Boiler condemned by British Gas

[Harvest Fields]

Yes having a new one fitted. Im buying the parts so have to get a Worcester magnetic filter and that gives me an extra 2 years warranty !

Have also to get the boiler which is
Worcester Greenstar 34CDi Classic Combination Boiler Natural and flu pipe and a hive central heating controller !

Ive to goto cityplumbing and pay for it next week

You do not have to say, but did they give you a labour only quote ? Or a full install quote

 

[ShaunCorbs]

May I ask why your getting the parts

 

[Harvest Fields]

May I ask why your getting the parts

That’s where I was heading mate.

 

[Deleted member 84970]

No probs in answering that.
The guy whos doing it for us has an account with them and said he will get an order number and pay it that way. getting him to do other things as well so he said he will give us the price that he gets it for which im more than delighted with.
Dont worry hes very well known and Gas safe

 

[Harvest Fields]

No probs in answering that.
The guy whos doing it for us has an account with them and said he will get an order number and pay it that way. getting him to do other things as well so he said he will give us the price that he gets it for which im more than delighted with.
Dont worry hes very well known and Gas safe

Didn’t answer my question though?😀😀

 

[Deleted member 84970]

Didn’t answer my question though?😀😀

He has told me the price of the boiler and the labour cost 🙂

 

[Harvest Fields]

Ohh yeah. I done now.

 

[Ben-gee]

Maybe getting customer to buy the boiler etc to keep himself under the VAT threshold?

 

[firemant]

He has told me the price of the boiler and the labour cost 🙂

I have a friend who was a builder. He told his punters to go to the merchants and order and pay for materials at his trade price. They did not know that the order and payment was placed on his account. In fact, they paid more than hoss actual rate, and his account benefited from the balance.
OP:
But to get back to BG, was this "advice" ever in writing? If not, then I do not see how they could fall back on it. What were you being covered for, in return for your premiums, after the "advice".

Folk do not realise these contracts are insured based and governed by the Financial Conduct Authority. I would not take the bosses comments as gospel, especially if there is no instruction in writing.

 

[Ric2013]

It's an easy way to get the customer to pay for parts upfront. In the light of instances of rogue customers, not a bad plan.

Only problem is that if there is a problem with the boiler, it might be very easy for a situation to develop in which the installer refers the customer to the supplier but the supplier will probably say that it's probably an installation issue and refer the customer to the supplier. Who is right? Does it matter? Customer could be stuck in the middle.

 

[Deleted member 84970]

Unsure of the reason as to why he prefers me to do that. Either way im more than happy to do that plus his labour charge is less than other quotes i got, albeit the other company was alot bigger than this guy.

He is also doing it quicker for us which we are very grateful of as it was -2 this morning and my poor kids are freezing even with heaters scattered everywhere.

 

[Harvest Fields]

You have to do what is right for you and your family.

 

[Deleted member 84970]

But to get back to BG, was this "advice" ever in writing? If not, then I do not see how they could fall back on it. What were you being covered for, in return for your premiums, after the "advice".

Folk do not realise these contracts are insured based and governed by the Financial Conduct Authority. I would not take the bosses comments as gospel, especially if there is no instruction in writing.

What had happened was that we had to keep resetting the boiler. It would then stay on for 3 or 4 days without any issues then after that it would go off maybe twice a day.

The 1st engineer said to my wife that he renewed some filters in the boiler but should really get it flushed or a new boiler and we got a letter within a few days with a price. He never said it could cause damage etc...So it was hi opinion.
BG emailed me yesterday saying that if we are advised on the flush and we dont take it, then something happens then they can refuse the claim.

2nd engineer: My gripe is that this might not be the cause of the heat exchanger leaking as the engineer didnt remove it, so to me i dont see how he could say it got damaged with poor water quality (thats whats written on his sheet he left). Again it might have caused it to leak but you cant tell that from looking at it. Its the original exchanger so might have failed due to the age !........ At the same time he said the amount of parts previously replaced outweigh the cost of the boiler so to me thats the real reason they wouldnt do the repair. He said that all the previous repair come up on his computer and thats when he said he would need to call his boss.

He then kind of rubbed salt in the wound by saying he had the parts in the van but it would cost £400 or something plus vat

My other gripe is that BG knew we didnt get the flush but still continued to take our direct debit knowing that any future breakdown wouldnt be covered, even if we did get the flush..

