... My husband asked around at work and a couple of people he knew came up with Coldseal's name so we gave them a call.
In August 2002 we had a visit from a salesman who measured all our existing windows. Very loosely I must add but I was reassured to hear it was just estimated sizes .... ... Read review
Advantages: Good Quality Product Disadvantages: Bad Customer Service
...I got a call from Coldseal customer service saying they would not be turning up due to too many fitters being off sick. Talk about late notice, I could have cried, infact I did cry. I was given a new date immediately for the last week in November.
The Day arrived again, and the fitting was scheduled to take 2 and a half days from the Monday onwards. Monday morning I was up and dressed bright and early and I waited and waited for them ... ...heard a dickie bird from Coldseal so I gave them a call and sure enough they sent someone out a few days later. Unfortunately the new letterbox he brought with him was a smaller size so was no good. He filled out a full report with sizes etc and said that we would hear from customer service in up to four weeks. That was at the beginning of Dec 2002.
A couple of weeks ago we still hadn't heard anything from them so I decided to get ... more
In July 2002 we decided to have new double glazing fitted throughout our 3 bed terraced house and as I had found out that I was pregnant wanted it doing fairly soonish to avoid any hassle. We wanted to go with someone that was recommended to us locally so we knew what the fitting would be like. My husband asked around at work and a couple of people he knew came up with Coldseal's name so we gave them a call.
In August 2002 we had a visit from a salesman who measured all our existing windows. Very loosely I must add but I was reassured to hear it was just estimated sizes .... pheww. Anyway he arrived at 8pm, so I had to miss Eastenders, but thought I could catch the 10pm showing on BBC choice! No way.... He was still in our front room at nearly 11pm. Luckily we had discussed before his arrival what we were prepared to pay for the windows, as we had found out from friends how much they had paid for theirs. He started off at a massive £8500, which we just laughed at as our price was half of that!! He obviously knew we weren't going to fall for that one and knocked it down to £5800 Anyway you can probably tell what is coming next.... Yes you have all seen it before on the tv. He rang his boss to ask if he could give any extra discounts. By 11pm we had got him down to the price we wanted to pay, so I know that if you stand your ground you can get a decent price. We said we would like the windows to be fitted ASAP because of baby being on the way, so he said it would happen in the next 6 weeks.
Hooray... we got a date for the windows to be fitted. It was the first week in November, and yes I was a bit concerned that at 6 months pregnant it may be a little cold, but hey at least we didn't have baby in the house. The day before the fitters were due to arrive I spent ages taking down all the curtains and fittings, moved nearby furniture and cleared windowsills etc. At 6pm I got a call from Coldseal customer service saying they would not be turning up due to too many fitters being off sick. Talk about late notice, I could have cried, infact I did cry. I was given a new date immediately for the last week in November.
The Day arrived again, and the fitting was scheduled to take 2 and a half days from the Monday onwards. Monday morning I was up and dressed bright and early and I waited and waited for them to arrive. By 11.30am I gave coldseal a ring to see if they had forgotton us or something. I was told they were on their way. They eventually arrived at nearly 2pm! We had a brief chat on the doorstep, as they said their was no point in them starting anything as it would be getting dark soon. They said they would be back early in the morning. Sure enough they arrived 9am Tuesday morning and got on with the job. They eventually finished on the Friday afternoon. I wasn't bothered that it took them longer than the two and a half days, because at least they were taking their time and doing a good job.
Most normal people have a letterbox in their front door so they can recieve post on a morning. We had ordered a letterbox to be fitted in the factory but the door that came didn't have on in it. NO problem the fitters would fit it themselves. Well they got the front part of the letterbox on but the back of it which stops any draughts coming into the house and makes it look tidy from the inside was faulty. It wasn't the fault of the fitters and personally I was very pleased with the work they had done. I think that this is purely down to luck of who you will get to do the work and any firm can have good and bad workers. Anyway all they could do was report it to head office and we would have a visit in the following week from a aftersales engineer who would rectify the problem. So we paid up in full....
A week went by and we hadn't heard a dickie bird from Coldseal so I gave them a call and sure enough they sent someone out a few days later. Unfortunately the new letterbox he brought with him was a smaller size so was no good. He filled out a full report with sizes etc and said that we would hear from customer service in up to four weeks. That was at the beginning of Dec 2002.
A couple of weeks ago we still hadn't heard anything from them so I decided to get in touch with them instead. Trying to get through to speak to someone is a nightmare as you get passed from person to person. Eventually when I did get through to speak to someone who could help she said that they had sent us a letter and would be out to visit us on Tuesday. We still haven't got any letter from them so don't think that bit was true. Tuesday arrived and the same man that came before arrived. He stood on the doorstep and apologised that he could do nothing as they had sent him out with the WRONG sized letterbox AGAIN!!
