Do British Gas try to rip people off?

IWannabedebtfree

Not sure whether BG are playing by the rules or not. We have BG Homecare 200 cover.Our GCH system has needed the valves replacing 3 times in about 5 years and had an engineer out to same prob today-(may be coincidence , but prob always seems to occur when first cold snap of winter arrives.) British Gas said last time that they would 'recommend' that we had a Powerflush(nearly 700 quid!!)then prob wouldn't happen again. Just couldn't afford it. Don't know whether he was right/genuine or not, but the guy today said that he 'wasn't allowed to fix problem' again, as I am a liability and must have Powerflush, then BG would fix the valves. They may be right, or pulling a fast one, I can't tell, but I felt very pressured-engineer really gave me hard sell and said he had to return tomorrow, to talk to me for about 1/2 hour, including time to fix Powerflush appointment. I agreed, then felt so annoyed with myself I rang up and cancelled after he'd gone. Woman on phone said they will cancel my Homecare 200 agreement if I don'rt sign up within a week.Hband outraged, told me to ring up and cancel straight away. I haven't yet as I'd like to know whether BG are within rights. Can't find anything in Homecare 200 policy doc to say they can do this.

EliteHeat

What valves are you referring to?

Airwolf1

You could just try ringing up a corgi registered plumber and say the valves have been replaced 3 times in 5 years, can they suggest what could cause the problem.

Alternatively, write to the Chief Exec's Office at BGS. Don't have an attitude in the letter, but merrely point out the valves have been replaced all those times etc, and they need doing again, can they send a specialist to come and take a proper look etc.

Canucklehead

Hi


Do British Gas try to rip people off?


YES.

Corgi Guy.

wildbri

yes, i believe their engineers are on commission. get a quote from a local corgi heating engineer.... regards....bri

IWannabedebtfree

Thanks all, will get an indepemdent quote, will also try ringing/writing to BG. Thanks for your help.

andrew-b

The big problem is that British Gas seem to have a strong sales culture and are only interested in meeting their sales and marketing targets rather than being customer service focussed. When getting quotes for a boiler change they quoted me a couple of grand more than everyone else but said "your getting a discount" "you can spread the cost in installments" and so on! They use all the oldest tricks in a salesman armoury but i was having none of it and sent them packing!

As we were told on BBC news today it was the strong sales culture that ultimately led to the downfall of HBOS! Anyone else notice the similarities? Perhaps British Gas should take note!

I'm sure British Gas do have many good engineers who are good are what they do. I don't think the quality of their work is the issue here. But i feel their sales culture spurred on by management is putting the reputation of them in serious jeopardy. To me the problem seems to be they overcharge for everything and hope those who have been loyal to them in the past will blindly stick by them.

I think their downfall begun with deregulation of the industry when loss of their monopoly really started to hit home for them and when they subsequently demerged into centrica and BG plc in 1997.

It's about time something was done about British Gas IMHO - they've got away with too much for too long. Personally i feel that with their sales practices they bring shame on the word "British" and have lost the parts that define Great Britishness! I think to be allowed to use the word "british" they should have to meet more stringent criteria and be answerable to the british sovereign (or her dignatories) similar to that required to get a royal warrant!

Unless they do something about it, I wouldn't mind betting sometime in the future (perhaps in a few years) British Gas will go under in a spectacular way.

It's quite interesting to read the history of Enron and look for the similarities to British Gas...will British Gas go the same way and end up in a huge scandal...only time will tell! Let's hope not though!

I think this is all quite an interesting debate. I know i can be quite opinionated, so what are other peoples views?

Andy

adaze

IMO BG just charge way over the odds for everything as andrew-b said our quote from BG for new boiler and move was over £2000 more expensive! £700 for a powerflush is too much!

IWannabedebtfree

Further to my original post, I rang BG today to ask how they could justify their standpoint, ie: where in the Homecare 200 agreement does it say that BG will discontinue my Homecare agreement(as they said on the 'phone that they will)if I refuse to have a Powerfluysh carried out at the same time as a repair? I'm beginning to feel annoyed now, having felt initially intimidated by the engineer who was in a big rush to book an appt for a Powerflush.Lady on phone couldn't tell me where the agreement states it, because it doesn't.Shall I continue to pursue it, hoping that BG will fix it,or just sling my hook, have less expensive Powerflush by someone else and maybe take out a homecare agreement with someone else too/not bother? We have an Emergency Cover policy that came free from Swinton with the house Ins, but central heating has to pack up altogether for them to be called out.Grateful for your advice, thank you.

mike_the_bike_2

Right ...If I was you i'd knock British Gas on the head and find a local reputable Corgi guy to service and look after your boiler on a long term basis.

Its possible there is sludge in your system and a product called Sentinel X400 placed in the system for a few weeks can clean it out as long as its not totally blocked... This is a far cheaper solution than power flushing.

I have to admit I don't like British gas for various reasons ..not because of what they have done to me but what i've seen their "business practices" doing to other people..for e.g an elderly couple one door away from me were told their boiler needed replacing because the heat exchanger had gone wrong and "parts were unavailable"..They were charged £4,200 for a new boiler.

It took me about 2 minutes on the Internet to find a heat exchanger for the boiler for £132.00 +VAT

Having said that my own boiler is looked after by a chap who used to work for them for 18 years and he is a fantastic engineer and he prefers to fix rather than replace.