A DOUBLE glazing company has apologised to disappointed customers across West Devon and Cornwall who have complained of being ‘abandoned and let down’ when work was not started, completed or done badly and deposits not returned when projects were not honoured.

Customers who have contacted the Tavistock Times said Orchard Conservatories, Windows and Doors Ltd, of Westbridge Industrial Estate, Tavistock, have spoken of being owed tens of thousands of pounds in deposits following incomplete conservatories or windows and not being able to contact them for an explanation. One customer said he was pursuing the company through the courts to reclaim £30,000 after ‘sub standard’ incomplete work on his West Devon home.

Orchard Windows asked customers to work with it as it urgently seeks to rectify the situation. It admits to not completing some projects, citing a shortage of staff due to medical reasons or sickness as a major factor in not meeting customers’ expectations. The company explained it had ‘every intention of fulfilling every order and completing every job, despite difficult circumstances’. They were due to reinstate their phones and website and contact every customer to explain the situation.

Stephanie Woods, personal assistant to the company director, said: ‘We want to start by apologising to our customers and we want to explain some of our circumstances, not make excuses. We have been extremely short staffed, and our manager is our only driving member of staff available most days, so she has had to drive the fitters to and from jobs and make deliveries, meaning that she has had to close the offices.

‘Some of our fitters have not completed a lot of jobs on schedule so we could not take the final payments from customers and because of this our staff could not be paid. The business is a local small business which until recently had a very good reputation.

‘Like many small businesses we are struggling but we are doing our best and we are still hoping to turn the company around and we have not been intentionally deceitful, nor have we meant to cause our customer’s unnecessary stress. We are still trying to fulfil every order and complete every job under difficult circumstances, and we will be in touch with every customer over the coming days to update them and answer any questions they may have.

‘We are currently seeking financial and legal advice to assist us going forward and to help us do what is right for our customers and staff. We truly hope that our customers will continue to work with us and allow us a chance to rectify the situation.’

Customer Michael Atkinson, a lawyer from Cornwall, ordered a conservatory from Orchard in February and paid nearly £26,000 in advance, but foundation work was stopped in July when the contractors did not return because they were not paid by Orchard Windows. He was left with unsafe wires and an incomplete door and said: ‘It is a terrible situation, precipitated by mis-management of what could have been a successful company.’ Gary Newman said he paid £30,000 for windows on his Mary Tavy home: ‘Not only was the work not finished, but every pane has to be replaced as there’s a screw through each. I’d never deal with them again.’

Jean Keast, of Tavistock, paid a £2,500 deposit for five windows and a door, but the work has not started. She said: ‘I’ve lost confidence in the company.’