Family chased for £11,491 ‘debt’ for bodged double glazing
- Family left at their wits end after a bungled double glazing fitting
- Firm spent more than two years trying to fix the issue and still failed
- Household was chased for ‘debt’ they had been told was cancelled
A family who had to endure a botched window installation for more than two years were then wrongly told they owed more than £11,000 – and chased with debt collectors.
Andrew Johnson, 45, bought 12 windows and a French door from Everest Windows in April 2022, paying a £13,321 deposit and with £11,491 left to pay.
The problem came with 11 of the windows, which had a tilting sash design – which Andrew picked because it would make them easier to clean from the inside of the house.
Whenever these windows were opened, the tilting mechanism damaged the window frames, scraping off the outer layers.
Bodge job: The bungled installation job left the house interior unfinished for years
The window fitters, Everest, acknowledged the issue and visited Andrew’s home an astonishing 30 times in two years to try to fix the problem.
During much of this time Andrew’s home was a building site, which was particularly difficult as his wife was pregnant.
‘It’s hard to summarise how disruptive two years of ongoing window installations is, but needless to say multiple attempts of removing and reinstalling windows left my house and decor in a complete state,’ Andrew said.
‘This also included leaving my house unsecure for weeks when they didn’t install the locks, leaving scaffolding up for months and leaving half fitted windows in place.’
Everest eventually touched up the windows but said Andrew would not be able to use the tilting feature.
In April 2024 an Everest manager and the firm’s complaints department told Andrew that the company was happy to write off the remaining cash he owed, £11,941, on the basis of the considerable disruption that they were unlikely to be able to fix.
But then Andrew got an email saying the company had not written off the entire debt.
Long-standing fixture: Scaffolding outside was there for so long that plants grew up it
Instead they credited him with £5,491 and said he had £6,000 left to pay.
Days later, Everest went into administration, and was bought by Anglian Windows.
Anglian then passed Andrew’s details on to a debt collection firm, who wrongly began chasing him for the full amount of £11,491.
A shocked Andrew tried to speak to Anglian several times to explain the situation, but the firm refused, instead telling him to speak to the debt collection firm.
Andrew said: ‘Needless to say I’m absolutely horrified with how I’ve been treated and the lack of willingness to even have a discussion with me before sending it to an aggressive debt collection company.’
Building site: The inside of the home was left unliveable at points due to the duff windows
Andrew then spoke to This is Money, who stepped in and contacted Anglian.
Anglian then apologised to Andrew and wrote off the remaining £6,000.
‘I have no doubt this wouldn’t have happened without your help, so thank you ever so much,’ Andrew said. ‘This Is Money’s involvement in these consumer battles makes a real difference to people’s lives.’
An Anglian spokesman said: ‘Thank you for bringing Mr Johnson’s case to our attention.
‘We are extremely sorry for any further distress that may have been caused to Mr Johnson and his family, following recent communications he has received on behalf of the ASHI Group Ltd.
‘Anglian Home Improvements (trading as ASHI Group Ltd), the UK’s leading home improvement company, acquired the customer order book, brand and certain other assets from Everest 2020 earlier this year.
‘According to the information that we received as part of the acquisition, Mr Johnson was recorded by Everest 2020 as owing a balance of £11,491.
‘Having reviewed information sent to us by Mr Johnson directly we have been able to ascertain that a goodwill gesture of £5,491 was awarded by Everest 2020, leaving an outstanding balance of £6,000.
‘We have been saddened to learn about the events that Mr Johnson and his family experienced from Everest 2020, and as such, by no admission of liability and to bring the matter to an amicable resolution, the ASHI Group will not be taking any further action relating to Mr Johnson’s case.’
