Southampton homeowners Kay and Andy Dittrich weren’t fooled when a company purporting to sell PVC-U sash specialist Masterframe’s Bygone Collection windows tried to install a set of inferior products. Kay and Andy were building their dream home when they saw the windows they knew they ‘had to have’ advertised in a local newspaper. After visiting the company’s showroom to see the Bygone Collection range they placed an order for 32 windows.
But the couple were sorely disappointed when the windows arrived. “I could tell immediately that the windows weren’t the ones I’d ordered,” explains Kay. “The installation company repeatedly reassured me that they were Bygone Collection sashes but I knew something just wasn’t right: there was no deep bottom rail, and they were simply badly made. I was so unhappy with the finish and the installation that I looked up the manufacturers, Masterframe Windows, and rang the Managing Director, Alan Burgess.”
“I knew I had to investigate further as only Bygone Preferred Intallers sell the Bygone Collection sash,” says Alan. “And the company involved was not part of the BPI Network. The firm had copied our adverts, changed the phone number, and lied to get business.”
Masterframe assisted Mr and Mrs Dittrichs in pursuing the firm in court, and removed the offending windows. The rogue company was forced to repay the couple’s deposit and to withdraw the misleading advertisement. Putting the compensation towards the costs, Masterframe made the Dittrichs the windows they thought they’d bought, and oversaw a fully trained local installer to ensure their new windows worked perfectly. Kay comments: “The difference in quality is significant: both the product and the installation. We’ve finally got the windows we want.”
As a direct result of the Dittrichs’ experience, Masterframe’s Bygone Collection range windows now have an exclusive range of fittings, with a distinctive ‘scroll’ logo.
