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Double Glazing Blogger: November 2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Best Salesmen Are Commissioned Based Only

RCG touched on this in his last post. The best salesmen are the ones who get paid on what they sell. It forces sales staff to work harder and better. By not allowing sales staff to rest back knowing they will still get a monthly wage it breeds a hungrier workforce. This is exactly the way we work, if we don't sell, we don't get paid. It forces us to make sure we make every effort to bring in business. A wage, as well as commission, makes sales staff sloppy and this can affect how they come across to customers. Salesmen can come across as unenthusiastic and not really interested. By starving them of reliable income, they are forced to try their very best, every time, which from a company point of view is only beneficial.

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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Will I Get A Reply?

As of yet, I have no reply to my e-mail sent to Tyson Anderson of Titon as regards the trickle vent issue.

I'm starting to wonder if I actually may get one. Perhaps he is too busy to look at it right now and I might get one in a few weeks time. In all likelihood the e-mail may not even get through to him. If this is so then it would be a real shame and a missed opportunity. I've given him the chance to put his side of the trickle vent argument forward, I'm hopeful that he will take the opportunity to do so as this is something that will affect all of us within the next 12 months.

We will see...

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Tackling The Trickle Vent Issue

I have sent the following e-mail to Mr Tyson Anderson in response to his article in the latest issue of the GGP magazine:

"Dear Mr Tyson Anderson:

I work for a double glazing installations company in West Yorkshire, and was particularly interested in your article about trickle vents in response to Paul Jervis’ in the last issue.

Some of the points you mentioned in your article I failed to agree with. One of the major issues installations companies have with trickle vents is that when we have tried so hard to produce and install the best energy efficient windows possible, we find it completely contradictory to install trickle vents which badly affect the efficiency performance of the window. Once the windows with trickle vents are installed, the feedback from our customers is that they don’t use them. They find them ugly, unsightly, unnecessary, and that if they wanted ventilation, they would open a window. This is the second major issue, customers despise them. In your article you mention that we should be up-selling the benefits of trickle vents to customers. The problem here is that to a customer there is no obvious benefit.

In the middle of your article you go on to say that many of the social housing organisations have chosen to fit trickle vents on all their replacement windows as standard over the past twenty years. I agree with you that this perhaps was a sensible option, possible because they could see the restrictive new ventilation laws on the horizon. But this is an easy option for them because they have the power to install windows to their own specifications. On the residential/homeowner end of the market, the task of trying to sell trickle vents is much harder. To reinforce that point, out of the three and a half years I have worked in sales, I have had only ONE customer ask for trickle vents to be put back into the new windows.

There is then also the cost issue. We sell trickle vents at a price of £15 per vent (inc VAT 15%). Now imagine a larger size installation that may require 20 of them. That’s an extra £300 for ‘flimsy, unsightly’ trickle vents. You must agree that from a customer point of view that is a very large pill to swallow for what they are and for how little they will be used.

Perhaps we are wrong, perhaps the installation end of the industry is missing out on some major selling points and benefits. But this is why I have sent this e-mail."

It will be interesting to see if I get a reply!

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Local Window Company Phoenixed

Orchid Windows and Conservatories of Wakefield is now Orchidwindows.com.

I've had a look on their website, which isn't too shabby, but that is all it is. It looks like they have got rid of their showroom as there are no details about it at all, and have now become a purely internet based company. They are based at Sherwood Industrial Estate in Robin Hood, Wakefield, but that may just be the office where they now operate from and has no showroom purpose.

It will be interesting to see how much of a presence they can create on the internet. They will have to do some extra advertising to help push traffic to their website. But spending money, especially after reducing the size of your company and doing it in the run up to Christmas, is a risky thing. I doubt much of an impact will be made. The spring however will be the time to make a push as lead levels start to rise dramatically.

The issue though then turns to whether to allow companies/people that have had financial troubles through their own doing to set up the same company in a different name.

