0/T. British Gas, New Boiler, beware

[Peter C]

Recently had a new central heating boiler installed by British Gas. The day before installation the boiler was delivered along with six , 3 meter lenghts of copper piper and a bag of copper connections. Upon signing up was told 3 men three days ,hence the excessive labour charges. One man arrived and did the job in two days plus an electrician for a couple of hours. The fitted used less than one lenght of the copper piping.He did a good job ,even found a water leak in the boiler which needed the manufacuters to attend to and repair, (On the third day) All the rubbish, old boiler and unused piping was removed. I then had a call from a Gas Board manager asking if the job was done to my satisfation ? I queried the excessive coipper pipe that was delivered to be told it is part of a normal package when ordering a new boiler from British Gas. He regretted he could not order a refund. Having signed up to pay a fixed price I may be in lumber if I refuse to pay the agrteed amount.

The object of the post is to make others aware of the Britsh Gas charges. Peter.

[Andy Hall]

In the context of how much over the odds that you will have paid for the complete package, a few extra lengths of copper pipe at a fiver a length is a mere bagatelle.

Typical BG prices are 50-100% more than the cost of the same job done by a local heating engineer. Quite often, BG subcontract to a local firm anyway and the customer funds BG's healthy margins.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

So true. My immediate next door neighbour has signed up with BG and has taken out their package deal. I asked her this year had she needed them out for anything in

2004,reply...NO

Thats a lot of money to pay for something you don't get back if not needed.

[Bob Eager]

(typical British Gas boiler story)

I think most people here are very aware of this. BG have a fixed 'installation package' cost which is geared towards the 'worst case' installation (with a large uplift on top of that). The prices are very high - for example, the charge for fitting main earth bonding to the gas intake is of the order of £140 on its own.

I obtained quotes from BG recently for a boiler replacement. Depending on the boiler, a typical 'installation package' (excluding boiler) was £1600. This was essentially just labour. Total quote was £3275, but the other quotes I had all came in at around £1900, for slightly more work, and with a few extras as well (e.g. a new pump). So, £1300 extra just for using BG!

The pipe therefore would have been included and you should have demanded to keep it. But that's a drop in the ocean; you'd have gained far more by not using BG in the first place.

[Dave Baker]

If the total estimated charge was a lump sum not broken down into labour and materials and you agreed to it I see no recourse. However if the quote was high specifically because of labour charge estimates which turned out to be excessive I would have thought you should have some comeback. You would expect a professional estimator to be able to accurately predict how long the job ought to take. Presumably they had full acess to your house and were able to look round and see exactly what needed to be done. Trading Standards might be interested but a complaint to British Gas followed by a small claim in the county court would seem to be your only chance of getting a refund if you've already paid.

-- Dave Baker Puma Race Engines

Camp USA engineer minces about for high performance specialist (4,4,7)

[Bob Eager]

I had a BG quote (and it's a firm quote, not an estimate; it specifically says so). It listed the parts (boiler, valves, etc.) and then an 'installation package', which appears to be labour and odd materials such as pipe fittings, inhibitor etc. It's a fixed price for each boiler as far as I can see.

In the case of BG, the man just picked items from the menus in his computer. He started by sizing the boiler (IMO, he got that wrong; all other quotes, and my own calculations, had his value at 75% of the rest). Then he showed a list of boilers to choose, and explained why the cheaper ones were a Bad Idea. On picking a boiler, he simply picked the items...boiler, powerflush, install package) from his menus. He hardly looked at the house except to see if he could sell the main bonding 'package' at £140.

Since the OP presumably signed to agree to all this, it's difficult to see what he can do. He bought the 'package', and I expect the rest was verbal.

[Robert Laws]

and it might be possible to claim when you do need it. My neighbour paid the premiums for years, having filled in all the details of her boiler type when th egareement was set up. When eventually it did need attention, BG said they couldn't get parts for it and she'd have to pay for a new one. They did not seem to think it had been unreasonable of them to collect the premiums on a boiler they knew the details of and which they could not fix.

Robert

[Peter C]

[Stuart Noble]

This is rarely true IME.

and she'd have

They did not seem to think it had been