Anglian Windows - Breach of Contract

[xposay]

1 Rarely if ever will you get satisfaction from 'the bosses'
2 their Legal dept (which we dealt with) will take you to court -if they are right? as we did but 'settled' out of court'. They will put a Barrister in court! & not the coffee making sort!
Dealing with Anglian was a nightmare- NEVER AGAIN
If they have started an installation then they should finish it to a good standard and in reasonable time. take legal advice - However frustrating their solicitors are -they will know what is what re law/courts.
Do not -ever- take court sympathy as a given - the 'law' will dictate!!
Now why are they not completing the contract?
They know they have a legal obligation to do so - so why the delay?
Why did planning fail?...
(I would have thought planning approval was down to you??? - check where you stand re this?)
Why did they start without planning approval?...Did they know? Did you tell them?
did they assume planning ? WHY?
Next part is tricky- you must be right-You MUST take legal advice before doing this...
did they fail 'planning' OR 'Building Regs?????????
If the failure to complete is their fault - then you can say i.e. ..
No reason not to complete- please do so in next .....how many weeks 3/4? or I will get another company to do so and bill you accordingly....but you MUST take legal advice- Anglian will know where they stand legally.
my comments are to help, I would not touch this company with a barge pole.
WHICH magazine has good access to legal advice for a small fee- you can consult more than once- Or bite the bullet and see local solicitor.
Willing to discuss further if you wish-

 

[xposay]

Hi I recently had a court hearing with regards to cooling off, whether it was bespoke etc - sales rep in my house hours on end being pushy, court threats when cancelled, nasty phone calls and so on... It did go to court was pretty complicated however they won the case because ultimately I stupidly signed a co tract I should have read and would then have seen it was bespoke and so on... It'll take forever to go into details and everyone's case will differ but they take a whole handful of people, the hiss and snigger at you the whole way through, they make the whole thing as stressful as possible! They are a really nasty company and best to avoid!! Although we lost the case the judge dismissed it with nothing to pay as they failed to provide sufficient paper work with regards to costs which they were asked for beforehand and therefore we've not had anything to pay. They aren't the most organised of companies. I do hope it goes well for you. Went on well over a year for me so I'm just glad it's over!

I would rather crawl over a field of glass then deal with Anglian The worst company I have ever dealt with.

 

[wellfedup]

they never applied for Bldg regns, but unwilling to help ours out either. Misselling during sales pitch meant they wriggled out of it. We do have a solicitor , No - they also were refused Planning after they started building, that's how it all kicked off.

how did Anglian get trusted trader good scores and on websites like Reevo? Even a magician wouldn't be able to manage that.

 

[xposay]

I am sorry that you are in such a fix with Anglian - based on my experience and those of others I have read about - it seems that Anglian does little to help improve matters- in my experience they made matters far worse-
When they knew they had to refit the windows they just disappeared for several months!!
The stress of dealing with Anglian can be extreme - indeed i think their contracts should come with a health warning! trouble is that few will come to this site until it is too late - their problems have begun!
That you have a solicitor is good news - be careful of their bills........watch the practice of sending letters backwards & forwards but nothing being achieved.
Your solicitor should be able to tell you exactly where you and Anglian stand- as Anglian will know where they stand- they might try it on-no doubt they will but you should now be advised exactly what is what.
Others on this forum and elsewhere have said that the courts have always fallen back onto the signed contract - regardless of what was claimed to be said.
i do wish you well as i know from bitter experience just how bad dealing with Anglian can be - NEVER AGAIN eh?
Please accept the above as my best efforts to help-
best wishes-

 

[kittenmaster]

I thought I'd reply as a final point on here.
Went to court in Nov, as I believed the salesman told me I had 14 days contract cancellation. After a whole day in court, the judge ruled that it was more likely the 'experienced' salesman was right, and we were confused and we actually only had 7 days to cancel. In the end it cost us £15k for cancelling the contract after 10 days, which was beyond the 7 days in the contract. They didn't even measure up. Gutted.

 

[Cherries]

Hi Everyone!

I, too, currently have the pleasure of being sued by Anglian. They fitted a conservatory for me, but there were endless problems before, during, and after the build - they made a lot of mistakes and then expected me to settle their account in full, despite the fact that I didn't get the conservatory I'd asked for.

They've recently lodged a document at court that, not to put too fine a point upon it, is untruthful. I wasn't expecting them to be prepared to lie quite so blatantly, but I guess I was being optimistic.

I'm wondering if anyone has had dealings with their in-house solicitor?

If so, I'd be very interested indeed to hear from you - I wish to take the matter to the Solicitors' Regulation Authority, as it seems to me that the rules governing the professional conduct of solicitors simply aren't being observed.

 

[Jimbobj]

Hi everyone.
I to have the same problem with anglian. I have tried to cancel my order with them. I didn't know the cooling of period was only 7 day so I phoned up on the 8th day to cancel when I was told to put it in writing so I emailed them. Then 3 days later I received a letter say that I couldn't cancel with out paying that stupid 25% cancellation fee. Which is rubbish how they can justify it when they haven't even done anything.
I can't afford to pay the 25% Fedor go to court in case I loose. So me and wife has decided that we will have to go through with it.
I hate how they can use strong arm and bullying tactic to intimidate and make you feel like you have no choice. From what I have seen that have done this for years and keep getting away with it they should be made to receive some just dessert in one form or another.

 

[Cherries]

Hi everyone.
I to have the same problem with anglian. I have tried to cancel my order with them. I didn't know the cooling of period was only 7 day so I phoned up on the 8th day to cancel when I was told to put it in writing so I emailed them. Then 3 days later I received a letter say that I couldn't cancel with out paying that stupid 25% cancellation fee. Which is rubbish how they can justify it when they haven't even done anything.
I can't afford to pay the 25% Fedor go to court in case I loose. So me and wife has decided that we will have to go through with it.

Hi jimbobj!

Have you taken advice on this?

I thought that, by law, you're entitled to a a cooling off period of 14 days?

I appreciate that the item or items ordered may have been bespoke, but, on the assumption that Anglian's end of the bargain was 'subject to survey', I don't see how they can rely on this, as no manufacturing had taken place, so they were not facing any loss other than loss of profit.

 

[Bella9]

We have the same experience with Anglian, cancelled order before survey - within the 14 days, then received a letter stating that we were outside their 7 day period. The salesman did not highlight any of this and found clause on back of order in small difficult to read print. They have asked for 25% of order but as this was cancelled before their survey - surely this cannot be legal/enforceable.
Any advise would be appreciated

 

[Cherries]

We have the same experience with Anglian, cancelled order before survey - within the 14 days, then received a letter stating that we were outside their 7 day period. The salesman did not highlight any of this and found clause on back of order in small difficult to read print. They have asked for 25% of order but as this was cancelled before their survey - surely this cannot be legal/enforceable.
Any advise would be appreciated

Bella, I wouldn't give them a penny.

In my experience, they don't accept your order until after the survey has taken place. Only when they accept you order - I received a letter accepting mine - is the contract formed. District Judges tend not to know too much about the law of contract, unfortunately. That, in my opinion, is why Anglian is getting away with daylight robbery.

I practised as a litigation solicitor for twelve years, but am now retired. When I read here about some of the bad Court decisions made, I simply despair.

 

[xposay]

they will not be shy about taking you to court- make sure you have your facts right and do not rely on a sympathetic judge- it will be according to law and you may feel it ruthless-
If they have not put matters right - serve notice on them to do so with reasonable time or you will get another to do so and bill them-
If you have allowed them to finish the job, despite time taken & mess-ups etc etc - you can ONLY claim for a financial loss or prove stress etc with medical proof.
Anglian will most probably send a barrister to any court- have a chat with a solicitor if you can- prepare your facts briefly & get sound advice.
Whenever I have the chance I tell all & sundry of my stupidity in allowing Anglian onto my premises_

 

[Margot Miller]

Whatever you do, do not use this company! They are lying, thieving *******s! Avoid at all costs otherwise you end up paying and getting nothing for it!

 

[teapot]

Hi all,

I made the mistake of dealing with Anglian Windows after my neighbour recommended them to me when I mentioned I was planning to have my fascias etc and doors replaced.

I had already obtained two quotes from other firms before Anglian and then invited an Anglian rep to my house to quote.

Initially after applying all the supposed discounts etc, the quote still came out significantly higher than the other quotes. I never told him what the other quotes were but simply told him that his was not even in the right ball park. After another 15 mins or so playing with his tablet he came up with a much lower figure which was fractionally more than the other two quotes, but i had a moment of gullibility and accepted his speil about how their products are better quality and they make them themselves, and how they could only do them at this price if I paid a deposit today.

For that and other reasons such as the neighbours recommendation I decided to accept his quote and paid a deposit, totalling about 1500 by debit card.

However after I'd slept on it, I realised that I had perhaps not made the right decision and started looking on the internet, and found many stories about how people had been duped and mistreated by this firm, far more than the other firms I had quotes from.

After reading all this, I decided the best thing to do was to exercise my right to cancel, as I was only 2 days into the 7 day cooling off period. So I read the cancellation instructions carefully and sent both an email immediately to the designated email address stating this and providing all the relevant information, as well as completing the cancellation slips and posting them by recorded post to the designated address the next day.

Thus far I have received an email stating the following:

--------
We acknowledge receipt of your cancellation request.

Your correspondence has been passed to our Business Approvals Office where the order was processed.

