St Andrews Home Improvements

Had been thinking about replacing our double glazed windows & on getting a cold call from St. Andrews Home Imrovements we decided to get a quote. A salesman visited the next day & at the outset he was advised that we intended paying in cash & regardless of any quote on the day we would not be taking a decision till we had 2 more quotes from other companies. After not an overly long presentation the salesman measured the windows & initially quoted £12000 for 8 windows,subsequently reducing this to £9000.On being advised that this was well over our budget the price dropped to £6000 provided we took out a loan,the cash price remaining at £9000.He stated that with the loan only a deposit of £99 was required,the company would also pay the 1st installment & after 2 further payments we could then make a payment of £5000 if we so wished ,with the remainder being settled in no less than 6 months.We were also informed that by taking out this loan we would be entitled to a TLS discount card which could be used in numerous stores including Asdas,Tescos M&S etc..The salesman then asked if we paid our energy bills by direct debit & if so how much.On giving him this information we were informed that we would get a discount of £25 per month regardless of the company we were with.On telling him that I could not appreciate how such a loan arrangement was more benefical to the company than a proposed cash payment of 50% more than the loan figure unless there was something untoward in the conditions of the loan which as yet were not apparent He stated that this favourable loan could only be advanced due to the extensive portfolio of the parent company - Entu.Following pressure to sign up to this I reiterated that we would still be seeking 2 other quotes & would contact him thereafter.On asking him to leave details of the quote,the loan & information on his company & the TLS card in order that we could digest at our leisure the data that he had given us, all he provided was a few scribblings he had jotted down & a small leaflet on Weatherseal, part of the Entu group.I also asked to be put in contact with a couple of his company's "many customers" in our local area & he indicated that this was not a problem & this would be attended to the following day. We duly received a phone call from the company but the women only wanted to know how the session had gone the previous day.On hearing the quotes we had been given she stated that she had a discretionary allowance which would allow her to offer the windows at trade price but this would require a surveyor to check the window measurements in the first instance.The price would then be given &it would simply be a matter of us agreeing to this or declining the offer.Foolishly I agreed to the surveyor attending later that afternoon.Until then I did not have the opportunity to do any internet research on the company but on doing so I found out that St.Andrews total assets were less than their liabilites in 2014 & Entu's share price had fallen nearly 36% from 1st Sept this year to 2nd Dec due to a" major profit warning" .I also contacted our energy supplier & Tescos & was advised that they are not party to any discount scheme such as the TLS card . I then came across this website which raised further concerns about this company.I subsequently tried to get the surveyor's appointment cancelled.However the phone no. for their local office was not recognised,the phone no. on their website was for a call centre.Thus the surveyor duly arrived & was informed that he had had a wasted journey ,advising him of my concerns about the company.He was able to confirm that Tescos was not party to the TLS card & that we would need to switch supplier to possibly get a discount on our energy bills.He also stated that the salesmen go to great lengths to get people to take the loan option as this is where they largely make their money.On the surveyor reporting back to his boss I was asked to speak to him.The only other useful information gleaned was that due to the Data Protection Act I could not be put in contact with any customers but he could inform me of reviews submitted by some customers if I so wished.He was advised that my misgivings about the the company were such thatI wished to have no further dealings with them. In conclusion this is a company which i would not touch with a barge pole but probably there are many other similar companies in the market place. Have now opted to approach several locally based companies which have been established for some time.