I was thinking about purchasing some patio doors and a salesman from Express Bi-folding Doors (EBD) of Leeds came to my house on 20 October last year. He completed an order form and I paid a deposit of £1,145 by credit card against the total price of £4,701. A surveyor called on 26 October to take some measurements but I changed my mind on the morning of 28 October. However, EBD has said that straight after the survey, the glass and blinds order had been placed and manufactured in Italy which means that most of my deposit payment is non-returnable. What should I do? This scenario is covered by some important trading standards legislation called The Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer's Home Regulations 2008. In a nutshell, most contracts worth more than £35 made in the home are cancellable by a consumer within seven days but, in this case, you tried to cancel too late, on the eighth day. Crucially, however, Capital Letters established that EBD failed to give you the correct paperwork, prescribed by the regulations, supposed to give you information about your right to cancel, the consequence of which is to make the contract unenforceable.
After many emails and the involvement of EBD's solicitors, it accepts it was breaching the regulations and has agreed to refund your deposit, which I applaud. This is an expensive lesson for EBD and it has amended its paperwork to avoid this type of calamity in the future. You are very lucky that the law bailed you out on this occasion. If EBD had failed to issue a refund, you could have sought reimbursement from your credit card company. Steve Playle is team leader at Surrey Trading Standards Service. We welcome letters but regret we cannot answer individually. Please include a daytime phone numberThe Home Space from Express Boasting inspirational full-sized display homes in a unique 27,000 square foot space, the country’s largest-of-its-kind showroom (and a Europe-first!) is now open. Displayed within the showroom is our full portfolio of premium architectural aluminium products including bi folding and sliding doors, windows, glass roofs and much more. All products are installed within show-homes or room sets alongside design led home interior solutions, with working kitchens, technical build areas, consultation areas, even a roof skylight viewing deck and glass innovation centre where you even can learn how glass is made.
The full-scale show houses have been designed to cater for all types of properties. We have a built a replica of our Firs House project, proudly displaying the full-front elevation, which is a traditional double-bay property but modernised by our aluminium products. We also have a Grand Designs style contemporary house which is our tribute to the amazing Rutland Road project that we carried out, we have built three kitchen extensions taking their lead from the charming town houses in Surrey and Harrogate and the third from our Middlefield House project. The main central show house, which includes three fully-fitted kitchens and has four very different extensions: - Our uniquely designed glass box extension taking its lead from our Orchard House project. - Two orangery extensions including a typical Express extension and East Wing Cottage, a design inspired by a stunning extension we completed on a traditional stone-built home. - A distinctive, beautifully designed extension that is a replica of The Cedars which is one of our most popular projects.
Quite uniquely, the showroom is set within the premises where all of our products are made, meaning visitors will also be able to enjoy a tour of our huge manufacturing facility, allowing the opportunity to see first-hand the quality and size of our manufacturing operation. And for those of you looking for interior inspiration as well as glazing solutions, you’ll be able to explore a number of stunning rooms fitted with exceptional kitchens, bedrooms and designer furniture from our sister company Express in the Home. In addition, we’ve partnered with some fantastic brands for the furnishing of the show houses and areas surrounding them. Our new Leeds showroom is the most extensive showroom in the country regarding product offering, and arguably the best architectural aluminium showroom in Europe!Conveniently located just ten minutes from Leeds City Centre and just minutes from the motorway network our new Leeds showroom is located at Unit 23, Millshaw Park Ind Estate, Leeds, LS11 0BL.
No appointment is necessary, parking is free with off-cuts and information readily available to take home to aid with setting out your project. Don’t worry if it sounds like there is a lot to see and children will be running riot, we have a designated children’s entertainment area so they will be kept entertained while all visitors can take as much time as they like to explore this amazing showroom setting.Express Bi-folding Doors Ltd at Express Bi-folding Doors Ltd.Express is feeling the love today, come and join us for a complimentary glass of prosecco whist getting ideas for your home # # ❤️ 🥂🌹Bathroom Double DoorsBi Fold Doors KitchenBifold Bathroom DoorFolding BathroomBi-Fold DoorsDoors RedoDoors SpaceMoms DoorsWindows DoorsForwardAll three of our houses had extra doors we removed for an open look - go for it!For our extension we are planning to have the whole wall that leads to the garden (approx 6 m) kitted out with folding doors.Our architect has recommended Solarlux doors, which do seem to be good but also seem to be the most expensive.
