Anglian Windows - Breach of Contract

Doesn't sound to great this does it?
Please note, any doorstep sales / contracts formed in the consumers home etc - if the consumer says no, and asks them to leave, they must do so - consumer protection from unfair trading .

As for advice, let them take you to court, I'm sure the judge will see the unfair aggressive sales tactics putting pressure on you. Your contract should also have a box headed 'Right to cancel' or 'cancellation rights' or similar, in a prominent place, clear and concise, and not hidden or made in small print. This area will tell you of your cancellation period. But of course, misrepresentation is another matter.

A 75% refund minus a loss of profit charge is unenforceable.. They can only charge what they've ACTUALLY lost, by the sounds of it, nothing has even been done yet - no losses

I am in exactly the same predicament. Anglian are seeking almost an identical amount.
I had asked Anglian for a quote but made it clear over the phone I would not be signing and that it should be an hour max. Rep visit. The reason being that my mother had just come out of hospital after a stroke and this was an emergency as her verbal attacks on me (Being the chief career) had shook me up and she repeatedly asked me to leave. They sent a lady rep and after a full day of emotional turmoil I stupidly kept the appt but was crying and extremely vulnerable. This rep acted like my friend and confidante. I was off sick from work due to the stress and she sympathised. When she gave the quote for the conservatory it was high and I said no to signing anything several times. By now it was over 2 hours and I was exhausted. Then she cleverly said that I had nothing to lose by signing and could cancel without losing any money (getting my £500 sign up payment back) but would find out if I could get the finance. Since I had been abroad and my credit rating has been all over the place since I returned to the UK - she tapped into a curiosity and had assured me over and over that I had nothing to lose by finding out. By this time I was really exhausted and just wanted to sleep. I signed mistakenly trusting this person. I never heard from her again (and was still dealing with the aftermath of my Mum's stroke)and by the time I realised I had made a wrong decision under duress and false information I thought I was cancelling within 14 days and sent an email and then a letter saying that I had not been in my right mind to make such a decision - I was signed off with anxiety, depression and stress. Unfortunately I was cc 12 hours over the 7 days which was news to me. Since this time the pressure from Anglian has been huge despite me explaining my illness and difficulties. I am back at work now and stronger but need to sort this out. I am looking for a lawyer to countersue for the huge stress(which contributed further to my illness which resulted in 5 months of being signed off) and false misleading info which tricked me into signing when it was obvious I was hugely vulnerable and not in a fit state to sign anything. I was taken advantage off on one of the worst days of my life and will never forgive Anglian. I pleaded with their area manager to amicably sort this out as the stress was unbearable . I will be asking for them to play that recording as I was outside the doctors and in despair when they range me but they were so cold and had no problem inflicting further stress. I hope to stop them doing this to anyone else - it is a crime. sorry this is so long but this is the short version and Anglian behaved atrociously.

Hi Moodypa,

My name is Louie, I work for Anglian Home Improvements on the online team. We are sorry to hear about this issue. Could you email us your tel. address and postcode so we can investigate this for you please? The email address to send these details to is blog [at] angliangroup.com

Many thanks

Louie (Online and Social Media Executive)

Hi all
I have also had a miserable experience with Anglian Windows. After being sold a door from them and paying a deposit, the sales person in South West London said he had no connection with the surveyor and it was not his job. He also complained he received no commission on the door being installed. So without any idea of when the surveyor would come I went back in forth asking the sales guy when the surveyor would come. He gave me the number for a factory somewhere. After hearing nothing back for awhile I decided to cancel the door. I was sent a breach of contract letter. They didnt even call to understand what was going on. Just a breach of contract demand. Bad service. They are highly expensive with sale prices picked out of thin air - how can something be half price if you do not know what the price is to begin with? I sent them an email asking them to refund my deposit which I am entitled to due to their bad service under the sale of goods act amended. I strongly do not recommend using Anglian windows.

