British Gas is the leading energy provider in the UK and was the first provider to cut domestic electricity bills by 5% this year. But, when it comes to servicing your boiler it's also number one for complaints about overcharging and needless work. Chris Hollins reports...
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British Gas adverts tell customers that they will come to their rescue when boiler breakdowns occur. It's a reassuring message and British Gas promise to offer top quality service, peace of mind and - most importantly - no surprises when it comes to your bills.
But do those promises match the reality? Watchdog has heard from a number of British Gas customers who claim differently. Chris and expert plumber Mike Griffin went to meet them.
First they met Lois Brown, who's been with British Gas for 38 years, paying £18.85 a month on her homecare plan. Lois' boiler was working fine - until it started making strange noises the morning after its last service. A British Gas engineer came back to replace a pipe - and to deliver some shocking news. The day after the service Lois was told that her boiler could go on for another five years or it could go tomorrow which meant that she needed a new boiler. Lois was told it could be costly and it was: British Gas quoted more than £3600 for a new boiler. Lois was so shocked she called a local plumber - who gave a different diagnosis - and a very different price. She was told that the cause of her problems was the thermostat control and that it would cost £97 to fix.
Lois' boiler which has been working fine ever since the minor repair. Mike Griffin conducted an overall visual check on the boiler and checked to make sure it was performing safely and cleanly. He concluded that there was no reason for British Gas to tell Lois that she needed a new boiler.
Now, we all make mistakes, and identifying the wrong fault is not unheard of. But claiming a part is obsolete when it's not? That is unusual. Ask Gareth and Julie Ann. They were Homecare customers too, so when their boiler developed a fault, a British Gas engineer called round to check the boiler. However, he told them that the parts were obsolete, so the boiler would need to be replaced, and the cost of a new boiler would be £2800. On getting a second opinion they discovered that all the boiler needed to get it back up and running was a new gas valve, which could be fitted for £70. Mike's verdict? "The gas valve has been changed, it's a replacement, it's freely available and it's working properly and it's within the safety requirement so I don't see any reason to change this boiler."
Misdiagnosing, claiming parts are obsolete when they're readily available? Could it get any worse? Well yes, you see British Gas condemned Dorian Sibley's boiler even when it was in fine working order. A British Gas Engineer told Dorian during an annual service that the flue was corroded and as the parts were obsolete, Dorian would need a new boiler. Not only did British Gas condemn Dorian's boiler but the engineer also dismantled the boiler, placing parts in the bin. Luckily, Dorian got in contact with a local plumber who discovered that the so called obsolete part was available and that the old part didn't even need replacing.
Mike's verdict on Dorian's boiler was that the condition of the flue that British Gas had taken out did have some corrosion on it but not enough that it would allow flue gases to leak out of it and that there's no good reason to condemn the boiler and change it for a new one. It could have just been cleaned up, re-sealed and put back together.
And British Gas did eventually put it back together again but only after Dorian confronted them with the plumber's findings.
Chris Jansen from British Gas said:
We were clearly very disappointed to receive the three customer complaints passed to us by Watchdog. At British Gas, we work hard to do the best possible job for all our customers, and we maintain a relentless focus on customer safety.
We have carefully reviewed the cases of Mrs Brown, Mr Sibley and Mr & Mrs Hughes and believe that we acted with the best of intentions, and with these customers' interests in mind.
We made a mistake when we incorrectly advised that parts were obsolete when, in fact, they are still available. This was a genuine error on our part and we apologise for this. However, we stand by our advice that the boilers in question are at the end of their life and will become increasingly difficult and costly to maintain.
We repair 99 per cent of all breakdowns that we attend. Any recommendations we make to install a new boiler or undertake a repair take into account a range of factors including: safety; manufacturer guidance on the availability of spare parts; the age and efficiency of the existing boiler; and the likelihood of recurring breakdowns.
The three customers featured have boilers that are at least 22, 21 and 14 years old respectively. On every occasion, we reflected the manufacturer's guidance in the advice we gave.
Our 8,000 engineers are at the heart of British Gas. We are proud of these men and women, who have real expertise and who have been with our company for an average of 20 years. Their job is to get to a customer as quickly as possible and try to fix the problem on the first visit - we do this in the vast majority of cases.
At British Gas, we work 365 days a year and visit over seven million homes annually. Our objective is simply to do a great job for our customers. While we strive to please every customer we don't always achieve this. On the rare occasion where there is a disagreement we do all that we can to resolve the matter in our customers' favour.
If any customer has a concern about the advice or service they have received from British Gas then they should e-mail me at chris.jansen@britishgas.co.uk and I will respond personally.
