Problems with British Gas and my Central heating

[pieman6]

I hope can provide me with advice?.

I have a have valid insurance policy with British Gas. I have had it for the past 20 odd years. Our current boiler is a Baxi Barcelona condensing boiler. At the beginning of the year we had major problems with the boiler and BG completed a lot of work on it so much so the engineer said it was almost a brand new boiler. He said the boiler my last for many years or it could fail again. He suggested that we might have a quote for the system power flushing as it was 15 years since the last one but they wanted £750 to complete this. There was no mention that it was required or manditory.


In October the system started to make some noises when the heating clicked off. It would only do it if the system had only been on for a few minutes to bring the temperature back up to the setting. I had BG out and they said it was down to the system needing the power flushing and the agreement was no no longer valid. I complained and a senior engineer came out and looked at the system. He said it was ok and the agreement was in place. BG wrote to me to confirm that a Power Flush was not required and the agreement was in tact. The noise with the system never went away so i called them out again. They visited yesterday and said the central heating pump was at fault and needed to be replaced. They also said that this was down to the water in the system. He checked the water in the system on a piece of tissue paper and it was not 100% clear but i was not expecting it to be as the system is full of metal which will discolour it. He never took the pump off to check inside the pump and said that central heating pumps never fail and only fail if the system needs a power flush. I challenged him and he said in all the years he has worked for BG not once has a pump failed on its own but only when there was a problem with the water quality. I suggested that bearings do fail on any part especially over time but he was having none of this.


I dont know where i stand with them. I am no expert but i do think they are trying everything possible for me to have the power flush with them £750. They will guarantee it for life if its done through them.


I personally dont beleive them. Why would a senior engineer say that everything was fine a few weeks back and how can an engineer tell by looking at the water on tissue paper that its so bad. The radiators warm up all over and there are no cold spots.


What would anyone suggest i do?

 

[PlumbBobBob]

ditch the BG policy and find a reputable local engineer by recommendation if possible. the amount you have paid BG over the years could have paid for a new boiler probably several times over. oh and pumps do fail of their own volition.

 

[Riley]

These contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on you are better off saving the amount in a bank account towards a new boiler or towards repairs when something goes wrong. Large Companies use any means to wriggle out of claims. Also as my esteemed colleague said pumps do go wrong of their own volition

 

[Chalked]

The trouble with BG, is that the service lads ar on commission for rccomending power flushes, or new boiler installs.
This in my Veiw distorts their prospective. When they replaced the boiler parts, they should have altered the system so it would not be sucking in any air. This is what causes most problems in heating systems. Instead, they waste money throwing parts at boilers.

As said above. Ditch BG, get a new boiler ( it has done well!) and save your £120+ a year.

 

[A1P]

I think being messed about by BG is not unheard of and they sometimes like to push a power flush at a high price.In fairness to them ,they have put a lot into keeping your boiler going but seem not to be able to justify a power flush to you.Their testing seems to have been a bit basic on the 2 cnd visit and their findings were not horrific.I would stand your ground based on their written statement that a power flush was NOT REQUIRED.
On a different point,you have a notoriously awful boiler which should have preservation order placed on it!!!Get what you can out of your insurance cover.Start saving for a new boiler.Do not waste £750 on a power flush.When the time comes employ a local engineer who will be much cheaper than BG .Ensure it is fitted to manufacturers instructions and serviced annually so that the long guarantee you can get covers any future problems.Relax and enjoy!!