Everest front door, £4,250?!!

[Max Power]

If you buy Bentley or Mercedes, etc., there are added-value things that explain the higher price of the product: better/more complex engineering, better after-sales service, higher performance, etc.

All of which could be said to apply to any premium product, whether its a Rolls Royce, Saville Row suit or a Holtey Plane, none of these do what a lower priced alternative wouldn't .
Unless youve lived most of your life on Mars you're going to realise that Everest fit into this category, so to get them out and be astonished at the prices is the equivalent of suddenly realising the nice Mercedes salesman is not going to let you have that shiny new S class for your 10k budget.

 

[Max Power]

Just to qualify my response, I design expensive German kitchens and you wouldn't believe the number of idiots that think they're going to get something they cant afford for the same price as B+Poo crap.

 

[Lee J]

Last May we had Everest in for a quote for a conservatory, 4m x 3.5m... £46,000
Told them no way and he then suddenly realised he'd made a boo boo, tapped his calculator for a minute or two and said... £21,000
He'd forgot to take off the May special offer discount.
Then he had the cheek to ring back a few days later asking if we could sign on that day because the fitters etc had a slot available to start the following week.
We told him to sod off and we got a local builder to do the base/dwarf walls, a local upvc company made and fitted it, all in... £8,500

happy days

My mum has just paid everest £19,000 for 6 windows and a door. This was only early this year.

 

[Eric The Viking]

It rather sounds like Everest's "value-add" is its salesforce!

And the difference with Mercedes is that they put huge effort into maintaining their brand as a premium product. It's obvious in the vehicles and all the sales and marketing activity, for example including F1 sponsorship.

In contrast, most people would have no idea at all that window frames and conservatories could have such an enormous price range. It's also very hard to see what justifies Everest's premium pricing (apart from the salesforce!).

The analogy with premium kitchens doesn't hold true, either. You can easily justify the cost of a premium kitchen on the basis of workmanship and materials and bespoke design input.

 

[mind_the_goat]

Just to qualify my response, I design expensive German kitchens and you wouldn't believe the number of idiots that think they're going to get something they cant afford for the same price as B+Poo rubbish.

But when the 'idiots' reel at the quote you give them, do you then phone your boss and suddenly knock 75% off the price ?

 

[John15]

On a lighter side, I have no experience of their double glazing, but my memories of Everest were when flying at 28,000ft from Kathmandu along the Kathmandu Valley to Eastern Nepal - the mighty mountain close to the China border was clear to see at eye level from the left hand side of our small plane. An unforgettable sight.
Cheers,
John

 

[mind_the_goat]

On a lighter side, I have no experience of their double glazing, but my memories of Everest were when flying at 28,000ft from Kathmandu along the Kathmandu Valley to Eastern Nepal - the mighty mountain close to the China border was clear to see at eye level from the left hand side of our small plane. An unforgettable sight.
Cheers,
John

28000ft, hang on, I'll call my boss........We have a special promotional discount today and we can do you a special Everest flyby at 7000ft if you sign now.

 

[Eric The Viking]

On a lighter side, I have no experience of their double glazing, but my memories of Everest were when flying at 28,000ft from Kathmandu along the Kathmandu Valley to Eastern Nepal - the mighty mountain close to the China border was clear to see at eye level from the left hand side of our small plane. An unforgettable sight.
Cheers,
John

Likewise.

I once flew down from Kathmandu to Dhaka in a Boeing 707 half seats and half full of carpets for export. IIRC we were noticeably below the mountain top. I was also in Kathmandu when Concorde visited on a PR trip. She did several loops round the city before coming in to land (not an easy landing, either, as the runway was quite short and there's a range of hills at the near end). We went up in the roof of the office to watch her.

 

[Max Power]

Just to qualify my response, I design expensive German kitchens and you wouldn't believe the number of idiots that think they're going to get something they cant afford for the same price as B+Poo rubbish.

But when the 'idiots' reel at the quote you give them, do you then phone your boss and suddenly knock 75% off the price ?

Dont be silly, I wouldnt waste my time and theirs giving them a price if their budget didn't justify it

 

[Setch]

I have also seen some pretty shoddy customer service from Everest, towards customers who really don't need it
I'm a locksmith, and more than once I've had customers tell me Everest have told them that they have to have them back to change their locks after a burglary. Reasons given are transparently untrue - ie: locksmiths won't know how to do it, or your warranty will be voided if you get a third party to change your lock. This is horrible behaviour towards customers who have already suffered the trauma of a burglary, and who can't be expected to wait until Everest can provide an engineer at a grisly inflatedprice. Everest also appear to take pride in not keeping *any* records or stock to assist customers who need technical support our parts on old installations.