It seems like Anglian Windows haven't improved at all over the years.
We had a £30k order of 'bespoke' wooden windows. Green on the outside, white on the inside. The aim was to have them installed before our new baby arrived. She is now 9.5 months old.
Clearly they failed. Then they promised before Christmas. Again they failed. In february windows were installed. Certainly not bespoke. 29 new windows of which 18 have the wrong mechanisms. All of the upstairs the wrong handles. They are all meant to have child locks but only a handful do. Many of them are the wrong colour. All of them have scratches on cracks in the paintwork and areas of splattered paint and even some areas not painted at all. The installers managed to paint my internal walls and window sills and so my whole house internally needs to be redecorated. I think I can catagorically say that none of the windows fit. They have agreed to replace 8 of them but 29 need replacing. Their surveyor admitted he must have measured up incorrectly but they say its not company policy to offer compensation. They are definitely not bespoke as they have cut out a recess for a window sill whether or not they were replacing the window sill. (They were only replacing 4 window sills) As a result they have hidden the hole with an internal trim the whole way round the window which means that I cant use my window sill. They have filled gaps with builders caulk, sometimes white, sometimes clear, sometimes with render, sometimes with an external trim. Where the window has a curved top they have filled it with render or a bit of white plastic. None of the vents have insect barriers in. All of the central glazing bars are the wrong shape so do not match the other glazing bars, both interanally and externally. The told me how they make their own windows under a brandname Timberwise (salesman wore a Timberwise branded shirt and Timberwise was all over their website) but when they were installling them the trouble shooting employee said he had never even heard of timberwise. Some of the windows are so small that they have had to build up the house using expanding foam and render. Its quite rediculous. Rather than getting bespoke windows to fit my house they have made my house fit the windows resulting in less light inside and a huge mess of render on the outside so Im going to have the get the whole house repainted externally as well. Where they have installed a window board its been done so badly with one edge sticking out 3cm from the wall and the other end just 1cm. There are more issues but Im too tired to write them all out now. The mess they created in my house was horrific and I had to employ a professional cleaner to help me afterwards. Anyway they have put their hands up and said they have done wrong. The installers said they had never seen so many problems on an installation before. They ignored my emails and phone calls for months. Many of my questions they still have ignored. Its now july and they have had our deposit since last August. 11 months!!!! The windows that they have re-made are also wrong as theyve made to the same spec as before which means they all have the hole in for the window board. Ive told them repetatively thats not what I want as they are not bespoke and also they have not been made by Timberwise. Ive said I wont have wrong ones installed as its a total waste of time. They told me less than a month ago that the new windows have arrived and each time they leave me a message (despite me having told them and them acknowledgeing that its better to email me rather than call me) I have got in touch with them saying I will not have wrong windows installed. So they have told me they are taking legal action against me because I haven't replied. Its a joke. They have broken every promise on their website. They can take me to court. I shall win. Its just a total hassle as Ive got three very small children and I could do without the stress. Dont whatever you do, use Anglian windows for wooden windows. They are bullies and cowboys. I had two of them in my home standing there shouting at me saying they would take me to court. Not nice especially in front of the children.

Hi ILoatheAnglianWindows,

We are disappointed to hear of these issues with our Timberland windows and would like to look into this for you.

Could you email us your tel. address and postcode please, stating that it is in reply to this comment? The email address is blog[at]angliangroup.com

Once we receive these details we can investigate further.

Many thanks

Louie (Online & Social Media Executive at Anglian Home Improvements)

I am waiting for a court date despite 5 months off sick due to stress, I answered the online anglian monitor and it was a waste of time - highly rude as they just don'T reply. Anglian do not care about what they do to get a sale - resorting to lies and false figures. I was tricked into signing being lulled bu false statements
and when I realised I tried to stop it and have been hounded by them ever since. They are a faceless, shameful company.

Unfortunately you are not alone it is frightening to know just how many consumers are allegedly left in such desperate situations and are being totally ignored some for years by Anglian. I am held in breach of building regulations by my local council Can you believe I have just been issued with court proceedings by a company called Anglian Windows Ltd because I was advised to stop Anglian Home Improvements cheque after a strange set of circumstances one just could not make up. It is my honest belief that they are in abuse of the Enterprise Act and SoG Act act as though they have a special mandate that absolves them from any UK Consumer laws. It will be very interesting to find out where they derive that power from, anyone that wishes to partake in a 'Class Action' against Anglian Windows Ltd., or Anglian Home Improvements in order to have a voice please would they respond to the moderator for it could be a way forward in my opinion as the Double Glazing industry needs set parameters that are mandatory to work to that can be upheld. The individuals misery and stress has gone on for long enough. I was mis represented goods that are not fit for purpose or of reasonable quality do not conform to FENSA so this company is in breach of building regs on issues. I believed that the Advertising code of conduct would have stopped false claims and promises, buyer beware it is not if it is when a serious injury or fatality will occur when bonus and profit is a priority over good workmanship and satisfactory standards in full compliance with legal recommendations. Which we all deserve

Anglian windows are the worst company we have ever dealt with. We have vowed never to use them again. And we have warned our neighbours not to use this dishonest company.
Unfortunately over the years, products they have installed have become faulty after expiration of their guarantee.
Anglia built our conservatory 12 years ago, so the 10 year guarantee has expired. We noted large cracks and the conservatory moving away from the wall in August of this year. The plans supplied by Anglia for the conservatory included foundations to 1.5 metres as we are on clay and nearby TPO oak trees. The council also advised a raft which was built on the foundations.
Our insurers organised a surveyor and on site investigations noted that the foundations were only 0.5 metres deep and the conservatory was bolted to the house which is not appropriate for a raft foundation. They simply lied about the depth of the foundations, and it seems that no building inspector from their company supervised the work.
The insurers have declined cover quoting defective workmanship, despite the surveyor believing we would be covered under good will as we believed the foundations to be 1.5 metres deep as stated in the Anglian plans . Live oak roots were found to 1.5 metres, but no deeper.
Now we are facing recovery from Anglia on the basis of defective workmanship? This forum and other sites are full of the bullying tactics of Anglia. They seem to have no self respect or sense of decency in claims.
We thought we would have nothing more to do with this disreputable company. We foresee a battle ahead, dealing with a disreputable and dishonest company.

Hello,

We are having our own problems with Anglian Home Improvements and will be seeking to take them to court if we do not get our money back. At the moment with so many bad cases on the internet about them I am collecting stories so I can contact Watch Dog and a reporter I have dealt with before regarding another company that made the mistake of messing me around. In my previous experience if enough people complain to the Office of Fair Trading then the OFT has to investigate (such as in a previous case I had the misfortune to be involved with) and will sanction companies.

We had a sales person visit. When he did I very clearly told him I AM SICK. He proceeded to stay in the house for 3 hours and pulled every sales trick available to him. We still however signed the contract. We too waited weeks for the surveyor to visit and after he did we heard nothing again for weeks. Then we got a letter from Anglian " I write to confirm we cannot proceed with your contract in its current form". So I called Anglian to ask what the F and there response was to send a sales person around with another piece of paper to be signed. Around a month later the penny fully hit home that what they were doing was indeed dragging every process out which made me very suspicious. After doing internet research I decided to complain.
Anglian's response to my complaint was this -

Firstly let me apologise for any misunderstanding or confusion that we have produced. It was always our intention after the survey that the surveyor should have re visited and confirmed the design with you and your husband and agreed what we will be providing for you was what you required. After the surveyors visit And the subsequent second visit by the sales person, this was really to check what changes had to be made and to discuss this with you both as to any further changes you may or may not wanted to make. Until the final design has been agreed by you both then we cannot re cost the design and inform you of any/no price change.

