Warmfront is a scam.

[Ed Sirett]

I was sadly amused to hear about the promotion of Warmfront by the gov't the other day.

In theory they are supposed to be able to supply central heating installation, upgrades and replacement for the old and poor.

In practice there are so few approved contractors that they are able to ask for more that the allowance given by Warmfront. From the OAP's POV they are great value. However I feel that scheme is very wasteful.

I could go into details of how they operate... They are technically correct but have zero customer relation skills.

[benpost]

hi ed do you know if the new proposals will help me in getting cavity wall insulation? i share the wall with the above neighbour and need to speak to him first, but in the winter it can get cold and damp and i am very sure a lot of heat is lost through this north facing wall.

[dennis]

Well they did for my dad, it did take eight weeks though.

It went something like.. Sunday, fill in application on web.. Monday morning.. get phone call, "can I come and do an initial survey and check your eligibility later today?" OK. Monday afternoon.. Approval given.

Waited for the heating guy to come out an measure up for about 6 weeks.

Waited for them to set install date.. Monday, phone call "Can we come and install the CH on Thursday?" OK.

Fri, finished.

YMMV.

[Ian]

Why, I know loads of people that beneft from up to £2700 of insulation, heating and whatever else they need. Not just OAPs.

They do, I have seen a few recently, all very good work. One heating system had a fire and back boiler removed and was replaced by a new boiler, then the house had loft and cavity wall insulation, a few draught excluders and two years of boiler servicing.

That is because the Yello Pages is full of non-Corgi registered cowboys who are not VAT registered. If they take the work they have to be accountable and the work has to be to an acceptable standard.

You have very little experience of it then, it's NOT just for OAPs.

Go on then because you sound like a right tosser.

[George]

amount in terms of quality and workmanship in the installation of a CH system.

[George]

Its nothing to do with speed Dennis...more to do with a shitty job of installing the system.

[George]

Erm! Ed is far from being a tosser,you're not a war front pillock are you?

Two of the installations I have seen have be downright poor in the installation and I'd go as far as saying below standard workmanship.

My own was done by warmfront and it took me months to get them out and redo various work again. One of the was about to destroy the fancy coving in the living room just to fit a gas pipe up the wall,he had a hammer and chisle ready to hack the corner coving out...FFS!

[George]

[NOSPAMnet]

You need to be over 60 tho' don't you or even older if you already have CH but it's knackered .

[geoff]

In message , Ian writes

I think you'll find that he isn't

[Chas]

pissed off cause you you cant get warmfront work is it?

[pete]

Hopefully more engineers will register. My old mum recently had a boiler replaced (see thread on this n.g. some time back). The chappie who did the work used her voucher as the incentive to register with the scheme. Although he said he hadn't heard of it when she mentioned it when he visited to do the quote, by the time he did the work - about 5-6 weeks later, he was ale to take it, and give her a £300 reduction in the bill.

[Bob Eager]

Nothing wrong with Ed. Obviously you're one of the Warmfront scammers...

[The Medway Handyman]

Are you just here to try & cause trouble? Ed is the most knowledgeable & helpful person when it comes to central heating - he wrote the group FAQ.

Looks like a new troll chaps.

[dennis]

Well you post some pictures of your work and I will post some of theirs (when I get a chance to take them).

[Ed Sirett]

Yes, technically correct but making it look terrible.

[Ed Sirett]

In the cases where I have direct experience they have been, but I am aware that others are eligible for this benefit.

The work I have seen has been technically correct but upset the occupier and her neighbours a lot.

I'm not talking about the cowboys, I'm talking about the going rate as offered but CORGI registered, maybe VAT registere but not Warmfront registered instellers.

I accept that I may have seen an unrepresentative sample.

It might well be that you are a very capable and conscientious Warmfront registered installer. This would not apply to one firm (Cosytop) that had to be dragged back to box in pipes, reroute the condensate drain. The customer was most upset to find out that making good was not included in the price, which was IMHO £1000 over the going (non cowboy) rate.

[Ed Sirett]

If I wished to do this (I have other concerns) I'd reckon on standing as good as chance as other. I'd reckon on being able to slice a bit off some of the other contractors prices too.

[Ed Sirett]

That's interesting if I could register just to do the work for existing selected customers. Is that possible?

[George]

I did do in the past. Pipes running along skirting boards to the rads when they could have gone under the floorboards and up to the rads. Boiler almost in the center of the bathroom wall when there was plenty of space near to the corner of two walls. Taking old copper boiler without my permission.