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Jamie-Law
Jamie-Law, Solicitor
Category: Law
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Experience:  Solicitor
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I am currently in the middle of restoring a property in

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Hi, I am currently in the middle of restoring a property in Cornwall. I recently approached a firm called 'Doorstop Ltd' to manufacture and fit high tech and very expensive windows and doors. They have basically bodged the work. All windows or doors were mis-measured and too small for the opening. Gaps have been filled with excessive amounts of filler and sealant, so that the fit lacks weather proofing integrity, and overall finish extremely poor. I'm am naturally disappointed. The Windows were fitted in May of this year, and I have made several attempts to speak to the MD of the firm, but I am consistently ignored. The staff at the firm are extremely effective at fobbing off. The cost of manufacture and installation was in excess of £23,000. They insisted on payment in full before installation. The company are FENSA registered and so I intend to report this to FENSA, however, their concern is mostly to do with building regs, rather that the overall quality of the work. I wonder if there is anything I can do to address the problem?
regards *****
Customer: replied 1 year ago.
HI, By the way, the firm have failed to issue a fensa certificate or any warranty documents

Hello my name is ***** ***** I will help you with this.
What is it you want to achieve?

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Customer: replied 1 year ago.
HI Jamie, I've been extremely busy this last 24 hrs and now able to communicate by email but not by phone. You asked what it is I would like to achieve. Actually I would like to return the windows and get my money back. The reality of that, however would be massive disruption and considerable damage to the finished interior. I would like to the firm to acknowledge that the fitting of the the windows and doors were of a very poor standard. They are mostly too small for the space requiring excessive packing with silicone sealant. They were not fitted into lead trays, and so are already leaking (quite badly in some areas). They have failed to issue any form of warranty or FENSA certificate. At the very least I would hope for considerable compensation.The firm will argue that we had agreed that my builder would essentially make-good after installation. This has been achieved internally, with little fuss. To make-good outside would require a radical re-rendering of some of the frames, which would only serve to hide what is otherwise a bodged job. I have requested a site meeting with the MD of the firm many times, and I have been completely ignored. I think that is a disgrace and I would like my money back.

You need to write and set out your losses and request a refund within 14 days or say you will go to Court within 14 days. You should make sure you send this signed delivery and keep a copy.

If they do not refund you then you can issue proceedings in the County Court. You can either do this online at: www.moneyclaim.gov.uk or by completing form N1 http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/hmctsformfinder/n1-eng.pdf and take it to your local County Court.

The Court will then issue a claim which a copy will be sent to the Defendant who will have a limited time to defend it, if not you can enter Judgment and enforce.

If the claim is for £10,000 or less it will be a small claim so you will not need legal representation. Over this value you would need representation for trial.

If you paid on credit card then your card issuer would also be liable under S.75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974

Can I clarify anything for you about this today please?

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Customer: replied 1 year ago.
HI Jamie, unfortunately I paid by bank transfer. I think I will get a quote from my builder, to render and repair the whole mess, then include that with my letter to the firm, suggesting that they pay. I'm sure that the amount will be less than £10,000 so will threaten with the small claims court if they refuse. I fully expect them to either ignore me or refuse, so I wonder how I would deal with that? Al

You can just issue proceedings. If this answers your question could I invite you to rate my answer, 5 stars the happy face before you go today, otherwise the site doesn’t pay me for the time spent with you. Thanks in advance!

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Customer: replied 1 year ago.
Is issuing proceedings a complex matter?

I outlined the process above, can you see?
www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

Does that clarify?

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Customer: replied 1 year ago.
ok thanks