Munster Joinery - "The professionals you can trust"

Mad Benny

Thinking of ordering windows and doors through Munster Joinery?

We expected Munster Joinery to fit over 10,000 Euro worth of Windows and doors yesterday. Our Architect told us that Munster Joinery had upped their game since the celtic tiger days and that their after sales service is very good. The builder ordered the doors and we were content that once the written confirmation arrived of the installation date everything would go according to plan.

Yesterday the big day arrived. A fitter came to the house and fitted a back door. He left before fitting all of the other windows, front door and sliding doors. He refused to answer calls. He left the new Munster Joinery front door in the front garden. This is in the centre of the north side of Dublin. We have already had items taken from the front garden without permission. The front door is too big to take through the old front door and we live in a terraced house.

Today, we still can not get an answer when Munster Joinery will return.

Any advice on how to proceed?

DOCARCH

Hmmm.....not sure if this thread will last?

Have they been paid? If they have not been paid, you will find that this issue will sort itself out pretty quickly.

If the builder ordered the windows and doors (as part of an overall building contract) then it is his problem. Get the builder on the case. Site security and security or materials, etc., is also his baby!

280special

Good luck with that one !!!! Obviously it is dependant on the agreement you had with them as to who wa to fit the items, but from your post it would appear that Munster Joinery were due to do it.

I wont go into detail about my personal experience with this crowd, probably the worst decision i made during the build was using them. We ended up not being able to get into the house for an many months due to them turning up with windows & doors that didnt fit and then trying to jam them in any old way they could ! :mad:

martinn123

Mad Benny wrote: »

Thinking of ordering windows and doors through Munster Joinery?

We expected Munster Joinery to fit over 10,000 Euro worth of Windows and doors yesterday. Our Architect told us that Munster Joinery had upped their game since the celtic tiger days and that their after sales service is very good.

A search on the DIY Forum for this Co, will bring up some interesting posts for you to read.

The builder ordered the doors and we were content that once the written confirmation arrived of the installation date everything would go according to plan.

Yesterday the big day arrived. A fitter came to the house and fitted a back door. He left before fitting all of the other windows, front door and sliding doors. He refused to answer calls.

A Fitter, part of the problem here, this sounds like a job for a team of fitters. One problem with this Co, is that fitters are paid, per window fitted, if there is a problem, size etc they leave the job, as they wont get paid

He left the new Munster Joinery front door in the front garden. This is in the centre of the north side of Dublin. We have already had items taken from the front garden without permission. The front door is too big to take through the old front door and we live in a terraced house.

Today, we still can not get an answer when Munster Joinery will return.

Any advice on how to proceed?

Have they been paid? hopefully not, if not refuse to part with any more funds until the job is complete, and checked by your Architect. Deduct, for anything that goes missing from your garden.

Mad Benny

DOCARCH wrote: »

Have they been paid?

They have been paid 50%.

The builder has been phoning them repeatedly since yesterday but nobody there will give a definitive answer when they will be back. I know the builder is telling the truth because my wife and I have been phoning too.

I thought this sort of carry on left with the celtic tiger. :-(

creedp

Mad Benny wrote: »

They have been paid 50%.

The builder has been phoning them repeatedly since yesterday but nobody there will give a definitive answer when they will be back. I know the builder is telling the truth because my wife and I have been phoning too.

I thought this sort of carry on left with the celtic tiger. :-(

The ongoing story of MJ continue to amaze me. I have heard no end of negativity about the co and yet some people contine to swear by them! Go figure!! On my commute south on the N2 each morning I come across at least one and often 2 MJ trucks loaded with windows/doors. How can it be .. one of the many conumdrums of the Irish construction scene!!

OP you're lucky, if that is not too unfortunte a word in your case, that at least you have 50% retained. The window company we went with insisted on 50% on order and the balance on delivery, i.e. before fitting. If I had ended up in you situation I was rightly in trouble. Still though its an extraordinary situation for a large reputable company to leave one of its customers in. I hope you get sorted soon.

moceri

I too had windows from MJ installed. The quality of materials used was rather poor. The window frames were scratched on delivery as they had not been loaded on the Truck properly. I had a wooden door fitted, which offers poor insulation in winter. The door locking mechanism seized after a year when the return spring in the lock broke. I would say that their windows and doors are built from cheap materials. I don't think they have upped their game since the Celtic Tiger days.

Poor Uncle Tom

Thread moved from Construction & Planning.

Lemlin

I nearly went with them for my new build but the actions of their rep in my area put me off. I think he thought he had the sale without even trying because some of my family had gotten products for their new build from him.

I initially contacted the rep and sent him on my plans asking for a price. He never came back to me after that, despite the fact that I asked him on the phone and in the email with my plans for a price as I was compiling a budget. One day I received an automated text saying that their show truck was going to be in my locality.

I rang him and arranged that I'd be in at two that day. He also promised he'd get the price I wanted back to me. Arrived at the show truck and he wasn't there. He'd gone on lunch. I don't mind the man taking a break but we'd arranged a meeting. Another rep from another area talked us through the details. I told the second rep what we were interested in and asked that he get my area rep to ring me.

A week later, no call. I rang him and asked for a price on their Futureproof window in double glazed. What I had told the second rep I wanted. I was promised the price would be with me that evening. Two weeks later, and after sending an email, he rang me asking what exactly I wanted to be priced for. I told him once more and explained I'd said it in emails I'd sent too.

A week later I eventually got a price. It was for normal double glazed. Not the Futureproof windows I'd asked to be priced for. At this stage, I just got sick of it and moved on with pricing other suppliers.

It appears the habits of the Celtic Tiger are not gone with Munster. I wouldn't think my order was small either - I wanted 30 windows and 4 doors. I'm not stupid enough to think that they don't have large commercial offers but I'd still think its big enough to be valued by their rep.

The funny thing is he rang one day and I missed his call. I didn't bother ringing him back. Suddenly he was chasing after me like a mad man and wasn't impressed when I informed him I was going with a different supplier. He explained that the price he'd given me was just a guide price. I explained that price had nothing to do with it. In this economic climate, I don't expect to have to chase a rep.

If he was that hard to get a price out of, how hard would it have been to get the actual correct product delivered on time.

Padraig Mor

The windows in our house were installed by them. Well, on three sides anyway - seeing as they never actually sealed the bottom edge of several of the windows - which we could push out by hand! Useless shower of charlatans - the absolute epitome of unprofessional Celtic Tiger charalatans, with zero interest in doing a decent job.

TheDriver

same story with quality, useless crap. on my 3rd hardwood front door, first one they fitted my neighbours to mine and vice versa so both ended up in the wrong direction!

Padraig Mor

Forgot about my door! Heap of crap warped so much we eventually couldn't unlock it! Got it replaced but the new one cracked!

280special

Did you give them a personal cheque for the balance when you gave them the initial payment? If you did you hopefully will have placed a stop or block on the cheque ? If not check if it has been presented against your account and if not stop payment immediately with your bank !

hillbloom

Last March I installed new double windows and doors but I didnt price MJ J as I had heard their work is not up to standard. I got a local small co and I am extremely happy with the job.

Stinicker

Munster joinery Windows are absolute crap quality stay well away from them, A friend of mine recently got that BER or whatever its called and they came out and did a thermal image of his gaff, the windows were leaking heat like a sieve, better off get a better brand of window, they mainly built down in Rathmore and Duhallow <SNIP> and quality is definitely not their strong point.

Padraig Mor

Yeah, the insides of my MJ windows are fecking freezing already this year, and soaked with condensation. I guess that means the vacuum between the two panes is gone?