A premium price can sometimes be justified in light of good after sakes care, but Everests is shockingly bad.

 

[Max Power]

Do you provide a guarantee on your locks? Does that guarantee cover third parties undertaking work on them and replacing parts :? Why do you you say Everest are being untruthful to say that the warranty will be void in such a situation, I think you will find that that is exactly the case and you would be wrong to advise a customer otherwise

 

[Hivenhoe]

Much of this thread is centred around the fact that Everest are not the cheapest home improvement company. :shock: and how windows can be had from Bodgit and Leggit for 1/4 the price
Wow, tell me something I didn't already know :roll:
And in case you didn't realise, stay away from Bentley showrooms, theyre more expensive than most cars and you might be wasting your time looking at Patek Philippe watches, they're more expensive than Sekonda
I wouldn't have Everest around for the same reasons I wouldn't test drive a Rolls Royce ie I would be wasting the salesmans time and they have the same need to earn as everyone else

Everest are not the Rolls Royce/ Benley's of the replacement window world, yes they have a nice product which is comparable on quality with many others in the industry.
They are not alone in their start high, show home, check in with my manager discount methods to sweeten the deal, many of the national sales outfits use it. But the price, high or low, does not always reflect the quality and service you get.

 

[Eric The Viking]

Do you provide a guarantee on your locks? Does that guarantee cover third parties undertaking work on them and replacing parts? Why do you you say Everest are being untruthful to say that the warranty will be void in such a situation, I think you will find that that is exactly the case and you would be wrong to advise a customer otherwise

I'd hope, in this context, a double glazing company's argument wouldn't stand up in court.

Warranty disputes rarely get that far, because they usually have so many escape clauses they're legally not worth the paper they are written on, but this sort of thing just might, because of the money involved...

... say a double-glazing company are warranting some aspect(s) of their product to last for a specific time. If that includes the lock and it's broken by a criminal, it's the action of the Reasonable Man in such circumstances (a break-in) to get the lock repaired quickly by someone competent to do it. It might be a requirement of their household insurance, in any case.

Whilst it's also obviously reasonable that a double glazing firm can't warrant a lock they didn't fit, that has no bearing on the durability of their double-glazing panels (or it shouldn't). A court might consider the warranty to be subsequently limited to the materials and work the original company provided, but not wholly overturned by one small component being changed on a like-for-like basis by a competent person, because...

... if any double glazing firm charged a hefty premium price, with an awe-inspiring warranty included, the hefty premium would have been in part the cost of the warranty ("... surely that wasn't all profit, sir?"). The householder wasn't just buying the double glazing and its installation, but also implicitly that the installation would remain fully functional for at least the warranty period, any faults being remedied by the installer (obligations such as cleaning and oiling, etc. being symmetrically imposed on the householder).

The purchase was for double glazing, installation, and longevity, hence the high price. If that somehow wasn't the case, the court might be expected to have little sympathy with any company that was price gouging and trying to avoid any warranty obligations.

Consumer law doesn't equate only to contract law as it once did: consumers, in this case purchasers of double glazing products, have the law weighted in their favour, the assumption being that they have fewer resources than the firms they buy from so it would otherwise be unfair. Courts expect firms to behave fairly and for contract terms to be reasonable. Voiding an entire warranty, under these circumstances, isn't fair.

A simple question would probably be asked in court, such as, "What effect did changing the lock have on your double glazing panel seals?"

If the lock replacement wasn't like-for-like, or the locksmith wasn't properly competent, or the replacement involved a lot of components, then that's an entirely different matter.

E.

PS: It's a couple of decades since I did a law course! I can't find you case law, but there are lawyers on here who (a) probably could, and (b) will, I hope, correct me if I've misunderstood the current state of play. EU law is developing in favour of the consumer too, quite dramatically, e.g. the recent six-year obligation placed on manufacturers to rectify defects.

 

[Lee J]

a friend of mine makes glass for glazing, he works at Saint Gobain in Yorkshire, he told me not to believe the bull they'll give me about specialist glass only available from Everest. Apparently Saint Gobain and Pilkington make this type of glass all the time for anyone who requires it, it's not exclusive to Everest.