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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Putting Climate Change Into Perspective

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

This video is a MUST watch. it really does put into perspective the damage we have done to our climate and our planet. I've watched this once before and it does make your heart sink when you think of all the damaging actions we have done to our home. It might spur you on further to do more for the environment.

Let me know what you think.

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What Annoys Me The Most

Customers. We can't live without them (a bit like women except we get to ignore them after half past five!). But what really annoys me is when you bend over backwards and beyond for them as a company, trying your best to make sure they are as happy as they can be, when it comes to paying the final balance, suddenly they find a whole list of things wrong with the installation.

In this case we have been replacing glass units. Except that every time a unit gets replaced, they suddenly find yet another mark on another unit that 'must be replaced'. Stalling paying the final balance every time. This has been going on for weeks now. It winds me up that customer's think this practice is ok. If every customer was like this businesses would fail due to poor cash flow. How would they like it then if we weren't here to honour their guarantees because the rest of our customers weren't paying us on time?!

This is another case of consumer rights going way too far. Businesses should be allowed to take some sort of action against these sorts of customers to make sure they get final payments as swift as they do from more considerate customers.

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Monday, November 23, 2009

Would The Government Really Bail Out 'The Biggest Double Glazing Company'?

The www.double-glazing-forum.com is a good website. Out of its many good qualities, I like the forum section the most. You get good reasoned debate with no venom or attitude. But now you get humour too!


"Insurance backed guarantees are rarely worth the paper they are written on as they can often wriggle out of the guarantees especially when the company goes bust. I know several clients of double glazing firms that used this method and none of them ever got any satisfaction from the so called guarantees.


I work for the largest home improvement company in the UK and that is Anglian... You cannot beat going with a company that has been around since 1966 and has over 1 million installations. Our sealed units are guaranteed for 15 years and we will stand by this. This company is so big that should it go down, your windows will be the last thing you'll be worried about, plus the chances are the government would step in and bail them out anyway. So look for a company that has good financial standing and s.jenkins made a very valuable point in suggesting companies house as one method of giving you some peace of mind."


This guy has got to be from the sales department of Anglian! But the thing that made me laugh the most is how he thinks that the Government would bail them out if Anglian were to go bust. Well Mr. 'Richierich' (his profile name), here's some news for you, they won't! They didn't save Woolworths, who were 100 years old, why would they save Anglian? Our industry is nowhere near important enough for the Government to even consider bailing one of the larger companies.


Furthermore, people should have a bit more faith in the insurance backed guarantee scheme.

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Saturday, November 21, 2009

A Much Better TV Advert

Now this is a much better version of Safestyle's TV advert:



Oozes class.

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A Sale Does Actually Have To End!

All over the TV and radio you see and hear of sales. From sofas and furniture, and especially double glazing, and they always end with a deadline sounding something like: "must end Sunday" or something along those lines. But for a sale to have some modicum of credibility, it must actually have to come to an end!

A prime example is the Safestyle, and especially the DFS adverts. Both of which offer 'superb' offers and great 'deals'. But people have become weary of them (especially Safestyle, I know it memorable, but for all the wrong reasons. Most people find him annoying, and who would buy windows from a guy who throws them on the floor like they are made from cardboard!). Every week there's a new offer, and every Sunday it ends, just for a new one to start again on Monday. It's lost all it's credibility because people know it's never ever going to end! And because of that, people won't rush in on a weekend making sure they get there in time before it ends. Making the whole point of a 'Sale', pointless.

If companies are going to embark on TV land with adverts advertising sales and giving some indication that these 'offers' and 'discounts' are going to end at some point, they must. It gives the business and the sale credibility and believability. If they don't, they could end up in a position like DFS, where their sale is now just a national joke and has no credence.

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Star Product: Uni-Blind

I might do more of these types of posts to help highlight some of the better individual products that are around in our market.

We have been using the Integral/Uni-Blind system for a few years now and have had great success with it. The beauty of these blinds is simple. They are fitted within the sealed unit and operated by magnets within the blind mechanism at the top; therefore a sealed unit stays just that, sealed. They are easy to fit from an installation point of view and it has been excellent in terms of the product's reliability. We have had very few problems, and I would have to think very far back to come up with a time where we did have an issue.

