To just want to buy a door??!!

[skunkatanka]

We are currently after a new front door. I've wanted one for ages and have the exact one in mind. We've saved a decent amount of money and are good to go. This should be a pleasurable experience. However, getting a simply quote for a door is next to impossible. We've just had the benefit of a window company for 1 hour- quoting £4000 initially then dropping the price "as we're really nice people and he really wants to do this for us" by £3000!
AIBU to just want an honest quote from honest people who I can feel comfortable about giving my money to?

Is there not a local builder you can just phone up? They probably will want to come and have a look so the know what the surround is etc, but we have used several local builders to do things like that and it's all straighforward and simple. A couple have become friends too, can recommend plumbers, decorators, plasterers etc. One does all of it except electrics himself, so we use him for whole jobs if he's free.

I don't think I'd want to use a company again, just a simple Joe Bloggs type is perfect.

Check palladio doors

Another to say you won't go wrong with Rock Door .
I also live in Cumbria. We went local.

Lots of local companies you could try: Carlisle window systems, finesse, Keswick super glaze, sawyers windows, geltsdale windows... they're all local and should all give a reasonable quote x

Go to We-Do-Doors, pick the door online, get the cost there and then. Talk to a nice woman on the phone and iron out all the details. A fitter will come and measure up and let you know if you need any extra bits and pieces (I needed a couple of side strips for £25). Then you confirm the order, the fitter comes back to fit the door when its ready. They are really helpful on the phone and will sell a door to you without your husband being present, which most of the big companies find impossible. No stupid "buy now for this amazing discount" nonsense. I had a whole thread about doors a couple of months ago.

It wasn’t Everest was it? I used to work for them and lasted about a week, the tactics they use are awful! I’d stick with a local company, not the major ones.

It was Anglian. I've emailed a local firm tonight so fingers crossed!

Double glazing places always do the classic

• High price!
• I'll call my boss...
• Lower price?

sequence, because it's absolutely proven to work. People are just vaguely competent monkeys and are very easily manipulated.

I had the same problem this time last year when we wanted 2 so dies replaced.
Several companies came around offering us thousands the whole house being redone. We only needed 2 smell Windows replaced.
In desperation I put on our local FB community page a plead for recommendations for a company that would just quote me a price for what i wanted. No deals. No offers. No frills. Just a price for just 2 Windows.

2 companies cropped up several times so I called them both. When I called I was quite blunt and said I just want a price for this. I only want 2 Windows done, do far I've had the hard sell and ridiculous offers. Can you quote for what i ask and only thst?
Both were really cool and said they specialised in flat pricing. A window or door of x spec and y size will always cost £xyz whether you buy 1 or 10 of them.

So perhaps beg locally for recommendations of flat pricing companies and when you call them be blunt.

I had to toughen up and be alot blunter/rude than I firmly would be.

That's good to know Chemenger, as that's who we're buying from

its so annoying. We recently had 2 new back windows , first quote from one company came in at £2100. next company quoted £2700 but then when dh said he would need to think about it and had another company coming round to quote they suddenly remembered that they had capacity to give some special discounts if he would sign that day and they could do it for £1200- les than half what they had originally quoted. Now of course he jumped at that and they are done and look great etc but it doesn't instill any confidence in us that next time they will offer a fair price !!

I had a rock door with 2 side light windows fitted for £1450.00.

I second whyiseveryone - we spent months researching and being offered things like"50% discount" for having advertising hoarding outside our London main road house...but which would still cost £4k!!
Ended up going direct to a manufacturer called Solidor who recommended a local fitter. Said fitter was very reasonably priced (£1500 for fitting +door), not pushy and we have a fab door which we're very pleased with - all done in Sept so prices are recent.

I wanted some new windows and doors a few years ago. I rang some companies and said I didn’t want them to call round and be at my house for three hours and offer me loads of stupid discounts after “ringing the boss” during the meeting. Two of the three companies refused to come out if they couldn’t stay in my house for hours on end. Ridiculous.

Just go local! I paid just under £700 for a composite, fitted about 4.5 years ago from a decent company near Blackpool. I'd had Safestyle and Anglian etc out. Absurd! Over three grand for one door, or they couldn't sell me a single door; I'd have to have the other one done too. Then endless bloody phone calls to lower the price etc. I did ask if there was a door scarcity! They got a bit rude then.

We had the same spiel from Anglian! Got a local company (we're in Scotland) to do it who gave us a really good price for new composite door and upvc back door plus a full house of windows. Could tell Anglian we're cowboys the minute the slimy salesman walked in the house. Phoned his manager, one day only deal, thousands more than the other quite which we told him about. Got a call the next day knocking of another few hundred, for told to jog on. 🙈

We had fun and games from Anglian and Everest- one of whom diddnt want to talk to me without my husband present as 'he may have a technical question' 😒 not to mention the quotes for £6k that miraculously dropped to £1.5k as we were 'such nice people.'

Have you got a local company that you can contact? We had a small one in town that have been around for donkeys years but they staff were great, it was a fitter rather than a salesman that came round and quoted us so no sales bollocks. We still have a 10 year warranty as well.

I got a composite front door two years ago and composite back door last year. Fully fitted cost was £1000. I would try a dedicated door company rather than a window company.

All those 'drop close' sales techniques leave me cold. One Friday evening, many years ago my XH and I were treated to a drawn out and very pushy sales pitch from a cocky, youthful salesman, drenched in the most over-powering aftershave.

He'd obviously been trained to ignore even the clearest of rebuttals. In the end I told him he might as well leave because I was going out. I got up, put my coat on and left the house. Apparently he lingered a while longer, in case I returned, but not as long as the scent of his aftershave did!

God, do they still do this? Remember getting a quote for windows back in the 90’s and they still did the old phone the boss routine. Hope they use their own blooming phone to call them now, back then they used to ask to borrow your phone!
Definitely go for a small local firm with a good reputation. I got a bedroom window replaced recently. Chap came, measured up, checked what I wanted, offered to just replace the blown pane rather than the whole window if I preferred. Agreed on window, chap left. No more than 5 mins. Quote emailed the next day. Sorted.