Such a disappointment... Initially, we were blown away by the customer service, the product…read morequality, and the value for money that Express Bifolds promised. We visited their Leeds showroom in June 2023 and met with the sales representative, who dazzled us with a tour of their amazing showroom, showcasing examples of all the doors and windows they manufacture, installed into mock houses. We settled on the XP Vision design, lured in by the promise of 1.5m wide leaves and maximum glass in our extension. We even provided architects drawings to ensure an accurate quote.
However, our excitement quickly turned to frustration when discrepancies arose. The structural engineer raised concerns about the doors' self-supporting capabilities, contradicting the information provided by Express Bifolds. Despite their marketing materials claim of no load on the door's head, clearly stating "... its (the doors) weight doesn't need to be considered when calculating steel requirements", additional support was indeed required, leading to additional building costs.
The surveyor's visit revealed additional unforeseen expenses, including the requirement of super-dense insulation battens required along the base of the door which had to be installed prior to installation, and that a bespoke aluminium pressing to fill the gap between the door and window would be required, another unexpected cost not factored into the original quotation. As architectural drawings were provided, and the fact that a steel beam had to be provided between the door and the window, there was no excuse whatsoever to exclude this from our initial conversations. At the very least we should have been made aware of an approximation of further costs at quotation stage, not after we had committed to the manufacture of the doors.
On the day of installation, we encountered further issues. The installers were unable to align the finishing strip for the upper triangular window above the door with the building fabric itself, stating that the opening had to be "flat", leaving us to deal with yet more expense, and their oversight in forgetting essential parts to complete the installation further compounded our frustration.
However, the most significant disappointment surfaced after the installers left. Within minutes of them leaving site, we discovered inch-long scratches around the entire perimeter of almost every glazing unit, consistent with the installers' movements during installation (to knock in the internal trims that secure the glass into the door frames). Despite providing irrefutable evidence of the time that the photos were taken in relation the installers leaving site, Express Bifolds strongly denied responsibility, resorting to ludicrous claims that somehow someone or something else caused the damage (bearing in mind that there were no other trades on site at the time).
Attempts to resolve the issue were met with dismissiveness and a refusal to acknowledge accountability. Even after one of their engineers confirmed the scratches were most likely caused during installation, Express Bifolds remained obstinate, offering solutions as a "gesture of goodwill", and absolving themselves of any responsibility. Their policy of not offering a guarantee or warranty until full payment is received, pressuring clients into accepting substandard products is also very unsettling - they chased the final balance (5% of the total cost of the doors) even though there were outstanding issues, and even went so far as to threaten "further steps" if payment was not received.
In conclusion, our experience with Express Bifolds has been nothing short of a nightmare. Their lack of transparency and refusal to accept responsibility for their mistakes have left us utterly disillusioned. We caution future customers to scrutinise every detail of their order, and inspect every inch of the glass and surrounding framework before signing anything off, because as soon as the handover documentation is signed, there is clearly no chance of a resolution should any issues be found. Based on our experience, we cannot, in good conscience, recommend Express Bifolds to others.
