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Anglian Windows cooling-off error


kat1603
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I recently signed a purchase order and associated credit payment plan for Anglian Windows. The agent assured me that I had 14 days cooling-off period.

After sending the cancellation request on the 14th day I have received a 'breach of contract' letter from Anglian legal department informing that 25% of total purchase price is due as cancellation was sent after the 7 days cooling off period.

As the agent gave misleading advice, do I need to pay this?

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What does it say on the paperwork regarding your rights to cancel?

Lived through bankruptcy to tell the tale! Worked in various industries and studied law at university. All advice is given in good faith only :)

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  • 4 weeks later...
25% of total purchase price is due as cancellation was sent after the 7 days cooling off period.

 

25% is an unknown value without knowing what the Order value is. If you are in breach of contract, then under common law, Anglian can only recover its actual and priovable monetary losses.

 

If a solicitor threatened to bring proceedings against you for money you do not lawfully owe, then he commits an offence under Section 2 of the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971.

 

http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/content.aspx?LegType=All+Primary&PageNumber=50&NavFrom=2&parentActiveTextDocId=1366984&ActiveTextDocId=1366984&filesize=38108

Professional property investor and conveyancer

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  • 2 months later...

It's an offence to give misleading advice, and should be easy enough to prove if it's a regular habit, because of a considerable number of clients who were told the same.

 

If you are sure of your version of it, insist that Trading Standards investigate.

 

:fish2:

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Hi

I have called the Fare Trade...

Talking about heart ache..

According to them, Anglian can charge the full amount if they want to.... as they did not brake the contract and the cooling off period was gone :sad:

We could, as they sugested, defend our selves as for been misguided by the sales person, never again...

Edited by desperate007
adding up
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Its a long-shot, but contact your local council trading standards office with your problem and quote the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008.

 

 

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/draft/ukdsi_9780110818757_en_1

 

Can you let me know how you get on.

Professional property investor and conveyancer

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Would it mak any diference that they have not left us any paper work regarding the finace and we only received 13 later?

Sorry...what is op?

 

:madgrin:

 

If the circumstance was such that the "Doorstep Selling Regulations" apply, it's a criminal offence for the trader to fail to inform the consumer in writing, of their right to a cooling off period:

 

Offence relating to the failure to give notice of the right to cancel

 

17.—(1) A trader is guilty of an offence if he enters into a contract to which these Regulations apply but fails to give the consumer a notice of the right to cancel in accordance with regulation 7.

 

(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under paragraph (1) shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale.

:!:
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  • 1 month later...

I have found myself in the same situation as Desperate007 - I did not cancel within the 7 day cooling off period because I did not know about it. In fact I was lead to believe that Anglian are very relaxed on these matters! Stupid me for not reading the small print but after 4 hours of selling and with a small child desperate to go to bed I gave in to the pressure to sign up without reading the contract. I was not informed about the risk of a cancellation fee in fact I was reassured that if I cancelled my deposit would be reimbursed. I returned from holiday yesterday to find a letter on my doorstep telling me otherwise.....I am interested to know whether Desperate007 paid the cancellation fee or what action they took? I am also interested in any other experiences or any other advice! I feel sick with worry.

Thank you

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I have cancelled in writing but like you it was on day 24.

 

I genuinely believe there were misleading omissions' in the information provided to me by the sales man - how can he spend 4 hours in my house and forget to mention the cooling off period and related cancellation fees - a truly critical piece of information!! He knew I would not sign if I was restricted to 7 days because I told him I wanted to do further research before I made a decision and I was not sure when I was going to be able to look into it as I work full time, have a small child to look after and with Christmas coming up etc!

 

I was even told that I would not lose my deposit (£49.00) if I cancelled! To be honest if I only lost the deposit that would be a good outcome as I currently stand to be £750 out of pocket!

 

Hope you get to a happy conclusion.

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Hi there desperate 007 and desparatetoo. You are not alone!

