Anglian Home Improvements appear on BBC’s Watchdog programme
Posted by Renegade Conservatory Guy on 15 Apr 2008 at 07:09 am | Tagged as: Uncategorized
I was watching the TV last night, and was surprised to see Anglian Windows with a major feature on the show. They say that any publicity is good publicity, but I’m not sure about that in this instance.
The show highlighted a series of failures by the company to provide good customer service, and a good product. In fact, much of the workmanship shown on the TV programme was shoddy. I won’t go into detail, and you can read the detail on the BBC website here.
What surprised me was that about a month ago, I wrote a post about Anglian closing their Rochdale factory, and was delighted that Martin Troughton, the Marketing Director from Anglian visited my website and stated the following:
As the marketing director of Anglian Home Improvements I think you will find that rumours of our demise are very premature.
Like everyone in the industry we are finding the market challenging and are making adjustments accordingly but we are healthy and profitable.
Also your comment on us cutting prices is also wrong we will however remain competitive so you better watch out when pitching against us - a keen price, a great product and a strong brand make for stiff competition.
Well, Martin I challenge you to come back to this website, and answer the following questions:
Well said. It’s clear that choosing a local company is the only sensible choice for the consumer.
Yesterday I was told that Anglian have closed all of their showrooms in Wales. It was from a pretty reliable source too.
Rumours do fly around but I’ve been told for quite a while that Anglian seem to be in trouble.
And as for prices they are going in very cheap down here in Wales.
It would be interesting to see what response you get from Martin Troughton.
It just beats me how consumers think that by going to an organisation such as Anglian that they will get better value for their hard earned cash. Bob is spot on, local is the way to go.
On the contrary, I feel it is such a shame Anglian have been caught out on these occasions because the service they gave me when I bought a conservatory was 1st class.
It’s always such a shame when a big company changes it’s operations for the benefit of their customers and end up letting them down because things didn’t go so well for them. I still feel safer using a national company than a local one due to the fact I know they will still be around to help me if I have any problems years down the line - I suppose it was just unfortunate that Anglian misjudged the impact of making their customer services team centrally managed.
A lot of big companies do this though and still manage to retain a good level of service - maybe Anglian just didn’t plan it very well?
Anyway, I hope that they can get things sorted out in their new centrally managed customer services team so that we can start again focusing on the good job they do for the majority of us - I recommended them to my friend and she was just as happy with their products & service as me.
Interesting article though, thanks RCG. I shall bookmark this to keep an eye on what you have to say in the future :).
Bob - I totally agree.
Andrew - I wasn’t aware of the situation, but thanks for the update.
Gary - Again, I totally agree.
Judith - Thanks for your comments. I’m sure there are many happy Anglian customers, and glad that you are so happy to sing their praises. You could get a job in the Anglian PR office!
Not awfully surprised to read this - they’ve been trying to build my conservatory for the last 8 months and failing miserably, though it does look like an end is finally in sight. So far, however, they’ve been receptive to my feedback and are at least trying to sort it out! We tried to use a local company and they let us down BIG TIME!!! Really let us down after we placed the contract with them - which was why we ended up going to a national company. Real shame as usually I’m a fan of sourcing good products locally.
Well whats happening to the giant home improvement company. I feel that the watchdog program will have an effect on your sales in coming months. Consumers are already turning away from the brand as they want service and value for money more than ever. Yes the markets tough but it always has been for the last 20 years I have been in it.
Customers are going more for local companies for quality and service of a good job. They see this as the m ost important when nationals are going bust. I have personally won orders against anglian even when they have been 20% cheaper than me. All the customer thinks is thay are not getting the real thing if your to cheap. Keep us posted it’ll be an interesting few months or maybe only weeks.
I have been having problems with Anglian since last June. I have found their customer service none exsistant. They make false promises especially their instullation managers.I have been let down by them 3 times. First they made a two tone outside window. It was a very long window and the top was white and lower window brown! Second time they just didn’t turn up. Third time it didn’t fit properly and it is glued together with gaps all over.I am certainly not pleased and they have again not made it as I wished and according to the surveyors drawings but want to come and fit it and say I am refusing to let them. Last time they damaged brick work.A Richard ibson from their legal department has sent in a Mr Peter Hurley (Does this name ring a bell to anyone?) who is an independent adviser who says he has never lost a court case yet! but for who Anglian??!! He says the measurements are correct but they do not correspond to the proportions drawn by the surveyor. When a customer employs Anglian should they then employ another surveyor to check the measurements? as for health and safety it is none exsistant. They do not reply to letters. They even asked for proof of a recorded delivery letter when I had sent a copy by e-mail which had been acknowledged!!!
