Complaint Review: The Shutter Company Limited

My husband and I decided to get a survey and quote from The Shutter Company after my husband saw an advertisement for them in The Standard. On September 13th 2010 Yusef El Ansari, who we later found is the director of the company, came out to measure up. The same day I called Yusef and said we wanted to go ahead and order the shutters. I gave a 50% deposit of 1550.

At the beginning of November 2010 I decided to call The Shutter Company to get an update on how the order was progressing, as my husband and I were due to go travelling on the 15th December and I wanted to make sure the shutters were fitted before this date. I called the Shutter Company 4 times this week, and was eventually told that Yusef was on holiday and would return on the 10th November.

I then called Yusef on his mobile on the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th of November and left messages on the answering machine. Eventually I spoke with Yusef and informed him that I would be going away on the 15th. He assured me that the shutters would be installed before this date. We then arranged for the shutters to be installed on the 3rd December 2010.

On the 2nd December- the day before the fitting was due to take place Yusef called to re-arrange as the bad weather had caused problems with the shipment. I said that this would be a problem as we were going away. I asked whether it would be possible to get our deposit refunded, then if the shutters were ready when we returned from travelling in April 2011 we could re-arrange the fitting. Yusef said yes to this, and told me he would talk to his accounts department.

10 days later I still had not received the refund and hadnt heard from the Shutter Company. I was sick of trying to contact this elusive company which had made a string of false promises to me.

I spoke to Yusef on the 13th December who informed me that the money had left the company account on the 9th December. Needless to say I had not received the money.

Upon my return to England in April my refund had still not been issued. I attempted to contact Yusef by telephone more than 20 times between 4th and 20th April and received numerous assurances from his receptionist Jasmine that I would be called back. I wasnt able to call Yusef directly any more as his mobile number was no longer in use! I was getting the impression that I wasnt the only one chasing him for money. In May 2011 my husband and I decided to write to Yusef stating again that we would be seeking legal action should we not receive our refund.

We then received a letter from Yusef stating he would refund our deposit! There was some hope! But after all we had been through we still didnt quite believe it- and rightly so- over ONE YEAR on since we ordered our shutters we still havent received our refund.

I am now in a legal battle with The Shutter Company for that promised refund. A battle which; true to their reputation, The Shutter Company is trying to ignore.

I now know that there are several individuals currently in a legal battle with this company. What ever you do, dont give them your money, or you may as well wipe your arse with it and flush it down the toilet.