Warning re 24/7 Home Rescue

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Comments

  • mchutchon
    mchutchon Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 25 October 2018 at 9:56AM
    As previously said, avoid this company at all costs. £75 call out fee I expected, but engineer had no parts with him despite my detailed description of the problem. I then had to pay £190 more and wait several days for the problem I outlined to be fixed. Now to cancel I either have to pay £140 or continue the policy for a year. This in Not a Boiler cover plan, but only for what they deem to be an Emergency. {Text removed by MSE Forum Team} I am writing to Trading Standards. They are rude and incompetent as well.
  • Hi all, I just wanted to post this to warn others to never use this company!
    I’ve been with 24/7 home Rescue for 14 months. During your annual cover, they say they include a service. I’ve been trying to arrange a service since the beginning of my ageeenent with them but nobody ever confirms a service date or shows up for that matter!
    So we started having issues about 9 weeks ago. Our hot water wasn’t coming out hot enough and was barely even warm enough to have a bath. Our whole boiler system and radiators are only about 4-5 years old and I’ve never had any issues before. I called my brother who has knowledge on boilers and explained that previously had you ran a bath using just the hot tap, the water would physically be too hot to get into. Now if you run a bath using just the hot tap, the water is almost cold. He advised it was probably the heat exchanger. I wasn’t worried because I knew I had boiler cover so I called 24/7 home rescue who advised they would send an engineer but I would have to pay £75.00 to which I agreed. 3 weeks later an engineer finally came out after me calling to chase umpteen times. The engineer said “ah this is a system which was fitted by a government scheme so the water wouldn’t heat up to boiling anyway” I disputed this and told him that the boiler had been working fine for 4-5 years with boiling hot water and the fact it wasn’t fitted by a government scheme is irrelevant. We ran all of the taps and he still couldn’t see a problem even though the water is lukewarm. I explained further that previously the water would be too hot to keep your hand under and he agreed that there must be an issue. So he stood staring at the boiler for a while, asked me for my Wi-FI password and called someone and said “do you think it’s the heat exchange? Yeah I thought so” and off he went. 24/7 Home Rescue then contacted me to advise that they could replace the heat exchange but I’d need to have a system power flush (expensive job) before they would fit a new heat exchange because the part had broken due to ‘sludge’. I’ve disputed this with them, not because I don’t believe it’s due to sludge but because I can’t understand based on the engineers visit and lack of physical inspection to the boiler how they could determine that the part has broken due to “sludge”. I’ve called 24/7 and asked them if they would send a second engineer out to do a more thorough inspection which they want another £75.00 for. The call centre staff and managers are incredibly rude and dismissive and genuinely do not value your custom nor offer any level of customer service. I work in a call centre myself and if I spoke to our customers in the same manner I wouldn’t have a job. I spoke to a manager this evening who was by far the rudest I have encountered yet and eventually she terminated the call. I’m now going to pay for an external engineer myself to inspect the boiler which will be a further expense to myself and pay him to repair it.

    Please, please don’t ever use this company. Pay a little extra and go with British Gas or alike. 24/7 home rescue deliver appalling service, disgusting customer service and will make your blood boil!!!
  • WSJ9547
    WSJ9547 Posts: 1 Newbie
    edited 25 October 2018 at 9:40AM
    Absolutely appalling service from 24/7 Home rescue.
    {Text removed by MSE Forum Team}

