disgraceful boiler cover .scottish power

Clareesutton

They basically take your money for years then when you have a serious problem they won't fix. I took cover out about 4 years ago on a 2 year old boiler. My mistake was having a wolf boiler but at the time I never thought anything of it. They came out every year to service and even fixed a dodgy fan that had stopped the heating working. Was happy until December 2014 I contacted them because I couldn't get any hot water. They didn't turn up till January and at this point we are told by the engineer that they can't get parts for it. Now there records show we've been with them since sept 13. I've paid a monthly fee for them to be able to fix my boiler which they have done over a year ago. I asked them for my monthly payments back as they have been unable to fix it to be basically told to get lost!! How is that fair!!! It's also taken 3 months for them to give me an answer! The customer service is shocking. They are rude, unprofessional and basically thieves! I am going to take this further but if I stop one person from using their shocking home comfort service I know I'll be saving someone from the same stress and upset that we've had to go through. Please DO NOT USE SCOTTISH POWER HOME COMFORT! You will end up disappointed 😢

jay1962_2

If you live on the Isle of Wight, trust me, stay well away from this service.
You have been warned!!

strawie99

Just wanted to share my experience as well as i am sooo angry
I reported my boiler breakdown on the 17.06.15 as i did not have any hot water.
Scottish power advised that an engineer will visit my home on the 18.06.15.
An engineer did come and confirmed that new parts will need to be ordered. He left with just doing an inspection.
On friday 19.06.15 Scottish power called and confirmed that the parts will not be ready until over the weekend and an engineer will come on Monday am.
Monday 22.06.15 the same engineer came to my home and replaced the parts that were originally ordered. After this he now said that he needs more parts as the boiler still does not work even after what he replaced.
After his visit at around 9.15pm there was no cold water running through the cold tap in the bathroom and then there was no water feeding into the toilet to flush the waste. I visited my water company website to see if there was a problem in the area to which there was nothing.
I then called Scottish power back on the 22.06.15 at around 9.30pm who then contacted the engineer who was dealing with my case to call me back which he did around 9.55pm. The engineer asked if i can get a spanner & a screwdriver to turn on the cold feed within the boiler. I said no and hang up the phone.
I called Scottish power back again on the 23.06.15 in the morning to explain the new situation that was created after the engineers second visit and they advised that the parts were still yet to arrive, a complaint has been put through and they still cannot contact the area manager to arrange for the boiler to be fixed. After a few more phone calls on the 23.06.15 they arranged for another engineer to visit my home at 6.00pm. When this new engineer came he confirmed that the parts that were changed were unnecessary and he will speak to the main office as he thinks this should be fixed asap. He did go into the loft to check the tank and after his inspection he said that the company should fix all that has gone wrong and he would ask to do the job asap.
I called back Scottish power on the 24.06.15 at 8am & 11.20am and they confirmed they still cannot do anything as the parts have yet still to arrive and they cannot do anything to fix my hot water or the water feeding into the toilet or cold taps. I have gone without hot water for 7 days and my toilet not flushing for 2 days.
Is this normal service???

mrnkar

I have been with Scottish power for years so in October last year I decided to take out their home comfort boiler care. Waiting for my pack which never arrived, I discovered they had the supply address wrong so contacted them in December, they said they would correct it, still hadn't received pack in January so checked online, supply address still wrong, phoned again to be told they would sort it. Same story so in April contacted them through the website, told I would be contacted, didn't happen, sent another one in June saying I wanted to cancel, same story someone would contact me.
Today I phoned again & have got it sorted with a new contract for the correct address, but after reading comments regarding their service & repairs maybe I should cancel. Trying to get a refund on original contract as I have not received any checks or service of boiler since starting it. Think it will be a long haul.

