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British Gas Damage - Rather Long Rant (Sorry)
Hi All,
Firstly I should point out that this is written without prejudice and is not intended to cause offence. If it does offend anyone I sincerely apologise.
Sorry for any bad grammar, spelling mistakes and typos.
Ok here goes:
We were having with our central heating. The fan in the boiler was getting very noisy and so was the pump airing cupboard.
We called British Gas Homecare out and an engineer came to fix the problem. Well all he did was oil the fan and turn the water pressure down. All was quieter (not as quiet as usual, but quieter than when he arrived). The following day the heating packed up all together so we called them out again. A different engineer arrived and diagnosed the problem as a bad quality water supply (iron particles clogging up the pipes). He fixed the problem by washing out the pipe leading to the pump and all seemed ok. However he said we need to get all the pipes replaced with a wider bore as the ones we have will keep clogging up and they are too small to be power flushed.
He quoted the job and British Gas phoned a week or so later to book the job saying they need 2 days to complete.
Day one - Thursday December 16th:
After much discussion between the 2 man installation team as to where they need to lay the pipes, they tell me to clear furniture from some areas while they start work (which I had to do by myself). Anyway, about an hour into the job water starts pouring through the kitchen ceiling (coincidentally, onto the things I had just cleared out of the units upstairs for them). I ran up the stairs and said “You’ve hit a pipe or something because there is water coming through the kitchen ceiling”
The one that seemed in charge came to look. While I cleared the area and got a bowl to catch the water, told me that it was just water draining for the old system and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Apparently they drained most of it but there will always be some left in the pipes.
Could they not have prepared for this and had something ready before cutting the pipe?
I then phoned (the first time I have ever really been thankful for mobile phones) my parents (after all it is their house), and luckily they were on their way back from mums hospital appointment. At least I wouldn’t be alone for much longer.
My parents arrive and so does a supervisor from British Gas. He looks at the damage and says “Well its just one of those things that’s bound to happen on an installation.”
He also explains that we should not go upstairs as it is a health and safety risk with the floorboards up. Little does he know that the other two have already had me walking across the joists half a dozen times or so with coffee and to move furniture for them.
Later:
Part of the ceiling (the kitchen again) came loose. Up the stairs I went “Guys, you’ve hit the ceiling now and it’s coming away!”
They both come down and the one in charge looks at it and says he can’t understand how that happened. The other one says that ‘They’ (meaning ‘The Powers That Be’ at British Gas) will have to pay to put that right.
I’m already panicked by the water damage and now this!
Later still:
So there we were my parents and I, huddled in one room trying to tidy up and keep warm by wearing our hats and coats.
That loose bit of ceiling I mentioned in the kitchen suddenly comes down. We all jump. Dust everywhere. We all coughing and I open the front and back door to get some air. Not for long though we are so cold. The one in charge comes down (I didn’t need to call him this time). The conversation when something like this:
He says “oh, when did this happen?”
We said “Just now. You must have heard it!”
“No”
“What do you mean no?”
“Well we were banging so couldn’t hear much else…and there’s no dust”
“What are you trying to say?!”
“Nothing…it just couldn’t have been anything we’ve done”
The conversation when on like this for a little while longer, he then walked away and came back with a camera phone and starts taking pictures.
My dad then takes some pictures of his own (good thinking dad).
The supervisor returned shortly after.
He said “Get on to your insurance”
We are thinking ‘It is your fault so you should be dealing with repairing and recovering the cost. Not us.’
He said that it was just waiting to happen and it was a coincidence that they were working at the time.
I then told him that we have been here almost 10 years and it has been fine in all that time. If they were not here it would not have happened.
He then explains that British Gas cannot and will not accept liability or responsibility.
After much debate the day ended and they left us with 3 useless fan heaters.
Day two - Friday December 17th:
A comparatively uneventful day - The rest of the ceiling seems to be holding in place but did they do any work?
“What about this hole” we asked. “Where is your supervisor?”
Their supervisor was off that day but it didn’t matter as they had not finished and one of they will be back to finish on Monday.
Luckily the heating was on upstairs so we wouldn’t completely freeze.
Day three for them but day five for us - Monday December 20th:
One of them turned up and started.
When the supervisor arrived we had a few things to talk about:
This is all we have seen without looking too closely as without moving furniture and lifting carpets everywhere we do not know what (if anything) else has been damaged.
The heating seemed to work better and definitely quieter before British Gas got their hands on it.
British Gas insisted that we need these ‘improvements’ (and I use the word begrudgingly). They insisted that they were the best people to do it (‘You could get someone else to do the work but you never know what cowboys they might be. At least with British Gas you know you will get top quality work and fully guaranteed’)
I find the standard of work (and I’m not sure if ‘work’ is the correct term for what they did) and their attitude completely unacceptable especially considering the high price they charged. We told them, before they started, that none of us are working so we will have to pay by credit card increasing our household debt and my mother 71 years old and father 62 in January 2010 both have life long illnesses so prolonged exposure to cold is not a good idea (five days without full central heating).
