What Combi Boiler Should I buy!!

[Destroyer2813]

Saw somthing the other day on the si"s and another model five year warrentys till the end of the year free of charge to normal instalers. You have to be Worcester acredited to give 7year Chrisgy and for that u have to fit so many of there boilers a year. You can do training courses with Worcester 50quid a course

 

[Chrisgy]

I saw a leaflet today it said an extra year til the end of October. Thought it was just a training course to get accredited thanks anyway

 

[Tellitacitis]

Go for either the Worcester or the Vaillant. We fit 500+ boilers and had too many problems with Viessmann. Worcester spend a fortune on PR/Advertising hence the higher price for no clear advantage. If you run into a problem (which we did) with Viessmann you really have got a problem, guarantees or not and it can get sticky if you try and prove anything - trust me! The other problem with Viessmann is that they adopted the 'flat bashing' route to try and compete in the volume market place (failed and the wrong route IMO) and as an individual you're very much the poor relation. Personally I'd opt for Vaillant and if you find a supplier on their 'cash back' incentive you might get an even better deal. They were also offering a 6 year warranty but I believe that's just finished, so it's now 5. I think Vaillant have got an extended warranty on the heat exchanger but we've never had a problem. Viessmann had the potential of a good product but let themselves down with too many niggles and poor after sales service.

 

[Solo Heating]

Go for either the Worcester or the Vaillant. We fit 500+ boilers and had too many problems with Viessmann. Worcester spend a fortune on PR/Advertising hence the higher price for no clear advantage. If you run into a problem (which we did) with Viessmann you really have got a problem, guarantees or not and it can get sticky if you try and prove anything - trust me! The other problem with Viessmann is that they adopted the 'flat bashing' route to try and compete in the volume market place (failed and the wrong route IMO) and as an individual you're very much the poor relation. Personally I'd opt for Vaillant and if you find a supplier on their 'cash back' incentive you might get an even better deal. They were also offering a 6 year warranty but I believe that's just finished, so it's now 5. I think Vaillant have got an extended warranty on the heat exchanger but we've never had a problem. Viessmann had the potential of a good product but let themselves down with too many niggles and poor after sales service.

That is true. I still fit Viessmann and only Viessmann but they did go through a very bad patch 4 years ago because their early model of the Vitodens 100 range had a fault which nearly all boilers suffered from. I was actually given a contract to change the problem part (plus repair any other faults) in dozens and dozens of flats in Swindon, Bristol and Bath. But actually, because Viessmann boilers are so easy to work on, it took seconds to do the work. Very very rarely was the boiler breakdown due to anything else and all the new boilers I've fitted have been almost fault free.

Now compare that with Vaillant whose modern heat exchangers rot after a few years and to me there's just no comparison. Another plumber I know has had so many problems due to rotting that he's recently switched from Vaillant after years of using them. I personally went through a problem with a number of Vaillants which due to a factory error were made with no heat exchanger seal and Vaillant refused to acknowledge the error until a rep let it slip that they knew about it.

As for Worcetster, their manufacturer and design is just clumsy in my opinion but I appreciate that they are very popular and do the job.

I guess it shows that no manufacturer is perfect and all will have times when things are good and when things are bad. It also shows that we all have personal reasons for choosing a boiler. At least I can get in touch with Viessmann almost instantly unlike Worcester and Vaillant where I have to wait for hours to be served only to find myself speaking to someone who doesn't know anything. There's just no beating Viessmann's technical department; what they don't know isn't worth knowing.

 

[Tellitacitis]

We have never had a problem with Vaillant heat exchangers yet - they are all s/s although we all know that can vary especially with the Chinese rubbish. I do know that Viessmann manufacture their own and in that area it is probably as good as anybodys. There were actually two inherent faults with the Viessmann products. We also found them slow to react due to lack of engineers when there was a problem and the delays simply went on an exponential curve becoming unacceptable from a customer's point of view. In fact we are still having to replace some installs gratis as Viessmann put up so many obstacles once we opted for other manufacturers and as a result we will never deal with them again. It sounds like you're on an 'approved repairer/installer' deal and hence the brand loyalty. We on the other hand, as said, fit 500 + boilers annually and fit that which we consider the best solution in the situation - we do fit Worcester when confronted with certain flueing issues as they are the only choice - we don't have any brand connection whatsoever. Buy Viessmann and you're tied in to a low volume (in the UK) product and all that can arise from that. On the other hand every engineer out there knows Vaillant/Worcester. Given a choice our 40 + engineers will always opt for either of the big two with Vaillant being the easier install.
You obviously got through to the right tech person but every company has its experts and its idiots, Viessmann included.
Customers aren't interested in excuses from manufacturers (maybe they're more polite in the West Country) but in London they won't wear it and if they've got a problem we've got a problem, which we can do without. 'Goodnight Vie...(...)'

That is true. I still fit Viessmann and only Viessmann but they did go through a very bad patch 4 years ago because their early model of the Vitodens 100 range had a fault which nearly all boilers suffered from. I was actually given a contract to change the problem part (plus repair any other faults) in dozens and dozens of flats in Swindon, Bristol and Bath. But actually, because Viessmann boilers are so easy to work on, it took seconds to do the work. Very very rarely was the boiler breakdown due to anything else and all the new boilers I've fitted have been almost fault free.

Now compare that with Vaillant whose modern heat exchangers rot after a few years and to me there's just no comparison. Another plumber I know has had so many problems due to rotting that he's recently switched from Vaillant after years of using them. I personally went through a problem with a number of Vaillants which due to a factory error were made with no heat exchanger seal and Vaillant refused to acknowledge the error until a rep let it slip that they knew about it.

As for Worcetster, their manufacturer and design is just clumsy in my opinion but I appreciate that they are very popular and do the job.

I guess it shows that no manufacturer is perfect and all will have times when things are good and when things are bad. It also shows that we all have personal reasons for choosing a boiler. At least I can get in touch with Viessmann almost instantly unlike Worcester and Vaillant where I have to wait for hours to be served only to find myself speaking to someone who doesn't know anything. There's just no beating Viessmann's technical department; what they don't know isn't worth knowing.

 

[cdodds2004]

contact your local worcester rep mate he will explain how to become acredited basically a 2 day course with worcester then all si and cdi boilers are 7 year warranty until dec 31 all other boilers are 5 year, if your not acredited its 5 years on si and cdi range and 2 year on all other boilers maybe 3 with the extra one year! but to be honest you really cant argue with 7 year warranty it sells its self for me