Boiler beyond economical Repair (con)

[rick]

Boiler been under service contract since new, so annual check etc. Took out maintenance policy for a Baxi 100HE with a new national company. They sent an engineer who carried out service, and as house is to be rented out they also did the Landlord gas certificate. (both were at cost separate to maintenance fee)

No advisories all notes say boiler was fine & serviceable ... it is 11 years old.

Last week ( 3 weeks after service) boiler failed, Contract company sent a guy out ... he pronounced new fan needed.

Sub-contract gas fitter quote was £145 +vat for fan and £45 +vat to fit it. Company advised this made it beyond economical repair. Would I like boiler replaced for special offer of £1800 +vat

I hit the roof - called local branch of PTS ... price of genuine Baxi spare fan .... £55 +Vat After a great many phone calls, they agreed to fix boiler.

They explained they have algorithm where they take initial cost of boiler knock 10% off per year, to get to current value. If repair greater than 40% of this value they will class as uneconomical to repair ... and quoted some small print in t&c that they had not even sent me.

Is this the way service contracts are going - or have I just got a bad company.

[newshound]

Service contracts are designed for people who can't / won't think for themselves.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

It happens that newshound formulated :

..and to make money for the companies, not the customer.

[newshound]

Every business has to do that.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Par for the course. My brother has paid out on two new boilers because the service company claimed they were beyond economic repair.

[Dave Plowman (News]

One would hope it also provides the service you are paying for, though,

[Chris Green]

It's a legal requirement, directors must operate the company in its own best interests.

"Enlightened self-interest" from the company's point of view I suggest, companies that don't satisfy their customers ultimately go bust.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Dave Plowman (News) formulated the question :

Not if they can get away with it, they don't. That's why they have lots of small print, which no one ever reads and large print, basically true, but with lots they don't tell you unless you read the small print.

Most of these contracts have little value for the customer.

[Dave Plowman (News]

I totally agree. I've never had a service contract or paid for an extended warranty etc, and never regretted it.

[Fredxx]

Which is why I repair my own boiler as and when required. It's hardly rocket science.

The only thing I can't do is check combustion after any calibration. But if you can see a healthy flame chances are it is fine.

Not so long ago I changed a gas valve. I seriously wonder how much that would have cost if I had to GAMI.

[Dave Plowman (News]

More likely just reinvent themselves with a different name. ;-)

[newshound]

Me neither.

That's not to say, though, that particularly in the commercial world "service" agreements of various types are quite common, and usually beneficial to both parties. One big difference is that on the customer side, the contract manager usually has a good idea of what he needs and can monitor what he is getting. And for the supplier, there is a relatively assured source of work so that they don't need a sales team to go scouting for work. If you put good technical people in sales then the customers are more confident, and the scoping and pricing is likely to be better. But then you don't have the good technical people to do the work.

[Peter Johnson]

A bit more than 20 years ago I had a new boiler installed and asked the installer, a one-man operator, about service. 'I wouldn't bother' he replied. So I didn't, and thanks to comments on here, I changed the circuit board myself when that went a few years later - Potterton Suprima. And it's still going strong. (But I'm quite sure that the installer scammed me when he said a replacement pressure vave wasn't obtainable for the previousl boiler, but I wasalready receptive to the notion of changing it.)

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

They may well print that, but they do not always invoke it. I guess you get the odd company who feels they can get a lucrative contract out of a job from time to time.

I think they always cover themselves with the small print as I'm sure they get some real dogs of systems to look after! Brian

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

Exactly - put all the money you would have paid out for service contracts in an account, then when you have a problem you would have plenty of money to pay for the work.

[Max Demian]

Poundworld --> One Below (Same shops, similar colour scheme)

[Dave Plowman (News]

My brother had that with a BG service contract. Told a new part needed wasn't available. (I found one in minutes) What they probably meant was they didn't have one in their stores.

They persuaded him to have a new boiler (on 'special' offer). The infamous Potterton after they were taken over. Made a real mess of the installation, moving it to a different place from the old one with pipes running along walls at near ceiling height. Just because it was easy for them. And it broke down several times a year. And after a few years said they would no longer service it as it was too unreliable.

He went elsewhere for a new boiler.

[Dave Plowman (News]

Yup. Given all insurance is there to make a profit, on average you'll come out better. Obviously for things like house insurance it is not so clear.

[charles]

Happened in our village hall. Found another person prepared to look. he rang someone "George, have you got a **** for a **** boiler?" "Thanks, I'll collect it later." We got another 5 years out of that bolier, giving us enough time to build up funds for a new one.

[Vir Campestris]

It's still true on house insurance. The only thing is that many of us can stand the risk on a boiler, and few of us can stand the risk on our houses.

Andy