Can anyone please advise me on what to do to air my views and seek some sort of recompense?
I am disgusted that British Gas is legally charging my dad for the pleasure of demolishing our home in the guise of essential home improvements. I feel that they should be paying us. Not the other way round.
Sorry for the rather long rant. I really do appreciate it if anyone has taken the time to read this and I would be very keen on hearing your views.
Firstly I should point out that this is written without prejudice and is not intended to cause offence. If it does offend anyone I sincerely apologise.
Sorry for any bad grammar, spelling mistakes and typos.
Ok here goes:
We were having with our central heating. The fan in the boiler was getting very noisy and so was the pump airing cupboard.
We called British Gas Homecare out and an engineer came to fix the problem. Well all he did was oil the fan and turn the water pressure down. All was quieter (not as quiet as usual, but quieter than when he arrived). The following day the heating packed up all together so we called them out again. A different engineer arrived and diagnosed the problem as a bad quality water supply (iron particles clogging up the pipes). He fixed the problem by washing out the pipe leading to the pump and all seemed ok. However he said we need to get all the pipes replaced with a wider bore as the ones we have will keep clogging up and they are too small to be power flushed.
He quoted the job and British Gas phoned a week or so later to book the job saying they need 2 days to complete.
Day one - Thursday December 16th:
After much discussion between the 2 man installation team as to where they need to lay the pipes, they tell me to clear furniture from some areas while they start work (which I had to do by myself). Anyway, about an hour into the job water starts pouring through the kitchen ceiling (coincidentally, onto the things I had just cleared out of the units upstairs for them). I ran up the stairs and said “You’ve hit a pipe or something because there is water coming through the kitchen ceiling”
The one that seemed in charge came to look. While I cleared the area and got a bowl to catch the water, told me that it was just water draining for the old system and there’s nothing that can be done about it. Apparently they drained most of it but there will always be some left in the pipes.
Could they not have prepared for this and had something ready before cutting the pipe?
I then phoned (the first time I have ever really been thankful for mobile phones) my parents (after all it is their house), and luckily they were on their way back from mums hospital appointment. At least I wouldn’t be alone for much longer.
My parents arrive and so does a supervisor from British Gas. He looks at the damage and says “Well its just one of those things that’s bound to happen on an installation.”
He also explains that we should not go upstairs as it is a health and safety risk with the floorboards up. Little does he know that the other two have already had me walking across the joists half a dozen times or so with coffee and to move furniture for them.
Later:
Part of the ceiling (the kitchen again) came loose. Up the stairs I went “Guys, you’ve hit the ceiling now and it’s coming away!”
They both come down and the one in charge looks at it and says he can’t understand how that happened. The other one says that ‘They’ (meaning ‘The Powers That Be’ at British Gas) will have to pay to put that right.
I’m already panicked by the water damage and now this!
Later still:
So there we were my parents and I, huddled in one room trying to tidy up and keep warm by wearing our hats and coats.
That loose bit of ceiling I mentioned in the kitchen suddenly comes down. We all jump. Dust everywhere. We all coughing and I open the front and back door to get some air. Not for long though we are so cold. The one in charge comes down (I didn’t need to call him this time). The conversation when something like this:
He says “oh, when did this happen?”
We said “Just now. You must have heard it!”
“No”
“What do you mean no?”
“Well we were banging so couldn’t hear much else…and there’s no dust”
“What are you trying to say?!”
“Nothing…it just couldn’t have been anything we’ve done”
The conversation when on like this for a little while longer, he then walked away and came back with a camera phone and starts taking pictures.
My dad then takes some pictures of his own (good thinking dad).
The supervisor returned shortly after.
He said “Get on to your insurance”
We are thinking ‘It is your fault so you should be dealing with repairing and recovering the cost. Not us.’
He said that it was just waiting to happen and it was a coincidence that they were working at the time.
I then told him that we have been here almost 10 years and it has been fine in all that time. If they were not here it would not have happened.
He then explains that British Gas cannot and will not accept liability or responsibility.
After much debate the day ended and they left us with 3 useless fan heaters.
Day two - Friday December 17th:
A comparatively uneventful day - The rest of the ceiling seems to be holding in place but did they do any work?
“What about this hole” we asked. “Where is your supervisor?”
Their supervisor was off that day but it didn’t matter as they had not finished and one of they will be back to finish on Monday.
Luckily the heating was on upstairs so we wouldn’t completely freeze.
Day three for them but day five for us - Monday December 20th:
One of them turned up and started.
When the supervisor arrived we had a few things to talk about:
- The kitchen ceiling being the obvious.
- This new and supposedly improved piping is very noisy, banging and clicking. It sounds at times like water dripping. It is constant when ever the heating is on. It has even woken me up several times.
