Double Glazing Quote

We are building a front wall which is to have a window in it, and have been thinking about which double-glazing company to go to for the window or maybe to fit it ourselves. We have had trouble getting a quote from some companies.

One company was perfectly fine, my Dad went to the showroom and gave them the specifications and they looked up on their computer and gave a price.

However, two door-to-door companies have said that they will only give a quote if both home-owners are present. The latter sales representative even said that it was the law that both should be present when the quote is given. This sounds quite suspicious. I understand that to make a contract to do the work would require both my Mum and Dad to be present. Why, I wonder, should both have to be present before a quote can be given? Is this really the law?

Reply to
Lee Hanken
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This is standard practice and nothing do with law, everything to do with psychology. If your spouse is not there, there is a very strong likelihood that you will tell the salesman that you are not willing to sign until you have discussed it with them. He knows that in the cold light of day his unrepeatable bargain offer ("I don't know what my boss will say when I tell him what a great deal I'm giving you" - yeah right) will not seem such a bargain to you, let alone your spouse who hasn't had the sales pitch. So he wants both of you there, so you've not got any excuse not to sign, also of course he can play you off against one another ("I can see, Lee, that your wife really loves this kitchen. I'm sure you think she deserves the best")

Reply to
Tony Bryer

Double glazing companies want you to make a decision on the spot. If only one partner is present they can say, "I need to consult my husband/wife before making a decision." the salesman then has to leave without having sold. I would avoid any company who said this, it is a trademark of high pressure selling. Think about this logically, if i want to buy a window or indeed anything else for my house, why does my wife have to be here?

Just for fun ask the salesman what law is he referring to and post his reply back here so we can all have a laugh.

Reply to
BeeJay

Why would both people be required to be present, or even sign the contract for the work? Unless a loan was being taken out in both parties names, I cannot see why either party could not sign just for themselves. How different is it to having central heating put in, or anything else?

I believe the reason most companies want both parties there, is so they can avoid the "Sorry, I can't make a decision until my husband/wife gets home" scenario and into the "My boss says I can cut the price by 99% - down to just £10k, but you'll have to sign up today." plan. Also, they can see both their reactions and objections etc and possibly play them against each other - eg. when wife thinks its a great idea, but hubby is less certain, they can build up the wife, confirming that she's having a great idea and making the most of those points, and putting pressure on hubby, possibly making it seem like he's disappointing his wife if he doesn't go for it.

As far as I know, it's not a legal requirement for both parties to be there, neither is it (or should be) a requirement for both parties to sign the contract - although I must admit, I do believe that (morally?) both parties should (between themselves) agree to the work - imagine coming home from a business trip in Europe to find your lovely hardwood frames replaced with fake-wood UPVC windows - "Just think of the time you'll save from having to maintain them - that friendly chap from Dodge & Hide Windows was very helpful don't you think?"

D
Reply to
David Hearn

Avoid door to door salesmen for everything. Anyone who has to trudge the streets ain't up to much, these days.

Find a local company that has been around a while.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

They don't, but the salesman knows he's likely wasting his time if the other spouse isn't subjected to his brainwashing^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H sales pitch. Contracts agreed other than on business premises have a cooling off period, and when prospective buyer tells significant other about the deal, significant other will be unimpressed and tell them to cancel.

Reply to
Rob Morley

One fun thing is to position the seating so that it's impossible for the salesman to look at both of you at the same time, i.e. If salesman is S, and husband and wife are H and W respectively, make the angle H-S-W a good deal more than 90 degrees.

Some years ago we invited several companies into the house, and laid out the room in advance so that this would happen. They were obviously unsettled; the salesman for the company we went for (who were a lot cheaper with their initial price but then would not budge on price) was least fazed...

Reply to
Bob Eager

Straight from the pages of American Salesmasters?

Reply to
Andy Luckman (AJL Electronics)

I still like Peter Parry's description of the three written quotations discussed here some five years ago:

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fact, having done some googling here on uk.d-i-y the notion of the seating arrangement mentioned above has been previously covered too!

Mungo

Reply to
mungoh

It's absolute rubbish - a complete yarn spun to get both parties present so that they can exercise their High Pressure Sales 101 training on you.

Unless, that is, they are insisting that the only way to pay for it is to take out a finance agreement with them secured on the house...

If you really, really still want quotes from high pressure door-to-door or national sellers, then arrange a time & say that both parties should be able to be present.

Then, just make sure one of you is out when they actually call round, and the other party needs to tell them that they only get one shot at this & they need to leave a realistic quote for consideration.

Reply to
RichardS

If a company has decent products at sensible prices, they'll advertise in the usual way. Why would they emlpoy people at x per hour to tudge up and down streets on the offchance?

Think about it, any product sold door to door is either a dud or overpriced. Selling door to door adds significant costs.

Frankly I would not buy from cold callers on moral grounds. And inviting strangers in off the street? Um, no.

NT

Reply to
bigcat

The sort of people we are discussing don't trudge on the offchance - if you look at the job ads it will say something like "qualified leads only" - and one of the qualifying questions will be "will you and your wife/husband both be at home?". They don't get paid x per hour, probably 0 per hour, but

10% base on what they sell - which can amount to serious money if you've got what it takes.

Why employ them: if you can get £12K for an £8K kitchen you'd be happy to give £1,200 to the guy who makes it possible.

Reply to
Tony Bryer

explanation snipped

Theres the problem from the customers POV, anything you buy will be overpriced. Buy elsewhere.

NT

Reply to
bigcat

In message , Tony Bryer writes

Er? Yeah? Right?

Friend of mine took a job with a DG firm a while ago and found herself trudging the streets to appointments made with people who didnt want to see her. Clearly, the telephone salespeople are paid based upon the number of appointments made, so the quality of the appointments is bound to be as suspect as the product.

Reply to
Richard Faulkner

So do carpet salesmen! I nipped in to a carpet shed yesterday on the strength of an advert for sale ending yesterday (as I need to buy a carpet very shortly anyway), only to find that the special offer didn't apply to the carpet I was interested in. As I turned to walk out, I got the 'hang on let's see what we can do' treatment, which resulted in a the offer of a quite healthy discount '... but only if you buy it today because the sale ends tonight' 'But this carpet isn't in the sale' 'Errrrrrr yes but no but yes but no.......'

(I didn't buy it, by the way!)

David

Reply to
Lobster

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