Chodders

Having been a customer of Scottish Power's 'Homecomfort' policy for over a year without a claim, they visited me three days before Christmas on 22/12/15 for their annual boiler inspection.
10 minutes into the inspection, the engineer knocked on my door (the boiler was in the garage) and informed me that he had some bad news for me. He had discovered a tiny hole in the outer casing, caused by rust (he thought), which meant, the boiler had to be condemmed as unsafe and dangerous. Not only that, but he had to disconnect the gas supply to it and I was to be 'kicked-off their policy!
When I explained that there was no way that I would be able to get someone to fit a new boiler before Xmas that me and my family would be without heating and hot water over this period, he just looked at me as if to say, it's not my problem. When I suggested he tape over the tiny hole and I appealed by phone to his supervisor, I got nowhere. I then said I would not give him access to my gas meter, to which he retorted that he would, in that case, contact the emergency services and if I didn't let them have access, they would 'dig up the road' and isolate all the gas into my house which would mean no gas to the cooker or gas fires!
I had no choice, therefore, to watch him cut the pipe to the boiler and cap it before placing a big red sticker on the boiler saying 'IMMEDIATLY DANGEROUS---DO NOT USE'. Shivering with cold and fearing a cold Xmas with no hot water I phoned as many local gas firms as I could and eventually was able to get one to agree to come over for a second opinion.
Imagine the mirth and hilarity, not to mention anger and relief on my part when the engineer explained that the hole was actually part of the boiler's design and was there to act as drainage for condensation and the only thing missing was a little screw to block it until it was needed!!!
I then had to watch a proper engineer re-connect the boiler which I had been forced to watch being disconnected by a Scottish Power charlaton 7 hours previously. On top of that, I had to part with £50 for the privilege!!
The annoying aspect of all this, is that what if I had been a little old lady living on her own? Who would have looked after her? It's okay condemming a boiler for a good reason, but Scottish Power being a big nation-wide energy company should at least be able to call on one of their suppliers/contacts to fix the boiler or install a new one to ensure the householder is not just left high and dry (and freezing) in the middle of winter especially just before Xmas!

LABMAN

I do sympathise, I have a 40 year old boiler that I can buy any part for but I know if I let anyone 'qualified' near it that it will be condemned. I myself have replaced the most expensive parts twice in the last 20 years. £65 and then £85 (it's now £100). Heating including 24/7 hot water and cooking cost us £12/week so I will continue with DIY however illegal. CO monitor remains silent BTW.


My MIL in the last 20 years has replaced her old boiler on advice twice at a cost of ~7k...madness!

mr_bee

Just to add to the general theme, here is my tale of woe, but in summary STAY WELL AWAY FROM SCOTTISH POWER, THEY ARE USELESS AND THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ABYSMAL....

Registered a Home Comfort scheme online (in November).....it didn't activate because the bank direct debit didn't process, no notification, no contact, took endless calls to sort it out over the phone but eventually I set up the contract in mid December (on behalf of my elderly mother).

Earliest date we could get for a boiler inspection (preceeding a service) was this week, all good, they'd already taken a direct debit out of my account and sent the welcome pack directly to my mother's address, and spoken to her to confirm the address and time.

This week I receive a text saying their engineer is on their way and will be there in an hour. No show; my mother rang them to be told that the service plan address was incorrect and that the contract is cancelled....goodbye. I eventually got in touch with their customer services (took forever) and was told that the service plan address was in East Ayrshire (well away from Cheshire), the mistake was by the sales team and that I need to raise a complaint ticket against the sales team and cancel the service plan and take out a new one......I asked a basic question, if you've sent the welcome pack to the correct service plan address, how can you have the wrong address on they system......no answer, just lots of hostile answers back and passing me on to a new number.

Speak to the complaints team, three times a day for a whole week, to be finally told that the only way to resolve it is to cancel the contract and set up a new one, but would have to wait for another 3 to 4 weeks for the boiler inspection....I gave up, goodbye Scottish Power, I will never use you for anything and pass on the bad news to every person who ever mentions taking out boiler cover......

CashStrapped

Chodders wrote: »

I then had to watch a proper engineer re-connect the boiler which I had been forced to watch being disconnected by a Scottish Power charlaton 7 hours previously. On top of that, I had to part with £50 for the privilege!!

