Safestyle UK - front door problems - told to wait until 2003 for repairs

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on December 17, 2002:

From:

RE: Safestyle UK - front door problems - told to wait until 2003 for repairs

Dear Sirs Just over two years ago, I purchased my first home and the first job that needed doing was a full replacement of the windows and front door. I shopped around and heard endless advertisements for Safestyle UK on the radio & TV so agreed to a consultation with one of their salesmen.

He arrived and measured up and quoted a ridiculous price of almost twice what my parents had paid for a full house (I live in a ground floor apartment). After much haggling he said he could do a special offer but would have to call his manager.....and eventually said I was getting the bargain of the century at something like 65% reduction. This even though it was the highest quote I'd had! I agreed...and this is where the trouble started! The fitters arrived and I have to admit did the job very quickly...perhaps a little too quickly?! The ads tell you they will clean up after themselves - wrong!. They hacked away the plasterwork on the internal window sills and left them in a right mess. They will now have to be replastered at a cost to myself. They left dirty handprints on the walls surrounding the kitchen window and as a special gift to me left pieces of window in both my gardens.

I should also mention that under the terms of my lease, I have to have exactly the same windows as everyone else so had to opt for ones with a semi circular arch design to the top - I had expected these to be moulded into the frames as my neighbours are but oh no...Safestyle use stick on ones! Shortly after I had a PVC front door fitted which to be fair was lovely and although expensive, I was pleased with it once it had been installed. Except for the day when it didn't open and I was trapped inside my apartment! I had to take a full day off from work, wait until their helpline opened later in the morning and then wait until late afternoon until one of their representatives could come and free me!

The customer service department (including the supervisor who was in Safestyle tradition as helpful as can be...not) were baffled as to why I was so concerned about being trapped inside my house.....they recommended in the event of a fire that I could climb out the windows and were actually quite rude when telling me this.

Also, they delightfully informed me that if I called another locksmith who could come out straight away, I would have to pay him and this would invalidate the guarantee they provide!! GREAT!

When the workman did arrive, 9 hours later, he advised me that the locks had dropped in the door and that there was nothing to prevent it from happening again! So here I am two years later, still with a front door with dubious locks and with windows that are minus half the stick on archways, rusty screws and faulty locks...and they can get someone out to fix this in early 2003.