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Boiler installation - charged for extras not agreed
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stellastar_2
Posts: 51 Forumite
Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right place but I'll give it a go!
Basically we had a boiler installed and were then billed for extra charges not mentioned before or during installation and had they been mentioned we would have not gone with that option....
We've recently had a boiler installed and had someone home the whole time the installation was being carried out. We had a quotation beforehand and were told (in writing) that it was the actual final cost unless something unexpected came up during the installation they were unable to predict.
I was prepared for the possibility of need extra work/materials for leaking pipes as I had done my research and knew it was common going from one system to the other so that was fine.
However when the bill came through it also included and extra £250 for
" additional cost for moving boiler therefore requiring scaffold... original location of flue hole did not require scaffold"
Our old boiler was a baxi back boiler with flue through the chimney and the new boiler was to be fitted to the back or side wall in the kitchen corner, the guy who came round to do the survey had a look a the inside and outside of those walls and said it could go on either, they would sort that out when they actually came to install.
The quotation says "exact position for boiler to be determined on commencement of works"
On the first day of installation the Corgi guy asked which wall we wanted the boiler on, my boyfriend said the side wall and the guy said OK and carried on.
The second day I heard the Corgi guy on the phone tell the guy who was coming to drill the wall for the flue that since it was wet he may want to bring some scaffolding.
My issue is that we were given an option of two locations for the boiler, one costing and extra £250 but were not told one option would cost more, if we were told we would've said to put it on the back wall and not pay any extra.
I accept that it may well have cost them extra but I am not happy paying extra when we were not told, especially since we would have not gone for it knowing the cost.
I also take issue with hearing the guy say scaffolding should be used because it's wet and the invoice stating that the scaffolding was used because of the location of the flue.
I'm also not impressed by the finish of the job, in our kitchen there is a big square hole in the wall with the round flue pipe going though, I thought this would have been filled in or some sort of plastic collar put over the hole around the pipe? There is also a big chunk of wall that has been damaged and the plaster is hanging off, I accept little scuffs and scrapes but would've thought a larger damage like that should be repaired by the heating company. They also scraped a radiator on the toilet seat taking out a couple of big chunks from the lid.
The managed to knock a hole through to our neighbours hall and didn't tell us, the neighbour had to come down and let us know, when I said to the guy about repairing it it was clear he knew he'd done it and just not said. They did get someone round to repair it which was good but surely they should send someone to repair the damage in our flat?
And I almost forgot we were to have a radiator installed in the bathroom, says radiator on the quote (£180-£200) and when we booked the installation we were asked if it was a radiator or towel rail and were clear we wanted a radiator, but they installed a towel rail that gives off hardly any heat.
To be honest if it wasn't for the £250 I would've let the damage go and filled in the holes ourselves and accepted the towel rail but I just feel there are too many things I'm not happy about before parting with such a large sum of money.
I dont want to not pay them at all, can I pay the bill minus the £250 and costs of damage along with a letter stating what we dispute and that we would like to resolve it? I'm happy to pay in full minus £250 if they put right the damage/finish of the flue/wall.
We have spoken with them on the phone and they say they need to check with someone else who will call us back, couple of days later no call and another copy of the invoice comes through the door
Basically we had a boiler installed and were then billed for extra charges not mentioned before or during installation and had they been mentioned we would have not gone with that option....
We've recently had a boiler installed and had someone home the whole time the installation was being carried out. We had a quotation beforehand and were told (in writing) that it was the actual final cost unless something unexpected came up during the installation they were unable to predict.
I was prepared for the possibility of need extra work/materials for leaking pipes as I had done my research and knew it was common going from one system to the other so that was fine.
However when the bill came through it also included and extra £250 for
" additional cost for moving boiler therefore requiring scaffold... original location of flue hole did not require scaffold"
Our old boiler was a baxi back boiler with flue through the chimney and the new boiler was to be fitted to the back or side wall in the kitchen corner, the guy who came round to do the survey had a look a the inside and outside of those walls and said it could go on either, they would sort that out when they actually came to install.