I’ve just had an Anglian sales rep ring me days asking if I had any work for “a few reps” as there leads have dried up.
It is a tough market feel sorry for him especially as its commision only but apparently they’re owed alot of money which has been promised to them but hasn’t been paid. He tells me they’re all getting a bit worried.
If one of their tele-can reads this it would be interesting to see your comments as to lead volumes etc…
Hi Andrew
It’s clear these are going to be tough times for Anglian Home Improvements, but I’m sure the Anglian brand will survive in the long term.
It would be nice to hear from Martin at Anglian to hear the answers to the questions I posed.
Renegade Conservatory Guy
A caveat or 2 ref local companies. In the main they buy in their products, making them dependant on the integrity of their suppliers, which they can and do change often enough. They mostly “employ” their own installers (subbies really) and it can be difficult to get them back to right any wrongs. When the owner decides to sell or retire or dies, the guarantees go with it. Insurance backed guarantees are alledgedly often supplied from “insurance” companies that move on and change their name every couple of years thereby dumping their obligations.
Whatever you do, only buy using a credit card or using credit specifically for that purchase, whereby you get a double endemnity - a second guarantee in effect - so that there is always someone to come and help you should you have a dispute with your supplier or if they go out of business for whatever reason. See section 75 1975/9 of the Consumer Credit Act at your library or OFT.
If a company will not accept payment by credit card, ask yourself what it is that the CC companies know about them that you don’t!
A fair point about credit cards.
I’m not sure that the insurance backed guarantee suppliers will agree with your comments, though.
Regarding local companies versus national companies:
My feeling is that there are a lot of good quality local installation companies around, such as:
Keswick Superglaze in Cumbria
Fairview Windows in Widnes
Nuglas in East Sussex
High Tech Windows in Gloucester
Strata Windows in Stoke-On-Trent
Hallmark Windows in Harrogate
I must point out that I do not supply or have dealings with any of the above.
A consumer would get a substantially better quality of product from these long established local window and conservatory companies than they would do from:
Safestyle UK
Anglian
Everest
Weatherseal
That is my opinion.
Yeah - it’s interesting that more people don’t pay with credit. In fact it would be great if people insisted that they would *only* pay with credit. No-one would end up permanently disapointed and the cowboys would have to close down as no-one would be dealing with them! There is one thing to watch though and that is that a company doesn’t use the unit a few doors down who deal with credit cards, as I should imagine there would be no contract. Maybe not - I haven’t thought it thru yet.
As for the companies you mention, I have no axe to grind with *any* company. My comments were just to point up the frailties of dealing with small companies. Even though I’m sure the vast majority start off with the best of intentions, they can be victim of circumstance as well as victims of the circumstances of those from whom they buy their profile or windows or their subbies etc etc.
CREDIT CARDS ARE THE ONLY WAY. Have you ever seen a complaint from anyone who has paid by credit card?
Oh and any news from Martin yet? He should be back from the job centre about now.
No news from Martin.
I suspect that Judith Masters (see above) may know where Martin is!
In relation to small companies, I tend to agree that some of the smaller, less established companies (one man bands) need watching. However, I also know some very professional one man bands.
As for subbies - the very best window and conservatory fitters out there are subbies (as are the worst!)
So what about the other side of the coin?
Anglian fitted out windows and doors on time, to a better standard than was available locally at the price, and for just a quarter of the maximum quotation we received. A team of four fitted the lot in a day. We have no complaints. If anyone could match them locally. we’d have taken them up. The service and quality from Anglian was excellent.
Sorry, guys!
I’m in no doubt that Anglian will stay around, but I do think that employing your own fitters remains a good way of keeping the quality of installations good. I can only go on the experiences down here in Wales, but whenever a subbie got involved there was trouble. I’m not saying they are all like that but if a subbie can “fit you in” for a month or two there’s generally a problem with them.