From a customer point of view they provide a great opportunity to up-sell. Because they are within the glass the customer will never have to clean the blinds, they won't develop smells like bathroom and kitchen blinds do. Mould never becomes an issue. They are as convenient as normal venetian blinds and are as easy to operate.

The one downside from an industry point of view is that they are produced in Italy, and not here in Britain, which is a shame but no surprise. Therefore they are slightly more expensive than normal blinds. But, the selling points are massive, and they have hardly any obvious drawbacks for the customers, so they won't mind paying that extra premium for something so innovative. Also, they can be made to almost any size, so will suit any size window or glazed door.

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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Trickle Vent Issue Still Not Clear

In the latest issues of the GGP magazine, Tyson Anderson makes the case for trickle vents in response to Paul Jervis' comments in the previous issue.

For the many reasons and clear-as-mud explanations he gives, I still don't believe that trickle vents should be required. He tries to argue that trickle vents provide a very useful source of ventilation that homeowner cannot do without. He explains that it is a much more secure an option rather than leaving window openings on the night vent. Firstly, windows are tested on security whilst on their night vent openings, if there were a major problem with this I'm sure we would all be aware. Secondly, the likelihood that customers will leave their windows on night vents, especially in these colder months, is tiny. Thirdly, customers hate the look of them. The last thing they want is for some ugly piece of flimsy plastic screwed to the inside and outside of their brand new windows.

We as installers also have major issues with them. For the last year or so we have been championing energy efficient windows, and a lot of us have been installing 'A' rated windows as standard now. Why then would we want to start putting holes in these frames to let the cold in and heat out? Oh and the noise factor! Trickle vents will allow noise through, now I would challenge Mr. Anderson to try and sell that to a customer who lives near a motorway or a busy main road. Secondly, due to that last point, customers cannot see the benefit of having these things installed. Mr. Anderson is telling us we should be upselling the benefits of trickle vents. How do we do that where there are none?!

In the next couple of days I will be e-mailing Mr. Anderson to ask him to help us clarify what the REAL benefits of trickle vents are, and how we are supposed to be upselling these trickle vents. Clearly we aren't as smart as we should be and we are missing out on an opportunity here!

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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

How Big Is The Condensation Problem Going To Be?

We had another couple of customers contact us today regarding condensation on their new windows. Luckily, after explaining the physics of the problem they understood and the matter went no further. But as we all know, customers in this industry can sometimes be a royal pain in the backside over things like this.

Is this going to be a permanent trouble causer for the future? All we have been selling over the past year and before is 'A' rated windows. I can see in the future a larger proportion of these customers coming back to us to report the same problem. The second problem is going to occur when this feature of energy rated windows becomes openly known to the public, which it will! Is it going to put some potential customers off? The task of selling energy saving windows could be a tad harder from that point onwards.

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Monday, November 16, 2009

We Are Running Out Of Steam

It might just be me, but when I place myself on the outside of this industry and look in, we all seem to be a bunch of people with good intentions but no energy to go forth and carry out the actions we say we want to. And I mean that in the broadest sense of the meaning. First example would be the Fighting Back With Facts campaign, we don't hear anything of that anymore. There was such a big worry that timber was going to make a comeback and our industry could be under threat. Yet only after a few months the energy out of that has drained away.

Another example is the Part L changes that are going to say we need to buy BFRC licenses in order to comply with the new regulations. We all know that it’s just a money making exercise, but what are we doing about it? Nothing! In fact I think I'm the only one to really have mentioned anything about it at all. But, as usual, we won't do anything about it. The GGF is going to make countless unnecessary millions out of our industry when we need it more.

Third example: WER's. Why is it that only under a third of double glazing companies are selling energy rated windows? Why is it that when one of the best selling opportunities comes our way, our industry is too bone idol and lazy to take advantage of it?!

Fourth example: exhibitions. Glassex, the true national exhibition for our industry has petered out into such a sub-event that it had to be partnered with Interbuild just so it could have a show this year. Pathetic! At least were trying something new with GlassTalk.

