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“Terrible experience”

written by jrf31 on 29/09/2014

Where to start with our experience of Penicuik? I have written complaint letters to Penicuik of 10 pages listing all of the problems with the installation, so I will simply highlight the main issues:

- The sales process is ridiculous. Aside from taking over 2 hours to measure up etc (and getting it wrong we later found out), we were then quoted £16,000 for 8 windows and 2 doors. When I declined, this dropped to £9,000 and when I again said this was too expensive it dropped to £5,000. All in the space of 5 minutes.

- The quality of the installation is entirely dependent on the team which arrives. The teams are given a set price for the job which means if they turn up late, things get rushed with no care for detail and finishing to ensure they can move to the next job two days later.

- You WILL have to do your own snagging checks on every window or door fitted and by this I mean test that each panel is actually fitted, the sealant has been fitted properly, that they have cut the sills to match the shape of the wall rather than going crazy with the silicone gun to fill inch-wide gaps, that the ends of sills have been capped or coloured, for any damage to your outside walls, that the handles and locks work correctly, that the doors don't stick etc etc etc. We had two teams at our house. The first were atrocious and couldn't care less, to the extent that I had an argument with the foreman who then ripped a section of the door off the wall while he was having a strop. The second were better, but weren't able to give us the quality finish required because it would have meant completely re-installing brand new windows and doors.

- The fitting team sign off the work, not a supervisor as we were told - something about a 100 point check of every window and door. Instead, it's the foreman who has been doing the work. If it had been my wife left to sign it off who doesn't have an eye for detail, or an elderly relative who would be intimidated by the foreman, it would have been signed off and problems arising for years later.

- The 'acceptable' level of damage to your outside walls or interior decorating for Penicuik is considerably higher than my acceptable limits. You expect minor damage but we now have entire sections of wall where the plastering will need re-done.

- Do not be taken in by their 10% discount for taking the credit package. We were told that we should take the finance because it meant an automatic 10% discount off the price, but could actually pay it off in full immediately thus saving any interest added. This is utterly fraudulent. The finance company require a minimum of 3 months payments before you can even request a settlement figure which takes another month. By this time, the interest you have paid will dwarf the supposed savings. We noticed this and fought our case until they eventually allowed us to settle in cash for a discounted rate. It has to be said, the company has little interest in claims of mis-selling by their sales team.

- The aftercare is shocking. In 6 months, we have had them out 3 times and it has been a fight each time to fix: broken door locks, a back door which had slumped on its hinges, a broken window lock and a broken component on the front door. There is no communication between the departments and parts which need to be ordered aren't. Instead you have to arrange another appointment to have someone check that the part is still needed. You also aren't given appointments unless it's classed as urgent, instead you're slotted in at a moment's notice if a team happens to be passing by. As my wife and I work, we missed three calls because the fitters didn't think to phone beforehand. To give an example, when our lock didn't work it was an emergency so someone came out that day, but when the lock worked but the door wouldn't shut properly meaning the wind and rain were getting in, it wasn't urgent as the door could be secured. You will have to argue with the install team repeatedly to get anything done.

A very long review, but I cannot overstate how stressful and disappointing the experience has been with Penicuik from the moment we had a team in our house. I have heard good things about them from one or two people, but again this seems entirely down the quality of the team who turn up on the day and if it's a bad one, the problems can last for months and you will never get the quality of finish you expect.