British Gas Homecare, having a laugh.

silkyuk9

been with British Gas homecare for a number of years. We took the cover out when the boiler broke down a number of years ago and since kept up the monthly payment sceme.

Each year we have had an engineer out to inspect the boiler and had no probs. We pay over £200 a year for the comfort that if we have any problems British Gas will be there.

Yesterday (22nd Dec) we noticed a drop in pressure and there was water on the floor beneath the boiler (we have a Wocester combi). Anyway, rang British Gas to arrange an inspection and told them that we can see a leak while the central heating is on. The woman asked several questions that I could not answer (im not a central heating expert) regarding the bolier and the problem, we told her that there was a leak and we were not happy with it on as we do not know about central heating installations etc, and the safety of the unit, if and when the boiler runs out of pressure.

An appoiuntment was made for the 24th december. So we hoped that we would only be without heating 2 nights (yesterday and today)

during this afternoon BG rang telling me that the appointment would have to be cancelled due to not enough engineers and said the next appointment would be over a week away. Trying to explain to the customer service who rang me that we would be without heating all over christmas at this very cold time would be a problem we were more or less told 'is there anywhere we could go or make alternative arrangements over christmas' and 'what other methods of heating do we have'

we told her we live in a house with central heating and a electric fire, that is more for decoration than heating, however the electric fire does give out heat but only in the living room. She rang me on my mobile while we were out shopping then the line suddenly had reception probs, however, i could hear her perfectly well!! the phone call ended.

When we got home we rang BG to try to sort something out, and after a long slog we arranged an engineer to visit us tommorrow between 1pm and 6pm, but was told that it could be cancelled again.

So up to now we are waiting hopefully for an engineer to visit tommorrow.

BG are running a advertisement campaign on TV about their homecare service, telling you that they will be there for you. However they do not tell you that if you have problems it may take a week for an engineer to visit you.

Over the years we have payed hundreds of pounds for theirservice and only used them once for a minor problem, and for a yearly service.

Im thinking we could have put this money into a bank account each month and if any probs just get out a gas safe engineer.

kippen_noedel

Consequence of the bad weather I'm afraid, calls will be prioritised.
If you want priority tell them you have no heating or hot water and require an engineer immediately be better if you had an elderly relative or a new baby or someone seriously ill, then you get to the top of the list.

Don't quote me on this, I'm only assuming this is how any company would handle calls in this kind of weather.

Cardew

IMO the main reason to have BG cover is as an insurance policy, and if that insurance is not 'paying out' when needed, it is time to make a huge fuss.

There have been lots of posts on the wider issue of 'self insurance'.

I had BG cover for many years, and always found them excellent, it was particularly re-assuring when I was abroad working and my family were at home.

I decided to self-insure a couple of years ago when BG started making noises about parts for my boiler being hard to come by, followed up by calls from their sales staff trying to sell me a new boiler.

I wish I had done it years before.

silkyuk9

kippen_noedel wrote: »

Consequence of the bad weather I'm afraid, calls will be prioritised.
If you want priority tell them you have no heating or hot water and require an engineer immediately be better if you had an elderly relative or a new baby or someone seriously ill, then you get to the top of the list.

Don't quote me on this, I'm only assuming this is how any company would handle calls in this kind of weather.

priority didntseem tomatter when my wife told them that she has asthma and the cold makes it harder for her to breath, thats when they told us could we make alternative arrangements.

C_Mababejive

silkyuk9 wrote: »

priority didntseem tomatter when my wife told them that she has asthma and the cold makes it harder for her to breath, thats when they told us could we make alternative arrangements.

Not commenting directly on your situation just generally that there are those who abuse such "priority" arrangements in a selfish way so that they try and get quicker/better service than others when they are not entitled to it. Because of this,i dont think there should be any priority service. There are too many selfish people in this country who just think of themselves,trmaple on others and take the p*ss.

For the OP,if its only a drip,and it were my boiler,id just put a tray/bucket under it and turn it back on. If the pressure drops,top it up. As long as it drips straight out of the boiler and isnt getting on electric bits then chances are its not a big issue.

silkyuk9

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Not commenting directly on your situation just generally that there are those who abuse such "priority" arrangements in a selfish way so that they try and get quicker/better service than others when they are not entitled to it. Because of this,i dont think there should be any priority service. There are too many selfish people in this country who just think of themselves,trmaple on others and take the p*ss.

For the OP,if its only a drip,and it were my boiler,id just put a tray/bucket under it and turn it back on. If the pressure drops,top it up. As long as it drips straight out of the boiler and isnt getting on electric bits then chances are its not a big issue.

While i agree in what you are saying, we didnt want 'priority' over others, we never asked for that.