- There were bits of pipe and nails lying under the carpets.
- When we tried to gather up the above mentioned items we noticed broken floorboards (in between joists so if stepped on you go through) and floorboards that cannot be nailed back down as your new pipes are in the way sticking up higher than the joists in places.
- This (above) now explains why we get a clanking noise when walking around upstairs.
- We also noticed burnt toilet rolls (we wondered why we were running out).
- Some of your new pipes have been bent where they shouldn’t have been bent and yet others have not been bent where should have been.
This is all we have seen without looking too closely as without moving furniture and lifting carpets everywhere we do not know what (if anything) else has been damaged.
The heating seemed to work better and definitely quieter before British Gas got their hands on it.
British Gas insisted that we need these ‘improvements’ (and I use the word begrudgingly). They insisted that they were the best people to do it (‘You could get someone else to do the work but you never know what cowboys they might be. At least with British Gas you know you will get top quality work and fully guaranteed’)
I find the standard of work (and I’m not sure if ‘work’ is the correct term for what they did) and their attitude completely unacceptable especially considering the high price they charged. We told them, before they started, that none of us are working so we will have to pay by credit card increasing our household debt and my mother 71 years old and father 62 in January 2010 both have life long illnesses so prolonged exposure to cold is not a good idea (five days without full central heating).
Can anyone please advise me on what to do to air my views and seek some sort of recompense?
I am disgusted that British Gas is legally charging my dad for the pleasure of demolishing our home in the guise of essential home improvements. I feel that they should be paying us. Not the other way round.
Sorry for the rather long rant. I really do appreciate it if anyone has taken the time to read this and I would be very keen on hearing your views.
0
Comments
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Sorry to hear about the appalling way they did this 'work'
I would start by sending an edited version of what you posted, as a letter to British Gas. You could fax or e-mail it, as well as posting it, mark it URGENT, and ask what they propose to do about the damage THEY caused to your ceiling, as well as to put their work right.0 -
I sorry to hear you've had to go through all this.
I should send the letter by recorded or special delivery so that you know that they've received it.
Contact your local Trading Standards Office and provide them photos of what has been done to your home, and a copy of the letter you send to British Gas.
If you can afford it, it would be worth joining Which's legal service (it's 51 pounds for a year, but you could ask for a quarterly rate). They would provide you with advice from a solicitor, including exactly what to write in your letter to British Gas, and then give you legal advice regarding British Gas's response to you if needed. You could also ask Which themselves to take up your case.
Good luck, I do hope you get it sorted out.0 -
British Gas are the LAST people I would trust to install central heating.
Rip off merchants
Cowboys
Con men
Shysters
Incompetent
<insert other derogatory words>British Ex-pat in British Columbia!0 -
Generalisation..?British Gas are the LAST people I would trust to install central heating.
Rip off merchants
Cowboys
Con men
Shysters
Incompetent
<insert other derogatory words>Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..0 -
Surprisingly enough, you might want to call your home insurance people, but not to claim. Home insurance sometimes include legal assistance, which is meant for claiming from third parties that do not want to cough up, i.e. British Gas.0
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How much did they charge for the installation ?His Heart Proved He Was A RedSuarez, SuarezWe Bought The Lad From AmsterdamWe Know He's Not a Chelsea Fan.Fernando Torres = El Judas0
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Hi All,
Thank you kindly for your quick and helpful advise. It seems I have quite a bit of writing to do. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction - at least I have an idea of how to start the ball rolling. Hopefully this will be the end of it, but I will let you know how I get on if that's ok.0 -
Gerrard_8_lfc wrote: »How much did they charge for the installation ?
Hi Gerrard_8_lfc,
They charged £1,500.000 -
We've been on to our insurance company and they are saying that there are exclusions in the policy which means we only possibly covered for the water damage (I don't see the point in repairing a crack when there is a big hole next to it).
Anyway they are going to send a contractor to asses the damage and to see if it can be all classed as one claim (initially they said that all the damage will be seperate claims, however if we are covered for anything it would only be for the water damage they will see if they can bundle it all together as one job).
If they can sort any of the damage out we would still have to pay £250 excess (which we cannot afford). So I'm still praying thet British Gas will sort out their mess.0 -
Hi eprophet - Provided you feel safe living in the house in it's present condition, it may not be wise to to have as much repair work done by your Insurers that they will pay for, at this time.
Eventually BG will have to get hold of the problems, and if part of the work has already been done, it will be all too easy to say "This or that was caused by the Insurers cowboy repairer"
I know money is tight, but if at all possible get a local Regd. Gas Fitter to examine the installation and give you a written report, which should include an opinion as to wether or not the original pipework was indeed too small for power flushing.
The fact that you have pipework set at levels above the top face of the Joists and joints in floor boards between Joists, is almost unbelieveable, but photo evidence of this is an absolute clincher in your case against BG
All the best0
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