Please talk to me about double glazing.

[TheOriginalFAB]

We had someone round today. Wouldn't give us a price. Is coming back to give us a price which will be 20% less than the 4 week price she will give us and she will also give us a 2 year price. We are seeing 2 others next week. I didn't like the way she slagged off other companies and just wanted a price.

[blabalalalablabla]

Were they from a big company?
I'd advise finding a word of mouth recommendation - if you can't do that then how about finding a local glazing manufacturer and asking them for a list of installers - they normally have a list of approved ones which they'll be happy to share.
Anyone who doesn't give you a price within a few days and slags off other companies is best avoided.

[TheOriginalFAB]

Yes. They have £200 million turnover.

[conculainey]

There is little to no difference in double glazing including the frames regardless of where it is bought from so just go for the lowest price, there can be a difference in doors and door frames from a security point of view but the double glazing which is used in the U.K is not true double glazing anyway as it is not vaccum sealed. check that you will be getting a fire escape window/s which depends on the number of floors in your home and the number of rooms.

[nocake]

I have a policy of not giving business to anyone who slags off their competitors. The last time I was pricing out double glazing I found that smaller local companies were cheaper and the service was better.

And UK double glazing units are vacuum sealed. That's why you don't get condensation inside them, unless the seal has broken.

[TheOriginalFAB]

She didn't name other companies just said "You won't get that" with other companies over and over. Is it true that if we go with this person we won't have to see her again? I really did not like her at all and she didn't like it that we pulled her up on things. Basically she will come back tonight and give us a quote. This will be 20% lower than the 4 week price if we sign tonight. We have told her we will not be signing tonight so straight away we won't get the "discount." She wasn't willing to work it out last night and isn't willing to just email the quote so we have to have her come again. We have another person coming next week and are looking for a third company to see. She didn't really like that. She has basically said she won't come back again after tonight and said it as a threat. TBH I would prefer she never came back.

[BiscuitNibbler]

Go to a local firm - better customer service and keen to do a better job and get recommendations from you.

When I was getting quotes one local firm was slagging off competitors, but really focussing on one in particular. On doing a bit of research I discovered the competitor was offering more energy efficient windows at a lower cost, so the slagging off was just bitterness. Guess who I went with? I've since recommended them to many friends.

Ignore all time-limited "special" offers and buy-one-get-one-free deals too - all a load of baloney.

[nocake]

That's another bug bear of mine, companies who offer a discount if you sign now. Tell her to get lost and find a decent company with a good product who don't need to do the hard sell.

[NightLark]

Tell her to get lost. Please.

We've done double glazing twice - first time we invited in the big companies and listened to all their crap about discounts and sign now and that. Actually we had one salesman storm out in a big huff when we refused to sign there and then. He'd gone through some insane spiel about the distance of our house from schools, pubs and shops to invent a discount for having an advertising board up

Anyhow, the point is that in the end we went with a tiny (but long established) local company, who cost about 20% of the most-discounted price of the big guys. That's right, the big companies marked up by 5 times the cost of manufacture and installation.

Shop around.

[noddyholder]

Get a local firm do not go to a big national they are rip off artists. Why are there 2 prices or 3 or 4! Get someone small and local and they will give you a price not a bloody selection of prices after about 6 hrs of boring chit chat

[conculainey]

Nocake, U.K double glazing is generally not vacuum sealed but the void is sealed and contains argon gas for heat insulation which is cheaper and a lot less effective that proper vacuum sealed (gasless) units which are used in colder climates and parts of Europe and have superior heat and sound insulation as neither can travel across a vacuum but they cost twice as much to buy as u.k standard double glazing units, the norm is Europe is now treble glazing.

[NanTheWiser]

Have you got checkatrade in your area? You can look up local window fitters, all rated by their customers. If I need anything doing, I always look on here first.

[TheOriginalFAB]

Thanks. I will take a look.

[TheOriginalFAB]

Unfortunately they are not listed.

[TheOriginalFAB]

Quote - £25,000.

[nocake]

Conculainey, you don't mean vacuum sealed, you mean it contains a vacuum? I believe Pilkington are the only company currently offering this as the technology to do it is advanced. If you take a normal double glazed unit and pump out the gas the two panes of glass will collapse towards each other. Pilkington have solved this problem by putting the two panes close together and using tiny pillars of glass to hold them apart. It's only been available in the UK for a couple of years and is, as you would expect, very expensive. In our climate it's hard to justify the cost in a domestic building unless you have a particular need to very thin units, for example if you're fitting them to existing wooden sash windows.

[wonkylegs]

"There is little to no difference in double glazing including the frames regardless of where it is bought from so just go for the lowest price"

Not true at all - workmanship makes a huge difference, I have specified and snagged installation of hundreds of windows. Big nationals are not known for this, as they are all about the deal, which is why in the industry we wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Go for a local or regional company. Ask if there are any installations in your area that you can actually go and see.
Photos only show what you want them to.
Get min. 3 quotes and pick the best value - on performance, price and service rather than just picking the cheapest. Its a hassle but its worth making the effort as its big cash and very visible on your home.

[BiscuitNibbler]

£25000?? How big is your house?

Just over a year ago we had 15 windows, 2 doors and the roofline done for just under £10000. All 'A' rated windows and latest security in the doors.

[TheOriginalFAB]

I think we were having 10 windows and 2 doors so not hugely massive.

[BiscuitNibbler]

For that number of windows and doors that quote was ridiculously high. Leave the "big names" and go local and you'll get a much more realistic quote and none of the rubbish pretend offers which don't actually exist.

We're really glad we had it done, it has made the house warmer and quieter, as well as looking better.

[TheOriginalFAB]

Yes, it was ridiculous. We are expecting calls to offer us a "discount."

[unavailable]

I think it is expected that you haggle, which I wouldnt have thought to do until I was advised by a builder. We finally agreed to pay £1,600 when original quote was over £2000 ( with mythical discount!)

[BiscuitNibbler]

It will have to be quite some "discount" to make it realistic!

FYI our roofline (which included a lot of scaffolding) was around £3k of that total, so your quote is probably more than three times what you should be paying.

[TheOriginalFAB]

When my husband said it sounded a lot she said "Well that's fine, it's the price." She left scorch marks as she left.

[BiscuitNibbler]

Quite an interesting sales tactic!

[lljkk]

Get lots of people around. Tell them they have 45 minutes to survey and quote and then they'll have to leave as you have other things to do, and that you won't be signing anything on the same day. The nice ones will come and quickly do the survey, leaving the quote and not pressure you. Anybody giving you a pressured sales pitch is maneuvering for a big commission (which just adds to what you have to pay). You don't want to deal with them, anyway.

There's different glass coatings, btw, we have soft coat (not the default) which is more fragile to manufacture, a bit more expensive, but better insulating and for letting light in.