According to reports in the Express and Star on Friday 13th July 2012 three men, Avtar Pawar, Paula Bowdler and Gerald Smith have been sentenced for the part they played in a double glazing scam, in the West Midlands.
Apparently they were not the ringmasters (named as Harkanwaljit Khabra) but they traded under the name of Town and County (and Stormguard before that) and placed advertisements for cheap double glazing which was never completed. Do understand there may be many companies with similar names who are nothing to do with these characters.
What made the situation worse, was they thought they could get away with an unfair term in their conditions. Seems it said that customer had to hand over money before the work was completed and most law abiding customers did just that, paid before the work was done!
The three have been given suspended sentences having addmitted their wrongdoing.
Thankfully this is the exception, but how can you be sure. The temptation was for cheap windows and obviously some companies will be cheaper than others, but are they better value?
Here at DGC we recommend people obtain more than one quote, get them in writing and take your time doing some homework on the Internet with sites like this one, before you decide on the best window company to go with.
Look for quality marks, BBA, BSI, Kitemark and CE marking. Look for trade associations like the GGF, or ombudsman schemes like DGCOS or TGO and that they are registered with competent persons schemes like Fensa, Certass, Veka or BM Trada.
Check out WHICH magazine and see if others have recommend them on our review website and verify using the live search tab at companies house.
Remember the old saying, “if something looks too good to be true, it normally is!”
Far better to buy good value windows once, than cheap windows, twice!