The Window Centre Harrow - Nightmare from Start to Finish
I used The Window Centre Harrow in 2016, it was a terrible decision and I regret ever having coming across such a wretched company. Not only did they cause extensive damage in and around my house during the installation but within weeks of the job being completed problems began.
Over the next eighteen months I had countless visits by their engineer who tried to resolve all sorts of problems from windows catching to draughty doors. The problems kept coming thick and fast and as quickly as one issue was addressed another arose. During the installation despite being told any damage to surrounding brickwork would be made good it never was and the damage was simply covered up using excessively wide strips of plastic known as trims. These were glued using a permanent adhesive to the window frames and adjacent wall but within six months they all cracked away from the walls. Following several meetings it was finally agreed they would be replaced with a slimmer alternative, I couldn't get rid of them completely because there was glue residue on the window frame that would never come off hence it needed to be covered up.
When the new trims were fitted the standard of work was absolutely atrocious.
Almost two years after the original installation and after more service visits than I care to remember, I was told the windows had not been manufactured correctly and all need to be replaced. Regarding the draughty doors I was told more adjustments would be carried out.
Another point worth mentioning is that the plastic corners of most of the windows have a chipped appearance and the director of the company has told me numerous times that they are not chipped, it's the way the windows are manufactured. Having asked their engineer during his first visit why the corners looked like they're chipped he told me they're only plastic hence do sometimes break. That was reaffirmed when I spoke to someone on the technical help desk at the manufacturer Griffin Windows and it was confirmed a third time by the surveyor who's acting as the expert witness in this case because I am now suing The Window Centre for a full refund.
I had many meetings with the director of the company and although he came across as a genuine and likeable person, he's a sheep in wolf's clothing. In his witness statement to the court and in other legal documentation he told one lie after another but thankfully because I documented everything so meticulously, I have been able to expose him for the dishonest and deceitful individual that he is.
The case has been going on for over two and a half years and is due to be heard in court in Dec 2018. I have recently been contacted by the father of the director who I have dealt with up until now, he too is a director of the company. He is now trying to settle the claim out of court.
The evidence being used in this case includes photographic evidence, an expert witness report and almost forty pages of email correspondence which documents every word that was ever exchanged between us.
I would recommend The Window Centre Harrow be avoided at all costs. My problems started on day three of the installation and have continued ever since. Two and a half years later and I have two sets of very draughty doors, draughts from around almost every window in the house, windows that creak, scrape (metal on metal) and catch as they open/close, handles that are either so stiff the window is difficult to open/close or so loose that they don't stay up when the windows are open. The plastic corners of almost every window is chipped and the narrow trims around the windows/doors that replaced the original wider ones are an absolute eyesore.
During the installation brickwork around two upstairs windows was badly damaged and the repair can only be described as amateurish. I have photographic evidence from before and after the installation. They also smashed porch windows outwards instead of removing the panes of glass in one piece hence flower beds on either side were full of tiny shards of broken glass. Plants were trampled on and damaged beyond repair. There was also damage caused inside the house to a toilet cistern, light switches were scratched and two frames both of which were on the wall were damaged.
I'm sure there's more professional window replacement companies out there, think carefully before using The Window Centre Harrow
July 17, 2018
Unprompted review