Been having quotes for my windows from several companies, safestyle come in 30% cheaper than anyone else. I am dubious due to they annoying guy on thier adverts, so anyone used them recently?
you buy one, you get one free I say you buy one, you get one free.
The buy one get one free isn't quite right, they quote you and you haggle till it gets to about to 50% of the original quote, crude but they do come out cheaper than anyone else I have had quote
I got three local companies to come and quote for my windows plus one slightly larger one (but also fairly local). My research told me that there are only two companies making the Upvc extrusion that they make the frames from so basically all the companies are supplying the same product.
Anyhow the quotes i had ranged from £1300 to £6500 (for 6 windows). In fairness to the ones that came round non of them did the ringing their boss to get better price trick, they all gave me a price and that was it.
The most expensive quote was for externally glazed frames so that was a non starter, the others all quoted for esentailly identical windows so i went with the cheapest. Four years later i'm still very happy with them.
The secret is to know what you want before they turn up and don't let them baffle you with bull. I did drawings of what i wanted including opening lights and measurements etc so all they had to do was add it up and give me a figure.
Personally i'd stay well away from national companies based on my experience.
They left friends of ours with a cracked window and no plaster on the reveals in a couple of rooms for 4months...
Are you sure that a local company is not cheaper? (but do get a recommendation )
[url= http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-consumer-issues/24874-safe-style-windows-warned.html ]Something about SS Windows here ... read it. [/url]
they did the windows at the front of our house when we moved in in 1998. Still fine.
Workmen were excellent (although one of them [i]was[/i] a ManU fan); when they took out the old bay window, bits of plaster came down, together with a few dozen dead wasps. When they'd finished putting the new stuff in, they replastered it as good as new.
as far as the product & the installation team goes, I would recommend them.
Just don't go near their finance deals
Total bunch of lying tossers in my experience. When we moved into our first house, the day afterwards one of their salesmen rocks up. New windows was on our list of stuff to do so we thought we'd get a quote. Spent flippin ages trying his hardest to get us to buy windows there and then (they day after we'd moved in!), trying to do us deals, finance, all kinds of crap we weren't interested in - we told him when he walked through the door of our situation and that we just wanted a rough price for future.
2 hours later, we eventually get rid of the annoying little ****. An hour afterwards, his "manager" calls us to ask how the visit went. We were then fed some rubbish about this salesman we saw not giving people good enough deals and that if we invited him back, he'd be able to knock some more off.
Told them to shove it.
Where are you based? We eventually got windows from Coral who are 100% superb. Yes, we occassionally get the odd call from them "we've done your windows in the past and were wondering if you wanted anymore work doing..." but they're always VERY nice and not pushy at all.
Safestyle? Steer clear IMHO. They're as shady and as cringeworthy as the ****ers on the adverts.
If you're in the East Mids try Trent Valley Windows, very good. We used them at two houses. We had three quotes at the old house, two were within £30 of each other and the salesmen were great. The other just slagged off competitors and wanted to charge double the other two unless we had their sign up and he could do us a deal! Tw*t!
Its all down to the sales team and the instalation team,if either is poor, youll feel let down,as with most things shop around.
One thing to look at is Handles and fixing of the beads to the frames,ask to look at samples.
Used 'em for a couple of doors. Been fine. Couple of minor niggles but the after-service care has been OK.
Shonky handles is the only thing i'd worry about between the different suppliers - i've lived in a few with variable quality handles (i.e. getting knackered)
Coral were good for us on the back of the house a few years later too; like DaveyBoyWonder they occasionally ring us as a follow up, but again they're very nice about it.
There are alot of different companies producing profiles, not just 2. That, however is only half the story. The manufacturing process is very important also, most don't bed re-enforcement to the profile and use cheap locking systems. Cheap imported glass is also used now too, large paynes appear to be rippled and warped. You just can't beat pilkingtons glass. It's made in my home town too!
Go with a local company, go see the factory if you can and talk to local small installers.
Run like the wind from safestyle! Don't even let then in your house!
If you're in the manchester or merseyside area, I can give you a quote if you like.
The will leave a trail of destruction, gaps filled with foam and a plastic soffit slapped over. Wouldn't bother
Oh, another note about Coral - we got Pilkington K (the self cleaning stuff) for free on offer. Sweet... not touched the windows with a cloth for 2 years now 🙂
i worked in the glass ind for years and wouldn't touch with a barge pole 😕
How old is your house ? Any tricky detailing ?
If not I would be tempted to do it yourself. There really is nothing to it. Get a supply only quote from 3 or 4 local UPVC fabricators (www.yell.com), specify what glass you need, although they will probably tell you, and buy the stuff.
It can be fitted dead easy. All you need are
Recipricating saw to get the old windows out.
Tower scaffold (£40 for weekend and makes life much easier)
Tin of expanding foam
Hammer Fixings (from any local Builders merchant)
Silicone
UPVC D Beads (can get them from window suppliers or any UPVC stockiet, handy for filling in the gaps)
Hammer Drill and Cordless.
When measuring the structural opening, dont forget to take off about 5mm to fit.
Its a piece of piss.
DaveyBoyWonder
Total bunch of lying tossers in my experience
Yup pretty much exactly the same with me, i ended up making an official complaint to head office, somebody rang me back from said head office and basically ridiculed me, it ended up with me telling him to **** off.
I wouldn't touch them with a very long barge pole.
As suggested, look for a local installer.
Not had safestyle windows but about nine years ago I had a fight with one of their sales dicks when they came knocking on my door touting for business, the young upstart just wouldn't take NO for an answer so when he put his foot in my door as I tried to close it I lamped him one then kicked his arse down my path, he then came back with a few of his mates, however my next door neighbor, was watching all the drama and suddenly jumped in and did all these kung foo moves (he was a black belt) they soon got the message. I alway wondered why he did one armed press ups in his front garden. 😆
Oh yeh, forgot about the gangs of 16 year old yoofs they send around in Matalan suits and Nike tracksuit tops touting for business for one of their 'proper' salesmen to nip around later.
I used to work with the owner's (now ex) wife. She had some good and some bad things to say about how the business was run - neither much better or much worse than most DG businesses.
And did you know the guy in the adverts (not Reg from Corrie) is (was?) actually a sales manager for SafeStyle? They had that idea well before Halifax did.
The Halifax ads are cringeworthy as well though...
Well yes, can't argue with that point 🙂
They certainly make amazing money though - the woman I worked with was a part-time admin assistant but used to come to work in her convertible Ferrari. Or the Range Rover Vogue SE. Or the M3. Or the M3 convertible. It just depended on her mood and the weather really.
:-O