Annie, 86, loses £699 after firm suffers cash troubles

Annie Howe wants to send out a warning after finding herself £699 out of pocket when her deposit for new windows vanished into thin air.

The 86-year-old from Elgin ordered the £5000 windows from Cheshirebased St Andrews Home Improvements in July last year. The deposit was taken from her bank account in two instalments.

However, Annie’s son believed the windows to be overpriced so Annie wrote to the company within two days of placing the order to cancel it.

She said that after her son also spoke to the company he was told the deposit would be refunded on August 23.

She did not receive the refund and subsequently found the company impossible to contact.

After five months of frustration, Annie contacted Raw Deal to investigate.

It did not take long to discover that Entu (UK) Plc, the parent company of St Andrews Home Improvements, had gone into administration in August.

Insolvency giant KPMG is handling the case and said they were “unable to advise why the deposit refund was not processed by the previous company”.

KPMG advised filling in a proof of debt form and sending it to them, which Annie said she will do in the slim hope she will see some of her money back.

Annie said she wanted to speak out to remind other people about the importance staying on top of a large order and keeping an eye on the company it was ordered from.

“It is a lot of money for me to lose but at least Raw Deal was able to find out what has happened and I will send off the proof of debt letter in the hope I get something back at some stage,” she said.

“I feel a bit silly for handing over all that cash but it could have been a lot worse.

“I want others to know what can happen through no fault of your own and to be very careful when ordering big items like new windows.”