problems with British Gas and my boiler

[disigley]

Hi-I have the British Gas Homecare agreement and got them out in December as quite a lot of the radiators in my house were only tepid at most and we were freezing!First they bled all the radiators-no change-then the engineer said I needed a Powerflush but this wasn't covered by the Agreement and it would cost just under £900-just what you need just before Xmas!-he also said I should consider a new boiler as then you get the powerflush for free-he arranged for the salesman (or should I say conman) to call-This guy then persuaded me to sign up for a new boiler at a cost of just over £3000 saying that it would make my house "piping hot throughout",that it would be in in time for Xmas and that my gas bills would reduce by a third or more.The engineer then came and fitted the new boiler and guess what -no change whatsoever-we had a freezing Xmas and the temperature in my kitchen never goes above 11C (mid fifties F)The engineer explained he could not get all my radiators hot and even suggested that I withhold some of the money!-I paid him £2000 and withheld £1000 but now I could kick myself for even paying that-they have not provided the service they promised-also my old boiler was only 8 years old and I have just done the AOL British Gas boiler test to see if my old boiler would have qualified for the boiler scrappage sheme and guess what-it didn't -as it came up as efficient!
I'm not sure if you can sue British Gas
Help please!!!!

 

[Tony]

Hi,

This is quite a serious complaint against British Gas for misselling a boiler. Have you contacted them?

British Gas Complaints Process
For HomeCare®, Kitchen Appliance Care, Home Electrical Care, Gas Appliance Care

We will always aim to do our best but unfortunately there may be times when things go wrong. If you have a complaint about any part of our service we want to hear from you so that we can build improvements into our policies, processes and procedures.

You can contact us in the following ways

Telephone us on : 0845 9500 400

Or

Write to us at the following address:

Helen Emms, Head of Customer Relations
British Gas Services Customer Relations
PO Box 4394
Dunstable
LU6 9LG

Or

Helen Emms, Head of Customer Relations
Scottish Gas Services Customer Relations
PO Box 4395
Dunstable
LU6 9LG

Or

Email us at: BGS.CustomerRelations@centrica.com

We will always try to resolve your complaint as soon as we receive it. Where we can't we will send you an acknowledgement of your complaint within no more than 48 hours and tell you who is dealing with the matter so that you know who to contact.

We will work hard to resolve the problem as quickly and efficiently as possible. Where your case is complex or involves a number of issues, we may need some time to make sure that we have covered everything. We will keep you regularly informed, either by telephone or in writing, while we do so.

 

[disigley]

Thanks Tony-thats very helpful-I'll get onto it straightaway!I'll let you know how I go on.
Kind Regards Di

 

[H2O]

As a qualified plumber I find this story very disturbing. It may pay to engage the services of a local member of the IDHE (idhe.org.uk), who in the first instance may resolve your heating system problems and also provide a report of his/her findings for evidence.

 

[wiggys1972]

Hi my alpha ocean boiler keeps heating the water and the heating and then decides to shut down then 1minute later decides to fire up again causing the water to cool down very anoying when you are having a shower,
what i would like to know is we have british British gas home care cover and the service guy who was very rude and ignorant said if he cant get the part for our boiler which is 13yrs old combi boiler we may have to have a new one, are we covered for a new boiler free of charge?
Please help.

 

[Bexilford]

I have worcester Bosch 26cdi xtra which is ten year old. Just before xmas it would only work in either heating or hot water only. If i turned hot water tape when central heating was on, the burner would go out. After New year I called British gas to repair since I have Home care 200. The engineer said it needed a boiler and heat exhanger. The following day he came and said he needed to remove the heater and return it to the manufacturer and I was not covered for this. It would be cheaper to buy a new boiler. He wrote on Home care check list " Boiler condemned New Boiler required" Today another British Gas employee came with quotations for a new Boiler. He said my boiler is over ten years old and since it was not fitted by British Gas they would not repair it and left me with a quotation of £3000 and wanted me to sign a contract there and then. When I said I needed to discuss with my wife he said he was busy man and I would have to wait two weeks. I later phoned British gas and mentioned that home care covers parts and labour, and there is no age limit and olso my model was only discontinued in 2007, they then turned round and said it has sludge and I need to book power clean first. Where can I get independent examination of my boiler to confirm that it is not repairable?

I also taped the conversation using my mobile phone.

 

[Witch consumer]

Any central heating engineer will give you a quote to repair or replace the boiler, British Gas condemned my boiler and quoted £4.5k to replace and ungrade a couple of radiators, I got it done by a local engineer for £1800 but I didn't have homecare so I knew I'd have to do it myself.

