British Gas rip off??

[D.L]

Hi,

I'm trying to determine whether we've been charged way too much for a new water and central heating system to replace a combi boiler set-up in a 4 story Victorian house.

2 guys spent roughly 12 hours to install a Bosch RD 428 condensing boiler with all the associated flues (close by). An Albion 1500 x 450 High recovery cylinder on the ground floor, and two 50 gallon cold water tanks in the attic.

Obviously all the piping between the two floors and the central heating have been supplied and fitted along with a thermostat and timer. Plus the de-commissioning and removal of the old Combi.

The job went according to plan with no unforeseen issues.

What is the ball-park inclusive cost for something like this?

If this is the wrong groups for this, where should I post this kind of question?

Thanks in advance

DL

[Ian Clowes]

Hi DL

I suspect you're rather setting youself up for a fall. You only mention BG in the subject, but that does suggest a premium price.

You say:

But not including the per floor rads? I'd be surprised if that was done within 12h with concealed pipework.

Anyway, I know someone sitting on a BG quote to fit their bungalow with boiler plus dozen rads for £7000 or so, including 3-year warranty.

'Local' plumbers are offering a similar install for £5000, without the waranty and potentially having to wait until New Year to get the job done.

HTH IanC

[IMM]

BG are expensive, but good little haggling backup.

[Andy Hall]

IME very poor service and no sense of urgency.

Still behaving like a nationalised industry with little notion of customer service.

.andy

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[Colin Wilson]

Most staff are only employed as contractors now though aren`t they ?

It`s hard to maintain standards when you pay the lowest bidder, and the apathy of "their" staff reflects this.

[StealthUK]

My brother used BG's heating cover service. They normally do an initial inspection to assess your boiler. Well in this case they kept postponing this inspection so he ended up paying for at least 9 months. When the boiler did have a problem he called them and the engineer refused to fix it claiming the thermostat wire not being properly clipped to the wall was not up to standard.

[BigWallop]

Then sue them.

[Peter Ashby]

When the BG service engineer asked if they could quote for a replacement system for our ageing back boiler he couldn't get the salesman to come outside of office hours. Having waited in for the engineer (no definite time) I wasn't going to do the same thing for a salesman.

When we come to replace the system (probably a condensing boiler in the loft with pipes run up the chimney) we will use a local company, no doubt about it.

Peter

[BillR]

Anything B Gas do is way too expensive and in my opinion often not done properly. e.g. I watched them twice do CH services and cancelled my contract afterwards as I was so unimpressed. Remember they aren't really British Gas anymore. This is a trading name of Centrica who has also swallowed & screwed up the AA. They also had Goldfish, a loss making credit card, but they've just flogged that.

[Andrew Gabriel]

A couple of months back IIRC, the heating trade press had an article on just how bad BG's servicing is... such as several years of annual boiler servicing, without ever even opening the boiler once. There are also complaints about how misleading their TV adverts are.

[StealthUK]

It's not for me but my bro to do and he is a twit. He gives away money to everyone else but expects me to do work for him for free. Mind you he's not the only person I know who is like that.

[Andy Hall]

That is precisely how I threatened them, after a failure to perform, and obtained a full year's refund of contract payment.

.andy

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