Fifth example: the internet. I still don't believe our industry has really taken the internet bull by the horns and put it to good use. By this I mean internally. We have so much to offer each other, yet there are only a few blogs like this one knocking about. And on top of that, people should be leaving more comments. The more feedback on the issues we talk about the better. That way we can make and shape our future decisions better. I always try and make a point of commenting on industry related blogs, RCG will know that!

I could think of more but I'm sure you all get the point. If were going to talk about injustices in our industry or talk about changing the industry as a whole, we need to stop talking about it and start actually doing it and follow it through to the end!

P.S. The windows scrappage scheme petition was going to be another example but I think we all know that fell on its arse!

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Sunday, November 15, 2009

The Importance Of A Good After-Sales Service

Part of the reason why the double glazing industry has such a tarnished reputation is due to the fact that companies tend neglect the needs of their customers after the installation has been completed. No company is perfect and problems will occur in all areas of installation. But what really earns businesses credibility with the customer is the ability to rectify those problems.

There are too many companies in this industry that ignore the after-sales side of the business, and this is what can ruin their reputation. They tend to be either one-man-bands who cannot be bothered, or businesses that are too big and find themselves unable to provide an efficient after-sales service.

We are a business which prides itself on rectifying any problems that might occur as soon as we physically can. Our customers wait no more than a couple of days for our service engineer to visit them, and that is what surprises our customers the most. Due to the terrible reputation of our industry, it seems they assume that we will put them in such a back-logged waiting list it will take weeks for them to be seen to. That is not the case however, and we receive many letters and phone calls of thanks for providing such a quick and efficient service.

This is such a vital area for businesses in our line of work, yet a lot just view the after-sales side as a bit-part player, and is therefore neglected, harming them and our industry as a whole.

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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Chat With Director Of Alternative Windows

At my girlfriends work colleagues 30th birthday bash last night I got chance to chat with Alternative Windows director Darren Atkinson. He had a very interesting outlook on our industry.

From his point of view, Linear was the profile of choice and was 'the future'. I can say I didn't quite agree with him on that. He also said that companies didn't need to sell frames with steel reinforcement, again something I didn't quite agree with as we use steel reinforcement as one of our selling points. He explained that Linear, and also Eurocell which they use, can achieve the best energy efficiency ratings possible. Now that was something I was interested in. One big point that we both agreed on however was the sneaky way in which the Part L changes coming in 2010 will require us to all buy licences from the BFRC to comply with the new regulations.

It was nice to talk candidly about the industry in a relaxed atmosphere, that than the uptight, restricted, proffesional working atmosphere we have every working day.

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Thursday, November 12, 2009

Big Drop in Company Bankruptcies


The latest company bankruptcy figures from http://www.double-glazing-forum.com/ show a sharp drop in the number of bankruptcies in October.












Over the last six months, apart from September which looks to have been a bit of an anomaly, the rate in which businesses have ceased trading in our industry has dropped dramatically. This gives us yet more hope and actual evidence that the road to recovery isn't far away now, and that the effects of the recession seem to be leveling out and coming to a sluggish end.

This can be backed up by the level of activity we are experiencing at the moment. We have unusually good sales numbers for this time of year. By now things should be dropping off, but it isn't quite yet. We are now full for fitting and are now starting to book work on for the New Year. Much better than this time last year!

We can only hope then that this trend of falling bankruptcy numbers and increasing sales figures continues. Personally, I think next year is going to be a good one, tough yes, but not as frantic or stressful, and hopefully a lot more enjoyable! Has anyone else experienced unusually good numbers for this time of year?

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

My Plans

Over the past few weeks I've been thinking where I would see myself over the next five years or so, and what I want to do within those five years. What is certain is that I'm going to remain at the company I work for now. We are placed in a good position to take advantage of the upcoming recovery, so I'm going to make sure I can fill my boots as much as possible! I've got too much enthusiasm for this job not to!

