DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!! Essex Fascias & Windows (who are also associated with/run Essex Fascias and Driveways, Essex Fascias Windows and Doors, Essex Fascias and Orangeries) came to us in January 2017 to replace our gutters, soffits & fascias, clad the top half of our house and render the bottom half. We had problems with them from the very start when they failed to turn up on the first day, due to ‘staff illness’. The second day someone did turn up, a boy (well, young man, but very young), it was freezing cold and he was left on his own to remove tiles from our house by climbing up and down a ladder, which as it was icy needed someone to ‘foot’ it, subsequently he kept falling off, even our neighbour was picking him up! We only saw this lad for a couple of days. From then on the work was sporadic, you never knew when someone would be turning up and if anything would be happening. When it became apparent that removing the tiles would take a bit longer than they anticipated, more guys were put on the job, but in their haste managed to pull the soil pipe out of the wall and flooded our en-suite. This was in February. We finally got it fixed (by somebody else) in April. In addition to this they damaged our neighbour’s wall and broke their door screen, again despite a lot of promises we had to get someone else to fix it. The gutters, soffits and fascias were completed and the work looked OK (though in their sales pitch we were told they would remove the old soffits, not true, they went over the top). The cladding work continued with various issues which would have easily been solved by ‘proper’ builders, they just bodged it. We were assured in the sales pitch they would be putting up new weather proof membrane – lie. However the cladding was completed and it looked OK. The rendering basically never happened, we suspect because the fitters hadn’t left it in a state that could be rendered to, but we were told the renderer might be ill (they didn’t know), and that they were trying to find another one.
It states on their contract that they ask for a deposit, and then no further payments until completion of works. Not true. We were hounded repeatedly to pay more money ‘up front’ and pretty much as soon as we finally made a fairly substantial overpayment, they disappeared, it was like one of the rogue traders programmes you see on tv. Our house was left half clad and in a state where water was coming in. Following months of phone calls not answered, emails not replied to, promises that someone would be round to do the rendering, someone else would be round to fix the damage to our en-suite, fix our neighbour’s property and no one turning up, we used the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to sever the contract, and to cut a long story short we took them to court. It has taken a year and has been very stressful but eventually we were awarded a CCJ and they were ordered to pay us in full, which they ignored. So we employed High Court Sheriffs (of ‘The Sheriff’s are Coming’ tv fame) we guess they didn’t want to be on tv as they paid immediately!!! So we’ve got our overpayment back for the work not completed and have employed a much more competent company to put right the ‘bodge’ and subsequently a decent renderer to finish off the job. Our house now looks great thanks to them, but there are still issues we would love to have resolved but it would have meant taking it all down and starting again, which we simply cannot afford.
This company should not be trading. The director is the main problem, the fitters are generally nice guys and although very young do seem to know what they are doing, and they work bloody hard in often horrible weather conditions, but their boss lets them down. He cannot manage a company, he cannot manage his staff, he cannot manage anything. He has absolutely zero people skills and struggles to communicate (at all) with his customers. He lies his way out of difficult situations, refuses to answer his phone and would rather send someone else round to ask for money than do it himself. Countless times we were told he would be coming to help the fitters, when actually he’d turn up, shout at them for a bit, shout at someone else on his phone, then bugger off probably to some other site to do the same again. He is extremely unprofessional, shifty and evasive. He will make up stories and apparently encourage his staff to do the same – when speaking to the staff in the office (when you actually get someone to answer the phone), they will say they can’t get hold of him, or they will say a part has been ordered when it hasn’t, and they will guarantee, promise, ensure an exact time and day someone will turn up, and they don’t. This is just ridiculous as it would appear they expect customers to take valuable time off work to wait in for them and then not turn up. So many people will have lost earnings as a result of this behaviour and it just isn’t acceptable. When visiting the office in person his staff are all very defensive and their behaviour is frankly a bit strange, like they are hiding something, and they really don’t want you to be there. Why did we go with this company? I hear you ask… the sales pitch was very good, the sales guy was very nice, we always try to go with local firms and we fell for it, we fell for the lies and believed what he said was true, and for that we feel very stupid!! They were very reasonable and came across as very nice, friendly and competent people. Until the work started!!
As a foot note for those people that our still waiting for work to be completed, we feel your pain (and I bet you wish you hadn’t gone with this firm!). Don’t worry help is at hand – The Consumer Rights Act 2015 covers what is expected of firms and as customers what you can expect from firms. Check it out on either the Citizens Advice or Which. As long as you follow the procedure you can get out of the contract, more importantly have a way of getting your money back and remember, a verbal quote is legally binding so the phrase; ”we under quoted you” is not a viable excuse. Don’t believe some of the made-up figures or vague references to Trading Standards Law that this director seems to peddle. If you have been messed around by this company the law can be on your side – good luck!!
