Crittall Windows Avis 12

I have been waiting over 5 weeks for crittal to respond & come up with a positive resolution resolution to a very poorly manufactured set of very expensive Crittall fire doors, they are now holding up a 2 year development from being signed off as a result of there poor workmanship and appalling customer service

I was replacing a very old circular Crittal window and an existing wooden internal screening door/panels. KJA Services did the survey and installation. The fit and finish and attention to detail were perfect on these - even in the face of a quite difficult opening to fill for the internal door. Very happy with the result.

My only negative is that the order took a long time to manufacture and the price was quite high - but you get what you pay for.

Ordered 2 Crittall exterior doors in March as part of a small building project for new kitchen. The doors took longer than we were told to make. When installed problems from the beginning. Double door lock would not lock, fitting company had to come back as could not fix. They took the lock out on next visit and filed something off the back and lock appeared to work. Other problems then started. Door handle would fall off, doors started catching at the top and then there was a gap when door closed at the top. The internal top bar lock would now not close. Fitting company came out and said the “hinges needed bending”, they would come back after discussing with Crittall. We washed the exterior doors, rinsing them first with a hosepipe. We noticed that both doors were leaking into the kitchen. Fitting company came out and said doors had not been fitted properly, there were screws missing. The fitter seemed particularly interested in the single door, started taking pictures but did not give a good explanation as to why, just wanted to ask something of the people who installed it. He sealed the exterior of the frames by the sill with frame sealant which he said was a temporary fix. To our surprise we got call asking if we were happy to sign off the doors by the installer company manager. When we told him of the problems he said he would come back to us. About 30 minutes later he called back and said Crittall had taken responsibility for the problems. He went on to explain that the single door had been manufactured incorrectly. The weep holes which drain water from the “gutter” at the bottom of the frame had been made on the wrong side. So the door had been made to drain water into the kitchen instead of externally. We were told Crittall were considering the options of what they could do. We rang Crittall to see if this was correct, they said they would come back with a fix. We found out that the door handle had been left with something on that should have been removed before leaving the factory. They could no fix the catching doors and felt it was better to take this door back to the factory also. So both doors were removed and the openings boarded up. We had to cancel our hardwood floor being fitted and put back the kitchen fitting. We had questions we wanted to ask of Crittall about the sealing process the fitters had used but Crittall refused to take our call. They actually had our call blocked at the switchboard. The reason we knew this was when the operator asked our name she said you need to discuss issues with John Knight Glass and not Crittall! The doors were reinstalled, when we went to wash the doors again, both doors leaked into the kitchen. We could not believe it. We were then told we should not use a hosepipe to wash the doors! Crittall then actually accused us of carrying out a specific water test which was not appropriate for these doors. When we looked up the test they stated it referred to a series of high pressured water jets, positioned at a set distance and applied for 30 minutes and is used for testing some kind of sealed units. We communicated to John Knight that using a hosepipe to rinse the doors was normal use of the product. When the fitters came out, they shone a light between the door frame and the door frame extender and they actually found they could see through into the kitchen. Crittall had made another manufacturing error as the frame and frame extender on both doors should have been sealed in the factory, they were not. We were then told the fix for this would be to remove all screws around the frame and squirt in frame sealer, we also had and exterior additional line of sealer over the frame and frame extender externally. I cannot convey the distress that this purchase and entire process had caused. I now worry about the weather, worry about washing the doors as this sealing process should have been done in the factory, who knows how much sealer went into the frame and if there are gaps. The doors have been handled so much the finish feels like it’s not powder coated anymore but just “touched up” with the paint pen they apply to the scratched parts. We also have the exterior frame covered in sealer when we bought them for their beautiful slimline frame, not for them to be covered with sealer. The delayed time period also meant we had to have our block flooring sanded in 2 parts rather than one with the mess that creates and having to clean up twice. Our kitchen installation was also delayed. We were going to get our patio window changed to Crittall next year, but I could never go to Crittall again, this means wwe will have to find something similar in appearance and the exterior of our house will not look how we wanted it to look.
Considering the extent of Crittall manufacturing errors I was also shocked that they did not want to talk to us. Nightmare

I will write a review once the internal sliding screen doors have actually been installed. After the LONG wait for these to be manufactured, we were excited to be getting them installed last week, and moved lots of furniture around to give the men plenty of room. On the morning of installation we heard from the company installing them that Crittall has failed to supply a crucial part of the doors. This section has apparently not yet been made. Reading the correspondence between Crittall and the company fitting the doors, there’s no sign of an apology for Crittall’s inefficiency and for letting everyone down. A poor show so far.

The company supplied replacement windows and they’ve leaked ever since. Four return visits and they still leak
Awful

This company is awful they don't care about there staff members that actually do the work
The windows are really badly made and I would not pay the price they charge for them you can get better else where for less money
They never answer the phone or just past you onto someone else that has no idea what there talking about

Avoid

5 months after promised delivery date. No sign of windows. We now have builders idle waiting for you. Will need to sue for additional costs. Suggest others avoid.

Terrible quality. Powder coat finish riddled with blemishes and foreign objects. Poor quality welding. No evidence of any quality control and all the hall marks of a rushed job. Terrible customer service - they dont appear to do any manufacturing planning whatsoever.

On the 26th Nov. I sent this message to Crittall at the address given in one of the review answers.
"Crittall windows have been installed at various times in the last ten years in Manor and Grange Courts, Cambridge. The windows are elegant and show no signs of deterioration. However, the same cannot be said of the locks, handles, stays and hinges, some of which show serious signs of pitting and corrosion, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to open the windows. Our managing agent, has been in touch with Crittall over the past year and they finally sent an engineer, Mr. Geoff Lapper, to view the windows on the 18th July. He visited several flats and took many pictures and also agreed that the issues be solved. Since then our agent has tried repeatedly to get a satisfactory response from Crittall, but without success."
In keeping with their usual behaviour, Crittall have not had the courtesy to reply to my complaint.

Great product let down by very poor aftercare from the installer KJA Services.

Very professional and made it easy to work with the marketing team. I hope to continue our professional relationship in future.

I just worked with Crittall Windows on a project and they were brilliant to work with! Great attention to detail and very passionate about their products! First class, many thanks