Econoloft - Loft Conversion Specialists Bewertungen 98

We chose Econoloft after watching their YouTube video and reading reviews . We were really impressed by the way they supply their own tradesmen from start to finish meaning we didn`t have the hassle of arranging different trades ourselves. We started our loft in June 2020 as soon as the full lock-down was eased . All the contractors they used and the lead Carpenter were really good and done a great job . Things did take slightly longer because of the Covid situation ( but that was to be expected ) however we was always kept up-to-date with any delays by our lead Carpenter and the girls at the office . We`re quite fussy about finish but everything in our loft was finished to our standard and Econoloft even replaced our Juliet Balcony with a better part at no extra cost because it would have looked much better . The cost come in slightly higher than we budgeted for but we did finish it to a very high spec and we are really delighted with the finish , it was money well spent 🥰Thank you Econoloft .

I had a far from satisfactory experience with Econoloft (or Eco-NO-loft as I now call them) After spending £3000 with them as a deposit, all I got for that were basic architectural drawings, some paperwork for a planning application, and a one hour site survey. I have no new loft because I fired them before the work even started, and nine months were completely wasted.

I have supplied a detailed account below. I understand however that most can't be bothered to read long reviews, so here is a brief summary for those people:

I found them incompetent administratively, unreliable, unprofessional, untrustworthy and I did not feel in the least bit valued as a client. It became clear as time went on that there is just something 'dodgy' about them. Make sure you do your due diligence thoroughly if you are thinking of using them. If you read their reviews ( which I wish I had done), you will see that they are a very hit & miss outfit.

Now for the detail:
I was referred by a friend who went with them because they were the cheapest. He was happy with the building team who did the work So I made it clear to Eco-NO-loft that I wanted the same team on my job.

Econoloft do not have their own builders. They tout your job to a tradesman for a negotiated price. They do not volunteer this information and I only found out much later in the process.

The basic architectural drawings were incorrect 3 times and caused a month of delayed time whilst they were sent back and forth.
Once I signed off the drawings (which still were not 100% accurate but I was fed up with telling them by now) I expected the planning application to be made. After 6 or 7 weeks of checking the public planning portal on the council website, there was still no sign of my project, so I called the council to find out why.

They told me that they had received the application from Econoloft but they had sent the wrong certificate with the application. The council had made Econoloft aware of this and had requested the correct paperwork straight away. The requests went unanswered for 6 weeks. Econoloft denied any responsibility.

Eventually the planning was approved and a start date for the work was agreed, and I was told that the building team I requested were on board to do the job. After this, contact from the company became very poor. As the start date approached there was no final contract/specification as promised. My requests for information were being ignored or fobbed off. I started to smell a rat and called the builder myself.

He told me he had been offered the job by Econoloft but had turned it down because he was not happy with the money he was being offered. It was also him that told me Econoloft do not have their own team of tradesmen.

I was also promised by the sales rep that he would speak to our neighbours on our behalf regarding the party wall agreement as our relationship with them was not great. He never did speak to them or return any of my calls or messages about it.

When I told Econoloft I had spoken to the builder personally and found out he turned the job down and why, I was again fobbed off by the company directors with some crap about the job being 'too problematic' for him. It was a simple dormer conversion, and a much smaller job than the one he did for my friend.

I was promised details of another team that could do the job and contact details of previous customers so I could check them out. I never received any such details despite waiting two weeks. So I fired them off the job once and for all because my patience had finally run out.

I asked the directors for a £1000 refund of my £3000 deposit, as any reasonable person should not expect to pay that much for what I actually received, but my request was flatly refused.

I now have a reputable company lined up from Checkatrade to do the work. I'm having to wait until October for the work to start but that's ok. Incidentally, Econoloft are no longer members of Checkatrade. I find that quite telling.

