Alternate Energy UK Ltd

We were given the details for this company by Home Energy Scotland as part of our funding application for underfloor insulation. Unfortunately, after months of hassle we don't have our floors insulated. Initially things seemed positive - AE sent out a surveyor to our property who did a thorough inspection of the house and gave us quotes for insulating our property. We were told the installers dealing with floor insulation would handle cutting any require hatches but as part of an Electric Vehicle charger Installation via another company, we identified some possible issues with access under our floors. I reached back out to AE and they suggested an additional survey, to inspect under the floors where our existing hatch was and discuss potential options. Surveyor came out and inspected the house further, including inspecting under our floors via our existing hatch access, which didn't provide much access to the rest of the house. It was agreed that additional hatches would need to be cut to provide better access for the installation. Surveyor identified several possible locations and said they'd update our survey notes with the possible hatch locations and let the installer know. We said we were concerned about hatches as we have laminate and were told the installer would be notified and handle everything on the day. Booked the installation for a few weeks later, took time off work and cleared furniture around the hatch locations. Installer turned up 3.5 hours late and within 5 minutes of being in the property he huffed and puffed and said he couldn't get access and we need hatches cutting. We explained the previous survey and what we'd been told and he said there were no notes on the system about hatch requirements and he had other jobs to get to. Left us with the house in a state and said the office would call to reschedule the install. Several days later, no call. I rang the office and explained what had happened and they apologised and said we'd need to lift the laminate ourselves in the identified hatch locations but the next installer would be made aware and would come with tools to cut hatches and sort it for us. Job was rebooked for two weeks later. Partner organised childcare for our 12 month old baby and spent a day ripping our skirting boards off and pulling up laminate in the locations requested and we moved furniture etc to accommodate access. I took a day off work yet again and waited for the installer to arrive. He arrived on time but within 5 minutes he became grumpy and huffed and swore, saying he couldn't get access. We identified an existing hatch in the kitchen and helped him lift the floor but unexpectedly there were pipes in the way. This was in no way his fault or ours but at that point, just 20 minutes after arriving he told us the job couldn't be done today and we needed to pull up more flooring. We offered to help lift more flooring to help him gain access but at this point he became even more grumpy and told us the job had only been booked for 3 hours, which is laughable as the company knew from previous visits how much work was going to be involved. When we pointed out we'd taken time off work and ripped our house apart for them to do the installation, he became very defensive and told us he doesn't book the jobs, he has a guy off sick, another busy on a job alone etc and he had to get out to help them. So did they even allocate any time to our job at all, after asking us to dismantle our house for them?! We tried to sort things out with him but he became frustrated and told us it's not his fault and to call the office and walked out. Our house is now in bits, with a crawling baby who now can't safely be loose in our home. After two calls to the office, it was clear my calls were being screened and ignored. Eventually we spoke to a manager who was apologetic but wouldn't send any installers out to us and we had to permantly cancel the job, as we can't leave our house in pieces indefinitely. Avoid this company like the plague. Most unprofessional mess of a company ever.

We approached Alternate Energy while applying for a grant and loan from Home Energy Scotland. Very pleased with the standard of service and quality of work from start to finish. The folk on the phone and who undertook the works were friendly and helpful. They took care of the EPC certificates that were required to obtain the funding. They installed room-in-roof/loft, underfloor and internal solid wall insulation to our property. The difference in comfort (and the amount spent on gas!) was noticeably better straight away. It was a big job, but they undertook it quickly. Naturally there were a few snags with it being such a big job, but the office sent guys out to rectify within a week. Would happily recommend Alternate Energy to others looking to have insulation installed.