Disgraceful service from Npower Homteam Boiler Care

C_Mababejive

AndrewNFrench wrote: »

Homeserve recently sent an engineer out to us to diagnose our boiler fault.
He told us the gas valve had gone and this event blew the PCB. £800 odd to repair. Luckily, our insurance should cover the parts. So the engineer said...
Call next day from Homeserve, the parts are rare (Potterton Suprima 40. common boiler) and it will be £2000 for a new boiler. They said the boiler was "beyond economic repair" and even if the parts were replaced, there was no guarantee it would work.

Not satisfied, we got a second opinion from a local one-man show. Diagnosis - dodgy solenoid on the gas valve. A couple of days later we had the new part installed and the boiler is now running brilliantly. Total - £360.

A far cry from the £2000 solution Homeserve were trying to push us. The PCB is functioning absolutely fine and it enraged us to find somebody had tried to fleece us.


OP - complete sympathies from this end. Sorry to hear you're having such a ride with this and I hope you manage to find resolution quickly. For what its worth, somebody mentioned just setting some pennies aside to cover servicing and repairs annually. I couldnt agree more - can't fault local service. People working for themselves have reputations to uphold and rely on quality of service to stay afloat.

Best of luck

My...I'm in the wrong line of work.

I need to get out there are start fixing boilers...

rthirlby

Right todays report

Saturday 29th Jan

Engineer turns up between 8.00 & 8.30AM

First problem: The engineer hadnt got the part that I had been told they were going to fit. (The HT leads that send the spark to light the boiler and carry the signal back to confirm the boiler has lit.) He rang around trying to source a set but could only locate them in outlets too far away to travel to. I am in the midlands and he found some in southport!!

Second Problem: The engineer had requested a new gas valve to be ordered but this also had not turned up. And despite his best efforts to locate one at their suppliers there are none available at any of their suppliers outlets in the country.

Third Problem: They had however ordered a set of other bits and pieces which we have already had replaced so they were no use at all and were not fitted.


So now the current situation is we have to wait until next weekend to see if they can source the HT leads and gas valve which were supposed to have been fitted today. :mad:

If they can source them they will fit them and then if the boiler still wont work they will SHOCK HORROR replace the boiler !!! :eek:

There is one condition though, they would want me to pay for a new gas pipe to the boiler, the current one is not up to standards and is too small for the boiler they would fit. Something I am not to keen on having to stump up for but we will see.


Rich T

rthirlby

I forgot to say what was wrong with the boiler, it has an intermittent fault causing it to fail most mornings or whenever it has sat for a few hours unused. That means we cant leave the house unattended during cold spells for fear of burst pipes and when it fails overnight we have a cold house in the morning with no heating or hot water.

If we were an elderly couple relying on this boiler im pretty sure we would be just another statistic by now and npower wouldnt have really cared.


On the plus side I have traced the gas pipe back and we already have 22mm pipe running into the kitchen it just shrinks to 15mm for the last few meters so rectifying this wont be a major job thank god.

Pincher

Hmm, what boiler are they going to fit?

They need to guarantee workmanship and parts,
so does this mean you don't have to renew the service contract and still have cover for the boiler during the warranty period?

bambibashercol

Has the boiler had the external controls linked out to rule this out a faulty Programmer or room stat?
They should of done basic checks before just guessing and changing parts.
I really have to say that you have no chance of getting a new boiler out of them.

rthirlby

The controls are fine, the boiler had no external stat/programmer until recently. Out of my own pocket I had someone fit a wireless room thermostat to rule out that as a possible cause.


They havent said what boiler they would fit as a replacement were not at that stage yet.
They still have one chance to fix the current boiler if they can get hold of the gas valve and the HT leads. If they cant get hold of them or they dont fix the fault then I have from the engineer himself that his manager has agreed to replace the boiler.

I am expecting a call back on Monday to see how the boiler is working but as seen as no new parts were fitted yesterday then im pretty sure they can guess the answer.

ollski

Please tell me that they have replaced the fan / venturii at the very start of this sorry saga.

rthirlby

No the fan has never been replaced. Why do you ask do you know something they dont?

We have had the following fitted so far
Air Pressure Sensor
PCB
Thermistors x2
Pressure Relief Valve
Spark Electrodes
Flame Sensor
Governor on the meter

I think thats it but might have forgotten something theres been so many parts!

The fan he measured the ohms reading of and checked it was in spec with the manufacturer, it was slightly over the range given by halstead but they said it should still be ok. There is an air pressure test point on top of the boiler but the manufacturers dont have a measurement recorded on their systems to say what is right so its a pointless test.

I havent had the promised call yet from Npower manager I spoke to on Friday.

ollski

I know it's the most common fault on these, the most minute layer of dust in the fan venturii or slowing of the fan will cause exactly the fault you have.

rthirlby

Well the morning is over and they still havent contacted me as promised.


Doing a bit of research on the internet I came across this person with exactly the same fault as me and he seems to have replaced just as many parts with no sign of a fix.

http://ukplumbersforums.co.uk/central-heating-forum/6086-halstead-ace-high-lockout.html