    Purchased full landlord cover for my property rentals, have had the worst service 3 times now.
    Phoned 24/7 Wedesday 10th January at 7pm
    (My tenant has an emergency leaking taps, water gushing out even though taps turned off)
    Supposed to be 24/7 emergency cover.
    My tenant has to switch the mains off to wait for 24/7 plumber, in a converted block of flats, so 2 other families also living in the block affected by no water.
    Or put water on and encourage damage to the walls and further long term damage from the leak.
    No response so landlord phones 24/7 to have to pay £75 excess to call out the plumber, which she does.
    Thursday 11th January - Still no 24/7 plumber no water for 3 families.
    Phoned 3 times, absolutely appalling customer service.
    Friday 12th January - 2 more calls to 24/7 as no plumber, My tenant has taken 2 days off work as an emergency waiting for the plumber.
    Friday night plumber arrives 48 HOURS LATER from original call.
    And looks at the problem, claims he does not have the materials to fix it, and LEAVES the property without fixing the problem.
    Plumber claims the call center have to authorise for him to use any part to fix it.
    Claims they call centre will call.
    Sat 13th January NO CALL
    Landlord and tenant call, Call centre claim the relevant department have to phone me back apparently the claims dpartment can not help. somoeon will hone back in 1 hour.
    Sunday 14th January NO CALL NO PLUMBER Still leaking, still not fixed.
    WHAT AM I PAYING FOR???!!!!
    Monthly instalments for emergency breakdown cover
    PLUS £75 payment over the phone
    ?????? {Text removed by MSE Forum Team}
    I have since had to pay for a plumber to come and fix myself!!!!
    as still no call, leak not fixed.
    Families affected for 7 days and counting now!!
  • Philip13
    Philip13 Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 25 October 2018 at 9:54AM
    {Text removed by MSE Forum Team} I took out a policy, paid the higher premium of £19.70 a month, then had to report a minor fault. They sent an engineer after I had paid a so called ‘security charge’ of £75, then after a couple of days, they rang me, told me that my boiler was “beyond economical repair” and they cancelled my policy. A familiar story.

    I have rung them on 3 occasions and each time, the call has been terminated by them.

    If you are wondering how they have such a good rating on sites such as Trust Pilot. Well, check their actual reviews, many of them comment on how easy it is to set the contract up, how easy it is to pay and how easy it is to navigate their website (all true) now, check how many actually give them a good review AFTER trying to use their service.

    Another reason they look good on Trust Pilot is that they constantly complain to Trust Pilot if anybody tries to give them a bad review, you then see this message:-

    "247 Home Rescue reported this review for breach of Trustpilot guidelines. We are currently assessing the review in accordance with our reporting processes".

    The truth is out there.

    If we all just complain on here and do nothing else, they will get away with thousands of our pounds, does anyone have any suggestions?

    I live in Bury, which is about 20 minutes away from their offices.
  • I called the claims line on Tuesday 9th January to place a call out for my boiler as my heating was not working, firstly it took 20 minutes for the call to be answered, I found this extremely frustrating and as it is an 0345 number.

    The advisor I spoke to told me that I was eligible for the repair but as I could not prove that my boiler had been previously serviced I would need to pay an excess fee of £75.00, he told me this would be refunded within seven days once the engineer had seen proof of service, at this point he did not tell me that If the repair was not boiler related I would not get a refund, he led me to believe that it would be refunded within 7 days, upon arrival the engineer took a copy of my last service report from British Gas and told me he would forward it to head office.

    The engineer was in my house for no longer than five minutes, he said he knew what the fault was and would order the parts and someone would call me to arrange another visit, I then got a call on Sunday the 14th to say that the part needed was not covered under my Terms and conditions and in order for them to complete the call I would need to pay another £92.00, at that point I said I was not willing to pay anymore money and I would like a refund of my £75.00 as promised, I was then told that this was not possible as the call out was not boiler related, he then said a manager would call me back on Monday the 15th well guess what !! I am still waiting for that call to happen.

    At no time during my conversation with the advisor did he state to me that my £75.00 may not be refunded, 247 has taken money from me under false pretences. if the advisor had told me that I would not be eligible for a refund I would not have paid the money in the first place.

    My only advice is check the small print in the terms and conditions before you commit, it was my receiver that was faulty, I would class that as part of the boiler as it does not work without it, but they obviously do not.