The quotation says "exact position for boiler to be determined on commencement of works"
On the first day of installation the Corgi guy asked which wall we wanted the boiler on, my boyfriend said the side wall and the guy said OK and carried on.
The second day I heard the Corgi guy on the phone tell the guy who was coming to drill the wall for the flue that since it was wet he may want to bring some scaffolding.
My issue is that we were given an option of two locations for the boiler, one costing and extra £250 but were not told one option would cost more, if we were told we would've said to put it on the back wall and not pay any extra.
I accept that it may well have cost them extra but I am not happy paying extra when we were not told, especially since we would have not gone for it knowing the cost.
I also take issue with hearing the guy say scaffolding should be used because it's wet and the invoice stating that the scaffolding was used because of the location of the flue.
I'm also not impressed by the finish of the job, in our kitchen there is a big square hole in the wall with the round flue pipe going though, I thought this would have been filled in or some sort of plastic collar put over the hole around the pipe? There is also a big chunk of wall that has been damaged and the plaster is hanging off, I accept little scuffs and scrapes but would've thought a larger damage like that should be repaired by the heating company. They also scraped a radiator on the toilet seat taking out a couple of big chunks from the lid.
The managed to knock a hole through to our neighbours hall and didn't tell us, the neighbour had to come down and let us know, when I said to the guy about repairing it it was clear he knew he'd done it and just not said. They did get someone round to repair it which was good but surely they should send someone to repair the damage in our flat?
And I almost forgot we were to have a radiator installed in the bathroom, says radiator on the quote (£180-£200) and when we booked the installation we were asked if it was a radiator or towel rail and were clear we wanted a radiator, but they installed a towel rail that gives off hardly any heat.
To be honest if it wasn't for the £250 I would've let the damage go and filled in the holes ourselves and accepted the towel rail but I just feel there are too many things I'm not happy about before parting with such a large sum of money.
I dont want to not pay them at all, can I pay the bill minus the £250 and costs of damage along with a letter stating what we dispute and that we would like to resolve it? I'm happy to pay in full minus £250 if they put right the damage/finish of the flue/wall.
We have spoken with them on the phone and they say they need to check with someone else who will call us back, couple of days later no call and another copy of the invoice comes through the door
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Comments
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Good morning: I wondered how you had got on with the installation as I posted on your other thread . Boiler location should always been determined and agreed before the installation commences and any deviation from the original quotation should be agreed to in writing by both parties in advance in order to protect the interests of the client and the installer. As a one man band, the OH conducts his own site surveys and all aspects of the installation...I suspect your installers (referred to by the OH as 'stem cells'
) are bodge artists and need house training. Further negotiations are in order....request that the £250 be waived and the necessary repairs made at no cost to you. within 7 working days : do this in writing by recorded delivery. You might want to reconsider your other post where you've praised them:eek:
HTH
CanuckleheadAsk to see CIPHE (Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineering)0 -
Canucklehead wrote: ». You might want to reconsider your other post where you've praised them:eek:
HTH
Canucklehead
Oh yes, absolutely! The actual installation is fine, but the other bits are not good and, maybe I'm wrong, but I would expect a sort of pride in the work done and wanting it too look good, I know I always want my work to be presented nice and neatly after I've sorted out the actual content. The work they've done just seems unfinished.
Thank you for your post, I suspected that may be the case and have typed out a rough letter to get me started, mostly focusing on the £250 and that I will be paying less the £250 and costs to 'finish' the job/repair damage and that the remained (still less the £250) will be paid once they have done so. Is 7 days still reasonable at this time of year? We struggled to get a plasterer and fire installer ourselves... but this is my home and we are paying a lot of money!