 

[Max Power]

Where would you say Everest were in terms of brand placement ?

Ask 100 members of the general public the following 3 questions

Name a luxury car brand .......
Name a luxury watch brand .......
Name a luxury double glazing brand ...

I would have thought the top answers would be as follows
1 Rolls Royce
2 Rolex
3 Everest

Which Double glazing company would remove them from anwer three :?

 

[nanscombe]

If you buy Bentley or Mercedes, etc., there are added-value things that explain the higher price of the product: better/more complex engineering, better after-sales service, higher performance, etc.

All of which could be said to apply to any premium product, whether its a Rolls Royce, Saville Row suit or a Holtey Plane, none of these do what a lower priced alternative wouldn't .
Unless youve lived most of your life on Mars you're going to realise that Everest fit into this category, so to get them out and be astonished at the prices is the equivalent of suddenly realising the nice Mercedes salesman is not going to let you have that shiny new S class for your 10k budget.

"Name a luxury double glazing brand…" or "Name an expensive double glazing brand.."?

Are Everest products really comparable to "premium" products, like Festool, or are they just simply B&Q products at Festool prices?

 

[Lons]

Where would you say Everest were in terms of brand placement ?

Ask 100 members of the general public the following 3 questions

Name a luxury car brand .......
Name a luxury watch brand .......
Name a luxury double glazing brand ...

I would have thought the top answers would be as follows
1 Rolls Royce
2 Rolex
3 Everest

Which Double glazing company would remove them from anwer three :?

If that were true (and it's not proven) then it would not necessarily be that they thought Everest were top luxury brand, just that it's the only one they could think of. Just because you're well known doesn't mean you're the best!
The double glazing market is very different to that of cars and watches being largely made up of smaller more local businesses who don't have the money to launch national TV campaigns. (That money comes from overcharging its customers).

I'll give you another example: Everyone knows "Perspex". The name became synonymous with acrylic sheet. My experience in the plastics industry shows that it is absolutely no better quality than Plexi or many of the others available but it's the name most would come up with even though that's changing due to the number of times Plexiglass is mentioned on tv and films from the US. The same applies to many others such as "Hoover" for vacuums (at least before Dyson) - Public perception is often about the amount of exposure they receive to the product i.e. advertising , not always quality

Bob

 

[MMUK]

OK, having been in the trade for more years than I care to remember, and having once owned my own fabrication & installation company, I think I can clarify the warranty situation here.

1. Warranties only cover defective materials and workmanship. In the case of a break in, the warranty will not cover repairs or replacement of hardware as this is not a mechanical failure during normal use and not classed as wear and tear.

2. A warranty or guarantee will be voided should any company other than the original installer make repairs or alterations to the existing installation during the guarantee period. Once exception however is an insurance backed guarantee. In this case, you contact the backer and they arrange for one of their approved installers to carry out the work. This may be the original company or it may not.

3. A lot of companies offer a 10 or 15 year guarantee but read the small print! In 99% of cases, it is only the uPVC that is guaranteed for this period against mechanical failure and discolouration. Generally speaking, double glazed units are guaranteed for five years and hardware either one or two years depending on the manufacturer. Large companies tend to stick to this rule hard and fast and often use it as a get out clause. In other cases, Anglian for example (I've worked for them), the company extends these guarantees for the full period of 10/15 years but recoup costs with call out fees.

4. Replacement sealed units and hardware in existing frames only tend to carry a 12 month guarantee against failure.

5. A lot of "national" companies will also use "routine maintenance" as another get out clause. Even something as silly as not washing down your uPVC every six months with soapy water can void your guarantee in some cases. These companies can be slotted in next to insurance companies in terms of customer service!

 

[Max Power]

"Name a luxury double glazing brand…" or "Name an expensive double glazing brand.."?

Are Everest products really comparable to "premium" products, like Festool, or are they just simply B&Q products at Festool prices?

Are you seriously suggesting that a company with Everests prices would have lasted as long in the market place if they sold rubbish :roll:

 

[nanscombe]

I was wondering if they actually "premium" products or simply run of the mill products sold at "premium" prices, paying for the name of Everest as it were?

Not being a double glazing installer, when I look at a double glazed window, all I see is a (uPVC) surround with a sealed glazing unit inside.



I was going to use "Rolls Royce" and "Ford Fiesta" but I thought I'd give it a wood working theme. :wink:

Oh look, I can roll my eyes too. :roll: :lol: