Heateam

[mfgs]

Bit of a long story but here goes. I was called up a couple months ago to do a powerflush on a system as a year old baxi platinum 28he had been taken off of warranty due to a dirty system which caused a blocked plate heat exchanger. The guy that fitted the boiler refused to flush it, even though he should have done at the time of fitting. Heateam replaced the plate and took it off warranty. I then powerflushed the system, which wasnt overly dirt to be honest, and added a TF1 on the return just before the boiler. I ran it all hot, all working perfectly. No cold spots on the rads, all heating up better than before. I had to write a letter to Baxi confirming the system had been cleaned so they would take it back on warranty for the remaining 4 years. Job done.

Or so I thought. Got a call on Monday from the customer saying the boiler has stopped working and heateam have been out and said the plate heat exchanger and main heat exchanger are blocked and they arent fixing it. The guy ordered the parts for the customer for free but they wouldnt fit them. I spoke to the heat team engineer who wouldnt say how he came to the conclusion that they were blocked and he didnt really explore any other options, I'm guessing he just looked at the notes on the system. The customer said all the heateam engineer did was ask him to run a hot tap while the engineer looked at the boiler and then said both were blocked. I then have a customer saying the system was not flushed properly, so I said I would fit the parts for free thinking it was my fault.

I went there yesterday and replaced the heat exchanger and the plate and still getting the same issue, boiler locking out on the overheat, just taking a couple seconds longer to lock out. No real sign of any dirty water or likely blockages that I could see on the old ones. I then notice the heateam guy had booked up a pump aswell, so I fit the pump and it all works fine. Took the head off the old pump and no sign of any sludge or dirt again??? I inform the customer all is fixed and the pump was the problem and there was no blockage. I drained and refilled the system a couple times to make 100% sure there is no debris floating around, although the TF1 should catch it anyway, add inhibitor and away I go.

I then get a call this morning to say this morning the hot water is playing up going hot then cold??? I have told them to get in contact with Baxi as they should have fixed the last problem. I dont see why I should lose any more of my time over a boiler I didnt even install in the first place.

Rant over. Heateam arent in my good books. I will say the boiler was nice and easy to work on, very quick to change all the parts I had to.

 

[Puddle]

Did you not charge for the works you did,replacing exchangers ect and pump,as it turned out,I would have and told them to take it up with heat team,if they paid,would go back for more,if they didn't,refuse to do anymore work until account up to date,if you did not invoice works,do so ,we are not a charity,designed to clear up others mess ,for nowt!!

imho

 

[grahamgas]

Heateam are c*&@?

 

[Puddle]

Heateam are c*&@?

I have been lucky and found the one's I have met are Ok but have heard many use the theory attack is the best form of defense ,thus to easily try to blame anyone but themselves,trouble is coz they are from the manufacturers,customers tend to believe them at first ,until they realise they are getting the run around from them

In fairness,I bet they come across some right crap that customers think they should put right

imho

 

[mfgs]

Did you not charge for the works you did,replacing exchangers ect and pump,as it turned out,I would have and told them to take it up with heat team,if they paid,would go back for more,if they didn't,refuse to do anymore work until account up to date,if you did not invoice works,do so ,we are not a charity,designed to clear up others mess ,for nowt!!

imho

I know what you are saying. I am in the process of billing Heateam directly rather than the customer. Maybe I should have billed the customer directly but rather stupidly I do kinda feel sorry for them. They did ask me to go back today to look at it and I refused and said I had spent enough of my time for free on a problem that isnt anything to do with me.

 

[mountainman]

I'm with you MFGS, often it is good business to do a customer a favour but sometimes we come unstuck.
It's so easy for manufacturers to play the sludge card and pin the blame on someone else without any evidence to prove their statement.

 

[grahamgas]

This is the very reason that I like Atag.
If the boiler goes wrong, they send out the parts to be changed under waarnty, and then ask questions later.
For example: You get a knackered or leaking heat exchanger, you phone them up, they send one out. But they also send out a sample bottle for water test sample, which they have analyzed by Fernox.
if it is found that water quality is bad ie high ph, tds too high, then you as the installer will get billed for the parts.
BUT, it means that you have not got to argue the toss, and leave your customer with no heating and or hot water.
Atag say that the end user is as important if not more so than the installer.

a good way to do things I feel IMHO

Graham

 

[bennygas]

blimey - that does sound like a good approach by atag. i wonder if they get installers taking the mickey though - filling the sample with system water diluted with tap water etc so they're less likely to be charged. be a shame if they did, cos their approach seems like a nice way of doing things.

 

[grahamgas]

I dare say they do get installers taking the pish.
They also want the parts back, once new ones are fitted, so they can inspect them for manufacturing faults, malicious damage or dirty systems etc.
They will now be my preferred choice of boiler.

 

[mfgs]

Thats quite a interesting way of working. Can anyone do warranty work on their boilers or only people that have done a course, approved installers etc?

 

[grahamgas]

Yeah approved installers. All you have to do is to go on their free course.You will also get put onto a list for any other work in your area, ie customer phones them to report problem, and they contact three bods close to customer. You do the work, and invoice them for your labour and travelling etc.
Where you based mfgs?

 

[mfgs]

Based in croydon mate. May be worth doing the course to open up potential work in the future. I just googled there boilers as I have never seen one and they are pretty ugly haha.

 

[Nostrum]

Without sounding like i'm having a pop but, did the system even need a power flush in the first place? Personally I hate powerflushing as I see it as a money making exercise rather than a solution to a problem. I'd say 80% of jobs powerflushed don't need it, 79% of those are probably done by BG!

 

[grahamgas]

Based in croydon mate. May be worth doing the course to open up potential work in the future. I just googled there boilers as I have never seen one and they are pretty ugly haha.

Yeah they are not a boiler for on show in the kitchen, but once you open it up, it is a dream to work on. All low voltage connections as well. Also can have a combined prv and condense in one pipe.

I think the nearest place for you would be their HQ in Chichester. Give wayne a call or email, to express your interest.

 

[mfgs]

Without sounding like i'm having a pop but, did the system even need a power flush in the first place? Personally I hate powerflushing as I see it as a money making exercise rather than a solution to a problem. I'd say 80% of jobs powerflushed don't need it, 79% of those are probably done by BG!

Customer was told it needed a powerflush by heateam or they wouldnt take it back on warranty. The system wasnt cleaned when the boiler was fitted a year ago, previously an open system. I was just asked to flush and write to Baxi to confirm, which is what I did. I also insisted a filter was put on the system aswell. The system was dirty, but I have seen worse. A couple of rads had cold spots, but all good after the flush.

 

[mfgs]

Just thought I would update this to say my customer ended up chasing heateam for my money for me as a way of saying thanks for me doing the work for free. They have finally paid out, my customer transfered me the money earlier today. Happy days!!!!!

 

[Barry98]

Lucky you fella , I no longer fit there heap of junk

 

[mfgs]

Very lucky, I really wasnt expecting to see any of the money. I was just happy the customer knew it werent my fault lol and it was a boiler problem. I certainly would never fit a boiler that has heateam covering the warranty thats for sure.

 

[Leo21]

I think you right not to go back again. You've done them a favour once so you've done your bit. Bit of a Grey area on power flushes, how do you guarantee the systems clean. The way I see it you can't. Walk away and tell them to take it up with Heat Team.

 

[peteheat]

I would call Heat Team, tell them what you did, offer the old parts for inspection and let them know the customer has an ongoing problem would they like you to fix it £X per hour, also who should the invoice be sent to for the warranty job.

It's just business, better for yours to survive than lose for a problem that was not yours, also you might find they send you more work as not many want to take on trouble shooting and repairs on jobs that were not theirs to start with.