We pay for a service that costs us around £25 per month, we have boiler cover and other covers with British Gas for a piece of mindthat if the boiler breaks down, the radiators burst, or the drains become blocked that BG will come out within 24 hours and try to solve the problem.

Its like having a AA cover nd your car breaks don while you are travelling from A to B and you call them up and they give you a appointment for a weeks time. You are not really happy are you, you are paying for a service and expect them to fullfill their side, regardless if they have no staff.

Back to the issue. Now the boiler is leaking yes, we do have a bowl collecting the water, but, i am not a boiler technicion. Now if BG had said to us, "Look we do not have a engineer who can call and potentially fix your problem, we are having lots of calls due to the bad weather, however, we will send someone round to take a look and give you advise on what to do if the problem gets bigger, and will tell you if its safe to use for a day or 2 until they can get back to you to fix the problem. Our enginerr will give you instructions on how to disable the unit if you have a potential dangerous situation and this will help you over christmas and this bad weather we are having".


Now a responce like that would be fine and greatful from us. All we want is the problem fixing as soon as possible but when you are getting NIL service for something you are paying for i do not believe its good enough.

Also they could even say, "Get a Gas Safe engineers out who you might know in your local telephone directory and they might help you and they can bill us directly"

This kind of situation happens when you own a car that has a warrenty. a warrenty company would not expect you to drive a broken down car to the garage you purchased it from. They would tell you to get it fixed by a reputable garage and bill them directly.

This is how things should happen, but no, some companies waould rather you wait until they are free to see you.

gm_b

silkyuk9 wrote: »

been with British Gas homecare for a number of years. We took the cover out when the boiler broke down a number of years ago and since kept up the monthly payment sceme.

Each year we have had an engineer out to inspect the boiler and had no probs. We pay over £200 a year for the comfort that if we have any problems British Gas will be there.

Yesterday (22nd Dec) we noticed a drop in pressure and there was water on the floor beneath the boiler (we have a Wocester combi). Anyway, rang British Gas to arrange an inspection and told them that we can see a leak while the central heating is on. The woman asked several questions that I could not answer (im not a central heating expert) regarding the bolier and the problem, we told her that there was a leak and we were not happy with it on as we do not know about central heating installations etc, and the safety of the unit, if and when the boiler runs out of pressure.

An appoiuntment was made for the 24th december. So we hoped that we would only be without heating 2 nights (yesterday and today)

during this afternoon BG rang telling me that the appointment would have to be cancelled due to not enough engineers and said the next appointment would be over a week away. Trying to explain to the customer service who rang me that we would be without heating all over christmas at this very cold time would be a problem we were more or less told 'is there anywhere we could go or make alternative arrangements over christmas' and 'what other methods of heating do we have'

we told her we live in a house with central heating and a electric fire, that is more for decoration than heating, however the electric fire does give out heat but only in the living room. She rang me on my mobile while we were out shopping then the line suddenly had reception probs, however, i could hear her perfectly well!! the phone call ended.

When we got home we rang BG to try to sort something out, and after a long slog we arranged an engineer to visit us tommorrow between 1pm and 6pm, but was told that it could be cancelled again.

So up to now we are waiting hopefully for an engineer to visit tommorrow.

BG are running a advertisement campaign on TV about their homecare service, telling you that they will be there for you. However they do not tell you that if you have problems it may take a week for an engineer to visit you.

Over the years we have payed hundreds of pounds for theirservice and only used them once for a minor problem, and for a yearly service.

Im thinking we could have put this money into a bank account each month and if any probs just get out a gas safe engineer.

The truth is that there is a ratio of one engineer to every 500 customers with large utilities firms and this time of year its a merry go round with staff. Engineers tend to move from firm to firm depending on the best terms and salary.The best and the worst people work for themselves but you may well fins a local firm that offer cover on equal terms. Enter your post code on the Gas Safe website and it will list all the engineers in your area.

digp

BG homecare has been deteriorating over the recent years. Was much better in times gone by.

C_Mababejive

digp wrote: »

BG homecare has been deteriorating over the recent years. Was much better in times gone by.

Yes..that'll be about the time I left.

duggie1982

So has it been fixed yet?

I like the self insure plan too but sometimes that can fail. PAying over the odds if your boiler did break down and car not working on the road side, cant really get the yellow pages out in the hard shoulder!

Not for me but many people do it and like it.

Pincher

For people with older boilers, you have no choice,
because BG won't sign you on.

I have a 20 year old Potterton that has been serviced by a local Gas Safe (CORGI) plumber for more than ten years now, because BG dumped us, after paying them years for something 3 star.

Time to replace it with a condensing boiler, but I really loathe the idea of replacing something that works perfectly fine, just not as efficient as the condensing ones. So I'm just waiting for it breakdown, to give me an excuse to replace it.