BG Central Heating breakdown care

[ANt]

Having had a new CH system fitted 3-4 years ago I thought it was time to get it serviced..should really have been every year...but you know how time passes :-)

I phoned up Vailant who have in the past been excellent at attending to problems (diverter valve problems on a then new model). They said however that they were too busy now to send engineers round to service combis and that it was better to get one of the British gas policies that includes servicing.

I had thought about the BG policy in the past and thought I may as well get the policy to protect against some unwanted/unplanned costs that may arise and as it included servicing seemed like a good time to do it.

However, after the engineer left the building, my wife phones to say he didn't seem to do much...certainly didn't vacuum out the boiler which I thought would be a standard part of service.

Looking on the website now I see it's not neccesarily a service but

"a yearly safety and performance inspection (except for electric boilers) to help reduce breakdowns "

That sounds a little crap and if my wife is correct, then we still need to get it serviced otherwise it'll certinaly shorten its life at best nevermind the effects of it running innefficiently.

Anyone have any experience of these policies and what the 'inspection' is supposed to include ? I'm afraid I didn't spend too much time looking into it before hand which was stupid in retrospect. It didn't really cross my mind that they'd send someone round once a year to polish the boiler housing and not bother checking inside it considering they're supposed to cough up for any problems. However I don't really want to knock 5 years life of the boiler because it's not actually being serviced properly. The policy is "Maintenance and Breakdown" cover so I expect some Maintenance...not just breakdown cover...and I don't class a visual inspection as maintenance.

Ant.

[Andy Hall]

I had some experience of this a few years back.

The advertising is very good. It's when you sign up that the disappointment begins. The TV advertising, especially, I felt, is very misleading. They feature a man and a boy team who show up at a hapless customer, and the patter gives the impression that they are offering a paramedic service. I felt that this was less than honest and have a case with the ASA about it.

My own experience, one winter when the boiler failed was disappointing when I called them. They were not able to send anybody for five days. I asked them why and they said that they were experiencing a lot of staffing problems and were prioritising vulnerable people like the elderly and families with small children. I escalated the issue through their organisation until I reached director level but got absolutely nowhere. What pissed me off the most was that they felt that this way of working was acceptable - they still very much have the attitude of a public sector service industry. Sorry, but in the commercial world at the prices that they are charging, they need to make arrangements to provide a reasonable level of service, and it isn't for them to play God over who gets service and who does not.

In the end, I repaired the boiler myself at a cost of £3 for a new thermocouple and about 30 minutes work.

BG, on threat of legal action, refunded my entire year's contract payment, although continued to protest that they were inside the contract conditions.

It may or it may not be. If you look on Vaillant's web site, you will find the installation and service documentation for your boiler.

Often BG will just put a combustion analyser in the flue and test carbon monoxide level. This is one indication of correct behaviour and safety but does not necessarily say whether the boiler is operating at its most efficient.

One can argue that pulling the boiler apart every year is not necessary - it depends on what the manufacturer recommends.

I can understand that you feel short changed, but check what the manufacturer suggests.

Their other favourite games are to tell customers that their systems need to be powerflushed. Not included. Expect to pay £500-800 for this. You can *buy* the machine for little more than this, and can certainly hire them. Alternatively, you can do an effective job in other ways for next to nothing.

If a boiler looks as though it is going to cost them time and money to fix, then they will tell you that it is beyond economic repair and then offer you a new one at an arm and a leg over anybody else in the market. They'll sweeten the deal if pushed by giving you three years breakdown cover. Give!! Hmmm...

If you are paying by standing order, I would cancel it immediately and offer them £30 for the work they did already.

Then find yourself a local heating firm or fitter to do the work.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[p00kie]

I'd be interested to know the outcome of this as I've been considering a 'maintenance and breakdown cover' policy for my CH boiler which is coming up to 3 years mod 2004.

I also agree with what you say about the maintenance expetations. But knowing what companies can be like they'd probably class this as a service and charge thru the nose for it!

[Dave Plowman]

Just out of interest, I didn't touch my newly installed system with the express desire of seeing just how long it would run without a 'service'. The answer - 12 years. Then it needed a good clean out. Natural gas burns pretty cleanly and doesn't require the ancient idea of an annual clean out that town gas did. IMHO, there's nothing in a modern system that an annual service from BG etc is needed. It's simply an insurance contract. And it's up to you whether this is worthwhile or not.

[ARWadsworth]

It is excellent. On the advert Ricky Tomlinson says "we do not need to be here" and never was a truer word spoken.

-- Adam

adamwadsworth@(REMOVETHIS)blueyonder.co.uk

[Michael Chare]

I would have thought that there should be some maintenance instructions for the boiler which would tell you what servicing is required. (Maybe you need to get a copy from manufacturer.)

In my (old) experience the thermo couples fail and need replacing if you don't want to stay cold.

You might find that something like inspection of the burners is covered, but replacment is not.