Has anyone had any experience with these, or with any other makes? We've had a quote from Sunflex, and another make we are looking at is Express Bi-folding doors, which are quite a bit cheaper. However I don't want to skimp on this purchase if we are going to face significant quality issues by buying cheaper.Another question I have is what have you done for screening the doors? Express offer integrated blinds, which seems a better option that having trailing vertical blinds on the inside.Thanks for any advice you can give. I haven't (but we are planning to), though I know our neighbours found a local supplier who was much cheaper than the company their architect suggested (but still great quality).Worth a look locally?Integrated blinds sound good, do you need to have anything for screening? Thanks for that suggestion Pannacotta.I am happy to go without screening, but DH is insisting its safer so we can stop burglars peering in I am considering these but as I am in Scotland not sure if I'll actually get that much use out of them.
May just go for a fewtraditional french doors with glazed side panels instead. I'm not planning on having any screening as we are not overlooked. We bought our wooden ones from the Folding Sliding Door Company. They have showrooms in Yorkshire, but we bought ours unseen from the website and we've been very pleased. Not sure how the price compares with other places, but we found it reasonable.We'll check them out.Do you use blinds with them? We have a similar design in our kitchen, which goes out into the garden.I used a local joiner to make/install etc our bi-fold doors, and I am v happy with them.I got 3 people to quote, he was the nicest man, and the middle price, and I would def. use a local person over a big company again.Wo don't have anything for screening, as our garden just joins onto other gardens, so no-one can see in really. Am not a big fan of blinds, though, and think shutters would look nicer.A joiner would be an option if we were having wooden frames to the doors, but I think we are going to have aluminium.
I agree with you re the screening. Just need to convince hubby now! We have a 10 mt. wall in our kitchen from this sliding and folding door system. It was an arm and a leg, but as it was an integral part of the design, we decided to stick with it. The company we used was Sunfold - their service was pretty crap, but the door system was imported from Germany, and has been superb.In all fairness, we rarely open the wall to its fullest extent (between the kitchen and decking in the garden), but on the occasions that we have done so, it's made a great party venue. Oh - and we have no window coverings, although if we did I'd look at something like the mobile screen systems that you can get. Thanks a lot ajjandjj. I will look at them too. Shame about the customer service, but I suppose the product is the main thing. Hvae just taken a look at those ajanjj and they are the same as the Sunflex ones we had been looking at (i.e. same doors, but different company as UK reseller).
Interestingly, what put us off the Sunflex option was the suspicion of poor customer service - it seemed like it was a case of them selling, someone else installing and no-one taking full responsibility.They are cheaper than the ones our architect recommended though, so maybe I'll take a risk on the customer service..... The customer service issues we had were specific -The builder had not placed his order early enough, but they then were very late with their dates, which compounded the problem.We have the sliding and folding run and then a double door which comes off at right angles to the main run. We were burgled thru' this door, which was pretty traumatic for all of us. They were totally dismissive of my desire to get things moving asap, and it took months for the doorset to be replaced.So....the system is great, but be prepared for the hassle! What a nightmare about your burglary. You really didn't need the hassle of getting the replacement doors when you had all that trauma to deal with.
Doyou think you were just unlucky with the burglary, or are the doors themselves not very secure? Sorry SpaceTrain - I actually think that the doors and system are secure, but we didn't have laminated glass (thought we did!), so the burglars were able to throw a brick through the glass. The lock didn't give.I would certainly go for laminated glass though! My husband is in the trade (architect / designer with own design & build company) and he uses Solarlux - he would recommend them. I will definitely go for the laminated glass then ajanjj!LittleOtik - can you please ask your husband why in particular he recommends Solarlux? We are really impressed with the company that Lanky mentioned above (Folding Sliding Door company) and they come in £3k cheaper than Solarlux. At the moment we can't see much distinguishing them so are tempted to go with the cheaper option. (Particularly as Folding Sliding Doors offer a 15 year guarantee).are you by any chance based in London? I know of an excellent company but it would probably only worth be recommending if you are around the area.