Buying a boiler - Who to go with?

[minatoflash]

Hi all, my boiler is on it's way out so i'm looking into getting a new one but for the life of me i just can't decide who best to go with so i came here to hopefully seek some advice.

So far i've had a couple of quotes from local plumbers for 2.2k and 1.8k to supply and fit a Logic Plus and i've a couple more to also seek a quote from.

I've had a quote from Help-Link for a worcester bosch for 2k which seemed great at the time of the assessment but their online reputation does not seem very good at all.

Finally i entertained a British Gas Salesman who seemed a nice guy and at first he quoted me 2.8k for a worcester and then when i showed him the Help-Link quote he did a 2nd quote of 2k for a Potterton Promax 28+



My thoughts are that going local could potentially save me some money and the logic plus seems a big improvement from older Ideal logic boilers however i feel the bigger companies provide better peace of mind with their guarantee schemes who both offer a 10 year guarantee with Help-Link claiming i only need pay a service fee each year to keep that guarantee in place while British Gas insist on using their Home care plan and so long as i'm on that i won't have to pay anything else.


What i'd really like is a good brand at a decent price with a guarantee that i won't have to pay anything else for many years to come, i feel the British Gas option comes closest to what i'm after but i'm wondering if the Potterton boiler is any good or not? All the choices so far seem to have various pros and cons so i'm wondering who would be the best one to go with?

 

[Whyme]

A lot of boiler manufactures offer a 10 year warranty anyway even if a local firm did it, it's not exclusive to the big companies. Also it will be cheaper from a smaller outfit Ie install cost. Word of mouth from friends and neighbors or somebody on here is usually a decent call.

 

[Chalked]

1.8k for the logic plus
Check out his gas safe, get a referral from one of his previous customers.

if that goes well, get him to fit it.
I prefer vsillants, but the logic + is a good boiler.

 

[village idiot]

Welcome to the forum miniflash. Your post is so long I've not read all of them it? From the little I have read, I'll say go with BG for the Potterton ProMax 28+. I'm not sure how you managed to get a quote of just 2k of them? Chances are they'll try to sell you something else, say breakdown cover which you don't need etc.

 

[Whyme]

Also everybody has there own preference regarding boilers so the one with the longest manufacturers warranty is probably best.

 

[joni os]

Beware BG don't charge an extra £1500.00 for alteration to pipework.

 

[Ryanmuz01]

As above, I fit Baxi's and have very little to complain about, 10 year warranty available and very reliable, a little noisy and plain to look at. But proving to be a good boiler

In my opinion get a local chap to do the install as they care about keeping customers happy and will go the extra yard in comparison to BG and help link.

The ideal is a good boiler so I would install that as it seems you have your heart set on it

 

[Whyme]

Ideal vogue are better than the logics..

 

[kris]

Ideal vogue are better than the logics..

Second that, but they are slightly more expensive but better in every way,

 

[minatoflash]

Ryanmuz01, i wouldn't say i've got my heart set on a logic plus i've just heard their a decent boiler Just learning as much as i can and trying to take it all in at the moment!

Village Idiot, yes i was definitely surprised when he quoted me 2k all in as i'd read that bg quotes can be ridiculous but he was also keen to stress that the quote is guaranteed so if say they needed to fit extra piping or what have you then the price will remain at 2k with no extras and he didn't try sell me anything else.
So far nobody has said much negative about the Potterton Promax so this is definitely an option that appeals to me.

The other thing about going with bg is that i've gotten the impression their not too bad should i need a call out so hopefully if i have a problem it'll be sorted in reasonable time however if i go for a local install then where do i go if there is a problem? If i contact the fitter then i presume they'll be a fee involved as it's not the local plumber who's providing the guarantee so i take it i would have to go direct to the boiler manufacturer since that's where the warranty resides and then i'm at the mercy of that particular companies customer service, if i went with Logic Plus for example then am i going to get a decent call out experience vs british gas home care?

 

[Ryanmuz01]

Well the potterton is a good boiler to, same group as baxi

All depends on the installer, I can perfectly understand the BG idea. Seems like a good deal

I can't vouch for other installers but when we install a boiler for a customer we 'tie' ourselves to the boiler, hence, if something goes wrong then we go to the boiler, check the obvious and if it's manufacturer related then we organise the visit, all free of charge, part of our service

I am sure many other local installers do that so its all about weighing it up and trusting the guy you use

 

[hammers4spanner]

right if you choose help link or BG all you get is a contractor out to install your boiler!!!

Help link pay a contractor£160 to fit your boiler and for that you will get a slam bam stuff the commission because help link don't pay the contractor enough to care about what your forking out for !!!

BG pay £200 per boiler install and again see above as contractor is on a low pay boiler upgrade and won't give two hoots about what he/she installs.

The one man band has a rep they will want to uphold so will spend more time doing what they should do properly , however again some are shocking .

IMHO go small firm get three estimates and pick most professional

 

[Whyme]

Funny story customer asked local firm for a quote, she said no i'll go with british gas. Installer turned up for BG. it was the local firm who sub for Bg. Same instal twice the price..Haha.

 

[MarkAqua]

where in the country are you? Regards Mark

 

[minatoflash]

right if you choose help link or BG all you get is a contractor out to install your boiler!!!

Help link pay a contractor£160 to fit your boiler and for that you will get a slam bam stuff the commission because help link don't pay the contractor enough to care about what your forking out for !!!

BG pay £200 per boiler install and again see above as contractor is on a low pay boiler upgrade and won't give two hoots about what he/she installs.

The one man band has a rep they will want to uphold so will spend more time doing what they should do properly , however again some are shocking .

IMHO go small firm get three estimates and pick most professional

You certainly talk a lot of sense and since salesman will quite possibly say anything to get a sale it's interesting that they both implied they don't use contractors!
The Help-link guy pointed out that all the fitters work for help-link and as such will be wearing uniform with the logo however when i mentioned this to the british gas man he pointed out that help-link simply provide their contractors with the uniform and that rather than turning up in a company vehicle they use their own cars perhaps with some sort of help-link sticker stuck to the car!

The bg salesman then said that they deffo don't use contractors, he stated that they used to but haven't for some time now and that they get quarterly bonuses if their work gets enough positive feedback from customers after the work has been done.

As i say your probably right as salesman will no doubt tell me anything but it's interesting to hear both sides!