Legal recourse for a very poor service

Springfields

Will try keep this short:
A friend of mine got new windows installed in Aug 2108.
From the off she wasn't happy with them - very poor finish , colour faded almost immediately, doors the wrong size and leaking..lots more that i wont go into
She complained ( had paid several thousand at this stage but still owed a bit) and they sent out an 'engineer's to do snags
He tried 'fixing' the issues with electrical tape and a draught excluder

The contract stated if the customer was unhappy, they could go to arbitration. She requested this by registered letter after the girl in the office tried to persuade her to allow another engineer out to do another snag list.
Company basically ignored this request.
So she went to a solicitor ( this was difficult as many didn't want to know)
Solicitor has recommend that she go through the Law Society to persue. She hasn't done this yet as it's all costing hundreds each time
In the meantime she tried to get an engineers report done on the windows. Found it extremely difficult to find an engineer to do so. Eventually got one who has provided a draft report and had recommended that she meet with company in neutral venue to discuss, but since has not received the full report and cannot get in contact with the engineer.
Any advice on where to go from here?
Sorry for the length of the post !

Mr. Incognito

Get them repaired by a third party and sue them for the defect in workmanship.

A solicitor would be able to advise.

Springfields

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Get them repaired by a third party and sue them for the defect in workmanship.

A solicitor would be able to advise.

She went to a solicitor who advised the Law society..
Dont think a third party would touch them to be honest. It would require replacing a lot of windows completely which is not an option financially.
Just to add the company in question have been sued by customers before and found to be at fault

Samuel T. Cogley

Something doesn't add up here, I wasnt aware the law society dealt with claims.

Springfields

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Something doesn't add up here, I wasnt aware the law society dealt with claims.

I am no legal expert and dont know what the Law Society do. It's just the advise she was given by solicitor when the company ignored her request for arbitration?

mickdw

If window company wont listen to her, Solicitors wont listen to her and Engineers wont listen to her, is it possible that she is abit of a looper?
As an Engineer myself, Ive had personal experience of dealing with window companies where products are not up to scratch.
I have not seen clients have any difficulty in getting solicitors to represent them and in all cases, positive outcomes have resulted whether it be complete replacement of 15k worth of windows in a new build or simply getting their act together re maintenance and repair. It appears to take very little in terms of solicitor effort when the window company is clearly at fault and to be honest, in general, a few windows mean nothing to a window company whereas legal costs would tend to far outweight such costs.

In this case, Id be seeking a meeting on site with Engineer working for home owner together with representative of window company to agree works needed to bring up to acceptable level. If windows are poorly sized, Id be looking for replacement of those units.

Grolschevik

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Something doesn't add up here, I wasnt aware the law society dealt with claims.

They don't. Maybe the advice was to check their website for a list of registered arbitrators.

Springfields

mickdw wrote: »

If window company wont listen to her, Solicitors wont listen to her and Engineers wont listen to her, is it possible that she is abit of a looper?
As an Engineer myself, Ive had personal experience of dealing with window companies where products are not up to scratch.
I have not seen clients have any difficulty in getting solicitors to represent them and in all cases, positive outcomes have resulted whether it be complete replacement of 15k worth of windows in a new build or simply getting their act together re maintenance and repair. It appears to take very little in terms of solicitor effort when the window company is clearly at fault and to be honest, in general, a few windows mean nothing to a window company whereas legal costs would tend to far outweight such costs.

In this case, Id be seeking a meeting on site with Engineer working for home owner together with representative of window company to agree works needed to bring up to acceptable level. If windows are poorly sized, Id be looking for replacement of those units.

Thanks for the advice. A looper - no. Wanting the job done right after paying several thousand euro- yes. The company will come back to "repair" the faults but it seems to be a patch up job and she was hoping these windows were going to last 10-15 years which looks unlikely now.
Thanks though the meeting sounds like the next logical step if she can get an engineer to take on the job.