Any One Stop Shop experiences?

starstreamer8

Hi,

I will be looking at completely retrofitting a 1970s 2-storey house in Galway city that I am buying. I presumed a One Stop Shop was the way to go because of the extra grants available but reading peoples experiences here, now I'm not so sure as they seem to be so expensive it undoes the extra grants! I'd love to hear if anyone has used any of these companies for the OSS and how they got on with them, please send me a PM if so:

Bayview Contracts 

Electric Ireland Superhomes

Energlaze Home Energy Upgrades

Envirobead

House 2 Home Retrofit Limited

Kingdom Installation Ltd

Kore Retrofit Limited

Lough Projects

Retrofit Energy Ireland Limited

SSE Airtricity Energy Services Limited

I emailed them all to ask for a quote for an Energy Assessment a few days ago, only one got back to me so far and quoted a €1000 fee - €350 grant = €650 which is a hell of a lot higher than the sample fee quoted on SEAI website:

"Yes, SEAI offers a grant of €350 for a Home Energy Assessment. And remember, with the One Stop Shop service the homeowner only pays the net cost. So, if your Home Energy Assessment costs €600, you pay the One Stop Shop €250 and they claim the €350 from SEAI. "

Doesn't inspire me with confidence!

Would also be very grateful for any recommendations by PM for contractors who could do the following in the Galway area:

• Re-pump cavity walls (these have been previously pumped in approx 1997 but the engineer says that the insulation it is not functioning adequately.
• Heat pump system and replace radiators as necessary
• Replacement HW cylinder
• 10kW Solar panels, Eddi HW diverter
• Underfloor insulation for downstairs suspended floors
• Replacement of insulation in roof
• Replace some windows
• 2 new doors

harry999

which company you use ? good?bad?

Carfacemandog

Literally every single experience I have heard of these are terrible. My own mam had one out to look at the house, and he was so invested in upselling as much as he could that he repeatedly recommended external insulation on the back wall... which has external insulation that was put there a few years back. She had a few others out after, and literally every single one warned against the One Stop Shops and said stuff like that story is standard.

Additional to that, because it is such an anti-competitive program if you actually go back through here you will find that most people seem to wind up being charged so much more from the 'One Stop Shop' crowds that even AFTER all the grants they are paying more than getting it done with a reputable company that does not have access to offer said grant.

As best I know though, the grants for individual services run completely differently though and there are usually several hundred providers registered with them. You don't get the grant up front (e.g. you get refunded after the fact) and not everything is applicable, but it's not a glorified grift like seemingly everything I have read on One Stop Shop seems to be.

I.R.Y.E.D

Looking around myself.

Will be avoiding SSE like the plague. Friends are waiting over a year to get them to arrange works and have a project manager who obviously doesn't like his job.

He has only contacted them twice in 14 months without them actually contacting them first and ignores emails calls and texts from them.

They have had the same contractors sent out multiple times to do the same scoping jobs and often with a day or two notice despite them both working.

Each time they said to the contractor that they might not be able to get time off work at such short notice, the contractors have said the visits were arranged by their SSE project manager but he never bothered to contact my friends about them.

They did manage to get windows and doors put in but after five visits to measure up the job. However despite this the contractor still managed to make most of the windows the wrong size as well as one of the doors, while damaging the other during the installation.

They also left the place in shíte because the SSE project manager forgot to order the skip and has said that it isn't his job to follow up with the contractors about the windows and doors being the wrong size as well as anything else on the snag list, it is up to my friends to do that.

Looks like at this point the works aren't going to be completed and certified in time for their loan that is tied to the works to be drawn down.

AngryLips

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122479069#Comment_122479069

I am on currently about halfway though an energy upgrade with SSE and I have to say that my experience couldn't be further from what you've described above. It has been a PITA alright but nothing above and beyond what should reasonably be expected with the schedule of works that come with a OSS project.

I.R.Y.E.D

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122479648#Comment_122479648

Lucky you but I will be avoiding them.

They are seriously worried at this point regarding losing the loan and actually having a heating system in place for the winter as their oil boiler packed up in late May and they were promised that the works would be completed by now after starting the process with SSE in May 2023.

Another friend went with another big name company and their project manager was excellent by all accounts. They are just waiting on their final visit to have the works certified for the grants after starting the process in January.

mickdw

Eamon Ryan has created here a scheme so scandalous that I believe it will be basis of the next big tribunal in this country.

It is a massive transfer of tax payers money to a select few business.

It's a joke of a system. So much so that I've personally experienced a direct employee of a OSS doing a refurb who laughed when I mentioned available grants.

WacoKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122479854#Comment_122479854

Agreed, SEAI transfer all the money and reputational risk to a select few businesses. The businesses are happy to sign up and SEAI get to spout out some inflated metrics on how great it is all going.

Had initial engagements with some OSS providers but decided to go it alone and forget the grants, the process etc. They are all just priced into the work anyway and you have a mountain of paperwork to get thru, unless you pay their €8k project management fee of course. They also did not take on additional work like extensions so you can only get the house retrofitted as-is.

They may have improved their offering over the last year of so though.