British Gas Homecare, having a laugh.

duggie1982

The older boilers are some times the best ones. Again the problem is BG or other company's wont cover you.

P.S. Most gas safe engineers can service your boiler but the older it is then most cant fix or can but limited parts etc.

Pincher

If the heat exchanger goes, the old Potterton will be going to that great scapyard in heaven. It's a floor standing model, so it's bit tricky to find a direct replacement. Probably easier to re-do the whole kitchen and get a wall mounted one.

murray_grant

Hi Our boiler packed up on new years day
similar story from the gassy 3 days before they can come
Now they have just phoned to say that they cannot come today as promised over stretched "employ more engineers maybe "
having spoken to a manager they now say an engineer will be some time today but may be as late as 6pm
we have had sub zero temps here since xmas and pay every month "never late" think we may cqancell and just put the £22 away every month and see what happens
murray

duggie1982

Well British Gas do have more engineers than any other companies that offer the same service in the UK. But when the colder weather comes in then they are stretched to the max. Same as other companies like the AA when there is snow then more cars need them.

Although 3 days? Thats madness.

CheekyMonkey

We don't actually have BG Cover and last night our heating and hot water failed. Warning light on boiler is flashing and pressure is showing as 0.4bar. Have tried the normal fixes but nothing has happened.

Should I pay the fixed price British Gas fee of £210 (for our area) to get it fixed OR are British Gas the last people I should think of using going by the problems with the cover policies?

£210 seems OK, but I would hate it to be a 5min job.

roddydogs

But if your "Self insured" you still wont get an engineer any quicker, will you?

MarcusB

I had BG cover at my last house and my boiler packed up, had a 6 yr old & a newborn, engineer came out next day (sat), said a part was needed and would be back on Monday morning to replace it. Monday PM came and nothing, so I called BG and they said, "Sorry part not available for a fortnight the visit was cancelled" I explained that I had 2 kids, it was winter & no other form of heating or hotwater to be told, sorry nothing they could do. I asked for a manager and was told that one wasn't available.

So I did what I often do, I phoned the BG chairmans office and asked to place a complaint. Spoke to a nice man, who said I would get a call from the local engineering manager within an hour. He called, said that they would source a part locally, and would update me later. Called back to say an engineer would be there that day, and sure enough, engineer turned up at 7pm, bolier was working by 8.

I often find that a call to the top gets more done than talking to a local call centre manager.

Payless_2

My boiler also packed in on new years day and on Saturday I rang British Gas when said that for £160 they could have an engineer out today or for £99 and £20 a month for a service contract I could have had one yesterday. At 3pm today I rang them to ask when the engineer would be appearing and they told me that they were sorry but I was not a priority and they were very busy so they would have to reschedule. 3 days in the north east with no heating or hot water and not a priority. That's just rubbing salt in the wounds.

I was livid. They must have known this earlier so why didn't they let me know so that I could make other arrangements.

As it happened I rang a local company straight after and they came round immediately and put everything right for £60. I wouldn't pay for their Homecare package service if that's the service that they offer.

Payless_2

roddydogs wrote: »

But if your "Self insured" you still wont get an engineer any quicker, will you?

The local company that I got to mend my boiler offer a service that costs £5 a year on top of the cost of their annual service. For this you get an emergency phone number in case something goes wrong out of hours eg new year's day:eek: . You still have to pay for the repair on top but after such good service from them today that will give me enough peace of mind.

They do offer other monthly payment services as well which I intend to look into. It may be worth looking to see if there is a reputable company around your way that also does this instead of paying British Gas prices for such a bad service