 

[krishen]

I am continuously sending letters and emails to British Gas customer service since December 2011 with no response whatsoever. Like many other complaints I got all new pipe work and old radiators replaced by British Gas for £4000.00. This was done after seven years of British Gas nagging me that my pipe work under floor is faulty to the extent slapped a UNSAFE NOTICE on the boiler with instructions not to use. This invalidated my building and contents insurance. On complaint they removed the notice only to replace by 'RESTRICTIONS IN SYSTEM'. I am an 80 years old and ill and infirm person afraid of losing heat/hot water or pay heft repair costs. I have their Home Care since 1985. Some years ago they replaced the boiler and now the pipe work/radiators. There is no improvement to the warmth in the house but term reverse could be appropriate to use. This work was termed as energy saving and turned out to be energy consuming gas worth more than £400.00 in a period of warm than unusual weather excepting two weeks. The heating works when it should be off as per thermostat settings and is on when it should be off. I asked British Gas to send me certificate after the installation that the work has been carried out to highest standards of professionalism and technical standards for central heating systems but NO RESPONSE. I feel they are afraid of substandard work as no HONEST company would be unwilling to certify their own work. I have sent a complaint to Financial Ombudsman and hope there will be some response from British Gas.

 

[Witch consumer]

I think I would also be registering a complaint with Gas Safe too, sounds like theres something seriously wrong with your installation and although there not be any risk involved from gas, you should have got what you paid for, an efficient, working heating system. This is from the Gas Safe website:

•If you have had gas work done in the last six months you can nominate it for a free safety inspection. Call Gas Safe Register on 0800 408 5500 or nominate a safety inspection online.

Have you gone through British Gas' compalints system? if not and you want any help with this, give us a shout.

 

[timaloy]

this seems to be coming more and more of a problem.. British home care engineers on a visit vigorously scan the system for the slightest defect ..then they go for the new boiler trick.. they seem to be trained to do as little as possible for the customer ,in and out within 10 mins...I have 3-4 property's which i let out and must have home care...every one has the engineer has found fault with before he even looks at the problem..the home care is a con....the faults cant possibly happen but bg gives you the belief you getting cover...my boiler has the problem that it cuts in on and off ,very uncomfortable when showering..the BG engineer told me 5-6 different reasons why this was happening..all not covered by the warranty..i disproved all of them..his final analysis was the boiler has a shower connected to the system..even tho its turned off he states that this is the problem??? And wait for it..he stated to me that every combi boiler fitted with a shower in the uk is wrongly fitted..he left without fixing it..spoke to Mira and vokera..they told me the engineer is in cookoo land and has not a clue what he is talking about...the faults obviously in the boiler...he told me to lift all my tiling and carpeting to remove the shower pipe work...stupidity at its highest..an heating engineer told me removing this will have no bearing on the fault at all...my point is that engineers are fabricating the most stupid excuses to stop warranty work

 

[Witch consumer]

Get yourself a good heating engineer who will show up when you have a fault and kick BG into touch, My CH engineer is brilliant even if he does sing a little too loudly and completely out of tune!! I'm sure it will sve you money and inconvenience in the long run.

 

[krishen]

Of course you can sue the British Gas as it would seem to be a misrepresentation. You can use the small claims track in your local county court. An efficient boiler does not need to be replaced.

 

[Witch consumer]

Small Claims Court is only for financial claims so if you had replaced your boiler and could then prove you didn't need to, you could claim back the cost of the boilder and fitting from them, you can't sue in the SCC for receiving bad advice.

 

[AaronF]

Another day, another load of bad press for the British Gas Theyre terrible.

 

[timaloy]

wiggy....i had exactly the same problem..i put in a complaint and they sent a more experienced engineer..i told them not to send the previous idiots..luckily this engineer sorted the problem..its an on going con..you pay for the "insurance" and most engineers just try to make excuse after excuse to stop them opening there kit box read my previous post...i own a few propertys..every engineer visit has started with "its not covered by the homecare" its only because im an engineer my self that ive disproved them..i cant help thinking about the thousands of non technical customers have fallen for this....new boiler needed...flush out needed...all bull ****..homecare is a sales pitch to get you to buy a new system

 

[PaulWhittyWhite]

I had no idea home care's a sales pitch to get you to buy a new system ! Glad any boiler / central heating stuff is done by stlheating.co.uk as I've never has "you need a new boiler 'cos your radiator is leaking" experience from these guys. Just no problems and feeling grateful I never (well almost) fell for the BG home care package !

 

[henrypaw]

BG installed a Worcester 24Ri on 28 Oct 2014, less than 17 months ago. Originally, I was led to believe I had an extra 12 months free BG Homecare at the end of my one year warranty. As it turns out, the free Homecare started the day my boiler was installed, which didn't make sense to me at all. As a protest, I decided not to continue the Homecare package with BG, as I thought I thought that I could rely on the 5 year warranty from Worcester. Today, my 17 month old Worcester 24Ri boiler broke down and the Worcester customer service rep told me that I am not covered by the usual 5 year warranty as the boiler was installed by BG, and they had agreed to reduce the 5 year warranty to only 1 year. This was not pointed out to me at the time of the contract with BG. I will seek legal advice tomorrow as I think I should have a case either against Worcester or BG for agreeing to reduce the warranty to only 1 year.

 

[GloriaDSharma]

Thank you for posting this up. It's helpful, really. I'm having similar problems with them as well. Good to know, I'm not alone (although, that's not really good).