disgraceful boiler cover .scottish power

keystone

fedupspuser wrote: »

To Keystone - ........... in other words words +++++ off.

Oh very mature.:T

Cheers

keystone

dom2599 wrote: »

Keystone,

I understand waht you mean with regards to using the local plumber, but when you pay for a service and that service is below par then i think people have the right to complain. I also used a local plumber last year to remove my gas fire so i could get the chimney swept, he removed it no problems, the chimney was swept, i called him to come back ond fit the gas fire, said 'yep' no problem, never turned up, many calls and messages later, still a no show. I had to get another fitter to fit the fire, so local fitters can be just as unreliable, so in my eyes your argument is as flawed as SP.

Actually you have slightly missed my point which perhaps wasn't made that well in retrospect but you haven't missed it by quite such a large margin as FUU who seems to be allowing emotion to overide objectivity but thats enough of that.

What I meant was these big company contracts are a waste of time and energy in my opinion. Its nothing to do with the fact that in this case SP do seem to need their ar.es kicking. You have found out that the service can and be sparse because the chances of getting the same engineer from them evenb for routine work is minimal. Their spares ordering and management systems are megalithic as the bean counters insist on operating a JIT parts system and driving the costs through the floor which affects individual service. That has the knock on effect which has been so amply demonstrated to you. No you shouldn't have to pay a local man extra to cover the FUBARs of a big co that you have already paid for either.

What do you pay to SP per year for this "service"? £ 20 a month? Now over a year thats £ 240 at at the start of the next year you've lost that money and start again. If you have £ 20 per month to spare then put it away in a BS account or similar. At the start of year 2 you don't reset to zero you add another £ 20 and by the end of year 2 you have £ 480 in the kitty etc etc. Thats what I mean by self insure however much you can afford a month.

Find yourself a reliable local heating engineer (preferably by recommendation from trusted friends or family). If you employ him and him only to do the routine work and then him and him only to deal with the emergencies you are so far ahead of where you are now. Not only that but he knows where to get the spares required at a moments notice rather than a monolithic supply chain that hasn't the faintest idea from one moment to the next and you build up a trust relationship with him that means you don't get "departed never to be seen again" syndrome which you describe.

You fund this through your self insure "kitty" - money that stays in your control and you don't lose it if you haven't spent it by the end of the year. Granted there potential for financial overexposure in the first year or so but the risk seems small to me particularly if you can start "self insuring" whilst the thing is still under manufacturers or installers warranty.

Bet you take your car to the same garage year after year after year for servicing etc and I'll also bet you have a good friendly relationship with them. Why treat your heating system any differently?

So sorry if I didn't explain myself properly. Does my argument remain flawed?

Cheers

dom2599

Hi Keystone,

I'm sorry if my last post came aross as rude, it was not my intention. A nice detailed explanation, thanks for that; the home care package i have with SP is part of my 3 year fixed gas and electiric deal (which i'm now saving money on) and is very a good deal with or without the home care part, no matter whether i use the home care service again or not. I'm sure if i surf the net, i could find cases were SP service has been second to none for someone with similar issues.

The same can be said for local engineers, in my opinion, it all boils down to money, no matter if they are 'reputable' or not.

With regards to car servicing, i do this myself, so i dont have to pay over inflated labour charges.......if i could i would also do the boiler servicing/fixing etc....maybe i'll look in to getting on a course....

keystone

Oh no it didn't come across as rude at all - as I said I could have expressed myself better in the first place. Think nothing off it. The other guy was downright rude though.

LoL - you're a better man than I am Gunga Din if you have the knowledge and wherewithal to service a modern car yourself. Give me a 1950/60s motor and thats easy - ful service in about 30 minutes. You won't find many plumbers (with the certain exception oif a certain company in S London that shares its name with a Victoria Line Station 'twixt Vauxhall and Victoria) that charge you £60+ an hour.

Cheers

ihateyes

keystone wrote: »

Actually you have slightly missed my point which perhaps wasn't made that well in retrospect but you haven't missed it by quite such a large margin as FUU who seems to be allowing emotion to overide objectivity but thats enough of that.

What I meant was these big company contracts are a waste of time and energy in my opinion. Its nothing to do with the fact that in this case SP do seem to need their ar.es kicking. You have found out that the service can and be sparse because the chances of getting the same engineer from them evenb for routine work is minimal. Their spares ordering and management systems are megalithic as the bean counters insist on operating a JIT parts system and driving the costs through the floor which affects individual service. That has the knock on effect which has been so amply demonstrated to you. No you shouldn't have to pay a local man extra to cover the FUBARs of a big co that you have already paid for either.

What do you pay to SP per year for this "service"? £ 20 a month? Now over a year thats £ 240 at at the start of the next year you've lost that money and start again. If you have £ 20 per month to spare then put it away in a BS account or similar. At the start of year 2 you don't reset to zero you add another £ 20 and by the end of year 2 you have £ 480 in the kitty etc etc. Thats what I mean by self insure however much you can afford a month.

