Disgraceful service from Npower Homteam Boiler Care

rthirlby

Hi everyone, I am having a hell of a time with Npower and their Hometeam Boiler Breakdown Care

I am signed up to a package offering Unlimited Parts & Labour, Unlimited Call Outs & a free replacement boiler if they are unable to repair your boiler.

They have made several visits, and tried a plethora of parts to fix my boiler but it still isnt working and it has been going on for almost 3 months!! During the big freeze at the end of November a few of my radiator pipes froze due to the boiler failing and have caused the valves to leak

I am now trying to make them honour the free replacement boiler which is part of the package I am paying for but from what I have been told I would be the first person to ever get one. It seems its more of an enticement than a genuine offer :mad:, they should not be allowed to advertise it if they wont honour it.


I would like to hear your opinions on how I have been treated by npower & their engineers so I have put to gether a quick timeline of events, its a tough read but please bear with it.

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5th Nov
Approx date of 1st Call To Npower & 1st Engineer Visit
Cant diagnose fault, no parts ordered

8th Nov
Approx date of 2nd Call To Npower & 2nd Engineer Visit
Cant diagnose fault again, no parts ordered.
Engineer asks me to poke around inside the boiler with a multimeter next time it fails. I AM NOT A GAS SAFE ENGINEER

3rd Dec
Third call to book master technician, booked for 5th Dec.

5th Dec
Master Technician orders Air Pressure Switch to be fitted 9th Dec in the morning

9th Dec
APS to be fitted this morning but engineer has not arrived. I call Npower to complain. Engineer eventually calls up says he will arrive in 30 minutes but wants to know what the problem is. I remind him he is fitting a part.

2 HOURS LATER….. engineer has not arrived
I call Npower and I am told the engineer hasn’t got the parts, I am furious, why couldn’t the engineer have told me that rather than lying to me. Another engineer booked for 10th Dec it will be the first job on the engineers list and will be first thing in the morning.

10th Dec
Once again the morning appointment is missed, no engineer turns up.
I call to complain but I am told that they booked an all day appointment instead of morning by mistake. Engineer turns up later that day, fits the part and leaves; he makes no attempt to apologies for being late. Later that day the boiler fails again, problem not fixed. Another engineer is booked for next week.

23rd Dec
An engineer arrives, on time today. He orders a PCB, Thermistors & a pressure valve

3rd Jan
Having heard nothing from Npower since 23rd Dec I call to see when the parts will be fitted. Engineer is booked for 5th Jan

5th Jan
An engineer arrives, he fits the parts and leaves but unfortunately the boiler fails again. I call Npower again to book another engineer for the 12th Jan in the afternoon after 1pm.

12th Jan
Engineer is due in the afternoon after 1pm as nobody will be home before then. He calls up at 12:35 saying he will be with us shortly and I inform him as agreed with call centre nobody will be home until 1pm so he will need to wait until then. He begrudgingly agrees to wait until 1:15pm.

We get home just after 1pm and find a card through our door saying he waited but left at 1pm despite agreeing to wait until 1.15pm!
I checked our CCTV system which shows that he arrived at 12.45 and left a few minutes later, he had no intention of waiting for us. Lied to again by Npower engineers.

Another call to complain to Npower and after a big argument with the rep another engineer is booked to come out to us the same day. He arrives and orders electrodes.

17th Jan
I received a call form Npower saying electrodes to be fitted 19th Jan. I am given a specific appointment time of 12:30.

18th Jan
Receive another call from Npower confirming the appointment still ok for 12:30 tomorrow.

19th Jan
I wait until 13:35 but no sign of the engineer.
Then I receive a call from Npower to tell me the engineer is not coming as he hasn’t got the parts again! Appointment rebooked for the 20th

20th Jan
Engineer arrives fits the electrodes and leaves. But again the fault remains.

I write a complaint email to the customer relations department and receive a call back from a manager. I make it very clear that this has to be the final attempt to fix the boiler.

They have wasted enough of my time already and I have lost a lot of time off work waiting for engineers that don’t arrive. They arrange for their top engineer to come out to me on the 21st.

21st Jan
Engineer arrives and spends 4 hours tinkering with the boiler. He cant find the fault and his only thought is to call Transco out to replace part of my gas meter.
Transco arrive and replace the governor then both engineers leave.

25th Jan
Still having the same problem with the boiler so I email another complaint to npower customer relations department

26th Jan
I call Npower as I have not had any response to my email.
A manager eventually speaks to me and tells me he wants to book an engineer from the manufacturer of my boiler but I inform him there are no engineers in my area as I had been told this by npowers top engineer who came on the 21st. He wont have it and insists they will be able to get one. He will call me back tomorrow morning to tell me what is happening.

27th Jan
Morning comes and goes and no call so I call them but they are not able to get hold of manager, he is in a meeting and will call me back in the afternoon
Around 4pm and still no call so I ring again, the manager tells me he has found out there are no engineers from the manufacturer in my area (which I told him yesterday). He wants to send their top engineer again but I refuse as he has already been and spent 4 hours without fixing it. I want them to honour the free replacement boiler terms of my policy in the case where they are unable to repair a boiler.

He agrees to call me back by 4.30 to let me know what they are going to do. By 5pm I have not been called back so I ring them again and I am told he has gone home!

Furious I ask for another manager who has agreed to call me back first thing in the morning with a definite answer on what they will do next.