If you have any further queries in connection with the cancellation request, would you please communicate with the Business Approvals Office directly on telephone number 0845 263 8866, or alternatively by email to <snip>
-------

I emailed the address shown requesting confirmation of when the refund will be issued but have not had any response.

Now having read the stories on here and other forums I am worried that these shysters will not refund me without a fight, but I don't know how best to deal with them.

I've since had another quote from a small local firm which was even more competitive and the rep was much more professional than the anglian one, but I can't afford to instruct them to do anything until I am sure when I will get my refund from anglian.

I feel absolutely stupid for falling for his blatent pressure-sales tactics and I'm not expecting any sympathy - I just want to be prepared to deal with Anglian in a way which ensures I get my deposit back within a reasonable time frame. In their terms and conditions it does not state a time limit for refunds to be issued, and am not sure what timescales are legally required.

many thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[Simonennis]

I too had an awful experience with Anglian Home Improvements! Never again. best of luck to you.

 

[Petertheplumber]

Well what a surprise here we are four years later (April 2018) and Anglian pulled the same trick on us, sold us a front door with side panels to our choice and two small windows at an agreeable price of £2660 and paid our deposit of £660, they then sent in the surveyor who said sorry we don't do that door, sales rep came round got us to sign a VOC for a different door which we felt was something we had to choose as they had our deposit. After a few days we decided it wasn't the door we really wanted so contacted the sales rep who was round within the hour to get us to sign another VOC to cancel the door and would give us a price just for the two small windows (1200 X 1000 and 700 X 400 in old money 4 X 3 and 2 X 1.5 ft ). We got a call from the sales rep who sounded so elated to inform that for the two windows we were going to save over £1000. What ? For the two small windows they wanted £1600. I objected at the price but then said under the circumstances we may as well have the door added back on. Guess what the rep never came back to get us to sign another VOC. We had a letter to say that our installation team would arrive August to do our installation, and guess what, they arrived and started with the two windows and said ok thanks here's your bill for £1600, my wife said what about the door, "oh that was cancelled" was the reply. Many phone calls and emails later and mostly all ignored or stated would be forwarded to management, we finally had a visit from a manager who was quite surprised when we showed him the two windows we had fitted and the bill, "leave it with me" was his reply, another month goes by, another text message sent to him, his answer was "nothing to do with me, contact the sales rep". Finally the sales rep called to say he would make an appointment to come round and sort out our door problem and get it measured. Really, we don't want your company fitting anything for us now I explained. Funny We haven't heard from him again. So we are still waiting to hear off someone at Anglian. Now Nearly November 2018 read on here about blog at Angliangroup, spent over an hour typing up my complaint , guess what, it can't be forwarded and they are not answering the phone when I call.
Steer clear of this company.

 

[Shamid]

I bought and paid for two doors to be fitted. Cost over 3000 pound, a week later we are having problems with one of the doors not being able to lock this. Someone eventually came out saying it will need to be refitted so waited in all day we arranged and the fitter did not turn up as he was struggling with another house!!! Still waiting on what they are going to do, really regret using Anglian and I am actually thinking of paying another company to come in a fit another new door. I am not a happy customer at all........

 

[Stuart L]

I would echo previous comments and wouldn't use these people again. Briefly we had a 'classic sales pitch' and I accepted because we wanted a company we could trust. Our quote included an electric cupboard door outside, along with a composite front door and adjoining window. I took the salesman to see 2 neighbours electric cupboard door as he wasnt sure they dealt with these? The surveyor came and said the cupboard door wasnt included in the quote so I asked them to cancel. The salesman then rang and said they would include in the price if we proceeded. The job was done and then I received an email advising they had misquoted and wanted me to pay another £270! I told them to get lost and explained previous problems. The door lock has now broke & been mended by them once already. Now they havent turned up to mend it again. Also they have a guarantee agreement with Yale locks. After 4 days of trying to speak to someone at Yale, I gave up and Anglian said they would repair it as part of the guarantee. Good luck people, but save yourself time and worry by avoiding this company.

 

[Simmons]

I can't decide which company I need to turn to to install new doors and windows in my apartment. They're all different. I need good value and good quality work. You need to change now, so soon it will be quite cold.

 

[coldhardcash]

I can't decide which company I need to turn to to install new doors and windows in my apartment. They're all different. I need good value and good quality work. You need to change now, so soon it will be quite cold.

DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THAT ALL TOO FREQUENTLY MENTIONED WELL KNOWN OUTFIT - IF THEY COULD ASPIRE TO BECOME A BUNCH OF WIDE BOYS OPERATING AN EXTREMELY DODGY PART TIME RACKET THEN THAT WOULD BE A MAJOR UPGRADE FOR THEM! Wise up people! AVOID!