Take the pane away - Article in the Guardian

Written on Thursday June 17 2004

Double-glazing firms have never enjoyed the best of reputations, and thanks to the efforts of one outfit, Coldseal [owned by Karl Williams], their stock isn't likely to go up any time soon. In four months alone BBC's Watchdog received 270 complaints from customers who had waited up to 20 months for the company to put shoddy work right. Unfortunately, Adrian Preston of Rugby was unaware of its reputation when he hired it to replace the doors to his house. Coldseal organised a finance agreement with First National bank and Preston borrowed £743 from his own bank to pay the sum. However, he mistakenly made out the cheque to Coldseal instead of First National and Coldseal promptly cashed it. That was in June last year and since then, despite numerous promises, nothing has been done. In the meantime First National has been repaying itself with interest through direct debit, leaving Preston, who is on low wages and has to support a disabled wife and four young children, desperate for money to repay his own bank.

Preston managed to find an ally in a Citizens Advice Bureau which has toiled tirelessly on his behalf, but with no results. Coldseal will simply not respond. The first breakthrough is the discovery of an eager young lady in a PR agency with the unenviable task of polishing Coldseal's image. It turns out that Coldseal merged with another double-glazing firm, Bryco, last September and is now a different company to the one that pocketed Preston's money. According to the liquidator appointed to wind up the old firm, there are no assets and it's unlikely Preston will see his money again.

However, says our spokeswoman, the new Coldseal Group is eager to cleanse its reputation and is improving its customer services, which it admits have been poor. Things therefore look hopeful, but it's another five weeks before anything happens. Then, on the anniversary of the start of the saga, Preston gets a cheque for £800 as a goodwill gesture from the 'new, improved' Coldseal. Whether this is a case of reformed character remains to be seen - it's a shame that the company only decided to demonstrate its repentance when it realised it would get national publicity for the gesture.