BG came round yesterday to quote to replace our old 30 ry old gravit
system (glow worm hide away) with a new combi. After we explained our requirements and the extension proposed for th property they proposed the following boiler.
Worcester Greenstar 440 Highflow - 201/min, 60l primary store, twin ta operation. So the best bit, with the removal of our old system, quite a bit o additional pipework, external bricking up, removal of all old tanks new radiator valves and wirless control comes to - £4156 (boikler pric in BG paperwork was £2.2k)
Firm I used to work for did a quote for a new boiler and some other minor work for £1200. BG quoted £2600. Householder thought we were too cheap and might not be around to provide guarantee. They took the BG quote. BG subbed it to us. Householder less than pleased.
Well surely it was still BG that would be guaranteeing the work so the householder should still be happy in the knowledge that if you went under BG would have to find somebody else to sort it out if the work was wrong.
PS. I'm not endorsing BG, just playing devil's advocate!
How could that make it worth paying an extra £1400 for the same job. AFAIK, if you get a new boiler, BG will provide a service contract for around £150 per year - they will probably offer and recommend the same on their "own" product.
As I implied at the bottom of my post - I wasn't agreeing that this was a good idea. The reason the householder originally chose BG was that they were worried the smaller firm might go under rendering any guarentee useless. On those grounds, even though the smaller firm carried out the work, the guarentee would still be valid even if they did go under as it would be BG that would be answerable to the work. Therefore the householder shouldn't have cared that the smaller firm got the contract from BG as their reasons for doing what they did still held.
Well my thoughts are that it is a free market economy and that if the BG quote doesnt suit,then go elsewhere. As for subbing out,well I would make it a condition of sale that the work is donr by BGs' own in house staff. As an aside,i worked for BG for many years and i did loads of central heating installs. In the late 80's BG thought that its own in house tams were too expensive so they started subbing out. Punters thought that me and my colleagues would turn up in our smart BG vans and overalls but instead, sometimes a clapped out old trannie (the van that is..) would turn up with some other guys in it. Some were fine,many were not and i have seen some truly horrific jobs in which it was clear that the installers didnt even have a rudimentary understanding of system design (not combi installs). One truly memorable example and i wish i had taken a picture,system install in a bungalow,main flow from boiler taken straight up into the loft to header tank,tee off for expansion over tank then another tee,pump fitted (above water level in tank!!!!) then down supposedly to feed the heating and hot water!. Needless to say when things went wrong,the useless managers would send us round to troubleshoot/reinstall. I cut that piece of plumbing out and lobbed it on the managers desk in the office. I quit not long after that.
So then,if you go with the BG quote,try and barter it down AND insist in writing that BG own staff do the install. Unfortunately these days,your paying for a certain level of piece of mind and guarantee backup. There are loads of excellent independant installers out there,its just finding them thats tricky. The British public are their own worst enemy.
Yes, but this option was always available to them, even before they knew that it was the smaller firm that would get the contract from BG, they chose not to go for it though.
There is a difference between a guarantee and a service contract - in fact I would imagine it would be pretty pointless paying for a service contract on a system where the installation is still fully covered by the installer's gurantee and the components are covered by their manufacturer's guarentee.
Take advice on whether a combi will suit your needs. And make sure you get the spec in writing. Because most combis will not match the temperature or flow of your existing hot water system.
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