Don't use warmfront, warmsure or eagaheat

Lion-King

Hi all

My poor parents had a warmfront grant and had a new boiler installed.

An engineer came over to undertake its 1st annual service and ended up switching off the heating supply and hot water as there was insufficient gas supply to the boiler. All this because the idiot that installed it from Eagaheat installed it using the old pipes because he could not be bothered to fit new pipes. Had they never had the annual service they would never have known and it has been dangerous all along.

We have been trying to chase since Fri as it is freezing and no fun without heating or hot water. Finally got someone to come out today and guess what? Have to wait for someone to come out and do the work. Not holding my breath here. You have to harass these people everyday to get somewhere or they will just ignore you. :mad:

Would not recommend them to anyone.

Steer clear. Anyone else had similar probs?

ormus

they could have paid BG summat like 3k to 9k, and got an even worse service.

sean_b

do not tar everyone with the same brush love one bad apple if done by me it would have been ok and i have done warmfront work for years and had no problems

My poor parents had a warmfront grant and had a new boiler installed.

An engineer came over to undertake its 1st annual service and ended up switching off the heating supply and hot water as there was insufficient gas supply to the boiler. All this because the idiot that installed it from Eagaheat installed it using the old pipes because he could not be bothered to fit new pipes. Had they never had the annual service they would never have known and it has been dangerous all along.

We have been trying to chase since Fri as it is freezing and no fun without heating or hot water. Finally got someone to come out today and guess what? Have to wait for someone to come out and do the work. Not holding my breath here. You have to harass these people everyday to get somewhere or they will just ignore you. :mad:

Would not recommend them to anyone.

Steer clear. Anyone else had similar probs?[/QUOTE]

sean_b

how do you know that someone from a private company would have done any better dont run a company down for everyone to see not everyone is perfect

SidneyCrosby33

Judging by your previous post you appear to be a gas engineer, if so then you should know that the pass mark on Gas Safe is 100 %. That means the work and engineer that he does has to be 100%. There's a good reason for that. Anything less than perfect when human life is at risk is not acceptable and they deserve the criticism. My in-laws had the same company do their boiler and the work was appalling. I am also helping someone who has been accepted for the grant and is still waiting for the work to start..... nearly 8 months later and they are severly disabled. I wouldn't touch this company with a barge-pole. Very poor workmanship, very poor after-care.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

gasgas1

I am a Gas Safe registered engineer, and have worked for WarmSure /Eaga last winter as a self employed contractor and can therefore speak as an independent engineer. Old pipes carry gas just as well as new pipes, so the age of the pipes is irrelevent. What you probably mean is that you think that larger diameter pipes should have been installed, in order to maintain a working pressure of 19mBar at the appliance. It is very likely that the boiler installed is a condensing Ideal boiler with a zero governor, as that is what Eaga installs 99% of the time. The manufacturer specifies that these boilers will work properly down to an inlet pressure of 13mBar, because they have a zero governor. I would think that what has happened here is that the service engineer has gone to the house, and measured the inlet pressure at the appliance was less than 19mBar. Commonly I find the pressure at 17 or 18mBar. He has decided that as it does not comply with the British Standard which says that the inlet pressure at the appliance must be not less than 19mBar, it must therefore be At Risk. This British Standard was written before zero governors were adopted by manufacturers. At the gas safe training we are taught that manufacturers instructions over-ride the British Standards, and therefore this appliance, if it is an Ideal boiler, is OK to run at anything down to 13mBar. I would guess that in fact the boiler was running properly and heating the house and water satisfactorily, and the engineer was ignorant of the fact that it will run quite happily down to 13mBar. Personally I think he was being over-officious by turning off the gas supply to the appliance, and I would not do that, especially in the middle of last winter. I would put the health of the occupiers above the minute deviation from British Standards, IF the boiler was working properly. He should have done a Combustion Analysis, which would probably have shown that the combustion process was correct. If that was the case then the boiler had to have been operating correctly and there would be no reason at all to turn off the appliance.
In the approximately 1200 faulty, cold appliances I attended last winter I did not find one that I left turned off. The fault was most commonly a frozen condense drain pipe, but whatever it was I would stay and fix the fault and leave the heating running correctly. I would not leave an old person in the cold at all. If a replacement part was necessary I would frequently drive 20 miles to get the part and fit it. The reason I want to work for them again this winter is to see the gratitude in the eyes of an elderly person when you arrive at a cold house and leave it warming up with a working boiler. This is greater reward than the money you get, which is not much compared with working on private jobs.
So if you like you can slag off an engineer, and some of the installations could be better, but I think that overall the Warm Front government initiative works: it gives elderly and disabled folk free new boilers and loft insulation. The vast majority of them are very grateful for the improved heating they get as a result. Personally I think it is the one and only thing that the last government got right.

neilcat

Hi, I have been reading the comments on warmfront and eaga heat and just want to add my current problem. My mother is 86 and has waiting over a year for her survey. She was with warmfront who evidently ran out of money and she was passed over to Eager heat. My problem is eaga heat will not talk to me only my mother (that I understand) but when I ask them to email the engineer he rings me. First appointment my mother was going away. The second appointment he wanted to come round that afternoon - I live 40 miles away - they never rang back so I chased again..next phone call can he come round that afternoon....do they not listen. I LIVE 40 MILES AWAY...and there is no one else to help....now I expect we will wait until I call again to get yet another response...why does an 86 year old not have priority... don't come back on that as I know of someone on benefits, who is only 61 and only waited 2 months and has had all the work done and she applied at least 6 months after my mother !

A.Penny.Saved

Lion-King wrote: »

Steer clear. Anyone else had similar probs?

No I haven't!

I have no complaints about Warmfront, except for their checks on loft insulation which was not fully fitted which they missed. It would of meant going deep into the loft with a board to check fully so easy to miss.

I had a boiler replaced after my old boiler broke and that was without a problem. I watched the install and the check done and everything looked okay.

All appointments were made well in advance and kept.

A few unfortunate incidents are not good reason to condemn a company.

paulsad

Agree; my lad works for BG and I can vouch that he is a very dedicated and thorough engineer - he will often do way more than expected and has loads of customer thank yous sent to his employers.

zzzLazyDaisy

I had a new boiler fitted by warmfront. They failed to do the power flush, despite it being on the job sheet. They left a gas leak at the boiler and a valve open at an upstairs radiator in the spare bedroom, where they had put the anti-corrosive, resulting in water leaking into the room below.

When I complained they denied everything and insisted that in the two days between the boiler being installed and them coming out to rectify the problems I must have had a different plumber in who had caused the problems!

The leak caused £100's to a newly decorated room (decorator's receipts available from only the month before). Trading standards got involved but because warm front failed to respond to any of their letters, all they could suggest was that I take them to the small claims court. TS also told me that they have had numerous complaints about WF in my area. Admittedly, it might be my bad luck to live in an area served by a particularly bad contractor for WF.

Did I take them to the SCC? No. Why? I was bedbound at the time and for several months afterwards, neither myself nor my carers had the time or energy to pursue the matter. The thing is only the elderly, disabled, and vulnerable qualify for WF grants, so most people who have problems will be in a similar situation when it comes to getting redress.

spuunge

I cant say I've had any problems with warmfront. The companies they sent to do the loft insulation, cavity wall and replace the oil boiler all came when they were supposed to and completed the work to a high standard.
The only problem I did have was a (barely) leaking oil filter, which was external anyway and they came and fixed it asap.

I would recommend them to anyone, but of course it depends on where you live as to who will come and do the work.