We too have found ourselves in the position of terminating a contract outside of the 7 days and been served with a breach of contract having been led to believe by a salesman that there were no implications to cancellation. It was always a close call for us to have the installation of new wooden patio doors (especially at the prices Anglian charge) but as they were hardwood doors guaranteed for 10 years we thought we'd stick with it. However what tipped us into cancelling was to find out out some 3 weeks afterwards that the hardwood doors we thought we had ordered were in fact softwood and as we had been led to believe that cancelling wasn't an issue, we decided to postpone our decision to have any work done until next summer whilst we properly evaluated the implications of the different materials and cost implications. Now having been given the option by their regional sales manager of reinstating our order, I have subsequently found out that this may have been a case of mis-selling, and something I now need to investigate further as that may be a legitimate reason for withdrawing from a contract. I need to get proper advice on this and will post any updates however if there are any aspects of your circumstances that are similar I urge you to consider this as well.

 

It'd be great to find out how far Anglian pursue their breach of contract claims and if anyone has challenged them and ended up in court. It could all be threat and bluster to intimidate people into paying up the 25% as I wonder if it's even worth their while pursuing these claims bearing in mind their legal costs. However I wouldn't be surprised if they did pursue merely out of principal, as to show weakness would only encourage others to cancel as well. Anybody have any good links to worst case scenarios as I can't find any yet?

 

Also consider this folks. Go and get yourselves some alternative quotes from your local suppliers who don't have reams of propaganda to publish or an army of sales staff cold calling in the desperate need to 'feed the beast'. I've been quoted less than half the price for better kit. Even if I pay off the monster, I'll have saved a £1000! Now that's money that certainly wouldn't have been going into the manufacture of those doors but merely to keep their infrastructure ticking over.

 

Good luck comrades. Don't let them get you down!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all .....

 

I too have just received a 'Breach Of Contract' letter from Anglian Windows, my situation is a little different but I'm sure we'll all be going through the same thing to sort it out.

 

Day 1 Wednesday

 

Sales rep came out and and after 3 hours we agreed on a price but not on how it was to be paid. We were going down the finance route anyway but told him we (the wife and I) needed more time to do figures and talk further. The Sales rep encouraged us to fill out the paperwork as it would save him time/money on another visit and that he'd hold the paperwork until we confirmed either way.

 

Day 3 Friday

 

The wife and I decided not to go ahead with the deal and I promptly phoned him to which he asked if there was another fanancial route we could take to complete the order. This was a friday around 5pm and I said to him let us (the wife and I) go over it all again and i would confirm first thing monday morning.

 

Day 6 Monday

 

I got to my computer early to do some online banking and spotted straight away the deposit had been debited from my account by Anglian. Of course I was fuming and phoned the rep not only to confirm cancelling the order but to tell him that money had left my bank, he told my not to worry about it as it will be returned but just may take a few days. The day passed.

 

Day 7 Tuesday

 

I received a welcome & thankyou letter from Anglian telling me that another agent will call to measure up to proceed with the order. Back on the phone I go, the rep then tells me not to worry it is a system generated letter and to ingnore it. I wasn't happy about that so he arranged for his boss to call me (which took a chase up call from myself) to which the area manager assured me that my cancellation was accepted but in order to close the whole thing I needed to complete the cancellation return slip. I (obviously) filled it out and returned it asap. The day ended.

 

Day 10 Friday

 

I called the Anglian office to check if my letter had been recieved but they said no and to call back monday morning.

 

Day 14 Monday

 

As requested i called back and they confirmed thatit had been received and things were getting processed. Of course 'proccessed' to me meant closing the whole matter down.

 

Day 15 Tuesday *TODAY*

 

A 'breach of contract' letter arrived in our post, of course absolutely fuming i attempt to contact the name at the bottom of the letter which states 'If you wish to discuss this, please phone you local regional manager ..... [name] .... [number]

No answer at 9am ..... so i left a voice message ... I then turned my attention to the original sales rep once again ... and this time he apologised no end at the whole situation and that he'd sort it all out in the same day, and that i'd receive a call from his boss again.