The sales and planning part of the process to convert our loft was okay. The tradesmen they employed to do the work were pretty good. Unfortunately though the main reason we went with a company like this and not direct to a builder is so that we didn't have to chase constantly, but I'm afraid that hasn't been the case. I've had to chase all the time. There were two particularly long delays. The first, their supplier didn't have any architrave. This went on for five weeks until I had to get the architrave myself from Wickes. They blame the pandemic, but I don't see why they couldn't have just gone to a different supplier or ordered from a DIY store for me.

Then there was another five week delay waiting on a frame for a sliding door. Firstly they ordered the wrong thing, then both myself and the joiner had to tell them what it was they needed to order (more than once) and it still took weeks.

Currently my loft is complete and I am happy with it, but it was a lot more hassle than it should have been. I am now still having to chase them as even though we are four months after completion as I still don't have completion certificates.

I was really interested in the technology that eco loft use, especially as I wouldn’t need a party wall agreement. My neighbours are incredibly anxious and I think it will cause them stress.

I completed an online quote request and didn’t get a response. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and emailed them to check it had been received correctly. I got a reply asking for my contact details. I responded to this about 2 weeks ago and not heard any thing else since.

I am assuming they are very busy and don’t need my custom or my distance from Leeds is a problem but a quick courtesy email email would be nice. Ignoring me just feels a bit rude.

My loft conversion in 2015 was not without challenges but despite that it was completed to an excellent standard and the recent follow up care has been outstanding. The work was supervised by Pete Bassett, who managed the project to satisfactory completion and all my concerns were resolved. I can’t thank him enough for his support.

We couldn't have been more disappointed with the service or product we were given by Econoloft.

We had to chase responses to emails and messages as they were continually ignored until we eventually complained to the office manager about the lack of service we were receiving. We were assured it would not happen again. Sadly this turned out to be incorrect.

Unbelievably we were not able to speak to the architect about how we wanted our loft extension to be designed until weeks after planning permission had been submitted, instead having to send messages via their sales rep.

We were verbally promised a start date for the works to commence. This was not honoured with no prior notification from Econoloft. Indeed, as was becoming depressingly familiar, we had to leave a lot of messages and do a lot of chasing to find out what was happening.

Despite planning permission being granted we became so disillusioned with Econoloft that we decided to cut our losses and use a different company. The new architects have had to start from the beginning as they doubted the accuracy of Econoloft's surveyor's measurements.

From our experience, we would strongly advise caution before using this company.

We have just had our loft conversion completed by Econoloft. This is the very best company we have ever used. Everything you want (except the building inspector) is all in house including plans and steel girders manufacture etc. Brilliantly well organised from start to finish. We cannot speak highly enough about this company. We knew exactly where we were from day one. We were also very lucky with the team of professionals sent to look after us. The team we had working on our loft was second to none, with a very professional work leader. They were very clean and tidy, removed all rubbish from the site. Started work promptly at 8am and finished at 5pm.
We would most certainly recommend Econoloft to anyone considering getting their loft done.

Contracted Econoloft to build a loft with an 8 week estimated completion. 12 months later work is still not completed. They claim to be builders but in reality, they are just salesmen. They collect the total money for the built upfront and subcontract to tradesmen on the cheap. These tradesmen do the basic minimum and any modernization request is charge at an exorbitant extra or impossible as Econoloft is still building for the 1960s. The work on my loft so far is shoddy with substandard materials with no completion date after 12 months. ECONOLOFT doesn't respond to concerns including emails and telephone calls. Complaints are met with instruction to tradesmen to down tools. Contacting FMB did not result in a change in behavior. ECONOLOFT exploits every trick and excuse including the lockdown for their inept attitude & inability to honor the contract. Work on the built is now abandoned for the 5th time after rejecting a request to pay their tradesman John upfront for outstanding plumbing work after paying him £1000 4months back with minute results. Using another company is not possible without substantial financial cost as ECONOLOFT collected the total cost upfront plus threat to invalidate the proposed guarantee. I am not naive of the stress associated with building work but using ECONOLOFT will multiply that by fifty-fold. I RECOMMEND THAT YOU AVOID USING ECONOLOFT FOR YOUR LOFT & I regret not paying attention to all thier numerous negative reviews.

