Staybrite/Zenith windows showhouse

[Freddiecat]

Has anyone become a showhouse for Staybrite or Zenith windows?

We had someone knock on the door last week and as a result their salesguy came round. Spent 5 hours with us (yes that is right) talking through and measuring up. Anyway came up with a huge price for the whole house including french doors etc then as it could be a showhouse, knocked about 6 grand off that.

We were still a bit gobsmacked about how much it was so then he phoned his boss who basically took almost 2/3rds off the original huge price.

We didn't take it because we needed to consider the investment and didn't want to be bullied into making a decision like that at 11pm (which to be fair there was no bullying at all - just "well we can only do that price tonight...".

Question is - is £7500 a good price for UPVC windows and doors for a whole 3 bedroom house?

Is the showhome thing worth doing and has anyone received their full refund?

Is the quality/service good?

The reason we are a bit reluctant is because our house is only 3 years old but they put in wood windows which at some point soon will need painting. They obviously see that they can get our whole street converted!

Freddiecat, does this help? No personal experience though.
www.camcity.co.uk/review/4152/

i would never buy from staybrite as they (one of many many attempts) doorstepped my mother aged 70 a frail diabetic and she spent twelve hours trying to get rid, he eventually left with a cheque for £6000 to rplace her four cottage front windows which a)she didn't want replaced and b) she was in a conservation area.By this time it was 10.00 at night. Even after i complained about this and to be honest they did refund her money they said she would never be called again but she was. Can't say anything about the quality of windows or service. on one occasion they told her her husband had made an appointment (he died in in 1975)

you are being well and truely mugged up - if they could afford to give you the windows for that in the first place why did you think they didn't - because they wanted you to think oh what nice people doing me a favour it must be a bargain then. And why can they only do that price tonight - bollocks that is bullying - don't be so niave please please please and whatever you do insist that you will do no business with them unless the can do the work WITHOUT TAKING A DEPOSIT!! Any company worth its salt is big enough and good enough not to have to take your money but to run on credit and only demand payment once the job is done to your satisfaction.

Get 2 other quotes - try finding a company that is not limited - window companies have a history of taking your money doing a crap job going bust and then starting up again - I am sure both Zenith and Staybrite have done this before to lots of unsuspecting customers!!

nono we haven't taken them up on it precisely for those reasons! They did not want a deposit at all anyway. I just wondered if anyone else had had their windows done and how much it tends to cost!

that's bad lemonice - glad you got a refund.

TBH i thought they seemed a reasonable company - been around 30 years. did not want a depoisit providing we used their payment plan which we could pay off immediately anyway. i know the "deal only valid tonight" thing is a form of bullying but that was the only coercion used and I was braced for more!

Zenith have a terrible reputation for a) outstaying their welcome and b) overcharging. The whole showhome line is b*llocks imo. They quoted us £3000 for some French windows that Coldseal did for £900 - and they probably still made a nice profit from that.

We have Zenith windows & doors and yes the salesman did go on & on....... and the after sales phone calls you receive from them go on & on...... however the products are great and insurance companies rate Zenith security well and any queries we have had have been sorted out quickly. Did display a board but of course received no refund (does anyone I wonder?) and the cost at time of sale was reduced and reduced again til we got a price we were happy with!! Happy with the products, hate the sales patter!

OMG, we don't have double glazing yet so these zenith people are constantly knocking on our door. we have a 4 bedroomed house, and without doors the whole lot would have come to ....wait for it.....£13.000!! can you believe it??? i said no way to dh when the bloke left, lol. I am sure you can get them cheaper. get quotes from different companies.

hate any sales patter really!

some friends have both used Coldseal and would not recommend them. one friend has a really visible gap in her conservatory and they are not at all interested in fixing it. it took her threatening watchdog and trading standards for them to come round (after 6 months!) .

We have 9 windows to do.

Zenith do have a bad reputation for pressure selling and stating false prices so they can come down and look like they are doing you a favour ? and still being expensive after all that. But we used them because they had done a good job for our neighbour and we were very pleased with the job. The windows were good quality and the workmen were efficient and tidied up very thoroughly. However, when Which? looked at double glazing companies they said local companies are usually better value and W? readers had fewer complaints about them.
Whichever company you choose, check their insurance and aftersales service ? maybe worth a call to your local trading standards to see if they have had any complaints about the firm.
And don't use their finance, ever. Really high interest rates and lots of small print that gets you trapped. If you want to pay a deposit and then pay the final amount when the job is finished, put the deposit on a credit card. If there is a dispute, you can get your money back from the card company.