Fan on 'Ideal Classic' Boiler

Roman_Camel

The fan on our 12 year old 'Ideal Classic' boiler finally packed up yesterday.
We were aware of its pending departure as on its last service we were told that it was on its way out but the engineer stated that it could last 1 week or 1 year.
We called out an engineer and were charged £468 + vat for this repair and this included an up to date service. (The service was going to be £75 but he put it down to £60) I asked for a breakdown on the bill but was told it would be all in one price. It was subsequently discovered by the engineer attaching a tube to our Gas Mains box outside that we have a Gas leak Admittedly there has been a slight gas smell in the last couple of days) and he established that it wasn't coming from the boiler and on checking the gas hob,it wasn't from there either. He has capped off the main supply and his coming back this morning to replace all our pipework from new for the princely sum of £1000 +vat.
I had to sign and pay half the £600 before he went away to get the part and he came back and duly fitted it. It probably took all in all about 3 hours with all the checks. What I also had to do was write and sign 'I agree to the quote' on the jobsheet. For todays job I have had to do exactly the same,write and sign jobsheet and pay half the deposit. I was told also I might need a new gas hob for which he will charge us no extra as long as it is the same dimension as the old one. If he has to do any 'cutting' the its going to cost me more.

Do you think I have been charged fairly? I am not disputing the fan was broken or that I may have a gas leak but is £600 a fair price? More so even though it is a saturday is £1000 +vat a fair price for this type of job. The house is a 3 bedroomed end of terrace.

jcorbygas

You cannot seriously be thinking of paying this amount.
The cost that we charge for supplying and fitting a new fan for an Ideal Classic is £130 + vat. (even on a Saturday)
It sounds as if you are becoming a victim of the so called 'rogue traders' you see on television.
You need to find someone else to come round before you spend anymore money.

Razor

He wasn't called Dennis by any chance?

Think about it you have a £90ish fan fitted in three hours at a cost of £468 upwards of £125 p/h labour. Then £100ish materials for new run say 8 hrs labour @£112.50 p/h sound like a fair rate?

All at least twice the price it should be, I would travel anywhere on the uk mainland to do the job for that sort of money but I don't give away free hobs

paulspx

i am a corgi registered installer
i think you have been robbed.:eek:

EliteHeat

If you have signed something to say that you accept the quote and also have paid half the amount in advance of the work, I don't see what you can do now.

Were you not suspicious of this by the way?

Roman_Camel

Following on, I cancelled the appointment this morning and arranged a
local engineer to come and give me a second opinion. He stated that everything the guy had did yesterday wasn't technically right but its just that his fees were very expensive.He also stated that it appears that the engineer has charged me for the time it took him to drive a 100 mile round trip to pick up the fan! He didn't make this clear and his bill is not broken down in any way.just £468 + vat. I gather I could have had a new boiler for what I have spent.!

I also called out Southern Gas as an emergency measure and they ascertained that there was a leak and diagnosed it as being in the pipe that enters the property. He also confirmed that the engineer from yesterday should have checked this straight away before even installing the new fan. He also confirmed that the prices quoted were too high. The problem I will find myself with is that I have accepted their t&c's and paid 50% upfront (£575) and signed the jobsheet. Following further advice I will be talking with Trading Standards, CRB and Consumer Direct on Monday.My credit card company are monitoring this situation and because I have reported this I may have some redress through them but that all depends on what kind of reaction I get from this company on Monday who I intend to have serious words.

Razor

I wouldn't agree he did everything properly, from your information he left a leak that he should have contacted SG to remedy. It could be classified as an uncontrolled leak if it was before the isolation valve, perhaps you should ask the company about this?

Roman_Camel

Yes, something else to throw into the cooking pot.

Thanks for info.

EliteHeat

Roman_Camel wrote: »

I gather I could have had a new boiler for what I have spent.!

Really? supplied and fitted?

Roman_Camel

EliteHeat wrote: »

Really? supplied and fitted?

Probably not fitted.

But two independent tradesmen have told me that this job which involves laying about 5m of copper pipe should come to no more than £500.

jcorbygas

Just a quick point to consider re getting money back - work like this is now covered by the distance selling regulations - you have a 7 day cooling off period, and there are lots of other points for both yourself and the seller to consider. You can read all about it on the Office of Fair Trading website.