Service Contracts with British Gas

Gerrard_8_lfc

Gerrard_8_lfc wrote: »

Cardew wrote: »

Gerrard,

Thanks

I am a little confused by your reply.

The scheme I have been offered(and accepted) is called 'Energy Extra 50' and replaces 'Dual fuel Extra'(which was zero cost)

This is now CH, electrics, plumbing and drains repair for a fixed price of £99 (not £50 for plumbing)

What is Energy Extra 200 or 400?

Energy Extra give you repairs for your Plumbing and Drains and Electrics for £50 im almost certain ( I will check) This also includes your Fixed home electrics.

Energy Extra 200 is basically homecare 200 but people with Dual Fuel will get £20 Credit each year. Energy Extra 400 is "homecare" 400

potatoblight

Am looking into getting the bolier covered at the mo, from the Ts & Cs of the homecare product the following is stated.

5.9 PowerFlush™

We use our PowerFlush™ to clean the system to remove sludge and other waste from central heating systems.
If we recommend that your system needs cleaning through with PowerFlush™ we will charge you to undertake this work. Once it is finished, there will be no charge for any future PowerFlush™ work that may be needed, as long as you keep a continuous HomeCare 100, 200, 300 or 400™ agreement at that property. Our engineer will also advise you what other work is needed in order to avoid future problems. We may suggest you correct any design faults that might cause the problem to return, or offer you a different British Gas HomeCare® option.
When a repair is needed due to sludge (for example damage to pump, valves or radiators) and we have not already told you that you need to flush and clean your system with PowerFlush™ or a similar procedure, we will attempt to carry out a repair (excluding the use of PowerFlush™) and will do so at no extra cost.

Looks like from the initial outlay of £££ as long as you remain in the property and you continue with the plan there wont be any future cost for this.

potatoblight

Just spoke with a very nice lady at BG (scottish lady - so looks like UK call centre), pointed out the 7 day cooling off period - but this applies if no work has been completed. Engineer coming round tomorrow to look at me boiler and due to my work commitments the time slot was shaved by an hour - all was set up in 10 mins.

It will be interesting to see if this continues once I am a bonefide customer.

My questions were answered without the need for checking AND her attitude was really good. A rather pleasant experience dealing with a utility co for once.

Well done BG!!

Joyful

I have to say that although I am a BG employee I was very impressed yesterday with the plumbing Cover. I called at 8.30 am and was called by 10 to advise an Engineer would call when on route. At 12.30 I first got a text followed by a call 5 minutes later to advise Engineer was on the way.

Job completed very professionally.

After all the talk of power flushing, many years ago I had the same problem so gave up using BG. After a couple of years I went back to them and the service has been good for all my call outs but yesterday was exceptional. Long may this continue.

C_Mababejive

Power flushing may be required on some systems and it is often due to design/installation problems. A properly designed and installed system is unlikely to generate sludge.

As this is specifically excluded in the T & Cs then i dont see the problem and indeed,the causes of sludge are the very reason why they exclude it.

Andyrey

A first time poster and would like to add my 2 p's worth to this thread...
We were contacted by BG ( we are on price freeze till 2010 with both gas n electric and do not subscribe to any Homeplan or EnergyExtra) and were asked if we would like to pay £2/ month to cover all central heating, plumbing, drains and home electrical problems... no mention of ANY other hidden payments/clauses AT ALL!
My wife took the call and stated that our boiler is ancient and even the manufactures do not carry spares now, to which the BG employee said not to worry, BG *WILL* have the spares and will be able to repair it if at all neccissary at no extra cost (!), and (get this) even if we finished our contract with BG, we could still pay the £2/month for the cover!!!
My wife repeated what the employee had said back to him (just to be sure she got it right) that just £24 a year would ensure *ALL* ch/plumbing/drains and household electrics would be covered at NO EXTRA COST, even if we changed suppliers and the employee agreed.......
A 'steal' we thought and said yes on the spot, and a 'pack' woud be sent out asap, so we waited..... and waited..... and waited.
We eventually recieved a single A4 sheet thanking us for contacting THEM (!) about EnergyExtra 50 (1st time it had been called that!), a renewed DD amount and a paragraph telling us that to get things working again it would cost us a fixed fee of £99 including parts and labour, (1st time THAT was mentioned!!) and they could also 'help make sure our boiler keeps running smoothly' with an Annual Service for £50. The reverse side of the page was just 'Understanding your Direct Debit' and made no reference to EnergyExtra 50.
No mention of having the ch system/ house wiring/ plumbing/ drains checked first before they take on the contract!
No mention that a ch system flush (if deemed neccissary) would be over and above the £2/month!
No mention that the boiler Annual Service 'could be' part of contract compliance.
No mention of any pre-existing faults costing over and above the £2/month to put right!