I know it may seem to some like a minor complaint but it is really draughty and whistles. Also when you have saved up for four years to get something like this done it is a big deal.
Overall we are very pleased with the windows that they fitted, and the fitters that we got were very pleasant and tidy. It is the aftersales customer service that we have the problem with, and it seems like once they have got your money they don't give a damn about you. We are now waiting again for them to get back in touch with us to arrange another visit, but I won't hold my breath. Will probably try and ring them again in a about a week.
I will update this if anything happens, positive or negative.
Advantages: You've heard about them, they're easy to contact (at first) Disadvantages: overpriced, poor service, no customer care
...it is fairly usual. Coldseal say that it is within the usual limits of building work. They don't tell you that when the sales team are in (all highest quality, sell you a dream)
Third - to make up for the gap between the floor and the bricks they put in skirting board - badly. It bends away from the wall, there's gaps all over and it looks awful. Will they redo it? No, it isn;t in the contract, they did it as a favour, that's all there is to it.
... ...So what don't Coldseal offer?
Conservatory help line - you can only speak to one person for any problems.
Site manager - no-one comes to check on the different contractors that they use
Overseer/quality control - no-one checks for any problems, it relies on you to notice them.
Overall, after 18 months of stress, hassle and being threatened, I would never use Coldseal, nor recommend them to anyone.
I don't doubt that they can do a good job, but ...
Belper25 02.09.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coldseal Double Glazed Windows
Advantages: Friendly people, good value. Disadvantages: Perhaps a little overzealous. More expensive than some, but youg et what you pay for.
Today my coldseal windows are being fitted. We went with Coldseal because we have a very old house with large windows and needed custome built fittings - something we did not find many people offering. On the phone they were a bit pushy, but we had decidedd we wanted new windows, so it wasnt too much of a problem. There have been some confusions over their database, so they did keep trying to send us different people - I found it more funny than ... ...who came out to see us was very late - probably not entirely his fault. We refused to let him in. He was miffed but went away.
A few weeks later another chap came round to see us. He was quite helpful - plenty of sales pitch but nothing too pushy. As we have large windows, we had expected a significant cost - we need security glass in one of them. The price was a little cheaper than we had expected - argely because we said we could be fitted in ...
Bryn_Pearson 11.06.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coldseal Double Glazed Windows
Advantages: Good units Disadvantages: Too much hassle, unreliable, expensive
...made an online enquiry with Coldseal Windows (www.coldeal.co.uk) to find the price of having 4 windows and 2 doors. The website has the option to get a quotation, but unfortunately it only tells you how much it would be per week on finance, and not how much the total cost is.
Slightly disappointed, I started looking around other companies. About a week later Coldseal phoned me up to ask what I thought of their quotation. I was slighly confused because ... ...we'll discuss it and give Coldseal a ring if we decided to go ahead.
Then came the catch (and this is when alarm bells should have started ringing). The price was only valid for that night, and unless we signed a contract there and then it would revert to the previous £4,000.
We stood firm and decided not to be bullied. I didn't sign the contract and the sales guy left. But, doubts crept in over night that I'd missed a good opportunity - afterall ...
helenclayton 01.09.2002
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coldseal Double Glazed Windows
Advantages: Prompt response to original query Disadvantages: Rude, sexist, poor customer service
...blow over because he had Coldseal windows and when the time came to re-glaze my own homestead, Coldseal would certainly have a call from me. If I had phoned Coldseal 18 months ago they would have been more than delighted to quote me a price and take my money off me. However, I have now made the mistake of marrying and as the woman in a married partnership I am unworthy in Coldseal's eyes. I arranged for a representative from the company to call at ... ...At this point Coldseal and I parted company and my desire to publicise their ridiculous 'policy' began. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO STILL WANT TO USE THEM (But please don't!) RANGE Coldseal will be more than willing to equip you with not only windows and doors but with patio doors, conservatories, soffits, fascias and cladding. (Of course, as stated above, you must be either a single person or good little housewife who will see them with their lord and ...
Ophelia 05.08.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coldseal Double Glazed Windows
Advantages: Nice units Disadvantages: Dreadful, and I MEAN dreadful, customer service
...partner and I went to Coldseal to install new double glazing and two doors (front and back). We chose them on the basis of price, quality of product and a likeable non-pushy salesman.
If I had known how we were going to be treated by this awful company, I wouldn't have let the 'likeable salesman' through the door. In all cases we had to deal with the Farnborough office.
Installation took twice as long as originally stated. A team of installers ... ...the mistake in thinking that Coldseal rang us to tell us that they had the units, it was left to us to keep ringing to find out what was going on.
This just left the panel on the rear door. Another installer also came and took the measurements of the panel on the rear door (second measurement taken), and assured us he would get a replacement panel sorted out. We even signed a job/time sheet to prove that he had been, but this was probably lost too.
...
louiswinthorpe 26.02.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Coldseal Double Glazed Windows
