Anglian Breach of Contract Threats

[peaches2019]

Hi Group - there is a thread on this form for a similar situation with Anglian Home Improvements. If anyone has any advice, recommendations or pointers we would appreciate them.

 

On 3rd September, the sales guy appeared at our house without any prior confirmed appointment. We informed him that we would need to verify with our accountant if a conservatory for home office use could be a company expense. In this context, Mr Chatterton gave us the assurance that we would be able to cancel the contract at any time prior to a survey.

 

We signed a contract and paid a £999 depsoit for a conservatory on 3rd September 2018 where we were explicitly told by the sales representative we could cancel at any point prior to a survey/drawings being conducted who confirmed this verbally several times to us. 

 

Drawings were never completed. In accordance with the confirmed and communicated cancellation rights I called the sales agent on 24th September to inform him we wished to cancel. I had a very unpleasant phone call in which he raised his voice and took an unsavoury tone with me. It is not the experience I would expect from a company like Anglian. I called the customer service line immediately after the call and relayed the shocking experience I had been through with the sales representative. This conversation will have been recorded so can be reviewed to support my reaction to the unpleasant call. Based on customer service advice I emailed to cancel the contract.

 

Despite chasing my original cancellation email dated 24th September 2018 for several months we did not hear anything from Anglian until December 2018 and have since been sent letters threatening court action and asking us to pay 25% of the overall value of the contract. A penalty of £6,875 for no work being completed at all is a vast sum. No suggestion of conciliation services has been presented to us which seems a natural and sensible step for all parties before any court action is threatened or pursued.

 

Despite replying to letters, phone calls and emails reiterating our position we are being made victim in a situation where we were completely misled by the sales agent. The sales agent is saying he never told us this. If we had known and understood the cancellation terms were 7 days we would have acted accordingly. We have since seen on various forums that this misinformation is something other customers have experienced.

 

We have also been chased for replies from Anglian in very short time scales yet we have experienced weeks to months on responses to our communications. This feels unreasonable. 

 

Given that we have acted within the cancellation rights as communicated to us by the sales man at the point of signing the contract this as understandably been very stressful and unpleasant. They do not seem to be backing down. We have now been told me have 7 days to pay up or they will be 'issuing proceedings without further notice' to us. This has gone on almost a year and the anxiety and financial worry is horrible.

[BankFodder]

Your situation has been made rather more complicated by the fact that by your own admission you are hoping to have the conservatory included as a company expense. This means there is a possibility that you are not entering into a contract as a consumer. I think you need to tell us more about the conservatory, and how it might relate to your business or profession.

I notice that looking at trustpilot, out of over 10,000 reviews, fully 20% – over 2000 reviews have given either one star or two stars – most of them star. Quite a few people are complaining about Anglian refusing to return deposits or at least causing substantial delays.

The relevant regulations for your purpose – assuming that we are able to say that you are contracting as a consumer – are The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/contents/made

 

Please will you tell us what documentation was supplied to you when you paid over this rather large deposit.

I suggest that before you have any further contact with Anglian on this issue, that you send them an SAR to see what they might have recorded and what notes they have of the meeting.

I suggest that until you have your data disclosure that you don't raise any further issues on this even though it means that you will have to wait for up to 30 days.

In the meantime, please deal with the two questions which I have asked above

 

By the way, how did you pay a £999, and also on what basis are they attempting to recover 25% of the contract value from you?

[BankFodder]

I suddenly realise that you may not have the cancellation rights which would normally be given under the Consumer Contracts Regulations because of course your conservatory would have to be built/personalised and so they are not standard goods.

I suppose you have no evidence at all of the conversation which occurred between you. This could mean that the best you can hope for is to exit the contract having paid a reasonable administration charges to compensate them for losses which you may have caused to them by agreeing the contract and then terminating it.

Once again, please send them an SAR.

[BankFodder]

If this person really wants help then they should understand that they should engage with this thread. It seems that people tend to take the possibilities of help less seriously when they are apparently receiving it free of charge.

[peaches2019]

@BankFodder thanks for your comments. In answer to your queries.

 

- We paid a deposit but they are seeking further compensation to cover 25% of the overall value.

- There has been no manufacture of goods as the survey has not happened. Given that Anglian can make changes or we could at that point which would affect price and possibly other terms the contract would need to be varied and agreed to by both parties. Not sure what losses other than commuting costs for sales man would back up the 25% charge.

- 25% seems like a high penalty fee for existing the contract when we acted on the communicated terms.

- We signed contract on individual consumer basis not as a company.

- We have collected evidence of other customers who have experienced similar situations and even comments from employees on platforms.

- Document at signing was finance illustration and T&Cs.

 

 

[BankFodder]

Thank you. Presumably you signed the contract at your home at the time the deposit was paid.

What documents were supplied to you at the time. Please could you post them up here – both sides. Scanned in PDF format please – not photograph.

What method did you used to pay the deposit.

You say that you signed as individuals – but you mentioned the company expenses during the discussion. Have you sent them the SAR?

[BankFodder]

Do we take it that @peaches2019 has disappeared from the forum again? Personally I think that there is a very good chance of putting this matter to an end and of recovering the deposit and also delivering to Anglian Home improvements the slap in the face which they so desperately need. However, if we don't get any proper engagement from the OP, there is very little that we will be able to do and Anglian Home Improvements will simply get away with it.