A CUSTOMER of a Tavistock double-glazing company has spoken of her frustration and anger at being left out of pocket by about £3,800 without the firm starting any work at her West Devon home.

The customer (who prefers to remain anonymous) has contacted her MP Geoffrey Cox, the Double Glazing and Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme’s Fenestration Working Group and FENSA, a government-authorised scheme designed to monitor window and door installers’ compliance with building regulations.

She has, though, been advised that to have a case, she must first have had the work started on her house in a village near Tavistock.

She paid company Orchard Windows the sum as a deposit for a new window having been ‘very happy’ with previous work by the company for a garden cabin window, a door, garage cladding and upstairs windows which totalled £30,000.

She was told by the company, which were based at Westbridge Industrial Estate off Pixon Lane, Tavistock, that the deposit included an indemnity fee with the Insurance Warranty Association.

She said the ombudsman bodies asked her for a warranty certificate as part of their investigations, but this was not due to be given to her until work started, she explained.

While Orchard Windows is still listed as a business at Companies House, its offices in Tavistock are now closed and the Tavistock Times Gazette has not been able to make contact.

In response to a previous article in September 2022 reporting on complaints by Orchard Windows’ customers about uncompleted work, a spokesperson for the company apologised, saying: “We have not been intentionally deceitful, nor have we meant to cause our customers unnecessary stress.

“We are still trying to fulfil every order and complete every job under difficult circumstances.”