Michael Chare

[Alan]

In message , ARWadsworth wrote

The advertisements are b******s. Even if you provide your own meter readings over the web BG will send a letter every 18 months threatening legal action unless you allow them into your house to 'perform a safety check'.

The safety check is someone turning up to (surprise, surprise) read the meter. As he is not Corgi registered I'm not sure that this 5 second safety check has any meaning!

What's worse is that they will only read the one meter even if asked to read both because BG supply both the gas and electricity. A few months later another threatening letter arrives in order to safety check the electricity!

[Harry Bloomfield]

On 29/12/2003 "ANt" opined:-

I would suggest the best thing to do is to put the money you would pay BG into a money box, then use that to cover the cost of any repairs.

[BillR]

They do next to nothing. Cancel the contract and save your money. I haven't had one for > 20 years so have saved myself enough money for 2 boilers when the time comes...

I watched them do 2 "services" not long ago at my ma-in-laws and another. They were barely there 20 minutes in each case. In one they failed to do anything about the very noisy pump which they had to replace the following week. In the other they did nothing about the combi cold pressure of

[ARWadsworth]

The b******s owe me a days wage and travel expenses to my parent's holiday home after not tuning up for the above safety check appointment. They also owe my Dad the same. Third time lucky. An invoice for just over £400 has been sent to them to cover costs.

-- Adam

adamwadsworth@(REMOVETHIS)blueyonder.co.uk

[Andy Hall]

That's going to be very interesting. Please keep us updated as this one progresses....

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

[Ed Sirett]

Also anyone that remote is not on mains gas, bulk LPG tanks or even Oil!

Have you noticed they have now added a bit of 'small print' something about 'safety checks still being required' - but it is only displayed for a moment so I have not looked at it very closely.

As for the OP problem.

1) There is a culture and public perception that boilers need servicing and whilst I agree that an annual quick safety check is a good idea it really is quite unnecessary to pull a contemporary boiler apart annually. Most can years before needing a good overhaul.

2) There is also a culture of never touching a gas fire and these really do need to be looked after much more than they generally get.

3) Sniffing the flue gases with a gas analyser might well be good enough as PART OF an annual check. What else needs doing will depend on the type of equipment - there is little to check on a modern boiler but at the very least the burner pressure must be checked.

Older boilers with a thermocouple should have the time between the pilot flame going out to moment the gas valve 'clunks' out measured.

60s is the maximum, whilst there is no minimum times under 5 seconds could suggest a nearly expired thermocouple which will save a lot of hassle if it is replaced right away. Also the valve going clunk is not guarantee that the valve has shut off so that should also be checked - as they get older some valves get very sticky inside.

Much older boilers with open flues will need careful checking with smoke matches every year, and they temd to pick up a lot of dirt so theyt need stripping down most years.

[Ed Sirett]

This could only mean checking that no one has taken the meter out of service and bridged it with a hose.

[Ed Sirett]

Let us know how you get on.

[Andrew]

In article , Andy Hall writes

hnologies.pdf - Rocal 20 descaling and flushing pump. 'For the efficient removal of lime scale and sludge from you know where. £311 + vat. Or try googling for 'Rothenburger'. I think HSS hire if out too, also a hydraulic pipe/radiator tester as used by all the U/F installers.

[Dave Liquorice]

Not for your safety thats for sure, only a CORGI can do a gas appliance safety check and to do it properly on a place with boiler and gas cooker would take the best part of a morning. Ed?

This is the real reason, safety of their revenue. I believe there are some regulatory restrictions on how often *they* *must* read the meter.

[ARWadsworth]

ARWadsworth

It is not a problem. It is now the second time they have done this. We got the money last time (about 5 years ago) but it was time consuming. In the end they paid up when we sent the person dealing with our complaint a cutting from a newspaper where someone had taken BG to court and won his case for loss of wages etc. Hopefully they will have us on file and pay up a little quicker this time.

-- Adam

adamwadsworth@(REMOVETHIS)blueyonder.co.uk

[tarquinlinbin]

Some boilers need a strip down and clean out/wash burners etc,adjust this n that,some don;t. Its horses for courses. For modern boilers,a lot of the fee is really for insurance as modern appliances are more technologically advanced and therefore cost more to fix when they go wrong.

You pays your money you take your choice. The way people bleat on here about BG you;d think they were the worst ever organisation. Beleive me,they are not. They are just an easy target for people to shoot down. Mind you,people not happy with them could try the yellow pages or small ads. I expect there are lots of fully qualified,dependable,honest tradespeople on there.

[Colin Wilson]

I don`t know if they`ll swing that far by way of expenses, but=20

do set "missed appointment payments" under the=20 guaranteed standards.

Energy suppliers (both gas and elec afaik) are also obliged to read the=20 meter once every 12 months (might have been extended now), and to change=20 the meters every x number of years. For electric I think its a 20 year=20 cycle, commonly known as an SMC (statutory meter change).

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