I agree with your comments about Judith Masters… And I’ve heard that name somewhere before?
Let’s just hope that the market becomes slightly more buoyant
soon.
I thought the same, then I realised it was Judith Chalmers I was thinking about!
Hi all,
I left Anglian end of January this year (2008). They are not just cutting back on regional offices but also on office assistants in the showrooms and even getting rid of the water coolers!
You’re lucky if you get paid or an admin lackey doesn’t botch the order for you. The fitters are from hell with appalling quality almost everywhere.
Take a look at page 7 in the Which Magazine for March. Tony Munday was my customer.
I left and in the process gave up my profit share bonus (£1000), a weeks holiday abroad, my loyalty bonus (£2500 twice yearly).
Basically Anglian shot almost 10% of my deals through shear incompetence last year alone.
I’ve joined Everest. WHAT A BREATH OF FRESH AIR. Any reps feeling worried, call Everest - you won’t regret it.
Anglian has sacked their chief exec Alex McNutt and their Northern Director Douglas Johnson. There looks to be more heads on the block. It don’t look so good right now. Key sales managers and reps have left and continue to do so.
Hmmmmmmm.
Still amazes me to this day the fact that people 9/10 times will buy not quality windows and doors but a PRICE “yes thats right” A PRICE not a product they buy a price, obviously price is one of the main issues when buying anything, but if you can afford a little more pay it, if you get a cheap quote dont be fooled by the old yes we are VFM Mr Customer his VFM means cheaper sub -standard products,
Generally a good way of looking at a purchase of this nature is to take into consideration when given a price the following factors EG quote for windows and doors by salesman of 5k take VAT of that 17.5 % = 875 = 4125 , 2 fitters £100 a day obviously this is a general example and just to give an idea average job takes 2-3 days give or take so that anouther £600 plus salesman commission lets say after vat net comm approx £400 there’s probably a bit more to come of this , but do you get the idea once all this is deducted the actual windows you get arent really worth that much, always remember you get what you pay for, insurance backed guarentees arent worth the paper there written on, asked the salesman why he’s the cheapest and listen to him lie, we all like VFM but we like a bargain more, but it always comes at a price quality and piece of mind cost more but thats what you get ask for a lifetime guarentee lets face it your paying the money, most companies offer a 10 yr guarentee why well ask the salesman and listen to him stutter you will end up paying more in the long run, but some people cant see further than the end of there noses and are the first to complain. just to reiterate the above is just a way of seeing a purchase from a different angle so please dont pull me up on the figures its just a rough idea .
Have you had any response from Anglian yet?
Does anyone agree that the GGF, BSI, FENSA and all governing bodies for the glazing industry have a lot to answer for!
How long will they allow the likes of Anglian to get away with this unexcusable behaviour/service.
If all Anglian staff and fitters have been trained to the standards required by the glazing industry governing bodies then parliment should step in and sort this industry out immediately.
3.5 years and still have a conservatory unfinished by Anglian. Even though Anglian Directors have admitted that this is the worst case they have come accross since working at the company, they are still taking us to court causing further distress.
All complaints from customers are very similar and shows it’s not just an local branch problem but a national problem and needs a major investigation!
DO NOT BUY ANY PRODUCTS FROM ANGLIAN WINDOWS UNTIL THEY CAN GUARANTEE 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FOR ALL NEW AND EXISTING CUSTOMERS.
Regarding:
Does anyone agree that the GGF, BSI, FENSA and all governing bodies for the glazing industry have a lot to answer for!
Yes, I entirely agree - our industry completely lacks good leadership from the governing bodies you have mentioned.
Consider this -
GGF was set up by the trade to ostensibly police the industry.
It is funded by the industry, so in the event of a dispute, whom do you think they will side with if poss? Are they likely to bite off the hand that feeds them. GGF comforts the public but it shouldn’t comfort us.
FENSA is a self-policing body. It regulates a set of standards now insisted upon by planners if I am correct - Document L. It’s membership requires the offer of (not the inclusion of)insurance backed guarantees. It does nothing to monitor the integrity of the insurers themselves.
