Why aren't all home improvement experiences like this?
Mercury Windows is a small, independent company based near Ashford in Kent. Because we were having quite a lot of work done – a new composite front door with sidelight, two sets of sliding patio doors at the rear and four casement windows – and because we had no previous experience, we obtained five quotes from a mix of national and local companies before choosing Mercury.
There were a number of reasons why Mercury stood out, beyond just price (they were substantially cheaper than all other companies except for one local company, which came in around the same price). A big plus for us was Mercury's long, uninterrupted trading history (since 1994) and the fact that they carry out a lot of work for local schools and housing trusts. Linked to this was their small size, which means that there is no risk of variation in installation performance: Keith, the owner since the company was formed, carries out all quotations and measurements himself; Mick and Ricky carry out the actual installations. They have all been doing their jobs for 20-30 years, and are extremely professional and polite. A further reason we chose them was the 10-year insurance-backed guaranty, which is backed by FENSA and QANW. This means that the work is guaranteed not only for workmanship and materials but also to conform to local building standards (the local building regulations department is automatically informed). It also means that even in the unlikely event that the company were to go out of business, FENSA and QANW will continue to back the guaranty. We also liked the fact that Keith provides a competitive quote from the outset - unlike most of the other companies, which give an artificially high price, which they then bring down with a special “discount” if you decide to accept the quote the same day or within a short timeframe that doesn’t allow you to go through a proper competitive review.
Our work was carried out absolutely on time and extremely professionally. Everything was patiently explained in advance and all questions answered so that we were fully confident about every detail before and afterwards; and post-installation service has been superb, ensuring that we received the documentation from FENSA and QANW within a few weeks and even providing us with amazing assistance when we subsequently locked ourselves out! The workmanship and materials are frankly beyond our expectations and Rick and Micky provided further assurance, explaining that there can sometimes be some movement in the doors after installation (which hasn't happened in the three months since they were installed); and that in this case, we should just call them rather than trying to deal with it ourselves, as they are always local and can perform any slight adjustment promptly. Honestly by far the best experience we have had amongst a number of home improvements we have recently made.