BBC Watchdog - British Gas

[Destroyer2813]

Could of done the whole hour on them, coincedently seen two bg vans parked up all day cant have a lot on know they live there

 

[Hardy1]

finallyyyyyy

 

[Doodlebug]

Could of done the whole hour on them, coincedently seen two bg vans parked up all day cant have a lot on know they live there

Ever thought they could be having some time off, ie annual leave?

 

[Doodlebug]

The last time I spoke to a customer, BGas quoted £750 a PF. thats insane..

British Gas give a lifetime garauntee with a PF. If you can beat that then go ahead.

 

[Doodlebug]

Now that's a nice thing to say. Shame on you.

 

[Doodlebug]

Chris Jansen did not lie. I think he handled the situation very well. Anne Robinson and the BBC should be ashamed of themselves.

 

[petercj]

BG Quiz - starter for ten ...

Who is the ex BG employee that has recently been reshuffled?

 

[Doodlebug]

BG Quiz - starter for ten ...Who is the ex BG employee that has recently been reshuffled?

Not got a clue what your on about mate

 

[Alanc]

We were shown a DVD of the 2 engineers defending themselves, I'm on there side because if the parts are not shown as available on the laptop, then they are just following the bg procedures.
Then you get the blame for not phoning independents and taking initiative.
you just can't please this mob.
rant over
Al

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

Chris Jansen did not lie. I think he handled the situation very well. Anne Robinson and the BBC should be ashamed of themselves.

employed by BG then doodlebug?

 

[petercj]

Not got a clue what your on about mate

Female who trained as an accountant and worked for Centrica before moving into politics .........?

 

[villa_tom]

We were shown a DVD of the 2 engineers defending themselves, I'm on there side because if the parts are not shown as available on the laptop, then they are just following the bg procedures.
Then you get the blame for not phoning independents and taking initiative.
you just can't please this mob.
rant over
Al

Absolutely 100% spot on. Despite what people think on here BG engineers are not going into people's homes lying and trying to con people. Yes, they try and sell things, but who doesn't?
If the computer says a part isn't available and an engineer states this, is he wrong? No he's just following what the company who employs him tells him to do.

 

[petercj]

Absolutely 100% spot on. Despite what people think on here BG engineers are not going into people's homes lying and trying to con people. Yes, they try and sell things, but who doesn't? If the computer says a part isn't available and an engineer states this, is he wrong? No he's just following what the company who employs him tells him to do.

Trying to sell someone something that they need is one thing, telling people they need a power-flush costing £599 when its not necessary is another - of which I have personal experience. Is it right to pass a gas check off as: "a service" and ignore the boiler manufacturer's specifications re what should be done annually while telling customers that their boiler has been serviced? "The computer says no", so right off someone's boiler! Trading Standards would be down on a small trader like a ton of bricks! The British Gas of yesteryear is very different from the BG of today.

 

[villa_tom]

Trying to sell someone something that they need is one thing, telling people they need a power-flush costing £599 when its not necessary is another - of which I have personal experience. Is it right to pass a gas check off as: "a service" and ignore the boiler manufacturer's specifications re what should be done annually while telling customers that their boiler has been serviced? "The computer says no", so right off someone's boiler! Trading Standards would be down on a small trader like a ton of bricks! The British Gas of yesteryear is very different from the BG of today.

Ive been contracting there for three years now on and off and I've never seen a power flush offered when it's not needed.
As for the service, they don't call it that now, and haven't for ages.
And they don't just knock someone's boiler off if the computer says part not available, they will try and source the part, I have been to parts centre to pick up flues in this instance.
Of course, they offer new boilers as an alternative, but who doesn't. If you went to a twenty odd year old boiler and it needed parts would you not recommend a replacement? Of course you would.

 

[andyg0507]

anyone got a link to this episode, was away so not read on here much.

 

[petercj]

Ive been contracting there for three years now on and off and I've never seen a power flush offered when it's not needed.
As for the service, they don't call it that now, and haven't for ages.
And they don't just knock someone's boiler off if the computer says part not available, they will try and source the part, I have been to parts centre to pick up flues in this instance.
Of course, they offer new boilers as an alternative, but who doesn't. If you went to a twenty odd year old boiler and it needed parts would you not recommend a replacement? Of course you would.

As I said, I have personal experience of BG recommending power flushing when not required, i.e. radiators performing well with no cool spots and good spread of temperature top to bottom. There are also many similar accounts on the Internet.

As can be seen here, BG use the term "servicing" in their current advertising and the term is used in their Home Care contract:-

HomeCare - Our Range of Boiler and Heating Cover - British Gas

The 24 hour help-line they state in their adverts has had a regular message on it of late saying that they are too busy to answer the phone!

It can take two or three days for BG to put repairs into action under the HC contract - the 24 hour emergency helpline is totally misleading. As long as you have a trickle of cold water its not an emergency according to BG. Light yourself a candle and wash in cold water for all they care.

A BG engineer told me that the boilers in the Watchdog program were written off because the parts that were available were not those as sold by the manufacturer. I wouldn't know whether that is true or not, but as its not unusual for anything from boilers to motor vehicles to contain parts NOT made by the manufacturer it doesn't seem like a reasonable explanation to me.

I accept that some of the guys who work for BG are good engineers, but these days quite a few are 'chancers' who don't give a fig about the quality of their work.

Obviously the engineers don't decide BG policy and have no control over the way things are done, but someone does, and they are the ones that need investigating imo.

If people feel let down by BG they should contact Trading Standards, and if they don't get satisfaction from TS, then write to their MP.

 

[villa_tom]

As I said, I have personal experience of BG recommending power flushing when not required, i.e. radiators performing well with no cool spots and good spread of temperature top to bottom. There are also many similar accounts on the Internet.