British Gas: Looking after your world?
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
British Gas adverts tell customers that they will come to their rescue when boiler breakdowns occur. It's a reassuring message and British Gas promise to offer top quality service, peace of mind and - most importantly - no surprises when it comes to your bills.
But do those promises match the reality? Watchdog has heard from a number of British Gas customers who claim differently. Chris and expert plumber Mike Griffin went to meet them.
First they met Lois Brown, who's been with British Gas for 38 years, paying £18.85 a month on her homecare plan. Lois' boiler was working fine - until it started making strange noises the morning after its last service. A British Gas engineer came back to replace a pipe - and to deliver some shocking news. The day after the service Lois was told that her boiler could go on for another five years or it could go tomorrow which meant that she needed a new boiler. Lois was told it could be costly and it was: British Gas quoted more than £3600 for a new boiler. Lois was so shocked she called a local plumber - who gave a different diagnosis - and a very different price. She was told that the cause of her problems was the thermostat control and that it would cost £97 to fix.
Lois' boiler which has been working fine ever since the minor repair. Mike Griffin conducted an overall visual check on the boiler and checked to make sure it was performing safely and cleanly. He concluded that there was no reason for British Gas to tell Lois that she needed a new boiler.
Now, we all make mistakes, and identifying the wrong fault is not unheard of. But claiming a part is obsolete when it's not? That is unusual. Ask Gareth and Julie Ann. They were Homecare customers too, so when their boiler developed a fault, a British Gas engineer called round to check the boiler. However, he told them that the parts were obsolete, so the boiler would need to be replaced, and the cost of a new boiler would be £2800. On getting a second opinion they discovered that all the boiler needed to get it back up and running was a new gas valve, which could be fitted for £70. Mike's verdict? "The gas valve has been changed, it's a replacement, it's freely available and it's working properly and it's within the safety requirement so I don't see any reason to change this boiler."
Misdiagnosing, claiming parts are obsolete when they're readily available? Could it get any worse? Well yes, you see British Gas condemned Dorian Sibley's boiler even when it was in fine working order. A British Gas Engineer told Dorian during an annual service that the flue was corroded and as the parts were obsolete, Dorian would need a new boiler. Not only did British Gas condemn Dorian's boiler but the engineer also dismantled the boiler, placing parts in the bin. Luckily, Dorian got in contact with a local plumber who discovered that the so called obsolete part was available and that the old part didn't even need replacing.
Mike's verdict on Dorian's boiler was that the condition of the flue that British Gas had taken out did have some corrosion on it but not enough that it would allow flue gases to leak out of it and that there's no good reason to condemn the boiler and change it for a new one. It could have just been cleaned up, re-sealed and put back together.
And British Gas did eventually put it back together again but only after Dorian confronted them with the plumber's findings.
COMPANY RESPONSE
Chris Jansen from British Gas said:
We were clearly very disappointed to receive the three customer complaints passed to us by Watchdog. At British Gas, we work hard to do the best possible job for all our customers, and we maintain a relentless focus on customer safety.
We have carefully reviewed the cases of Mrs Brown, Mr Sibley and Mr & Mrs Hughes and believe that we acted with the best of intentions, and with these customers' interests in mind.
We made a mistake when we incorrectly advised that parts were obsolete when, in fact, they are still available. This was a genuine error on our part and we apologise for this. However, we stand by our advice that the boilers in question are at the end of their life and will become increasingly difficult and costly to maintain.
We repair 99 per cent of all breakdowns that we attend. Any recommendations we make to install a new boiler or undertake a repair take into account a range of factors including: safety; manufacturer guidance on the availability of spare parts; the age and efficiency of the existing boiler; and the likelihood of recurring breakdowns.
The three customers featured have boilers that are at least 22, 21 and 14 years old respectively. On every occasion, we reflected the manufacturer's guidance in the advice we gave.
Our 8,000 engineers are at the heart of British Gas. We are proud of these men and women, who have real expertise and who have been with our company for an average of 20 years. Their job is to get to a customer as quickly as possible and try to fix the problem on the first visit - we do this in the vast majority of cases.
At British Gas, we work 365 days a year and visit over seven million homes annually. Our objective is simply to do a great job for our customers. While we strive to please every customer we don't always achieve this. On the rare occasion where there is a disagreement we do all that we can to resolve the matter in our customers' favour.
If any customer has a concern about the advice or service they have received from British Gas then they should e-mail me at chris.jansen@britishgas.co.uk and I will respond personally.
British Gas: Looking after your world?