Double Glazing Negotiation / Price

[Wildfire]

Being a (relatively) new home owner, we bought a fixer-upper flat a while ago and we've hit the point of needing new windows as quite a few of the units are blown and the frames have seen better days.

I'm having a few local companies come out to give me quotes and am avoiding the big ones like Everest for the moment.

Question is, how much negotiation can I do or expect to have to do with local companies?

When we moved in (around 4-5 years ago) we had a few quotes from companies that had found out that we had just moved in and from memory (I can't say that I remember them in much detail) they were a fair bit less than what I'm getting now.

Any advice is welcome.

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Promised Land said:

Be in charge of the visits by different reps, tell them from the off you don’t want any slobber and they can give you one price and one price only, then you’ll show them the door and wait for the next rep.

All that sign up tonight and receive x% discount doesn’t wash, I would also get the windows priced up by an Indy supplier for supply only so you can see how much more they’re lumping on for fitting and removal of your old ones.

Obviously goes without saying you’re paying for the rep and his managers in that difference too.

Excellent suggestion! I’ll get an Indy supplier to quote on the units by themselves.

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technodup said:

t's almost impossible tbh, and that's not even taking the salesman's waffling pish into account.

We sell a couple of different profiles, both top names in the industry. Different fabricators though, and that's where the differences come in. One is made by very expensive machine, the other by a guy who failed at school. To an experienced fitter they're miles apart, to the untrained eye a white window is a white window. But some insist on one brand over another simply because they've heard of it or someone else said it was good.

OP would get no discount from me. And I wouldn't give him a supply only quote either. But then I'd give him a fair price from the start.

Thanks, do you have any recommendations on fabricators to ask about?

I would happily give you the work, however, seems we're a bit far away.

I appreciate it's like all industries. I quote my clients a fair rate. But the general consensus is that usually take the rate, half it or half the days quoted and you'll get a realistic figure. I just have no idea what a fair quote is? Hopefully the local companies will come back around the same figures, so I'll have a good idea of what is right.

The windows are fairly big, all casement in white PVC: 90" x 70" (solar glass), 124" x 48" (solar glass), 77" x 43" (acoustic glass) and 43" x 31" (all rough estimates). No tilt and turn with trickle vents.

Current quote is £4.5k + £1.1k for scaffolding (2nd and 3rd floor).

Edited by Wildfire on Thursday 23 May 09:38

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technodup said:

crewfix aiui do 'made to fit' windows, i.e they're 'standard' sizes bought off the shelf and the fitter uses whatever he can to bulk out the resulting gaps. If you ever see a window with seemingly too much pvc, it's likely that's what happened.

Not fair to compare off the shelf with made to measure.

Three quotes is enough imo. Gives you a good idea of cost and you'll generally like at least one of the guys. Any more marks you out as a timewaster, cheapskate or otherwise problem customer. (To me anyway).

Thanks again. I'll go with 3 local installers and see what the quotes come in like.

[Wildfire]

technodup said:

don't do inches The biggest one we'd probably be just over £1k, the rest a hundred or two under. You're not a million miles away tbh, especially with acoustic glass, we might be cheaper than down south. Scaffold sounds a bit dear tbh, we'd be half that.

I have no idea why I measured in inches! Thanks for that, good to know where I stand roughly. I did expect the fancy glass to put it up over normal.

Scaf prices are high because it's two sets, one on the front of the building and another on the back (for one window only, however it's the one that really needs doing).