not as great a range of choices but a couple of K cheaper.

Ask neighbours, look local.

We never considered the likes of Anglian as they seem to charge double from what we've heard.

 

[BoatieBird]

Another vote for small local company, we've gradually had the whole house done over the last 10 years or so by someone our next door neighbour recommended when we moved in. Ask around.

 

[two sheds]

What windows are you replacing by the way, and are you replacing for energy or sound insulation reasons?

If it's an old house it's often a shame to replace wooden windows with plastic ones. I've put up acrylic secondary glazing attached with magnetic strip on my sash windows, with heavy curtains. Not as good evidently but the money saved could go to making other energy improvements.

/may-not-be-at-all-relevant post but worth asking

 

[Griff]

Yep, another vote for local companies. Far better.

Mrs.Griff made the mistake once of giving her number to a company sitting in the foyer of the Romford B&Q and was rung constantly for months until she told them to "stop fucking calling me!"

 

[bellaozzydog]

I literally can’t get the fuckers to price me a job down this end of the country (Cornwall)

 

[keybored]

Avoid Safestyle UK like all the plagues ever.

 

[magneze]

Got a reasonable quote from a local firm for a smallish job (front door), but they're insisting on 50% upfront via bank transfer or debit card (ie: no protection, like credit card) and a lead time of 6-12 weeks. This is causing me serious pause for thought. Or am I being paranoid?

 

[two sheds]

why do they say no credit card? You do get some protection on debit card though, worth checking what.

 

[nogojones]

I spoke to Anglian Windows 20 years ago and it was a deeply unpleasant experience.

Had another firm around last week, and it was really annoying. No I'm not going to make a decision there and then..

Had anyone found a decent company that offers quotes without suggesting that your mad if you don't take up their offer?

Just look for local window fitters. They come, do the job and go.

All these big companies are awful.

 

[magneze]

why do they say no credit card? You do get some protection on debit card though, worth checking what.

They didn't say why. Yes, you get chargeback on debit card - although I tried that a few years back after some issue with something and it was utterly useless and didn't work. AFAIK the credit card protection is legally backed so that CC company have to pay you, debit card isn't like that.

 

[platinumsage]

Got a reasonable quote from a local firm for a smallish job (front door), but they're insisting on 50% upfront via bank transfer or debit card (ie: no protection, like credit card) and a lead time of 6-12 weeks. This is causing me serious pause for thought. Or am I being paranoid?

Entirely normal - they have to get the windows made to fit your window holes, and they obviously can't fit them anywhere else if you vanish or don't pay up.

Credit cards are normally very expensive for large purchases for retailers, you'll find most places won't accept them for large amounts e.g. car showrooms.

 

[kalmatthew]

You only need to pay over £100 pounds on CC to get protection on the whole amount you could ask if they'll accept £101 on credit card and the rest as bank transfer or debit. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/ about 1/4 down confirms this

 

[magneze]

Entirely normal - they have to get the windows made to fit your window holes, and they obviously can't fit them anywhere else if you vanish or don't pay up.

Credit cards are normally very expensive for large purchases for retailers, you'll find most places won't accept them for large amounts e.g. car showrooms.

Most advice I can find elsewhere seems to think 50% is unreasonable.

I've offered 25% but, no dice. 50% debit card or bank transfer.

If it was being done next week, then maybe but up to 3 months away feels weird.

 

[teuchter]

Or am I being paranoid?

No - be careful.

At least check if there's another company willing to do it for a similar price, who will accept payment by CC.

 

[teuchter]

The upfront deposit thing is always a problem where it's small scale building works for a domestic customer dealing with a small (and ltd.) company.

The risk (from the customer's point of view) of something going wrong is real, and not insignificant. It's just not unusual for small building companies or suppliers to go bust.

When they won't take payment by credit card - there's no good solution that I'm aware of. You can negotiate the deposit down, but in reality all you're doing is reducing the amount of money that there's a real chance of losing.

The company going bust is not the only risk - what if the goods arrive but are defective, and are effectively worth nothing until they are fixed.

A scenario I saw recently involved a window supplier holding a customer to ransom, thanks to the 50% deposit they had paid. The window company, after taking the deposit, announced that they were going to increase the installation cost of the windows by a large amount. If it weren't for the deposit, the customer could have said, ok, you've broken the contract (which gave a fixed price for supply and installation) and goodbye. This wasn't an option for them however, because they'd have had to wave goodbye to their deposit. The company hadn't gone bust, and the windows arrived and were fine and were installed, but at a big cost increase that the customer couldn't challenge thanks to the fact that the supplier held a large amount of deposit money.

I would always advise people to pay a bit more to buy from someone who either doesn't ask for an upfront deposit, or who will take payment by credit card.

I'm never sure why these companies don't accept credit cards - if it's just because of extra costs, why not offer the choice to the buyer - if you want to pay by CC it'll be an extra 5% (or whatever it would be). Is it because the credit card companies won't deal with them because they know they are high risk?

As far as I can see there would be a big market for some kind of escrow system, specifically for small building works. The customer pays the deposit to the escrow company, so the building company knows the money's there as long as they do what they've said they will - but it's only released once there's evidence of goods having been delivered, or work having been completed to agreed stages. But perhaps the reality is that this would cost more to administer, than most people would be willing to pay as an extra for it.

 

[magneze]

I used a company local to me - The Window Clinic in Selhurst - and have no hesitation in recommending them.

As others have said - avoid the big, national companies and ask for recommendations from locals.

Was it this one? Croydon double glazing specialist | The Window Clinic

 

[Hollis]

What windows are you replacing by the way, and are you replacing for energy or sound insulation reasons?

If it's an old house it's often a shame to replace wooden windows with plastic ones. I've put up acrylic secondary glazing attached with magnetic strip on my sash windows, with heavy curtains. Not as good evidently but the money saved could go to making other energy improvements.

/may-not-be-at-all-relevant post but worth asking

One of the windows is wooden casement - nothing special.

Downstairs is a wooden French Door - nice apart fom being bust. Would like to repace like for like really. The company that quoted, were basically going to replace it with a back door.

 

[StoneRoad]

Hmmpfff.

After loads of hassle and failures to either turn up to measure or actually produce decent estimates, We tried a number of the national companies and most of the local joiners [this was before Covid] ...
Having been badly disappointed on several counts, I gave up and Did It Myself.

Part of the problem is that I live on the edge [literally] of a National Park & a UNESCO World Heritage site - and the house is somewhat non-standard.

I had the frames made & stained in my workshops as a "government job" and bought double-glazed units from a local glass supplier, having measured up very carefully.
It takes about 3/4 of a day to cut out the old frames and replace with the new ones, then seal in the glazing units. Then the afternoon of the following day put on the glazing bars. About a week later, another stain coat and then apply several coats of varnish.

There's one original window left to do, plus one on the loft extension needs attention ...

I appreciate that not everyone has this option !