After they botched our loft conversion a few years ago, leaving us with multiple issues and even damage - we are still trying to get Econoloft to fix these issues. They do not care, they have ignored our emails & phone calls and have not come and fixed the issue.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

I would appreciate a response from you Econoloft! We are still under warranty so I encourage you to stick to that agreement or I will be taking this far far further than you wish me to. Do the right thing and respond to your customers!

I wish I could give them no stars!

eCONoloft continuously failed to meet their contractual obligations since we instructed them to re-convert and re-roof our loft in February. Despite making several attempts along the way to get an accurate price and specification, and very sporadic incoherent communication, we have had 3 start dates ranging from late April to 24 September and subsequently completely lost faith in their capability to deliver the service. Directors contradicted each other about costings on significant items in our order. They even sent us structural drawings for 2 other properties - this was not the first time eCONoloft sent us confidential information regarding another customer! We terminated the contract on this basis and requested half of our £3000 deposit back. They have refused our request, so we are seeking assistance from the relevant bodies with recovering this.

Great service very helpful would definitely use Sotir’s services again when the next home improvement project comes around.

Very respectful team - thank you!

After comparing several companies we decided to award our loft conversion to Econoloft. We found the company to be competitive with a no nonsense approach, but what really stood out for Econoloft was their choice of Head builder, Sotir and his team. Sotir clearly knows his profession and at times can be quite annoying as he is a perfectionist and will politely refuse to do a job if he feels its cutting corners and compromising standards.

Sotir and his team are dedicated, always arrive on time and have a tremendous work ethic. Sotir and his team created a wonderful loft.

We were so pleased with the loft we appointed Sotir and his team again to complete our extension, it was great to see Tony and Lonny again who are so proficient in their trade. Again Sotir worked hard to create a magnificent space for our family.

Sotir is such a kind, paitent and hard working master builder, which is a very rare find. I cannot praise him enough, as he has created, a practical, modern and wonderful, family home.

Great service with cold communication throughout. On budget & on time

From the outset we had a brilliant experience. Our build happened during lockdown and the stress was immense,however Ecoloft understood that and went to enormous lengths to help us out and make the build work. Huge respect to their phenomenal builder Sotir and his team who worked tirelessly to get the build done. He was immaculate in his approach and left the site spotless each night. I can’t recommend them highly enough. Particularly Sortir, Arseni and Toni (if you’re lucky enough to get them it’ll be a breeze!)
Thanks too to Caroline (at the Ecoloft Office) who during a pandemic took all our calls and allayed all our fears.
Brilliant.

They themselves do not employ tilers but they do have one they recommend. We chose him thinking that it would be wise to go with their recommendation. This means however, that this is officially not part of their contract with us. However, the non water resistant plasterboard they used that got damaged and needs replacing is part of their contract. They wanted to try and cut and patch it but we were strongly advised against that by all tradesmen we spoke to as it would be weak and vulnerable to further water problems. Replacing it meant taking off all the tiles and getting new ones. After Econoloft were unwilling to accept responsibility we went to the FMB and Econoloft eventually agreed to pay for the rebuild plus include up to £100 for the tiles in the shower stall. We are thankful for this of course but have been unable to get the payment promised. This surely should not be difficult as it can be made via bank transfer from any location. Replying to email requests should also be quite possible while working from home. Not responding for months is just rude. No one is bothering to apologise either.

Unfortunately, the original tiles were no longer available so we had to retile the rest of the bathroom as well to make it match with the shower stall. No one will admit responsibility for the knock on effect of that expense nor for the floor defects that were a big expense for us. Now that we have written and photographic evidence that it was caused by defective construction by Econoloft’s builders, we have reopened the case and can only hope that Econoloft will be as honourable as they claim to be.