Find yourself a reliable local heating engineer (preferably by recommendation from trusted friends or family). If you employ him and him only to do the routine work and then him and him only to deal with the emergencies you are so far ahead of where you are now. Not only that but he knows where to get the spares required at a moments notice rather than a monolithic supply chain that hasn't the faintest idea from one moment to the next and you build up a trust relationship with him that means you don't get "departed never to be seen again" syndrome which you describe.

You fund this through your self insure "kitty" - money that stays in your control and you don't lose it if you haven't spent it by the end of the year. Granted there potential for financial overexposure in the first year or so but the risk seems small to me particularly if you can start "self insuring" whilst the thing is still under manufacturers or installers warranty.

Bet you take your car to the same garage year after year after year for servicing etc and I'll also bet you have a good friendly relationship with them. Why treat your heating system any differently?

So sorry if I didn't explain myself properly. Does my argument remain flawed?

Cheers

as has been documented about SP i they sub contract out to Carillion.

Now Carillion will get paid a set fee per job, i have heard from sources that sometimes Carillion argue with SP over their payment for ome jobs, as parts/labour outwweigh their payment from SP.

so while the 2 companies are arguing, the customer is stuck in the middle.


SP are rubbish.

keystone

Thank you for agreeing with me then.

Cheers

dom2599

Just another update, although i now have heating and hot water, i have not informed SP of this, i want to see what they can do for me as a customer. I had a call this morning from a 'charming' lady who thought the best way to win my heart and soul was to continually talk over me, she joyfully exclaimed that the parts ordered on the 29th December was now in and ready to fit...i asked her where the part had come from, she stated she did not know...i asked her if it came from China on a donkey! She stated that an engineer would come to my property some time tomorrow to fit it, 'no they wont' says i, i told her the only days they can come and fit the parts is either a saturday or sunday evening, around 8ish in the evening, she said 'oh no, we cant do that' 'why i ask?' she says 'the spares depot will not be open then' 'oh' says i 'i thought i was paying for a 24/7 365 days cover?' she says 'you are, just not on a weekend or public holidays', 'goodbye' says i as i put the phone down.

So there we have it, SP in breach of contract....their T&C quite clearly state that SP recoginse no heating and hot water as an emergency, in these circumstances this will be fixed.......and i quote.....'on a weekend or public holiday'......

YOU'RE OUT OF ORDER SP......NOT GOOD....

Keystone,

I drive Landrovers, they are nice and easy to work on, very easy to service. My dad restores classic cars, usually 30's, 40's and 50's cars, this was his last project;

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3827254/Reunited-after-44-years-apart.html

Vicky123

So how would one get Carillion to pick up the bill when another company is used to fix a boiler?
I have a 3yr old Baxi Combi, it breaks down regular as clockwork every winter when it's called to heat radiators and water so self insuring wouldn't work, BG quote £150 for 3o minutes up to £400 if over 2 hours as a one off repair.
I have had to take repair and cover as Carillion have left us without heating for over a week now, similar story to the above, parts, Diverter etc, so BG will come out tomorrow at a cost of £99 plus £20 per month.
My son is disabled and weather set to really freeze over the weekend just have to get the heating sorted but would really like to bill Carillion to whom I have been paying £20 per month for cover.
Can't afford solicitors.

dom2599

Vicky123 wrote: »

So how would one get Carillion to pick up the bill when another company is used to fix a boiler?
I have a 3yr old Baxi Combi, it breaks down regular as clockwork every winter when it's called to heat radiators and water so self insuring wouldn't work, BG quote £150 for 3o minutes up to £400 if over 2 hours as a one off repair.
I have had to take repair and cover as Carillion have left us without heating for over a week now, similar story to the above, parts, Diverter etc, so BG will come out tomorrow at a cost of £99 plus £20 per month.
My son is disabled and weather set to really freeze over the weekend just have to get the heating sorted but would really like to bill Carillion to whom I have been paying £20 per month for cover.
Can't afford solicitors.

Hi Vicky123,

I had to get my boiler fixed using my household insurance, i had emergency cover, so used that and they were very efficient. In my experience and others, you can talk until you are blue in the face to the telephone monkey's and they will just tell you what you want to here, i had a caomplaint with SP logged so when they hadnt resolved it i escalated it the other day to the cusomer complaints director depart (or something like that) today i had a call from them stating that my treatment was unacceptable and a written apology will be in the post and as a gesture of goodwill have sent me a cheque for £100.

Are you saying that you have cover with SP? and you are still waiting to get it fixed? If you have someone in the houshold with a disability, then under section 9 of their T&C they should fix it as a priority over anything else, get on the phone and keep at them, its not easy but you will need to rock the boat.......good luck, i also believe you can use the sale of goods act against them

dom2599

Hi Vicky123,

Ive just had a quick look online, try contacting consumer direct they should be able to help you with the sale of goods act, knowledge is power as they say...good luck