BSI is the requirement to peddle products of a reasonable minimum quality and is therefore a good starting point when making choices. To be sure of its applying in your case, you need to check that your supplier/installer complies with its dictats. There are and have been many cases of “companies” lifting the logos off other brochures and using them as their own. It is also debatable that, if a window is produced to a BSI standard and installed by subbies, then the window company in a dispute could say a failure ain’t their fault.
I would slighty amend RCG’s comment to DON’T BUY ANYTHING FROM ANYONE IF IT IS WORTH MORE THAN AN ITEM PRICE OF GBP100 UNLESS IT IS WITH A DEDICATED CREDIT AGREEMENT OR WITH A CREDIT CARD.
You then will have someone to fight your corner for you and the law of this land guarantees you a just result.
ddfc
Hi ddfc
Just to confirm, I never stated this:
DO NOT BUY ANY PRODUCTS FROM ANGLIAN WINDOWS UNTIL THEY CAN GUARANTEE 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION FOR ALL NEW AND EXISTING CUSTOMERS.
But thanks for clearing up the questions for JUSTICE.
RCG
Hi
Just researching on this kind of industry as we are looking at getting a conservatory. Have had 2 quotes so far and were about to get a 3rd this saturday from Anglian!! - thanks to this blog I think we’ll be cancelling that appointment!
We live in the Manchester area - can anyone suggest a company we could get a 3rd quote from? Our preferred company at present is Malbern windows. They seem well organised, with good sales technique and service and appear to have good quality products. Any comments would be really welcome.
We were going to see Anglian as my parents were pleased with the windows they fitted for them last year. There are always good and bad experiences with any customer facing company, but I think where financial trouble is looming, that’s a definite warning sign as even if the skeleton staff remaining are good, if they are spread too thinly when a company is in crisis service will be poor and standards will slip. All of your comments about local closures at Anglian etc and cut backs are much appreciated!
H
Anglian are the longest window company going. No other company have been going for 40years.which speaks for itself. when watchdog put this progamme against anglian, after they put the complaints number on. 250 complained. anglian have 600.000 guaranties still out. thats 0.04 percent of customers.could a local company have that record.Local companies use skinny frames that bend in 10 years and discolour easily. Cause anglian are such a big window company they get critised. .A lot of national companies go bust.Needhams and staybrite have changed there name so many times which cancels the guarenties.. Which is profitable for them cause customer service is not needed. Anglian have never gone bust. i work for them customers are always happy. MOST CUSTOMERS MOST RECOMMENDED that a fact.
Hi Shaun
Regarding your statement:
‘Local companies use skinny frames that bend in 10 years and discolour easily.’
This is the typical crap that Anglian have always used to frighten customers into paying more for the Anglian product.
Consumers may fall for this, but people in the trade all appreciate that uPVC window systems are all very similar in quality.
And, to suggest that Anglian are the only window company that has been trading for 40 years, is clearly utter rubbish.
If you, or any other Anglian staff, wish to post anything about Anglian please ensure it is accurate.
RCG
It’s difficult to find anything that hasn’t been covered before in these blogs. Anglian is an appalling Company, which has serious issues. Following our issues, still unresolved, of a leaking conservatory, that has been doing so for the last year. We took on ourselves to contact the Company who rented the space to Anglian. They did get some initial reaction; I hope on the basis that instead of just me as an unhappy customer, they would potentially loose a site that would cost them much more heavily due to the quantity and quality of the trade. They themselves are struggling, which I hope is asking questions.
Although eventually a bad experience will cost a company nearly 1000 bad referrals in a person’s lifetime, their demise could not be quick enough, so the question is : What is the most effective way, collectively, people can become active in causing a company like Anglian pain?
1000’s of applicants at small claims court.
