New Boiler problems!!

I have a similar problem and was going to post but as you have had no replies it seems pointless. 3 months ago I had a new boiler installed and from the beginning it has been making a noise that no-one seems to be able to understand or sort out. I have spent the last 3 months trying to sort this out, the boiler works fine but it is the noise. The manufacturers came out and basically said that they would replace the heat exchange but apart from that there is nothing to be done. I am now at the stage where I was going to go back to the manufacturers and ask for a replacemnet but it looks like i may get nowhere. There is nothing else I can do to sort out this problem - has anyone else any advice about this sort of thing? I feel that in the end I will give in and get another new boiler which is ridiculous given the cost, but life is too short to have these hassles isn't it?

I have had the same problem too. I would love it if somebody could advise. My boiler has caused problems since being fitted (three years ago) and I mentioned somewhere else about the nightmare problems with a dishwasher. At what stage are you entitled to a replacement item - I had the engineer for the dishwasher come around about four or five times at which point I gave up and stopped asking them to come around anymore!

Apologies, these boiler posts were missed. A boiler installation is going to be covered by the Supply of Goods and Services Act.

Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 | Consumer Information

* That the supplier will carry out the service with reasonable care and skill
* That the work will be carried out in reasonable time (unless timeframe has been specifically agreed)
* That the work will be carried out at reasonable cost (unless cost has been specifically agreed)

Click to expand...

It also provides that any goods & materials supplied as part of the service should be of a satisfactory quality i.e. free from defects.

The contract is with the person who installed the boiler, so they are liable. You need to write a letter to them asking them to fix it within 14 days otherwise you will get someone else too and start a small claim to recover the money.

If you paid with credit card, then the credit card company is equally liable under section 75 of the consumer credit act, plus you may be protected by the Visa chargeback scheme.

Boiler Complaint Letter

Dear Mr. Smith,
Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982

On 01/05/09, installed a new boiler for the sum of £3000.

The problems are:
• The boiler does not function correctly

The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 states that work should be carried out with reasonable care and skill and this clearly isn't the case and would like the boiler fixed.

Please complete the work in the next 14 days.

If you fail to remedy the situation in this time, I will have no option but to consider taking the matter further. This will entail appointing a new contractor and recovering the fees from yourselves through the small claims court if necessary.

Yours,

Thank you , but I have done that and the installer and also another company that I have had in has been unable to find any fault within the system. They are both adament that the problem is with the boiler, but last time the manufacturers came out they said that it wasn't and they would not waste any more time on it! So now I am faced with going back to the manufacturers because there is nowhere else to look within the system. Am I now within my rights to go back to the manufacturers and ask for a replacement unless they can fix it because I and the installer has tried?.

The manufacturer is only liable under the warranty. The installer is liable under the
Supply of Goods & Services Act 1982 for both the installation and the quality of the materials. If the installer thinks it is faulty then she should replace it under your contract with them.

thank you for your time. I am not in touch with the installer any more about this as he basically ran out of ideas and said that it must be a problem with the boiler , and he arranged for the manufacturers to come here who then said it wasn't the boiler! In desperation, as the installer went off on holiday, I asked another company to sort out the problem and they redid this pipework that the installer had missed , believing that was the cause of the problem but it isn't and they have looked everywhere else and bar taking the boiler off the wall cannot see where this problem is comiong from. I do not want to involve the installer anymore as I have had another company in and as I believe he is incompetant , do you see that I am at a dead end? - I am a single parent and this problem is causing me an unbelieveable amount of stress. The boiler does not sound right and it is making a noise that no one has heard before hence the reason everyone believes it is the boiler. I am so desperate to sort this out and relieve myself of the stress that I am considering just paying for another boiler even though I can't afford it. Can anyone inspect the installation to find the cause of the problem before I go back to Baxi? I was thinking of Corgi / Gas Safe if no-on is able to sort this out would that be a good next step? Thanks for your help.

He may be incompetent, but he is still liable. If I were you I would get a quote from British Gas to rectify the situation and send the letter stating that you have lost confidence and would like £x to pay British Gas. If you don't get a response you can recover the money using the Small Claim Court. Making a Small Claim | Consumer Information

If you pay with a Credit Card it gives you extra protection and as the credit card company is equally liable under section 75 cca.

