Window Company fitted lower spec windows than we paid for.

[TheBobbin]

Hey looking for advise. We have just spend close to 30K having new windows and doors fitted to our house. We were sold and signed contract for side opening, easy clean windows with child locks for all upstairs windows 8 in total. After coming to fit them they said we could not have side opening because of our fasher board so we would need to swop bottom opening windows. We asked both the sales man and the surveyor separately if everything else would be the same and were told yes the hinge and handle is just in a different place.

After fitting I asked the fitters to show me how the child lock and easy clean bits worked. At this point we were told they did not drop down to easy clean as we had bottom opening windows you can't also have easy clean.

I have complained to the company who offer £150 total as an apology that we wasn't told that thus feature was now completely not available.

What can we do about this because it seems absolutely out of order to us that they lied about this future not now being available. I have no idea where to turn.

Thank you in advance

I would tell them they need to take them out and replace them otherwise, I will be seeking legal advice and court action.

Why are some people on here so nasty to feel the need to correct peoples spelling mistakes.

Two things come to mind.

Firstly the process. We had a company ‘consultant’ come out after the first meeting where we talked about our requirements and decided to go with the particular company. This consultant measured up, spoke to us about in more detail about the technical details of the installation, discussed location of letter box for example.
I would have expected that would have been the moment you were told of the problems with the upstairs window openings OP.

Secondly , communication breakdown happened when changing the upstairs windows to bottom openings.

It’s obvious to the fitters bottom opening windows won’t have the self cleaning type hinges (unless they’re very expensive mid-hinged). I’m guessing they thought you’d know that too and by accepting the swap, you were ok with loosing that feature.

Are you happy with the rest of the windows and doors OP?

We were sold and signed contract for side opening, easy clean windows with child locks for all upstairs windows 8 in total. After coming to fit them they said we could not have side opening because of our fasher board so we would need to swop bottom opening windows.

At what point did they identify the need to swap side opening to top opening? In my experience, similar to @tanstaafl, the salesperson does the deal but an engineer visits afterwards to check the technical stuff.

Was it at that point they said side opening wasn't possible? If so I would expect them to have amended the contract to include the updated spec. So although you initially asked for side opening, the order would have been for bottom opening.

If that didn't happen, did the installers bring side opening windows, realise they weren't feasible, take them away and fitted bottom opening windows at a later date?

Or did the installers arrive for the first time with bottom opening windows and just said they had been told that side opening wasn't possible? In that scenario I would be suspicious that they had been supplied with the wrong type of window and were trying to fob you off.

I don't understand how the facia can affect the placement of the opening, as it's all contained within the frame, which is custom built to fit the opening.

What type of window was being replaced?

Thank you for your additional information.

Before approaching the window company again, it’s a good idea to find out what your legal situation is, so contacting Citizens’ Advice would be helpful. Hopefully they will tell you that you’ve not been provided with what was in your contract. This includes your written contract and the verbal assurances you got from the salesman and the engineer. If you can remember the dates these two conversations took place and the names of who you spoke to, that would be helpful.

You can then approach the company, tell them your legal advice, and ask that they provide you with what you contracted for - that is, easy clean and child lock.

If they can replace your windows with satisfactory windows, then fine. If not, you’re due compensation. This would be based on the cost of going to another company and getting them to replace the windows that are defective. You’ll need to get an estimate from them. You can ask for an additional amount, say £2-3k for your inconvenience.