Sites like this
Advertising the message
I have much more details and files of letters but feel that something more impacting must be done
Any ideas?
we at anglian have been trading 42 years this year and what watchdog failed to tell everyone on there program was the complaints in question were 250 ish i think,this is out of 600,000 customers that were still within the guarente period thats a 0.04% or there abouts complaints ratio ! i challenge any company with turnover of 250 millon a year to have less complaints.9 out of 10 anglian customers would reccomend us to freinds or family FACT
[…] had a couple of big hits in april, especially my post about Anglian appearing on Watchdog. If you type in ‘Anglian Watchdog’ into Google then this site is position 1 (above […]
I work for anglian and have recently had a new production manager. It seems all he is worried about is painting floors and cleaning than doing anything about the vast number of problems we face with machinery and the massive amount of errors we have. We use various machinery which is dated over 30 years old and is simply not up to the job. The amount of scrap that is produced is unbelievable! And thats what gets noticed before its despached. Non of the managment have got any control of its work force and there is a giant lack in employees rising through the ranks in recent years. Bring back the good old days. What on earth were they thinking when employing managers that used to work in soup factorys and for the local roller skating rink! No product knowledge, no experience, no idea!! Anglian had such a devoted work force and the general feeling now is how long have we all got left.
Hi Bruce - I hope you’ve supplied a false name…
I’m sorry to hear how things are going. Anglian clearly have been at the very top for many years, but it does seem that things are wobbly at the minute, and you are experiencing these problems first hand. There’s clearly a major downturn in the double glazing market, and the larger companies can fail to adapt to changing conditions.
Agreed - I own a uPVC window factory myself, and you simply couldn’t manage production without the necessary knowledge. Everything is bespoke, and so varied (unlike soup) that a manager must learn the trade first.
RCG
I recently had an Anglian conservatory installed. They are now claiming I have a £900 debt with them, and if I do not clear it by Wed 7th May 08, by noon, my guarantee will be cancelled and they will add 2% interest per month to the £900.
The reason I am not paying is because the sales rep advised i would need a wind post in a 3meter fire wall (which building control do not insist on), and it was not installed - we asked the fitters to show is the wind post when the wall was being built - they laughed at us and said there wasn’t one.
The sales rep at the time told us it costed them £900 for the wind post (i know it does not), and that if we didn’t want it we “could not have an Anglian Conservatory”. They are now denying this conversation took place!
Can anyone advise me who the Chief Exec / Managing Director is as I want to copy my letter of complaint to them and explain that I am not paying £900 for something that i clearly don’t have. I am dealing with the East Kilbride brand.
Thanks very much
Diane
ps - the product appears fine (2 weeks old), however I have been getting chased for full payment since the foundation went it!!!
I’ve stopped getting my White Knight now. Yet I see Anglian are advertising for more reps .Is it because I don’t smoke and am not an alcoholic? Is it because the regional manager hasn’t got a sense of humour? I said if the SNP got independence for Scotland Gordon Brown could no longer be Prime Minister and all the Scots would have to go back to Scotland. After investing in a contract mobile phone and laptop for conservatory design he told my manager not to give me any leads because I wasn’t selling anything and I haven’t heard from the company for the last 4 to 5 months. Is it my fault I can’t understand a flipping (edited by RCG) word the Scot’s prock (edited by RCG) says? The reason I wasn’t selling anything was because Mr.Stinky breath Silver Fox alcoholic was getting to all the leads first and leaving me with everything in BD9. It doesn’t bother me whether Anglian do well or not because if people are mad enough to want to buy from the kind of scheming barstewards (edited by RCG) that work there I’m glad to be out of it.
Hi Paul
Thanks for your comments - sorry I had to edit some of the words, but I’m sure people get the idea.
RCG
What also irritates me are the comments from some of my “colleagues” from Anglian under this topic which are so inarticulate it’s hard to believe this is the company I used to love working for.
There is some truth in the argument about conservatory frame strength. Anglian are the only company that have a BBA certificate for a complete conservatory. If other companies claim a certificate for windows and another one for conservatory roofs amounts to the same thing it’s a lie. Windows are only tested to be installed in houses and not as part of a conservatory structure. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions but our argument is that for conservatories, espescially bigger ones you need more strength in windows because they are part of the stucture. I personally don’t believe in scaring people but would simply argue that in very windy weather 60mm profile windows are going to make you feel much more comfortable and less likely to sway than a conservatory made up of standard window frames. When you compare pictures of conservatories with the two frames I think common sense will let you see which is the more solid structure and which is flimsy.
I don’t know why I’m doing Anglian the favour of standing up for them after the way they’ve treated me. Maybe a few years ago there was pride in the company but now you get the feeling that it’s just dictated by shareholders who want bigger and bigger profits and don’t want to give customers anything back in return.