Had no heat or hot water for two weeks

[Premyy_M]

Not sure if this is a success or a fail or just a rant but We do have heat and hot water now

So all started the evening of Friday the 12th (Nov) I had noticed the water wasn't getting hot nor the heating. We had someone come have a look the next day thinking it was something simple like the pressure. Unfortunately the guy couldn't make it work, something about the circuit board I believe. It's an old discontinued model, So begins our search for a new boiler but first thing is to purchase an electric heater of course and so we did. Man it was hard having no heat or hot water

Research time. Ok you could say we were kinda aimless, not really knowing where or what to look for. This was our current situation. Family of 4 adults. 3 bedrooms with 1 bathroom. Traditional boiler with a cylinder, Costs range between 2k-3k not cheap, Everything seemed to largely point us towards a combi boiler. It was the way to go, the way forward (or so it would seem at least). We decided to get our new combi boiler from online, Cheapest quickest and easiest with 0% for 2 years

Tried to book for the following Friday but apparently the schedule shown was wrong but ok Monday it was. We went for a 30kw Worcester Bosch 4000.

Monday came we waited. Dad gets a phone call. Nope it's not happening. Fine rebooked for Wednesday, Annoyed
Since Monday didn't go to plan we have to continue how we have been, electric heater and using the kettle for bath water.

Now it's Wednesday (24 Nov) I waited, This time dad gets a message via email apparently they couldn't get through. It's cold I'm close to if not at breaking point I think you can understand or imagine. So I try my best to get through to them via all kinds of methods. I either can't get to the right person or find they're unresponsive to my efforts. Eventually I find Ollie on the website live chat, finally someone who tries to help me, asks for my number and calls then puts me through to the right person, Matt. He explains the situation, that the engineer has called in sick and it's sadly out of our control etc. I say I understand but this is the second time it's happened we have no heat or hot water etc. Essentially I told him we need someone literally as soon as f-ing to get it done and he said he'll find out and get back to me. That's right I said a bad word on the telephone!

I find Ollie on live chat again and I ask for an update. He transfers the chat to Matt who informs me they've arranged for someone to come the next day, emails and calls my dad to confirm, again apologising saying he spoke to me earlier etc. Engineer texts dad later that day to say he's coming. Ok this might actually be happening

Not sure how much to say. It's Thursday he shows up, he works. Second day he comes alone but the first day he has someone with him. It's Friday night (26 Nov) and we have heat SUCCESS. It's now 2 weeks since this all began. We're extremely grateful to the guy. Worked long hours leaving late both days and got it done before the snow hit

Saturday we're safe and can finally relax. Our downstairs toilet tap used to drip but now leaks due to the mains pressure. Upstairs bathroom sinks taps feeling stiff. We call a plumber to have the tap heads changed. All goes well. There's a drip on our outside wall, toilet flush overflow. He offers to replace it with a more modern ball-less system for £25 why not. Flush seems to be quite loud now, but okay
Well time to clean, there's a lot to clean. The work done has left dust, debris and mess everywhere. Once we start to try and tackle it, it's actually worse than it had seemed. We don't feel comfortable in the kitchen. Mum looks like she wants to cry looking at the ruin. After wiping we see that the counter is damaged and all scratched up

We spend all day cleaning. We're exhausted but it's looking a lot better and more comfortable too. The garden is also in a right state. Packaging remains and debris all over. Just today mum looked in the green waste bin and found it full of cardboard and stuff, even pipe bits. Definitely not green waste


So we do have warmth now but I'm not sure I'm happy and satisfied. The guy wasn't able to reconnect our nest thermostat. The boiler controls the heating constantly on low. I'm not sure he knew what he was doing, said it was complicated and better if we buy a stand and do some simple wiring, didn't work


I do appreciate the effort but I'm left with doubts, issues and concerns. Bathroom taps upstairs take a long time to heat up, lose pressure, don't stay hot, water comes out white. Two radiators are either cold or warm but not hot. Boiler makes buzzing noises and sometimes dripping gurgling noises. One of the old pipes is wet to the touch.


