Urgently needing some new glass for windows in my house, I Googled local window companies, and found one called Emergency Response Group.
I gave the measurements and it quoted me £400 to replace six windows. I agreed as I needed the work doing fast. It took my card details, which would be charged once the windows were replaced.
When the glaziers showed up they said two of our windows needed safety glass (something not mentioned on the phone) and that they would have to come back. They suggested this would happen within the next week.
We then heard nothing, so I assumed they had lost interest.
Later that month I checked my credit card statement and £54 had been debited by Emergency Response Group, which said this was a “cancellation fee”. I wasn’t told about this fact before and, more importantly, I hadn’t cancelled.
After about 20 fruitless phone calls, I just want my £54 back, but am getting nowhere. KM, Hale, Cheshire
Google this company directly by name and you will soon see that you are not the only person to be frustrated after hiring this Essex-based firm, which appears to subcontract much of its work.
It has a 1.2/5 Google star rating and the recent, highly critical comments posted by customers would not inspire anyone to hand over their credit card details to this firm.
I asked the company about your experience and it claimed that it had called you with the new price for the extra work and, rather strangely, that it had not heard from you. As a result it had charged you its £54 call-out fee, which it says is clearly set out in its terms and conditions. It has now offered to refund half that as a gesture of goodwill.
In your shoes I would be inclined to take the partial refund, put it down to experience and find another firm to replace the windows.
It is always worth reviewing unheard-of companies before signing up – a further 30 seconds on the web would have saved you a lot of time and wasted effort.
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