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Anglian Home Improvements – Another complaint

Double Glazing Guy — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:31:45 +0000

I could just make this entire blog about the problems with Anglian fitting but that would be completely wrong of me so with a little help I’ve picked on this case, you’ll be really interested in reading all the faults in the report also, It’s a long read but is well worth it for anyone looking to purchase from Anglian, just make sure they don’t do this to you, if you purchase from them.

Anglian Problems Video.. Anglian problems 2

Sorry about the links to the videos just trying to sort myself out with that, I’m new at this you know! Well a month and a half anyway.

It just seems so wrong that one person could have so many issues, sure every company has mis-measured a window now and again, but this one takes the biscuit, most companies would remake the winodws but then again most companies would actually use fixings to put the windows in as well, shocking bit of work on this job.

I’m not saying all of Anglians work is like this but “Oh My Word” this is probably the worst bit of fitting I’ve ever seen.. These definately wont be reccomending Anglian to anyone, so once again it’s “Most customers, NOT most reccomended”.

47 Campbell Street

Report on Windows

*Item*		*Location*	*Description*
1.		Ground floor front window	The window measures 1.833 wide by 1.614 high consisting of 4 opening casements and 2 fixed panes. In order to view the extent of the problems the brickwork to the right hand side of the casement forming the entrance porch has been removed to expose the rear of the frame. At the time of inspection the frame was still in situe. The head of the window is the wall plate of the projecting canopy of the bay window and porch area.
Defects: The window itself has simply been wedged into the opening and the rear face of the UPVC profile has been planed off to fit tightly into the opening with no tolerance whatsoever. The code of practice states that a window of this size should be manufactured with an expansion gap amounting to 10mm. In this situation there is no gap. The fact that the frame has been effectively wedged in position has caused damage to the profiles resulting in the lower right hand mitre breaking. There are no visible fixings where the window has been placed against the brickwork and the stability of this window is entirely reliant on a small bead of mastic on the exterior. At the window head level there is a gap of approximately 12mm between the underside of the wall plate and the frame. In this area there is no evidence of any hard packing or shimming to provide any form of support to the wall plate above. The opening casements of the windows have been manufactured to such poor tolerance that both of the lower casements are only 5mm larger than the opening. They do not come into contact with the draft stripping leaving a gap of approximately 10mm on each side. The casement is therefore too small for the opening in the frame. The fixed light and the right hand casement are not square and this can be seen from the sealed unit glazing whereby the visible silver strip is level with the frame on the right hand side and approximately 5mm below the frame on the left hand side. This corresponds with a similar lack of tolerance at the window head. This defect is also replicated on the right hand casement. The cause of this is the fact that neither of the casements is actually square and over the height of the casement is a deviation of approximately 3-4 mm. In conclusion therefore, the principal defects are as follows:
1.	The frames are not fitted to the structure in accordance with the code of practice as there are no fixings.
2.	The large opening casements do not fit within the openings.
3.	The casements are not square.
*Item*		*Location*	*Description*
2.		Ground floor rear window	The window measure 1.058 by 1.461 high consisting of 1 opening casement, 1 fixed light and opening transom. The window here has been fixed tight into the reveal with no visible fixings suggesting that again the profile to the back edge of the frame has been planed and then wedged into place. This again needs to tolerance whatsoever. The width of the opening casement at its internal point is 516mm and the internal opening of the frame is 510mm giving an overlap of 3mm per side. The large casement does not sit square in the opening at its closing point there is virtually no overlap between the frame and the casement. The frame itself having been hammered into position has caused it to bow and on the right hand reveal shows bow in the middle of approximately 4mm.
Defects: In summary the defects are:
1.	Unfixed window frame with no tolerance.
2.	Incorrectly sized casement.
3.	Externally where the brickwork was damaged instead of pointing up the brickwork with a cement mortar the gap has been filled with a silicone mastic.
*Item*		*Location*	*Description*
3.		Kitchen Window	1.793 x 1.031. This is a 3 panel window with 2 opening casements and a central opening transom light on a fixed pane. This window again has no visible fixing into the brickwork and has been wedged in place and fixed using silicone mastic to the perimeter. In parts the tolerances are so tight that the wedging in position slightly distorted the frame.
Defects: In summary this window is capable of being salvaged albeit that it will require fixing in position in accordance with the code of practice.
*Item*		*Location*	*Description*
4.		Wc window	This window again has complete absence of any fixings and has been wedged into position with virtually zero tolerance to the perimeter and then sealed with silicone mastic. Due to the size of the window it is possible that this can be reused with the addition of appropriate fixing.
5		Bathroom window	This is a fixed light and singe opening casement window that again has complete absence of fixings. Furthermore a frame has been wedged into the opening to such an extent that it has distorted the right hand section of the frame by approximately 5mm. Whilst the window is not square but due to its size provided the window is taken out, the openings modified and then the window fixed correctly with the appropriate tolerances in accordance with the code of practice then reuse is possible.
6.		First floor front window	Window measures 1.786 x 1.188 comprising 2 opening casements, fixed light and an opening transom light. The plaster to the window reveals has been removed in this window to establish the tolerances and fixings. Again there are no fixings whatsoever the window is merely wedged into the opening. Other than the undulations in the brickwork reveals the frame has been modified on site to give virtually no tolerance whatsoever and then simply wedged into the reveal and silicone mastic applied to the exterior. With the plaster work reveal removed it is possible to move the frame within the opening where it does not wedge against the brickwork. It would be possible to remove the frame, slightly amend the brickwork to provide an expansion gap and re fix the window.
7.		Rear bedroom window	1.060 x 1.472. Here again the window is unfixed and wedged into the opening. The transom to the left hand side of the window above the fixed pane bows approximately 5mm over its length. The opening casement has virtually no overlap between the casement and the frame and daylight is visible on the top edge. This window is sufficiently poor to require replacement.
8.		Rear extension bedroom	This window measures 1.060 x 1.464. 1no fixed light 1no opening casement and a transom light. This window is very similar to the rear bedroom where the transom is approximately 5mm out of level over the fixed light. Again the window has not been fixed and movement is evident so is cracking to the perimeter. Externally the brickwork has been damaged and a large hole filed with silicon mastic. The tolerance in the opening casement is such that daylight is visible. If it were not for the fact that the window is very tightly wedged into the opening and damaged caused this frame may have been salvageable however the top rail of the frame is sufficiently bowed to warrant replacement.

