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Once upon a time we had a couple of fitters who decided to leave us to start their own business in the double glazing world. They set out with good intentions, determined to do as well as possible by under-pricing and over promising.
This worked well for a while as customers were tempted by the lower costs and the promise of excellent fitting. But as the months and early years drifted by, the stack of unhappy customers began to pile up. They were unhappy with poor fitting, poor time keeping and jobs not being completed either on time or not at all. It got to the point where one particularly well off customer threatened to sue them.
Does that story sound familiar? The downfall of the industry is that it is full of ex-fitters who think they can run their own business because they can buy and fit windows and doors. But they forget that they have to guarantee their work, see to remedial calls and be skilled in the customer services department. Unfortunately those last three things are ignored, hence the cowboy image the window industry has given itself.
Until legitimate companies do their best to force these shambolic operations out, we are going to suffer from fly-by-night companies for the foreseeable future. Rob Foy to the rescue I reckon!
This worked well for a while as customers were tempted by the lower costs and the promise of excellent fitting. But as the months and early years drifted by, the stack of unhappy customers began to pile up. They were unhappy with poor fitting, poor time keeping and jobs not being completed either on time or not at all. It got to the point where one particularly well off customer threatened to sue them.
Does that story sound familiar? The downfall of the industry is that it is full of ex-fitters who think they can run their own business because they can buy and fit windows and doors. But they forget that they have to guarantee their work, see to remedial calls and be skilled in the customer services department. Unfortunately those last three things are ignored, hence the cowboy image the window industry has given itself.
Until legitimate companies do their best to force these shambolic operations out, we are going to suffer from fly-by-night companies for the foreseeable future. Rob Foy to the rescue I reckon!
>GB-Not all ex fitters are like that, 4 years and not 1 complaint as yet !You can say some/ most are like that. But not all!
Not forget mid and large firms can be cowboys…..Rant over Nige
>That is true Nige, and good on ya for your good work!
>on this one gb i personally think the bigger problem lies with ex salesman setting up and trying to run a business in a professional capacity. most fitters do know how a job should be fitted(time served ones that is)the cons and the worst jobs tend to come from salesman who will recruit anyone who says they can fit, and tend to rip people off unlike ex fitters who start up on their own. another problem is this. when the nationals need to fit 100s of thousands of windows a wk they employ so called fitters who they hope can… Read more »
>I'm sure anyone that runs their own business has learned (or will soon learn) that the skills to do the work are only a small part of the picture.
I see this all the time with start-ups earning good money when the weather's good, but not planning ahead for the winter, and with little understanding of cashflow, marketing etc.
>Mmmm. Refer you to the Quality Counts posting.
I think DGB as they call themselves most probably represents one of the big chain of cowboy double glazing operators who over price work, get anybody and everybody to fit there over priced products while ripping off customers, there salesmen, there fitters and anybody else that is unfortunate enough to work for them or be involved in business with them. Having top quality fitters do your job is the best option and not buy one get one for nothing rubbish that the top boys promise!!!!