British Gas HomeCare - 8 year-old boiler condemned due to years of corrosion

Bounceback

The day after boiler was condemned I called HomeCare, they put me on a 48 hour call back by a supervisor. After 48 hours with no call, I called again and got a call back same day from a supervisor. She said a man (supervisor type) would be out to look at boiler. He called me (no visit) and said there was no way they could have seen the corrosion at the back of the boiler until they took off heat exchanger and that the corrosion at the front of the boiler is irrelevant. Have emailed BG complaints, and followed it up with a call today (again awaiting a call back in 48 hours).
It is not nice here at home with no heating or hot water. I'm OK(ish) but my hubby and 7 & 4 year-olds are no longer enjoying the experience. We have 2 fan heaters provided by BG (after a week with no CH).

jackieglasgow

Let us know what happens when they get back to you, I'll think on it overnight.

ollski

In all honesty the engineer who steps through the door would rather make a quick phone call to his manager that the boiler required replacement within 7 years than leave it and get copped with the job of changing the heat exchanger. I can't imagine anyone seeing that corrosion and not acting on it and cant really see how a leak that had gone on for 12 months could have failed to make itself evident earlier. Love to say the corrosion had been going on over 12 months but there's no way at all anyone could say... I have seen much worse happen much quicker.

Bounceback

Thanks Ollski for your comments. Boiler was serviced 3 months ago, no mention of any corrosion at that time. The engineer who came out to change heat exchanger 2 weeks ago said that the leak at the back had been going on for some time, but as the water drips passed behind the heat exchanger it would have evaporated so we wouldn't see evidence of it. The leak at the front was noticed when a puddle appeared 3 weeks ago. The corrosion at the front is missing a bit of metal about 5cm x 4cm (pic 4 on flickr link on post #8) and then more of the metal is hanging off. Do you really think that could happen in less than 3 months?
Many thanks in advance.

gas4you

Probably never had the cover off in all the annual 'safety checks'!

Personally I can't see it getting that bad in just 3 months.

C_Mababejive

Arent these inner sub assemblies available as separate items?

I find it lamentable that this boiler has been under contract for all those years and "serviced" and yet no one has made an internal inspection of this appliance.

What on earth is the point of having a "safety inspection" which only entails a flue gas check? total rubbish IMHO.

I feel that BGS have further questions to answer re this issue.

In the mean time ,you might like to write a nice email to Potterton with the pics and ask them if the sub assemblies might be available for repairs.

ollski

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Arent these inner sub assemblies available as separate items?

I find it lamentable that this boiler has been under contract for all those years and "serviced" and yet no one has made an internal inspection of this appliance.

What on earth is the point of having a "safety inspection" which only entails a flue gas check? total rubbish IMHO.

I feel that BGS have further questions to answer re this issue.

In the mean time ,you might like to write a nice email to Potterton with the pics and ask them if the sub assemblies might be available for repairs.

No the sub assemblies aren't available seperately, or at least have never been on a parts list from new.

There would be absolutely no point in a fga only check and there is nothing close to it in bg procedures....one specific point in those procedures is to check the hx for signs of leaks. G4u is the only one who has suggested that may have been the case but that is based on nothing but common malicious rumours!

Bg won't accept responsibility for something that is guesswork at best in regards to timelines, as I said persue a goodwill compromise and there may be some movement.

gas4you

Not rumours, but testimony from customers who have left BG and I have taken over the servicing. Comments such as BG never done that and they were only here 10-15minutes are the norm that I get from them.

I admit there are lots of bad feelings about BG in general, but in such a large organisation, you are going to get a high percentage of bad engineers, so one has to hope that one gets one of the good ones.

Spirit666

Hi

I would just like to comment of this if I may. I used to be an engineer for british gas and all I can say is im not surprised by any of the comments that I have read.

Also the boiler you have is a real problem and I have on many occasion replaced one of those heat exchangers because of leaks. Potterton might be your best bet but I would say the louder you shout and make a fuss to british gas the more likely you will get a result.

The boiler should have had some kind of service if the engineers where worth anything. The service includes checking the gas valve will shut down if a problem occurs not in the main unit but to the side under the electronics. check combustion at the flue if possible which is outside. Check the pressures of gas again at the side. The main part is to check the seals and look for signs of damage to the inner part. Now they have to take the main cover off to do that so Im not saying that this is the case but if you say something about that to the complaints department then if there is no recorded of this being checked on the computer system or on the paperwork they have left then BG dont have a leg to stand on.

You can request to see the job reports to see what they have wrote. It will be in abbrevations but if they engineer has reported it then sorry you might not get anything.

If I can be anymore use then let me know. I hope you get somewhere with it all.

Bounceback

Thank you for all your comments. I have paid in every month to keep my boiler serviced and safe, and less than 12 months past the deadline where they would have had to give me a new boiler for free, I am stuck without a boiler. I am very grateful for all your help so that I can approach BGS.