 

*** this is the point I'm at ****

 

At the time of posting this on the forum I'm waiting for a call. Also I'm still waiting for a return call from the named contact on the bottom of the letter. I'm going to let the business day end and see what happens.

 

*** my opinion so far ****

 

The sales rep failed to point out the cooling off period and went against my explicit instruction not to process the order. All this has got me thinking are they really playing this time game so the cooling off period passes and they can get their teeth onto you? Or is it a genuine mistake that will eventually be sorted out?

 

Sorry this post has been long winded but felt the need to share my exact experience as it's my first post!

 

I hope everyone with this issue get the result they seek.

 

 

Updates will follow.

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  • 1 year later...

I have also had a similar scary incident with Anglian Home Improvements.

 

I cancelled my Anglian window contract on day 8 after being assured by the salesman that all I would lose would be my £50 deposit.

 

Within 3 days of cancelling I received a very terse letter headed in block capitals BREACH OF CONTRACT, and telling me I was liable to pay up to 80% of the contract price.

 

Of course this is rubbish at such an early stage of cancellation, but the only thing in black and white is that after 7 days you are liable to pay 25%; in my case over £2000. There is no mention of only losing your £50 deposit.

 

Frankly I was panicked and stressed by this. All I had was a verbal agreement by the salesman about only losing the £50.

 

You are asked to call a regional sales rep, who is clearly there to try to do you a better deal...to play nice cop to the nasty cop of the letter.

 

I told him about what the salesman told me. After checking he phoned back to say that yes, all I would lose was my £50 as I had cancelled after the 7 day cooling off period and then went on to offer me a better deal on the windows on which I could reclaim my £50.

 

My advice. If you want to cancel make sure you do so within seven days IN WRITING, a phone call will not do.

 

When you arrange to see the salesman tell him in advance of his visit that you have no intention of signing the contract on that day but want to keep it at home to think about it. That way he knows in advance not to try pressure selling as you can rebut him with the statement that you had already told him that you were not prepared to sign on that day.

 

Take notes on what the salesman tells you. If it contradicts what it says in the contract about liability for cancellation charges or anything else, write or e-mail him to ask him to tell you in writing what he told you.

 

I have no idea what the Anglian product is like. But their standard cancellation letter is bullying and perhaps meant to intimidate people into being bounced into a purchase they might not otherwise want. it leaves a bad taste in the mouth and because of this I would not recommend dealing with Anglian Home Improvements.

 

But on the 25%...hold your nerve and don't be intimidated.

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  • 8 months later...

I have also been a victim of this "cooling off period" issue and as such challenged them in court. I trusted the salesman and if anyone wants to know his name in case others fall victim to this then feel free to contact me. Basically I too deferred the installation until it was viable for me to go with it and to keep the agreed price for the conservatory and got told by the salesman that there would be no problem in cancelling should I wish to do so. At no point was I referred to the 7 day cooling off period but was just told to sign and all will be okay. Yes it was a stupid thing to do on my part but at no point was I given time to go through the terms and conditions. A note was made regarding the deferral but it did not stand up in court and as such lost the case due to the technicality of the the contract and me putting my signature on it. I fought this case for over a year until it ended up in court and as a word of warning for others you will get charged 8% interest for how ever long you have been fighting your case should you lose. A 30% of the value of the contract, 8% interest and court fees was I ended up paying. A very expensive lesson learned I would certainly be aware of the salesman tactics in getting you to sign on the dotted line from Anglian I would definitely discourage anyone in signing if you are not definite about your purchase with them. In short I did not even end up with a nut and bolt for a conservatory but ended up paying according to them and their contract, the salesman commission, my deposit of £500, their commission for the sale which is two weeks after signing apparently and their projected loss of profit!This is the last time any salesman will get through my front door.

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