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My complaints are as follows:

1) I have been without reliable heating and hot water since 5th Nov 2010

2) I have wasted three days waiting for engineers who didn’t turn up. My time is valuable and I don’t appreciate it being wasted.

3) I have run up a huge bill calling npowers customer relations department to make complaints on an 0845 number, including a lot of calls chasing promised call backs that didn’t happen.

4) I have been blatantly lied to by at least two engineers.

5) I have been asked to poke around inside my boiler by an engineer which I am not qualified to do and would probably void my breakdown cover!

6) Overall poor treatment by the call centre staff who in a lot of cases were nothing more than glorified answering machines taking messages.




So what do you think, comments welcome


Rich T

echoecho_2

Hi rthirlby

Whatever people think of these boiler cover schemes that the energy suppliers offer, the crux of the matter is that you are paying for a service that is not delivering on what was promised.

I think the situation has been going on for far too long and think you are perfectly within your rights to be complaining. I've tried looking for the hometeam complaints procedure but there doesn't seem to be one on their website. At this stage, you need to find out what their escalation procedure is. Keep pushing until you get someone that will give you straight answers about what they're going to do.

Sorry I couldn't be any more help and hope you get the problem sorted.

samtheman1k

I think that all you can do is follow NPower's complaints procedure (it should be on their website) to the letter, asking for compensation for missed appointments, phone calls, etc., it will probably escalate and they'll agree to settle just before it goes to the ombudsman.

Alternatively, I'm not sure of the wording of your policy, but you have given them ample opportunity to fix it, and they have failed to do so. I'd give them a dead line to replace it (due to not being able to fix it within reasonable timescales), and if they don't, then get it replaced yourself, and send the bill to them via the small claims court.

I do sympathsise, the call centres don't actually seem to talk to the engineers normally.

echoecho_2

Samtheman,

I know there's an ombudsman for the gas and electricity side of things but I don't think they adjudicate on homecover problems.They're normally operated as a separate business unit and afaik there's no ombudsman service for that.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

rthirlby

samtheman1k wrote: »

I think that all you can do is follow NPower's complaints procedure (it should be on their website) to the letter, asking for compensation for missed appointments, phone calls, etc., it will probably escalate and they'll agree to settle just before it goes to the ombudsman.

Alternatively, I'm not sure of the wording of your policy, but you have given them ample opportunity to fix it, and they have failed to do so. I'd give them a dead line to replace it (due to not being able to fix it within reasonable timescales), and if they don't, then get it replaced yourself, and send the bill to them via the small claims court.

I do sympathsise, the call centres don't actually seem to talk to the engineers normally.

Thanks for the replies,

Im not aware that there is a specific complaints procedure and to be honest if there was then there call center ops and their managers are not aware of it either.

However I have written to them twice and verbally asked them twice about compensation for the days when they havent turned up and for my phone bill but they are reluctant to talk about it and want to discuss it next time we speak.

At the moment I am waiting for one of their managers to call me back, it has been promised for first thing this morning..... I dont hold much hope!

Stuart_W

Keep logging all times and dates and any calls/communication. It seems like you are doing the right thing.

The bottom line, as samtheman1k says, you are paying for a service you are not receiving. Keep all paperwork, and it may, unfortunately, be the case that you have to threaten to fix or replace it yourself and reclaim all expenses incurred via the small claims court.

I've recently abandoned by similar policy with BG (free replacement boiler claims are attractive) due to difficulties, and have been lucky enough to find a local, reliable heating and plumbing firm, who I ended up getting a new boiler with and now pay a little each month into a savings account (instead of a monthly premium) to cover annual servicing and any maintenance costs. Working out much, much cheaper so far.

rthirlby

Npower have called me and they still wont replace the boiler. They want to replace the wiring loom inside the boiler. I am just waiting for another call back to say when they will fit them.

Im not particularly happy as they are just clutching at straws now, they have no idea what the problem is but wont admit defeat.

And again the question of compensation was ignored.

It goes on...

Kriscross

You have my total sympathy regarding appalling home care service Am going through same problems with Scottishpower and am still waiting for positive outcome Call centre staff promising to return calls that never happen, engineers that fail to turn up and when they do either dont have correct parts or any parts at all Attemps to contact management or complaints dept proved fruitless as well so I sent letter to Managing Director marked "Private +confidential" (to avoid secretary diverting it) and guess what - no reply to date:D As soon as boiler fixed I will kick boiler contract into touch and go with local heating co.

rthirlby

I have spoken to Npower again and firstly they told me they would get the new wiring loom delivered to the engineer and fit it next weekend. I was not happy about the wait so they have re-arranged for an engineer to come tomorow depending on if he can get the parts in time. Waiting for another call back to confirm the parts are available.

Also asked about the compensation claim but the manager he needs to speak to is in a meeting.

I have sent npower a link to this forum so they can see your responses.
It goes on ....

samtheman1k

That's what I say when I don't want to answer the phone too!

The funny thing is, it would of been cheaper to of replace the boiler by the time you take into account the time that they've spent on it...somehow, you need to trigger the 'replace boiler' button on their computer system...though not sure how you can do that!

Widelats

personally i would be furious.

I can tell you that when someone tells you a manager is in a meeting, it is normally a lie, if theres so many meetings why is there very little done to improve things.

OK this is what i would do, take your contract agreement or guarantee of this boiler replacement scheme and go see a solicitor, or the citizens advice, take your log of complaints with you and go to a small claims court or its more waiting until they admit defeat, and i would ask for compensation from npower for the massive wait, you paid for a service that has not delivered, despite many attempts.