We DO feel that we've been a bit duped into signing up for this, as we were only told a small portion of the facts (and whether its correct if we move supplier we can still continue EnergyExtra 50) and nothing about any fixed fee's!
We have no terms and conditions and still dont know if the single A4 sheet is all we should get?

I wonder if we claimed under this contract and were told that our ch system needed a system flush or our boiler needed changing at a huge cost to us, we could argue the toss as we were not in recipt of all the facts??

I wonder how far we'd get with that?....

Oh Yeah..... £2 a month is an *INTRODUCTORY* price until 1 Jan 2011 if signed up before 31 Dec 2009, after which it will *revert* to the standard price.............. Whatever the hell *that* is???
And Fixed Fee is for every completed repair and related fault(s).....unrelated faults will be charged seperately (1st we heard of THAT as well!)..... Terms and Conditions apply... so where are they??? Certainly not on the web site, or in my possesion.

Andyrey

Have *finally* found something pertaining to EnergyExtra and the T and C's on BG's web site.
You must first log on to the site using your - previously set up - login info and from there it all becomes apparent?!?
Energy Extra 50, 200, 200flexi and 400.
For the 200, 200flexi and 400 contracts, Your boiler must be no older than 7 years (it appears) to be covered, or if older it must have been fitted by BG in the first place!!
If BG have no spares for the boiler then the repairs off, and in only certain circumstances will they replace - But for a charge I think.
Still no mention of what the *standard* price is that we'll be *reverted* to after Jan 2011.....

Not such a good deal as first thought..... Or as first *sold* to us!
If something appears to be too good to be true, then it probably is!

In many cases this EnergyExtra deal is probably great, but what really pee's me off is how it was first described and sold to us - very underhandedly - with not all the facts explained, no mention of one off payments or caveats, or even if your equipment's too old it's not covered - the complete reverse of what we were told in fact!
GRrrrrrr...........:mad:

Cardew

The price in Jan 2011 is £3 a month.

Like you I signed up in Oct and have yet to receive anything in the post; despite a couple of calls and being assured that I would be getting the T&Cs and goodies package.(soon)

However this link for the £2 monthly scheme specifically states 'No age limit on boiler'

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/maintenance-and-repair/boilers-and-heating/boiler-and-heating-repairs.html

That link gives this for the T&Cs

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energy/priority-response/tandc.html

Whilst there clearly are 'get out clauses' unavailable parts, power flush reqd etc, there is nothing I can see that confirms your contention that

No mention of having the ch system/ house wiring/ plumbing/ drains checked first before they take on the contract!

No mention that the boiler Annual Service 'could be' part of contract compliance.

Age of boiler less than 7 years.

I was also told that it is only for BG dual fuel customers????

Hope I am right and not you!!! or I will be cancelling.

If I am correct it still seems a pretty good deal, especially as it covers a lot more than just the boiler! - all plumbing, drains and electrical!

Andyrey

Cardew. Hi.
The links you provided are for 'Priority Response' service, not EnergyExtra (which I think is different)
EnergyExtra T & C's are here.....

doubleUdoubleUdoubleU.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energyextra/terms-and-conditions.html
(had to do that as am a new member and cant post links)

but you made me look again re boiler age and the 7 year clause is for the 200, 200 flexi and 400 service, so it leads me to believe that with the EnergyExtra 50, only *repairs* will be made to your boiler, not replacement if deemed neccissary.
So, if.....

• parts are unavailable.
• your system is not included on our servicing list.

the repair is off. But how does one know if their system is not on their servicing list?

There is still no initial system check I can see for the 50 service or any annual maintenance visits needed.
And I still can't see the Jan 2011 price anywhere!

Yes, it's for dual fuel customers and I agree it's quite probably a good deal, but I'm just annoyed with how BG 'sold' it to me!
BTW, I'll edit my original post concerning the 7 year clause.
Cheers.

Cardew

Hi Andyrey,

This is the link you gave.

http://www.britishgas.co.uk/products-and-services/energyextra/terms-and-conditions.html

There is no discrepancy that I can see between the links I posted - which are taken from the BG website and those you posted. I agee that one is for the priority repair, but it is shown as the T&Cs for energyExtra50.

The one area I am concerned about is, as you point out,

"your system is not included on our servicing list."

My reading of this is is it the type of system they can service, not that they must service it annually. e.g. If you had imported a Russian Boiler, with Swedish radiators and a French pump with German pipes!!! (slight exageration but you get my point - they wouldn't have the manuals etc)

Hope I am right on this - but agree it is not clear.