BUT he did not, a sales person did. A few more weeks on and Anglian still have my deposit. They cannot reply to further complaint emails (preferring instead to get more sales men to call me) and they still have my deposit. I agreed to a design for a price stated on the contract, in my opinion they cancelled the contract when they sent me a letter saying "Naturally Anglian Home Improvements is commited to supplying you with a quality conservatory however, our surveyor has identified that the design as sold is not technically feasible. Therefore I write to confirm we cannot proceed with your contract in its current form". We never did see the surveyor report. Drawings of this "new design" mentioned in another email never materialised and there was no new contract put forward.

My head is spinning with the manipulation tactics they have employed from start to finish. Do get in touch if you would like to pass on your story to Watchdog or Inside Out London. Let Anglian join Everest on Watchdog.

Just had the same horrible experience with Anglian. Signed a contract for timber windows after being assured multiple times they would be exactly the same aesthetically as our current ones - complete with all the period features and detailing . Asked the North West London sales rep several times if specific details and sizes of glass itself will be replicated exactly and she assured me YES. Couple days after that i verbaly amended the contract with the sales rep to inclide half the windows I initially planned on getting - and she confirmed . 10 days after the original signing a surveyor comes round hacks pieces of wood off one of my windows " to properly measure" then upon leaving I ask again if I will have all the period features replicated and he says " No" when asked why not he says " because that is not what we do" . As soon as he left served cancellation notice. Couple days later I followed up with the head office who assured me that my cancellation was in process and I would be receiving my deposit that day or the day after . 3 weeks later I get a breach of contract letter stating I owe 25% of the ORIGINAL contract price ( not even the amended smaller one ) . Also says to call the regional manager if I have any questions. I call the manager to be told that my contract is not cancelled and he will not let me out of it because he claims in fact those details CAN be preserved. At this point we confirm we want the contract cancelled because we have no confidence in the company due to countless lies and misleading info and don't want any further work to be done at all. This was just tonight and we are waiting in the response which I have a feeling will be a fight. Although any further communication will be deferred to our solicitor as we don't take kindly to being bullied . I shocked a company this big can get away with such blatantly dodgy practices . I would love to get them on watchdog and happy to share my experience .

We are currently having an awful nightmare with Anglian, so much that we think it best to cancel the contact and allow them to take us to court at the same time as we do the same.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

Please contact me of you would like the full story.

Hello,

Thank you for sharing your stories. I am sorry for the distress you are both experiencing. It really is unfair and they do employ bullying tactics and manipulation. WhyohWhy I will contact you on here for your story.

I passed my story along to someone who helped me once before - a journalist for Inside Out London. She has passed my story along to people from Inside Out London who have now passed it to Rogue Traders. I would suggest that you pass this along to Rogue Traders and if you here nothing then please get in touch somehow on here.

I do think it is time to now put this out in the open. I am sure that there are more stories of Anglian doing stuff like this.

An update on our situation: we stood our ground with the regional manager saying we are happy to defend ourselves in court if they choose to pursue the breach of contract . He came back to us the next day via text message saying " I have reviewed your notes and have decided to cancel your contract with no penalty". We have still to receive our deposit back but hopefully it will actually be refunded.
My feeling is this company prays on the most vulnerable and backs off when they know they are dealing with people who have means to fight them. Shameful.

I feel people should pass their stories along to BBC Rogue Traders. My story has been passed through Inside Out London along to Rogue Traders by another journalist. I will be sending another email though so if you would like me to send along your story please email me.