One of things I've always wanted to do was to create the company website myself, which I literally have just finished in the past couple of hours! By doing it myself I have learned new skills, and have been able to control exactly how we want the site and what we want it to do. Then, any changes that need to be made I can do myself also. Over the next five years I want to help increase lead numbers by at least 50%, hopefully we would be able to surpass that. And in turn, I want to help increase sales by the same amount. I have a vision of helping the company become significantly bigger than what we are now, whilst staying within the same premises. Although we are not such in bad shape now, I'm going to help the company take a bigger share of the market in our area.

Internally, I want to modernise everything. I'm going to set up Excel Spreadsheets for everything! I want to record as much data and collect as many figures as I can so we can analyse every minute area of our business. This will give us better vision to improve all areas of the business, which will stand us in good stead for our expansion plans. Showroom wise, I want to create our own slideshow/presentation. It could be a useful tool to give customers a better insight in to the company and how we operate. If we find it useful, it could be a feature we may add to the website.

Another part of our plans, and one which is more of a short term target, is to produce our own company brochure which encompasses all areas of our business. At the moment we have separate brochures for each area of work which we undertake. While they are very useful and professional materials, we see it as more beneficial for the customer and ourselves to have one which brings everything together in one booklet. The added advantage will be that we can add more detail about the company, as well as being very comprehensive on all our products and services.

The main aim then over the next five years is to reinforce and expand our presence in our area of the market. I'll let you all know how we get on with that!

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Customers Don't Want To Slow Down Just Yet

With only a few trading weeks left we are still finding business flowing at a brisk pace. This was in complete contrast to this time last year. We have only a few fitting dates left before we close for Christmas and at the rate we are doing business this week we may have all those filled by Friday! Usually by now things have really ground to a bit of a halt. Lead numbers are usually down, sales numbers are down and the general buzz about the office is slowly fizzling out. But we have found the opposite. While lead numbers have decreased in the usual manner, turnover has remained at a good level; it hasn't dropped away in its annually dramatic way. And we still have that buzz which comes from being busy and productive. This mini-trend over the past couple of weeks will see us well into the New Year, sheltering us from the danger the winter period can bring to double glazing firms.

Other bits of good news today; the Bank of England has altered its outlook about the strength of recovery for the British economy over the next couple of years. It has raised its forecast of economic growth in 2011 from 3% to 4%. Though how much of this will transfer to the double glazing industry will remain to be seen.

The rise in unemployment in the third quarter was less than expected, showing that the rate of job losses is slowing. More evidence that the UK economy is finding its feet again.

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Monday, November 9, 2009

Evolution Of Blogs

In my opinion blogs have always been something which I've seen as important and beneficial to the double glazing industry. And something which polarised this opinion was when RCG removed his post about the Amdega conservatory removal. I've always seen blogs as a useful tool to spread your opinion, release new information and gossip etc. But I also see blogs as a great tool to root out some of the deadwood in this industry. In my opinion RCG was wrong to remove the Amdega post. He wasn't biased in any way, he remained neutral, and put the post up in such as way as to gauge opinion, not to make his own assumptions. Blogs are supposed to be free thinking forums where people can voice their opinions, question other's points of view, defend themselves etc.

He said he removed the post due to negative feedback. The nature of the post was negative, so there was always going to be bad blood posted on there. It was a good honest post. We got to see people's honest opinions and thoughts (plus a bit of my over-eagerness!), something which we don't often get to see in this day and age. I don't know if it is possible for RCG to put the post and comments back on, but if he can he should.

Blogs could, and should evolve into places where people can do good for the industry as a whole and become a whistle-blower-esque way of routing out the bad installations and companies in our industry. FENSA won't solve the problem of cowboys, nor will any other industry body, we have to do it ourselves! 

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Saturday, November 7, 2009

Damn Trickle Vents

An industry pet hate is the use of trickle vents. As sad as it may be, I've been having a look through the propsed changes to Part F in 2010. The big worry is that trickl vents are going to become mandatory, and we all know how much of a pain it is trying to sell trickle vents to customers. After looking at the wording of the proposed changes, it may not be as bad as we thought.

