The double glazing industry has long been the butt of the jokes and it certainly hasn’t had the best reputation over the last decade or so. But the recent Which? report seems to cast doubt on that stereotype and it should be something the industry jumps on and makes good use of.
The report states that out of the people interviewed, a very respectable 83% said that they were satisfied with their windows and doors. Though only 60% they were happy with the big four i.e. Anglian, Everest, Safestyle and Zenith Staybright. The report also found that out of those who use local independent businesses, 67% reported no problems at all, whereas those who used national companies only half reported no issues.
Now, you will know I don’t have much positive to say about the DGCOS, but they did do their own survey to gauge the reputation of the industry and their results came back with a 93% positive score, which if the results are to be read as accurate is very good news indeed!
Over the last few years we have seen a very active effort to shun the cowboy reputation this industry garnered for itself due to it’s hard-sell tactics and poor workmanship. But with companies now doing all they can to emphasize that the work they do is good, improvements in customer service in all departments and with the impending qualifications for installers, I think we are now seeing the tide turn and confidence returning to our industry.
Now obviously I’m not saying here that all companies are good. There are clearly still some bad apples out there which over time will disappear from the industry altogether. And we also need to make sure that now the standards have been raised to where they should be. We’ve done the hard work, now we need to maintain that and go even further to make sure that our industry becomes one which people can trust and report back positively 100% of the time.
I think we all deserve a great big pat on the back for doing so well in both these reports!
I echo your comments that our industry has made some real improvements over the last few years, but we still have a lot more to do yet. I joined the GGF so that I could keep well informed about best practice and new legislation being formed in the UK and EU that was going to impact on my business. I also wanted to have some influence over that legislation or at least put forward some practical suggestions on how to make it benefit our industry. While the GGF is primarily a Membership Organisation, I have never attended a meeting where… Read more »
Great news that four out of ten people are unhappy/reporting problems with there jobs by either the big four or the local independents lets roll out the flags and pat each other on the backs lol.
Peter, just to clarify, 83% were happy with local independents, 60% is just for the big nationals. To say that over 8 out of 10 people were happy with the service from their local window companies is something that should be welcomed as only a few years ago I’m pretty sure that the figure would have been lower. The nationals still clearly have some more work to do.
The report also found that out of those who use local independent businesses, 67% reported no problems at all <——-so 33% do have problems still hardly flag waving material. And even 83% that you highlighted is shocking, 2 out of every 10 jobs causes customer issues.
Peter – I would have thought you would have welcomed the news. Yes we still have more work to do, but 83% certainly isn’t bad news. It would have been less that this just a few years ago. Things are on the up and we have to be pleased about that. They key is also how those 17% of issues were dealt with. No job goes 100% perfect every time, so it’s important customers have a good after sales service in place to deal with such things. It may be the case that is you asked those 17% of people… Read more »
This is good news and all the incoming regulations and legislation over the next 12 months will make it even tougher for cowboys to exist in the industry.