Anglian Home Improvements sort yourself out!!!

Double Glazing Guy — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 15:56:11 +0000

There blinking at it again, how do the customers know which is the right price????

I’ve just been blown out of the water by an Anglian price, get this a 3.5 x 3.5 connie for eight thousand five hundred pounds!!! You may say, so they beat you fair and square, not so, I took a deal off them a few weeks back similar size connie they were 12k now where is it.

I appreciate your fitters around Wales are having a rough time, but if you keep selling things out for no money your going to be out of business again ( sorry cheap shot you’ve not been out of business yet) and the banks wont be able to bail you out this time.

I feel sorry for the poor customers out there who are actually paying 12k for one from you, do you have a pricing policy??? It just seems to be get it for what you can at the moment , a few suggestions, use a price book which:

Keeps you solvent
Pays your salesmen
Doesn’t increase when the surveyor gets there
And finally doesn’t de-value your product.

When you send out this mixed message it makes it feel like you have no faith in your product being worth what you are asking for it…

Get it sorted you’ve got alot of people who’s jobs you have to pay for, if you keep giving it away then you’re giving away their futures. To any customers thinking of buying from Anglian, wait for the 3rd phonecall, then if you want to buy from them they’ll of reached their bare minimum, just make sure to ask what frame you are getting, and if you’re happy, make them sign on the contract that this price will not go up on survey (this is VERY IMPORTANT).

More Redundancies at Anglian Home Improvements

Double Glazing Guy — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:31:59 +0000

I’m starting to feel sorry for these guys now!! When will the doom and gloom end for Anlian Home Improvements and more importantly how will it end, owned by the banks, cutting more staff, not paying the sales guys, customer confidence at an all time low (well I can only say for Wales).

These guys are certainly taking a battering and if it wasn’t for the amount of money they are into the banks for I think they would of gone into liquidation long ago.

But I really do feel sorry for the workers the guys that I have spoken to over the last few months are genuine guys who just want to make a living, and all of their jobs are in the firing line.

So in a way I want to say come on Anglian get it right!!!! And on the other hand……………………..

“Workers at city home improvements company Anglian Group are waiting on tenterhooks as talks continue over 94 planned redundancies.

Bosses at the company, which employs 810 in its manufacturing division in Norwich, announced the cuts in August, and while the firm is still seeking volunteers it is likely that many of the job losses will be compulsory redundancies.

A selection process to decide which staff are set to go is continuing and the first jobs to go could be announced by the end of the month.

In February it appeared Anglian workers in Norwich had been spared in an earlier round of redundancies in which 165 jobs were cut when a factory closed in Rochdale, Lancashire.

The company blamed both rounds of job losses on a downturn in consumer spending.

It is still unclear how many compulsory redundancies there will be in Norwich.

A spokeswoman for Anglian Home Improvements said: “The consultation process continues and the request for voluntary redundancies is ongoing. Therefore, we do not yet have a final figure regarding voluntary versus compulsory numbers.”

Union officials are continuing talks with company bosses, but Ivan Mercer, regional organiser for the GMB union, said it appeared the company was doing it all it could to avoid compulsory redundancies.

Mr Mercer added: “The company is asking for volunteers to come forward for redundancies. The redundancy criteria have been agreed and the company is provisionally selecting for redundancies.

“The company is doing as much as it can to mitigate compulsory redundancies but at the end of the day I am sure there are going to be an amount of compulsory redundancies.”