As can be seen here, BG use the term "servicing" in their current advertising and the term is used in their Home Care contract:-

HomeCare - Our Range of Boiler and Heating Cover - British Gas

The 24 hour help-line they state in their adverts has had a regular message on it of late saying that they are too busy to answer the phone!

It can take two or three days for BG to put repairs into action under the HC contract - the 24 hour emergency helpline is totally misleading. As long as you have a trickle of cold water its not an emergency according to BG. Light yourself a candle and wash in cold water for all they care.

A BG engineer told me that the boilers in the Watchdog program were written off because the parts that were available were not those as sold by the manufacturer. I wouldn't know whether that is true or not, but as its not unusual for anything from boilers to motor vehicles to contain parts NOT made by the manufacturer it doesn't seem like a reasonable explanation to me.

I accept that some of the guys who work for BG are good engineers, but these days quite a few are 'chancers' who don't give a fig about the quality of their work.

Obviously the engineers don't decide BG policy and have no control over the way things are done, but someone does, and they are the ones that need investigating imo.

If people feel let down by BG they should contact Trading Standards, and if they don't get satisfaction from TS, then write to their MP.

If you go online and get a policy quote then you have the option for a service or not, if you request the service then the policy goes up accordingly, if not then you get a safety check.

As far waiting for a breakdown engineer to attend, that is total tosh. I'm not in for a few days next week so rang the office today to get another bloke out for an intermittent fault, as I was only there for a service, and I won't be in to fit parts next week and BG are going out tomorrow.

People love to slate BG for their failings, but if you look at them on the whole they are pretty damn good at what they do.

As far as some of then being chancers, you get this in all walks of life. It's pretty unfair to tarnish the whole company with the same brush.

I personally couldnt care less what anyone else does, weather it be BG, eon, npower, or a self employed gas fitter. I'm at work to feather my own nest and look after my family. If people choose to dislike the company I work for then so be it. But from my dealings with BG, I have found them to be a genuine company offering a service which they get right 99% of the time. Obviously they get things wrong from time to time, as does anyone.

Ive worked in thousands of BG customers house and I have never heard a bad word said about them, surely there's proof there that they are doing a good job.

 

[kay-jay]

As I said, I have personal experience of BG recommending power flushing when not required, i.e. radiators performing well with no cool spots and good spread of temperature top to bottom. There are also many similar accounts on the Internet.

As can be seen here, BG use the term "servicing" in their current advertising and the term is used in their Home Care contract:-

HomeCare - Our Range of Boiler and Heating Cover - British Gas

The 24 hour help-line they state in their adverts has had a regular message on it of late saying that they are too busy to answer the phone!

It can take two or three days for BG to put repairs into action under the HC contract - the 24 hour emergency helpline is totally misleading. As long as you have a trickle of cold water its not an emergency according to BG. Light yourself a candle and wash in cold water for all they care.

A BG engineer told me that the boilers in the Watchdog program were written off because the parts that were available were not those as sold by the manufacturer. I wouldn't know whether that is true or not, but as its not unusual for anything from boilers to motor vehicles to contain parts NOT made by the manufacturer it doesn't seem like a reasonable explanation to me.

I accept that some of the guys who work for BG are good engineers, but these days quite a few are 'chancers' who don't give a fig about the quality of their work.

Obviously the engineers don't decide BG policy and have no control over the way things are done, but someone does, and they are the ones that need investigating imo.

If people feel let down by BG they should contact Trading Standards, and if they don't get satisfaction from TS, then write to their MP.

I also have personal experience of this....

A customer rang me said i was told by bg i need a powerflush at £700 how much do you charge? Told her 300 quid but only after i confirmed it was necessary.......
Went round and turned out she needed a new pump. Much cheaper to say the least

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[petercj]

If you go online and get a policy quote then you have the option for a service or not, if you request the service then the policy goes up accordingly, if not then you get a safety check.

As far waiting for a breakdown engineer to attend, that is total tosh. I'm not in for a few days next week so rang the office today to get another bloke out for an intermittent fault, as I was only there for a service, and I won't be in to fit parts next week and BG are going out tomorrow.

People love to slate BG for their failings, but if you look at them on the whole they are pretty damn good at what they do.

As far as some of then being chancers, you get this in all walks of life. It's pretty unfair to tarnish the whole company with the same brush.

I personally couldnt care less what anyone else does, weather it be BG, eon, npower, or a self employed gas fitter. I'm at work to feather my own nest and look after my family. If people choose to dislike the company I work for then so be it. But from my dealings with BG, I have found them to be a genuine company offering a service which they get right 99% of the time. Obviously they get things wrong from time to time, as does anyone.

Ive worked in thousands of BG customers house and I have never heard a bad word said about them, surely there's proof there that they are doing a good job.

I have detailed evidence of everything I have posted, and a case cooking which at the present time is heading for the County Court - for obvious reasons I will not be going into further details of it on here.

I suggest you check your facts before you refer to what people post as: "tosh"!

You are clearly singing from the BG hymn sheet.

 

[villa_tom]

I have detailed evidence of everything I have posted, and a case cooking which at the present time is heading for the County Court - for obvious reasons I will not be going into further details of it on here.

I suggest you check your facts before you refer to what people post as: "tosh"!

You are clearly singing from the BG hymn sheet.

I can call it tosh when I've seen the exact opposite in action today.

And I'm singing from no hymn sheet. I'm a self employed heating engineer, who get work off BG, private landlords, private homeowners and estate agents.

Do I like BG? Yes, they provide me with work, but I'm not employed directly by them. I gauge all my opinions by what I have seen and done first hand.