So yea this is where we are at hopefully I can get the rest sorted. I keep questioning if I messed up and made the wrong decision. Had we just replaced the same type of boiler things might have gone smoother and been done quicker causing less problems. Maybe I'm just paranoid and we just have to get used to it


It's been an absolute nightmare from hell but we're ok


TL😀R


Hi so it's been a stressful and chaotic time


We had no heat and hot water for about 2 weeks. After 2 cancellations they managed to get someone to come on Thursday who did 2 12 hour days and got it done


We decided to go for a combi boiler. Hopefully it's the right choice for us but I'm not sure. They left a lot of dust, debris and mess, even scratching up our counters

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Tbh a conversion to combi if you’ve paid 2-3k for it that’s cheap cheap

You sure it’s a 4000 as atm you can’t get them for love nor money as Worcester are on a back log due to can’t get parts so that’s good if you have but double check the warranty is with Worcester Bosch and not the company you bought it from also in the instructions the benchmark needs to be filled in if it hadn’t been eg back of the book

That’s the problem with the online boiler ones they just sub it out to any random one they have on file and pay them £300 -£500 to do it

Didn’t they flush/ clean the system ?
Installed a Worcester filter and shock arrestor?

Nest can be added to the boiler but easier for them to install Worcester controls eg plug and play

Yes this is common due to the low to high pressure switch also might need a new shower

Send the company and email with pictures of the damage ?

What looses pressure?

As for the dripping noise probably condense trap as for cold / dripping pipe is it the second in from the right eg going from right to left ?

 

[Premyy_M]

Hi thanks

That's cheap? Damn still a lot of money for us but fair enough. Looks like the charge £400-£800 for the conversion verses a straight swap

Pretty sure it's the model I said cause that's what it said online and the manual says 4000 also I believe. Are you saying it'll be hard to repair or get the parts in future? Thought we chose a good and popular brand that's wouldn't give us much trouble in future

Yep think it's become quite apparent that they had someone delivery a boiler and just sent someone else to deal with it without much else

In terms of a flush/clean the website suggests that it's included but whether he actually did it or not I wouldn't know. The delivery came with a magna clean box and looking at the boiler there's two filter type things so yea

We already had the nest so seems a waste not to use it. We chose reconnection form a list of a few options when booking. He's done some sloppy electric work cutting wires instead of disconnecting them. He's moved the heat link to be near the boiler in the kitchen and said something about the power went from the boiler to the heat link upstairs and back down to the living room so now it's an issue, didn't really get it. Our deal offer had a free hive but we asked for reconnection, he didn't offer the hive or Worcester controls

Dad checked the warranty online and it doesn't appear to have been registered. 10 year warranty should be with the manufacturer

We have a shower bath but we don't really use it. We usually have bucket shower baths but with running water from the tap ofc

Not sure where the drip or gargling is coming from could be from the filter. Could be normal but it would be nice to have had it explained to us. There's a buzzing mechanical sound too tho which doesn't sound right. I've also noticed a high pitched whistling sound when using the bath tap too

The bathroom sink tap looses pressure. You open it, it's cold, slowly starts to heat up after a while but looses pressure so you open it more sometimes that makes it go cold, after a while it gradually goes from warm to hot but again looses pressure so you have to open it up again

I've taken a few pictures but it doesn't truly capture it. I did send an email tho but listing my concerns no pictures. Had my dad send one first then I sent another via the contact form after a couple days without reply. Said it's being passed on to the aftercare team, dad also got a reply a few hours after mine

 

[ShaunCorbs]

The installer might get an extra hundred but that’s it tbh them sites are the worst

Good boiler but hard to get atm due to no stock

Ask for proof of warranty you should get a pdf from / with Worcester’s literature saying 10 years etc

Could be air in the filter there’s a bleed screw onto like a radiator try bleeding this with a key and some paper towel

Close the tap half way eg don’t open it up fully

 

[Premyy_M]

I forgot to say. All our radiator thermostats where set to 0 at the time. Not sure if that's what we were supposed to do or if that affects the cleaning/flushing but that's how it was

I've also noticed a high pitched whistling sound to add to my concerns

So it's a good boiler which might be why stocks are low ok, so basically it's all good thanks. To confirm the wet cardboard box dumped in our garden does say greenstar 4000 lol

Maybe that's why the first two installation dates where cancelled? More work possibly requiring a second person but only a fraction more paid for the job. A straight swap is more worthwhile for them and would have possibly been completed quick and smoothly

Wish we had done more research and gotten some cheap but professional independent advice somehow but unfortunately we were in a state of panicked desperation at the time and they looked quick and easy

There was a card saying something like enter serial number online to check how longs left on the warranty. That we should receive an email to confirm but to contact them if is been more than 60 days. Really doubt it takes 60 days to process right

I'll be sure to ask for proof of warranty and also the 12 months 24/7 care policy that's supposedly included thanks

The filter made more of a bubbling sounds today but yes I'll look into trying to bleed it

Taps we only ever open a much as needed to avoiding splashing and wasting water so it's never fully open. Thanks