The company, which makes and fits conservatories, doors and windows, is not the first to be hit in the city with about 400 redundancies announced at Bowater Home Improvements – which traded as Zenish Staybrite – lost their jobs when the company went into administration in January.

Yesterday construction firm RG Carter announced plans for 97 redundancies among construction and joinery workers in Drayton.

Have you been made redundant at a Norwich firm or is your company expecting job cuts? Call Evening News business reporter Sam Williams on 01603 772447 or e-mail sam.williams@archant.co.uk”

Source: Evening News 24

Anglian Windows Aggressive Sales Approach

Double Glazing Guy — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:45:37 +0000

Being the owner of a double glazing company you’ve just got to wonder what makes this sales guys tick, sure I’ve had a phone call or two about my sales guys, perhaps being a little bit pushy on very rare occasions, but on the whole I have nothing but good reports back from our clients about how helpful they are etc.

This guy working for Anglian takes the biscuit, why the hell would you do this, it’s like commiting selling suicide, not to mention the fact that this guy had no respect at all for this ladies situation!! Now I’m not saying that Anglian condone this, in fact, they would probably be as annoyed as most of us all about it, but this guy is representing them and then by nature it’s tarnishing Anglian just by association.

Some people may say these people booked the appointment so they should of been available for the appointment, but still, would there be any harm in going and waiting in the car for a while so everything could be sorted, a little thoughtfulness would probably of meant the sale too…

“I am livid.

I have just driven home early as I am on half days at the moment, to see a door to door sales man trying to sell a conservatory to my wife.

Not too bad I guess but she was holding our two day old daughter and I could tell by looking at her that she was upset. She passed him over to me and I did my usual 10 second not interested pitch which did the trick.

I went inside to find my wife crying because she was breast feeding and kept trying to tell him so but he kept on selling.

Firstly, is she really that interested at such an important time? Secondly, what kind of idiot can not have a sense of perspective in those circumstances. I am okay with people selling, but COME ON!!!!!

So, I have now added Anglian Windows to my list of hated selling companies, joining 4 Com in the hall of infamy.”

Source: Craig Killicks Blog

Anglian High Flier Sacked….

Double Glazing Guy — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:45:31 +0000

Sales queen sacked for daring to have children in line for £200,000 compensation
By Colin FernandezLast updated at 8:22 AM on 08th September 2008
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A woman sales executive is in line for a payout of more than £200,000 after claiming she was sacked for having two children in just over a year.
Known as the ‘queen of double glazing’, Alison Prowse Piper, 37, suffered ‘humiliating and hostile’ treatment from directors at Anglian Home Improvements.

She led a division with a £90million turnover and her motivational speeches within the company were known as the ‘queen’s speech’.

‘Humiliated’: Alison Prowse Piper is set to get £200,000 after claiming she was sacked for having two children in 14 months
Directors, who had promoted her to the job of national manager of telecanvassing, had told her she was a natural leader who would soon have a seat on the board.
But after taking maternity leave twice in 14 months she said she felt ‘ostracised’ and her pay was cut by more than half to £30,000.

She was made redundant the day before she took summer holidays last year.
When her third child was born in 2006 – 14 months after her second – she returned from a further six months maternity leave to work for sales director Martin Troughton who said her job title was ‘highfalutin’ and her work was ‘pathetic and crap’.

While she was giving a presentation he ridiculed her work and said her mobile phone was ‘a useless brick’.

Announcing her second pregnancy in 2005, one director said: ‘Oh my God, you’re not, are you? I suppose I should offer you my congratulations.’

When she protested about being excluded from meetings she was told by a director ‘she was being boring’. In March 2005 she complained of sexual discrimination.

Mrs Prowse Piper, of Plymouth, joined the company – one of Britain’s biggest fitters of windows, garage doors and conservatories – in 1988.
After having her first child Oliver, with husband Dean Piper in 1999, she returned to work after a few weeks.

Within five years she was promoted to become the national manager of telecanvassing commanding a £72,500 annual salary for a three-day week.

Mrs Prowse Piper has won her claim that she suffered sex discrimination, sexual harassment and unfair dismissal after an employment tribunal in Exeter in July.
She told the hearing that when she returned to work after the birth of her third child she received a letter about her salary.

‘I felt I was still the same person doing the same job and the same hours but I was being offered £30,000.’

She added: ‘I was the person who had headed up telecanvassing and been very successful and I could not understand why I was being ostracised and amputated.’
Employment judge Mrs Christa Christensen upheld all her claims in a judgment against Anglian which was has just been released.

In her ruling, Mrs Christensen said the way Mrs Prowse Piper was treated by three different directors was ‘ disrespectful, dismissive and demeaning’.

The firm denied the allegations and directors said they did their utmost to help Mrs Prowse Piper return to work.

The tribunal is expected to award compensation – likely to be two or three times her salary – in November.