House training sounds just right, they were working on installations in new build flats so I guess there would be someone else there coming round and plastering etc after they were done, not that that matters 0 -
To be honest, I think it is fairly standard practice not to "make good" the holes, plasterwork, etc., We've just renovated a house with a back boiler and got four quotes for a replacement combi boiler. None of the quotes mentioned "making good" - we chose one of the firms and I asked them about making good whilst on the phone giving the go ahead - they said, no that wasn't included - they would just take the old back boiler out a leave a big hole, same with old pipes - they'd just leave the holes, etc. Rather than giving the go ahead, I rang the other 3 and all said the same. I then rang another couple of firms and asked them about making good before I even got them round for a quote - they said the same as well. Their attitude is that they're corgi plumbers, so basically all they do is the pipework and gas - they're not plasterers so won't do any rectification. In the end, we got a separate plasterer to do the finishing off. I think there is quite a void between our expectations as a consumer and the firm's expectations as a service provider - it's essential to talk the whole job through beforehand rather than making assumptions.0
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To be honest, I think it is fairly standard practice not to "make good" the holes, plasterwork, etc.,
Good afternoon: My OH includes 'making good' in all his fully itemized quotations (heating and plumbing) unless the client indicates he/she will be making alternative arrangements (rarely the case tbo;)) . He would never leave a boiler flue 'not made good' for another party to rectify....he is proud of his standard of work and relies on personal recommendation for business.
HTH
CanuckleheadAsk to see CIPHE (Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineering)0 -
stellastar wrote: »Oh yes, absolutely! The actual installation is fine, but the other bits are not good and, maybe I'm wrong, but I would expect a sort of pride in the work done and wanting it too look good, I know I always want my work to be presented nice and neatly after I've sorted out the actual content. The work they've done just seems unfinished.
Thank you for your post, I suspected that may be the case and have typed out a rough letter to get me started, mostly focusing on the £250 and that I will be paying less the £250 and costs to 'finish' the job/repair damage and that the remained (still less the £250) will be paid once they have done so. Is 7 days still reasonable at this time of year? We struggled to get a plasterer and fire installer ourselves... but this is my home and we are paying a lot of money!
House training sounds just right, they were working on installations in new build flats so I guess there would be someone else there coming round and plastering etc after they were done, not that that matters
Hi...7 working days should be sufficient if their reputation is important to them but one never knows these days
Good luck.
CanuckleheadAsk to see CIPHE (Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineering)0 -
I don't understand why the Corgi bloke needed someone else to come around to core through your wall - do you live in a flint-walled cottage by any chance, thus requiring a specialist?
Other than that, making good; the flue aperture should obviously be made good, but this is usually with a sand & cement mix - heating engineers are not plasterers (but sometimes wish they were)
Re the towel rail, if you wanted a radiator and got one of these then just tell them to change it - you are the customer after all.
And finally, don't pay them until you are 100% satisfied.0 -
To be honest, I think it is fairly standard practice not to "make good" the holes, plasterwork, etc., We've just renovated a house with a back boiler and got four quotes for a replacement combi boiler. None of the quotes mentioned "making good" - we chose one of the firms and I asked them about making good whilst on the phone giving the go ahead - they said, no that wasn't included - they would just take the old back boiler out a leave a big hole, same with old pipes - they'd just leave the holes, etc. Rather than giving the go ahead, I rang the other 3 and all said the same. I then rang another couple of firms and asked them about making good before I even got them round for a quote - they said the same as well. Their attitude is that they're corgi plumbers, so basically all they do is the pipework and gas - they're not plasterers so won't do any rectification. In the end, we got a separate plasterer to do the finishing off. I think there is quite a void between our expectations as a consumer and the firm's expectations as a service provider - it's essential to talk the whole job through beforehand rather than making assumptions.
I'm not talking about the same thing really, I'm talking about damage due to carelessness. I would definitely expect a job to be finished without a big hole 2ft deep hole left through my granite walls1 They are not plasterers no but they have plenty of contacts, the guys we used did the plumbing and gas work, the got someone in to drill the hole for the flue, they got an electrician in for other work and they got a plasterer in to fix the damage next door..he is proud of his standard of work and relies on personal recommendation for business.
as Canucklehead says I would expect people to be proud of their standard of work, whatever their profession.
EliteHeat they are pretty thick granite walls, not sure if that makes a difference right enough There was no extra charge added on especially for that but they did get two extra guys over to do it for over 3 hours of drilling, that was a nice noise!
Thank you both for your help/advice!0 -
Aha, specialist diamond drillers - their charge would have been £250 at least I reckon, not that I've actually used them. The wet weather remarks make more sense now.0
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