Thank you for your time. I would happily pay anybody anything if they could solve this for me, and I was going to go back to him with a bill when (?) I found the problem but until then I can't as no one seems to know. I have British Gas coming round this week as I have a homecare policy with them so it will be interesting to know what they say , and take it from there I suppose. Many thanks, your advice is much appreciated.

I am going to sound like a broken record soon, but I always find it helps to write letters and to copy them to everyone involved. In your case, the installer and the manufacturer and, by this time, trading standards.
be as specific as you can with dates etc - especially if you informed those involved of the problems before the expiry date of the guarantee. Repeat the outline of Tony's boiler complaint letter, and to trading standards include a covering letter asking for their assistance and advice.
Include in the letter an outline of the response you hope to get - if you want as replacement boiler ask for it. If you are prepared to go to the small claims court state that and give a timescale - one month for replies is reasonable.
Stay as detached as you can from your anger and pain - don't for example question the competence of the installer in lurid terms!

the trouble is it's sort of easy to write down what should be done but things are never that black and white.. I mean, in my case I had tried to deal with the installer and had written him a letter saying all the things I should say, and he came back to me missing all the points in my letter, saying he had done his best and had got on to the manufacturers to get them to come out etc etc. When I mentioned goods and supply act he went on about the fact that he had kept my house clean!! In sheer frustration, I got in another company as I did not feel i could just wait around while he went off on holiday and do nothing-I know you should deal with the installer but in this case there seems to be a problem with the new boiler that no-one can solve and I felt that a fresh pair of eyes might pick up something that he couldn't . As it turns out they didn't, but by bringing in another company to do something , I feel that I may have broken my contract with him and he wouldn't get involved anymore and I don't want him to anyway as he did a couple of things wrong (and may yet be to blame for this problem) and gave me some duff information. Do I have to deal with him or can I go to the manufacturers, trading standards myself now?

Hi Tony,

Could you please offer any advice with the following :

In May 2010 we had a new boiler and radiators fitted by a gas safe plumber. The boiler has worked fine until Feb 2011 when we started getting intermittent hot water (cold then luke warm but never reaching set temp). We rang our installer and he said ring the manufacturer as the 5 year parts/labour warranty is with them so we did. The manufacturer sent out one of their engineers who diagnosed the fault and ordered some parts. It's been over a month now and the manufacturer aren't returning our calls regarding the parts (after numerous attempts).

I've read some of the earlier posts and seen that the resposibility lies with the installer so i've asked him to chase. FYI the installer bought the boiler and rads from a plumbing centre.

The question is we are getting no where fast so am i within my rights to ask the installer for the current boiler to be taken out and a different manufacturers boiler to be fitted (obviously we pay the difference + install costs) ?

The boiler isn't a year old yet and the warranty work has not been done in a reasonable time scale and to be quite honest we have lost confidence in the boiler and the appauling customer service from the manufacturer.

Many thanks for your time.

I had a similar problem when I thought I was saving money by getting a independent local one man band to fit a boiler for me - it seemed like a good deal, but after just 2 months I started to have problems like the room not getting warms for ages, or even experiencing cold radiators. I was at my wit's end, and after countless googling I saw STL Heating - yeah I thought "how do I know they're any different from the rest" but after I read their reviews I decided to give them a try.

Suffice to say, after they quoted me a reasonable fee over the phone they came out - did some magic and since then I've had absolutely no bother since. I now get them to come and service my boiler every year !

Hi there, Was just reading through this thread and wanted to share this with you - I had a lot of trouble with my boiler when I first moved into my new house. As I was tight for money because of the move I decided to do some googling before calling out an engineer. Luckily I struck gold as I came across a series of videos on YouTube by a company called corgi homeplan, they are incredibly easy to follow and helped me a fix a problem that I may have had to pay £100 or so to have an engineer come out and fix. This is the video that I used https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK2Y_uFn56g but there are lots of others on there that might help you!