Lauren

Hi. We had Anglian round to discuss a conservatory. My Partner said he would not sign on the day. The salesman was very good, eventually getting us to sign on the day. Sold us a lovely P shaped conservatory and took a deposit. Wanted us as a show home, as it was going to have the Wow factor! Told us it would be installed end of April/May.
Surveyor came 2weeks later. Said they could not do the design due to the angles of the roof, we live in a bungalow. Nearly 2weeks of hearing nothing, other than the odd text message, I contacted local branch. Within minutes I had salesman on phone! Told him I find it unprofessional to text so he said he would ring in future. He eventually came back round to show us a new design on his laptop which was hideous! We said no way. Told him what we wanted and he went off to seek approval as it was going to cost more, but as it was his cock up, we would not incur any more expense.
Nearly 2weeks later he came back, running late so it was just before 9pm. Rushed in with a variation of contract which had to be signed before we could proceed with the surveyor coming back out. My Partner said he would not sign without seeing the plans first, so the salesman wrote on the contract, "customer subject to approving surveyors drawings is happy to proceed". He said we would hear from surveyor within next couple of days.
That was 13 March. We heard nothing, so once again I went into the local branch to see the manager. He was not there but his " brother" was covering. His attitude was really "don't give a !!!!" The salesman did contact me, by email! We now have the surveyor coming out next Friday, more time off work for my Partner.
10 weeks down the line, we have no plans for a conservatory which was meant to be installed end of April/May. Have no confidence in the company now and have since found so many bad reviews. My Partner is worried that we will lose the deposit, as we are now thinking of pulling out. I would be happy to join with Watchdog or any other consumer programme. Anglian is a disgraceful company who clearly think that they can treat customers as mugs!

Exactly the same with ours. Everyone who is having issues would you like to email Laurenatscenicus.org.uk replacing the at in it with @ instead? I knew that this was suspect behavior! They clearly know what they are doing. This is very clearly premeditated. I expect the sales person also made a show of measuring up as well?
We too heard nothing until after the cancellation period had past, very convenient for Anglian!

Also exactly why is it neccesary a VOC is signed before the surveyor comes out? It makes absolutely no sense to sign a contract for work there not sure can be done. If the surveyor can potentially say no to a design (or really head office as that is who is really calling the shots) then why have customers commit before Anglian Home Improvements can deliver on the deal. They are intentionally misleading customers.

As I understand it a contract is an agreement between two parties. The customer is not a conservatory expert and therefore places trust in the conservatory company to deliver on their part of the agreement. However, the deal very much seems to be that the customers signs to recieve whatever Anglian decides to deliver.

1) Sign a contract in which both design and price is agreed during a 3hr visit during which measurements are taken by the sales person.
2) Surveyor Visit - not a proper chartered surveyor but any Tom, Dick or Harry "trained" by Anglian Home Improvements to measure up and cost the design again. One wonders therefore what the point is of that first visit at stage one where you sign the contract.
3) Anglian tells you that the contract design cannot go ahead.
4) Anglian forces a VOC (Variation of Contract) to be signed before they will send another surveyor out despite the fact that this is Anglian Home Improvements mistake.

There is no point to the VOC. This process is designed as a fail safe e.g when the sales person under quotes in Anglian's estimation. None of the people visiting are actually trained in anything apart from sales. This is serious misselling. The variation of contract is the foothold by which they are able to provide the conservatory that they feel is worth X amount rather than the conservatory you originally thought you were getting.

Furthermore, if this was not a money making tactic then Anglian would send the "surveyor" out on that first visit rather than make their customers a contract that Anglian cannot deliver. If it was not a money making endeavor then Anglian would not take a deposit for work they potentially cannot deliver until the "surveyor" visits. What they essentially do is create a false promise. Their methods are grossly misleading.

They still have our deposit! They are still lying to us regarding the deposit. The deposit should have been returned on the day the letter arrived telling us that the contract could not go ahead. They have had the deposit since day 1 of us signing!

What about class action?

Re: Anglian Windows - Pulled the plug!!

We have now pulled out with Anglian Home Nightmares!
Surveyor came Friday, salesman was a no show again! We did not let the surveyor do anything, thought it best to call it a day. I have emailed customer services and the complaints department. Will wait until Friday this week to see what we hear back.
We are so angry that we have wasted 11 weeks on this. We wanted a conservatory for the summer, which is not going to happen now!
This company should not get away with treating people like this!

Will update when I hear back.