I was apprehensive about the project and the team at econoloft were really great throughout the process. The building team worked like demons and as i was onsite often during the day they were able to suggest a lot of improvements to my build that i hadn't thought of and I was able to make changes as i went. The plumber and electrician were great too. The team in the office were very supportive and were always helpful on the phone. Our build was quicker than we expected and the quality is good - we're really enjoying our new loft space. I'd just recommend making sure that you constantly talk to the joiners and your contact at econoloft to make sure you understand what is happening and everything will go smoothly.

I used Econoloft for my loft conversion June 2019.. The joiners far exceeded my expectations. They were very knowledgeable, extremely dedicated and pleasant. I now have a large bedroom, walk in dressing room and large en-suite. They also installed a new roof and windows in my brick shed. Did not use their tiler as he was more expensive than my own tiler and had too many won’t do this and won’t do that! The plumber who installed the bathroom and radiator lacked communication skills. Thank God I went to a bathroom designer because the plumber provided little to no assistance at all as to the sizes of sanity ware or radiators. I currently have a radiator that is just about adequate in the bedroom because he never responded to any of my messages. so please make sure you project manage that yourself. They also did not balance my heating system properly. I did call the office but they offered ‘technical advice’ over the phone because they could not send a plumber out as they were short of staff. The advice proved useless so I got my own plumber at cost to me and now my heating is sorted no thanks to Econoloft.
In hindsight I would have paid more for a bespoke company but overall Econoloft are good but you the customer need to know exactly what you want or you will end up with a basic loft. I wish they did a CAD design so that you could have a visual at the design stage. I have some sockets in wrong places etc but that’s not their fault.
Also they should be able to supply add ons like built in wardrobes and air conditioners. I had to source installers myself for those items.
Would I use Econoloft again or refer them? Yes I would, but only if I had the same team excluding the second fit plumber.

Please do not entertain contracting with this company for your loft conversion, it will mean no end of stress, poor project management, poor communication, downright rudeness and the most unprofessional organisation I have ever encountered. I am a Chartered Surveyor and should have stuck with my gut instincts, the name really gives the game away! Our 5 wk build is still ongoing 9wks later and due to their incompetency I was in intensive care for 5 days! Please stay away from them at all costs

Our neighbour used Econoloft for their recent loft conversion. To their credit, the team turned up every day in all weathers and seemed pleasant. One day there was an almighty bang and when we investigated, there was a big crack in our ceiling and cornice. Basically, they were hammering the steel beam in and knocked it into our property. We alerted the builders who came and had a look and although apologetic, they said the damage was minor and they would fix it. We were worried about the damage this may have caused and wanted a surveyor to check it, but the builders wouldn't agree to pay for a surveyor. I contacted Econoloft and was told that the project manager for this job would be in touch, but never did. We paid for a surveyor ourselves for our own peace of mind and luckily no major damage done (apart from us paying £350 for a surveyor). The builders "repaired" the damage, but it was a pretty shoddy repair (took them all of 20 minutes), so we had to get that repaired also. Since our neighbours loft conversion, worrying cracks have started appearing all over our house. We are now looking at getting our loft converted, but will definitely not be using Econoloft.
10.12.19 - Update - Thank you for your reply Econoloft. You say you take responsibility of any damage very seriously, but to this day (months since the issue was reported), no one at Econoloft has had the decency to contact us. I also spoke to the Party Wall surveyor a couple of times as soon as the damage was done and they said that they had been in touch with the relevant project manager, but still no response from Econoloft.

From the very beginning of our conversations with Econoloft, we have been nothing but impressed. They listened to what we wanted, gave us a sensible price and delivered plans that we fell in love with. When the building works started, we knew who to contact about what was happening, and we were kept regularly updated from the team in the office. Our builders were brilliant! No question was ever too silly, and they spent ages explaining aspects of the build to us. They were clean, they cleared up after themselves, and they were so polite. Everyone was committed to delivering on time and within budget. We cannot recommend this company enough!