    When you complain to the customer service department all you get is a standard template letter referring you to there terms and condition and the definitions of the agreement to further explain why the claim has been declined.
  • Jaffacat
    Jaffacat Posts: 1 Newbie
    edited 10 September 2018 at 8:17AM
    I took out a policy {text removed by MSE Forum Team} in March 2017 for boiler repair/service. On the face of it they were professional and of course a lot cheaper than british gas.
    I was told someone would contact me to arrange the boiler service. Two weeks later I get a phone call to tell me my service was booked for three days time. I explained i couldnt do this due to work commitments. Their reply was well we will call you in a day or two to you when next appointment slot is. I asked if i could book one for 3 weeks later andxwas told they dont do that. I have to take a slot when an engineer is in my area and they only know that 2 or 3 says before. I knew then id made a mustake going with them and cancelled my contract. I thought that was the end of it until 3 weeks ago when i got my bank statement. I noticed that direct debits of £20.23 had gone out of my account in nov dec and jan. I hadnt given permission for this! I phoned and when i eventually got through was told it was their error and i would get a refund within 5 days! Im still waitingbfor yhe money after nearly 3 weeks. Ive cancelled direct debit with the bank. Ive phoned 247 several times only to be told my credit is on its way and its my banks fault! Im ringing teading standards if i dont get my money by Monday!!! Dont use this company! They are cheap for a reason. Shocking customer service {text removed by MSE Forum Team}
  • Just another victim of this company.

    Could we get together and all email watchdog or Rip off Britain to try and raise awareness of this company?


    Anyone have information on how to put in an FOI request re: repairs undertaken?

    Here is my review:
    Unacceptable service.
    Diverter valve broke down in my boiler.
    24/7 are telling me that it is not covered as they deem my boiler beyond economical repair.
    The cost of the parts is only about £100.
    The cost of the repair from a local plumber is actually about the same as I pay 24/7 per year.
    Do not use this company use a reputable one.


    Update: I have received a reply from 24/7 stating the same as above.
    In fact I had the boiler repaired by a local plumber replacing the part which cost £26 and 1 hour labour (it took much less).

    If such a simple repair isn't covered, I would question if ANY boiler repair is covered under this policy.

    I will be putting in a FOI request to see what percentage of boiler breakdowns are fixed compared and what percentage are deemed beyond economical repair.
  • I have sent the following in to Watchdog:
    Diverter valve motor broke down in my boiler, I was left without heating in sub zero temperatures. I contacted 24/7 and they took a £75 excess fee before sending out a plumber to check my boiler.
    He identified the problem and said he would send it to authorisation centre to get the parts.
    On Sunday I got a call from 24/7 telling me that my boiler would not be covered under the policy because it was beyond economical repair.
    They would only cover repair where the parts and labour costs was less than 60% of the 'Current market Value' of the boiler.
    Basically the current market value of any second hand boiler isn't very much so they wouldn't really fix any problem.
    I got a local plumber to fix the boiler, it cost £26 for the part and an hours labour.
    I found out later that I am not alone, this is the trick they are using with many people.
    See: URL Hidden
    They are also manipulating trust pilot reviews to show that they are a reputable company. I can give you more details on this if you contact me.

    You can do the same here: URL Hidden - Sorry I can't post URLs but you can google contact BBC Watchdog.
  • Taken a Boiler cover out 8 months ago in may 2017 was told somebody will come out in June to service boiler i went away and got busy in work rang 2 weeks ago to book service came out last Thursday on Wednesday night boiler started to leek water told engineer on Thursday morning he checked it and told me he would have to get Worcester Bosch out to repair didn't hear anything for 3 days rang up Monday morning and they told me if the boiler breaks down before a service or during a service it is not covered 24 seven will service your boiler 8 to 12 months into your contract so you are paying for 8 months fee for nothing. MONEY MAKING EXPERTS
  • Raxiel
    Raxiel Posts: 1,398
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    Just another victim of this company.

    Could we get together and all email watchdog or Rip off Britain to try and raise awareness of this company?


    Anyone have information on how to put in an FOI request re: repairs undertaken?

    Here is my review:

    Who are you sending an FOI request to? FOI rules only cover the government and some private sector companies that carry out public functions. You can send a Subject Access Request (SAR) to a company under the Data Protection Act, but that is only for accessing whatever data they hold on you personally, no-one else.
    3.6 kW PV in the Midlands - 9x Sharp 400W black panels - 6x facing SE and 3x facing SW, Solaredge Optimisers and Inverter. 400W Derril Water (one day). Octopus Flux
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