 

[Rob Foster]

When we did central heating it was a piece of cake, get the customer to get a quote off bg and half it and we still made a good profit doing the job properly. I have friends in low places at Bg and they are not proud of the radical operation ie fixing or installing new stuff.
Not all bg fellas are bg anyway they can be hired in contractors
Running under bg flag. As you say tho it’s getting colder and you need reliable heating.
Rob Foster aka centralheatking

 

[Old Account]

Unsure of the reason as to why he prefers me to do that. Either way im more than happy to do that plus his labour charge is less than other quotes i got, albeit the other company was alot bigger than this guy.

He is also doing it quicker for us which we are very grateful of as it was -2 this morning and my poor kids are freezing even with heaters scattered everywhere.

Cheaper doesn’t mean better quality did you think about that?

 

[firemant]

What had happened was that we had to keep resetting the boiler. It would then stay on for 3 or 4 days without any issues then after that it would go off maybe twice a day.

The 1st engineer said to my wife that he renewed some filters in the boiler but should really get it flushed or a new boiler and we got a letter within a few days with a price. He never said it could cause damage etc...So it was hi opinion.
BG emailed me yesterday saying that if we are advised on the flush and we dont take it, then something happens then they can refuse the claim.

My other gripe is that BG knew we didnt get the flush but still continued to take our direct debit knowing that any future breakdown wouldnt be covered, even if we did get the flush..

Did the confirmation letter state that they would refuse further service? If not, they cannot rely on an email after the subsequent failure. They may have a clause in the contract itself to support them. However, I suspect a lawyer would say that by accepting further premiums, and without a letter stating further breakdowns would not be repaired, they are obliged to provide that service.

Assuming the letter did not make the relevant statement, my next move would be to ask them to provide a copy of the clause upon which they are relying. Don't let them get away with it. Don't do the common thing, threatening to tell the newspapers. They can handle newspapers, even of they were interested.

If they cannot come up with the clause, ask them how to complain to the FCA. They will definitely not like that. It costs them money even if a complaint is not upheld.

I had a slightly similar issue with an insurance company. To cut a long story short, they refused a claim upon the definition of "property". After countless calls and discussions, I asked them to outline the clause or paragraph that would support their definition. They gave up and paid out.


Good luck.

 

[firemant]

Did the confirmation letter state that they would refuse further service? If not, they cannot rely on an email after the subsequent failure. They may have a clause in the contract itself to support them. However, I suspect a lawyer would say that by accepting further premiums, and
without a letter stating further breakdowns would not be repaired, they are obliged to provide that service.

Assuming the letter did not make the relevant statement, my next move would be to ask them to provide a copy of the clause upon which they are relying. Don't let them get away with it. Don't do the common thing, threatening to tell the newspapers. They can handle newspapers, even of they were interested.

If they cannot come up with the clause, ask them how to complain to the FCA. They will definitely not like that. It costs them money even if a complaint is not upheld.

I had a slightly similar issue with an insurance company. To cut a long story short, they refused a claim upon the definition of "property". After countless calls and discussions, I asked them to outline the clause or paragraph that would support their definition. They gave up and paid out.


Good luck.

 

[Rob Foster]

At the end of the day we discussing the reality of a family with redundant heating whom are cold. I say it’s only going to get colder , just do,it get someone in fitba while new boiler on the nevervnever if nec and keep,ur family warm

Rob Foster aka centralheatking

 

[firemant]

On Friday, the OP said it would be a few months before they can do anything, funds wise. Every one has a different tolerance level regarding heat or lack of it, and I do not recall mention of kids. It is not for you to encourage folk to get into debt - you have no idea of their circumstance, financial or otherwise. The fact is (on the face of it) that BG are pushing their customer around, and it is not on.

Fact:
BG plans are governed by the FCA, who have teeth.
BG changed their selling practices to avoid FCA sanctions
Every complaint, whether upheld or not, attracts charges
The supervisor may be in the wrong - too many folk say what they think should be the case, rather than checking their facts.
Way too many punters take the word of nameless operatives, rather than arguing their point, believing their is no point
BG managers are (or at least were) ranked on their average call out cost, and are incentivised to keep these as low as possible.
People make mistakes.

If the OP wins her argument, they could have heating back on the same day.

EDIT: Just noticed the earlier response re kids.

 

[firemant]

About-our-insurance-services.pdf

Financial Conduct Authority