"1.51 Approved Document F 2006 states that it would be good practice to fit trickle ventilators (or equivalent) in all replacement windows. This is due to the concern that replacing an older window with a newer window with better seals will make the property more airtight and may result in under-ventilation. For 2010 we are minded to remove this statement and make fitting of trickle ventilators in replacement windows (or equivalent) the recommended approach. If the ongoing cost-benefit analysis does not support this proposed change, fitting trickle ventilators would remain as good practice."

We may still be able to get away without having to fit trickle vents, and they key to that is where it states: "make fitting of trickle ventilators in replacement windows (or equivalent) the recommended approach". The key word there is 'recommend', it doesn't say it will become mandatory or anything similar. It then goes on to explain that if the cost implications do not support the change then it will be shelved to the original wording from 2006. I think the cost argument and the energy efficiency argument is something the double glazing industry will be able to put forward very well.

It remains beyond me that the do-gooders who make these rule changes still think that trickle vents are a good idea!

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

How Much Longer Can The Big Three Last?

Recessions tend to kill off the deadwood in our industry, and are especially hard on the national companies due to their big overheads. Speaking to an inspector from FENSA a little earlier in the year, he told us that the national companies were taking the biggest hits over anyone, a couple of which were really struggling to keep their heads above water. So this got me to thinking, surely the biggest the companies in our industry cannot last much longer? Those who run smaller establishments would love for them to disappear, the amount of leads would increase, and so an increase in business. But I seriously do think that we could lose one, if not two of the big three companies within the next 12-18 months. If trading conditions do not get any better, and with Christmas coming up they won't, it could turn into a mammoth task for the nationals to keep afloat.

For me the biggest sign of shakiness is over advertising. Anglian have been doing all sorts of different promotions this year, including the 'Pick 'n' Mix' offers and more recently their version of the window scrappage scheme.


We will have to wait and see, but if one goes, the others might follow, and if so, there will be a gold rush of new business and revenue for the smaller establishments to get their hands on!


P.S. I'm not putting the link to the scrappage scheme petition on the bottom of my posts anymore!

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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

In The Memory Of...

Back at the start of the year we suffered the loss of a great fitter, work colleague and friend, and it really took the wind out of our sails. But, being the tight, close knit circle of people that we are, we pulled together and helped each other through what was a very difficult time.

Seeing as though the website is going to be ready in the next few days, we are going to dedicate the new site in the memory of our good friend.

I've not included his name in this post as I haven't asked permission from his friends and family to do so, but they have allowed me to put a memorial on our website for him, for which we greatly appreciate, so you will see his name on there.

This is just one of our ways to show our appreciation for him, and thanking him for the time he spent with us, and way a to make sure his memory lives on.

R.I.P. MP

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The Day After

It will be interesting to see some of the early results that came out of GlassTalk on Tuesday. What will be of the most interest to me is how the SGG interview went, and how they tried to justify monumental price increases throughout the year.

Also, it would be interesting to hear what most people thought of phoenix companies. In my view, we shouldn't be supporting them, and when the less reputable businesses do go under, we should be doing our best to make sure that they don't rise from their own discredited ashes.

I'll be looking forward to RCG's posts at some point on Wednesday, providing he isn't too hung over!

SIGN THE WINDOWS SCRAPPAGE SCHEME PETITION NOW!: http://www.petitions.number10.gov.uk/windowscrappage

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Monday, November 2, 2009

Condensation Problem

RCG did a similar post on this not so long ago.

Over the weekend we have a few customers contact us about condensation on the outside of their windows after having A rated windows installed. At least we know they are working! But this is an issue we are now starting to explain when demonstrating the product to customers from the outset.

But it could turn into a bit of a sticking point. Customers hate a bit of condensation on the inside of their windows, so I'm sure they aren't going to appreciate waking up in the winter to fully condensed windows.

SIGN THE WINDOWS SCRAPPAGE SCHEME PETITION NOW!: http://www.petitions.number10.gov.uk/windowscrappage

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