In response to your post:
.
This practice is not limited to Scottish Power. A British Gas Homecare engineer tried the exact same practice on me.

They condemned my boiler by (in my opinion) faking an carbon monoxide detection (my own detector sensed nothing). They then claimed that due to it's age they could not get spare parts, and even if they could, the parts that needed replacement were inaccessible due to the boiler design.

I then did the same thing as you:

Instructed a local engineer to come and give a second opinion/attempt repair. They accessed the parts required for checking in a few minutes. They did not look like they needed replacement but it was done anyway.

The parts were still available as it was a generic rope seal. Nothing Special.

A full test was done with no carbon monoxide detected.

I then wrote a complaint letter to British Gas who refunded me the cost of the repair by the Independent Engineer.

I suggest you do the same!

Ron_Bowden

I, rather foolishly as it now turns out, recently signed up for SP Boiler Cover. Last Wednesday an engineer visited for an initial inspection and service and declared everything OK.

The day following his visit the boiler began to make a loud thumping type noise every few seconds and fearing an explosion or to a lesser extent damage to the boiler I switched it off and contacted the emergency number.

I was not impressed when they said they would arrange for an engineer the following week. After some raised vocals by myself they then arranged for a visit the following day.

On Friday the engineer visited, inspected the boiler but was unable to replicate the problem. He made some adjustments and everything seemed fine. However this morning (Sunday) the problem returned with the boiler again making the same noise every few seconds and the noise appeared to be increasing intensity. Again it became necessary to turn it off.

I contacted the breakdown number again to be told a visit could be made on Tuesday. This was then bought forward to Monday and despite protestations on my part they would not move on this.

On both occasions that I have reported the problems I have been asked if there is anybody 60 and above in the house which is the case in relation to both myself and my wife. This was clearly not taken into account on either occasion and I'm left wondering why they bother asking the question in the first place.

Furthermore, on both occasions the operatives suggested that because I had chosen to switch the boiler off it was down to me that I had no heating. On the first occasion the operative even suggested I should turn the boiler on and put up with the noise until the engineer visited, stating "They will lock down if there is anything wrong" . I'm obviously not a qualified heating engineer but when a GAS boiler is making those type of noises only a complete imbecile would ignore it.

I thought I was paying for a 24/7 365 day service but according to their staff that only applies to access to their call centre.

All in all a bad experience so far although it pales into insignificant given some of the horror stories on here.

I’ll wait to see what happens tomorrow but I’m not holding my breath. I can see myself and SP divorcing in the near future.

travellerboy

I took out boiler cover last October and yesterday made a request for an engineer visit due to a small condensate leak coming from inside the boiler. The engineer arrived promptly due to the fact that we are pensioners over the age of 70. When he viewed the boiler he made a derogatory comment that he did't like Glowworm boiler and had a problem with one earlier in the day.

Next thing too our astonishment he carries his tools and speedily heads for the door. I call their office and the engineer had told them they was no Gas Safety Sticker on the boiler and there was evidence that the boiler had third party interference.

I told them no one had touch the boiler, why would they when it was covered by insurance. No one was prepared to listen or send another engineer to confirm the previous engineer's lies!! They said they were terminating the contact and would record and investigate the complaint. What a way to treat a couple of pensioners leaving them without hot water or heating- an absolute disgrace.

The manufacturer's engineer called today and said the Gas Safety Sticker is only require on rented properties which yours is not so did not understand their problem. He took 45 minutes to resolve the boiler condensate leak costing me £179.

BEWARE Scottish Power will take your money and then run.
I registered a complaint which I have little confidence since they were prepared to leave us without heating without a conscience. No matter what, this issue is not dead and will be taking the evidence further to the ombudsman.

I only wish I had been more diligent when purchasing the Insurance from Scottish Power and seen this website with all the complaints.
People out there, Pay a little extra and get Valid Boiler Cover
AVOID SCOTTISH POWER at all costs.