Please Avoid These Thugs!! (Safestyle UK)

Member Name: Labbers

Product:	Safestyle UK
Date:	06/06/05 (1966 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap

Disadvantages: Rude/Obnoxious, No aftersales

Please, have nothing to do with this bunch of abusive thugs! Read this and make your own mind up. My mother is a pensioner living alone. She wanted double glazing to replace her very old windows. Safestyle UK turned up purely by chance a few days later, and I met the salesman with my mum. She was very specific about what windows she wanted, including a 50/50 split for the bathroom. It was agreed that 7 large windows would be fitted for what we thought was a very good price. A surveyor attended while I was away on holiday and apparently barely spoke to my mum. The survey was not explained but he referred to the original form filled out by the salesman and asked her to sign the survey form. The fitters arrived as planned and were excellent. They worked hard and were very courteous to mum. I attended to make sure it was going ok. However two windows were completely wrong. The surveyor had replaced a frosted glass with clear and the 50/50 split was a normal large window with a small window at the top, which meant mum would have to stand on the bath to open it. Their suggestion was to put the small window at the bottom! We referred to the original sales form and were told to pay £100 off the original price, and they'd sort the problem. We thought this was a goodwill gesture for the fact they'd got the order so wrong. They told mum they'd be back a few days later, giving a specific time and date, and mum gave them a cheque for the work, less £100. They phoned at 5pm on the day they were due, to say their van had broken down!! But they'd be there the day after. On replacing the wrong glass in the kitchen and the wrong frame and glass in the bathroom, the fitter asked for the £100 balance. When mum questioned this and said she didn’t understand why she should pay, the regional manager Neil Bucknall told her if she didn’t pay, they'd take the new window out and put back the old one. She phoned me in tears. I called Mr Bucknall and explained we thought there was nothing outstanding. He was rude and abusive and told me that unless mum paid the £100 they would take her to court and make sure she'd be given a bad credit rating. He wouldn’t let me speak, was continually abusive and so foolishly I thought I'd try Head Office. There I spoke to Phil O'Malley. I was polite and explained what the problem was. He told me I was a fool, asked what planet I was on, and that I was trying to have him over. Apparently the £100 was 'held back' until they'd completed the work. He was obnoxious, rude, arrogant, aggressive and abusive, quite simply the worst customer services manager you could ever imagine. Both Bucknall and O'Malley were immediately on the offensive. O'Malley also threatened to take mum to Court, to put the original window back in, that we'd have no 10yr warranty and that there was no point writing to complain as he would deal with the letter himself.
I asked for a compromise, at which he said he'd offer a complimentary cleaning kit!! I asked him to apologise to mum and I'd discuss it with her. I quickly got on the phone to mum, told her to await the apology and that I'd be inclined to refuse to pay, as the likelihood is this firm wouldn't be in business in 10 yrs anyway but that it was her decision. O'Malley phoned and apologised but demanded the money, at which mum told him she wasn't paying and that he'd have to take her to court! Go Mum!! We're now awaiting the abusive and threatening letters. Please do your research and make your own mind up. The management are rotten to the core, from the top down. Please take my advice, avoid this firm like the plague!!

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