I live in Plumstead in South East London, over the weekend (14&15th October 2006) one of my bedroom windows got smashed. On Sunday I called a local window company to quote me a price to fix the damage. I asked for this quote twice to make sure i had it correctly.

The gentleman on the phone asked me a series of questions which included. Is the window up stairs or down, plain glass or patterned double or single glazed.

My window is approximatly 3ft tall and 1.5ft wide upstairs plain single glazed glass. I gave the gentleman this information and he quoted me just under £75 + VAT which in total made £86.95. I took £87 from my account to pay for the work to be done and booked an appointment for Tuesday 17th October 2006 (today).

The gentleman came to do the work and proceeded to tell my house mate that the cost of the work will infact cost £95 +VAT which in total is £111.63.

I then called the company back to question why i was being charged over £24 more than the gentleman on the phone had told me it would be and the man continued to tell me the gentleman had given me a price for a downstairs window. I informed him i had asked for a price for an upstairs window along with all the other information i was asked for and he continued to inform me he understood its a shock being charged and extra £24+ but i could pay them the remaining amount via cheque.

I am at a loss as to how this is my fault as I gave accurate information to the gentleman booking the appointment who repeated my description back to me accuratley and still managed to price it at the £86.95 inclusive of the VAT.

I would be appreciative of any advice from anyone who has found themselves in a similar situation.

Many Thanks

Hollie