Bristish Gas 3* Service Contract

isayoldchap

Xbigman wrote:

I had the view that servicing a new boiler, especially as I am a low user, was a waste of time. So as my boiler is now 4 years old and had about £350 of gas put through it I would get it serviced. However, looking at the various websites they all have a condition that any service contract is subject to the boiler having been serviced already. OK, if it was broken down I can understand it, but its not. What a con.

My current view is this. Servicing is a waste of time unless you have a breakdown in the warranty period or you otherwise have reason to think you have a troublesome boiler. Or if you are a very high user. IE £400+ bills per year. Otherwise its simply too dear to have gas of any description. You think gas is cheap? Not when there is a 180% extra service charge.

Now I've had a replacement quote of £980. I can afford a new boiler every 6 years at that price. But then I visited the local trade plumbing supplier. They will sell me a new circulating pump for 29.99 + VAT, which includes fitting instructions. A new Ignitor for 34.99 and a new extraction fan motor for 15.99. Apart from that I keep it vacuumed out and give it a test run each august. The £170 I would have paid in servicing charges this year is now sitting in my savings.
Regards



X

Firstly I am no Gas engineer.........
Not sure about the small print and whether all companies operate these similar
conditions.It maybe better just having a service done locally,with a Corgi Registered engineer.At least you will have the necessary paperwork.

I'm see that you have been doing some research into some parts on your boiler.Unfortunately you may have noticed that there are other parts.These will carry a much larger price tag and then there is the safety issue.If you are
current Corgi Registered engineer you should not be working on your gas.People can get locked up for this.Of course you may wish to buy the parts and have a CRE install them.(Maybe there should be a law to stop people from buying the parts in the first place unless you have the right documents to say you are a current CRE.Infact we should extend this to say
that all gas appliances must have a safety check every year.(free for some
of those people who reach criteria status).

We had a British Gas service done just this week,(approx £14.16 per month).The engineer also made check to the wall hung flue,dials and other controls.Plus a check on the rest of the system.The £3.50+pw is more for piece of mind and safety issue when you have Gas in the house.You may not smell it but it the danger maybe there and can build up,which may cause an explosion,which could be fatal.Unsure if your house insurance would cover this
especially if your boiler was the cause and it hadn't been serviced regularly.
Be safe and be sure...Do the right thing and look after yourself and your friends.

dougk_2

Well as I see it for a start there is no requirment to be corgi registered to fit a new water pump that is outside of the boiler - thats a water/plumbing issue not a gas one.

so Xbigman can fit that no problem.

ADAM001

captain_insano wrote:

Adam , why are you paying £13 when it quotes £14.99 on their website? Is the product called 'heatcover'?

It was listed at £13.00 p/m when i went on their site,maybe they are trying to hike the price up,try ringing them and ask the question, at the end of the day its a type of insurance and there doesnt ever seem to be consistency in the pricing of these type of things,or maybe they think that even at £14.99 they are still cheaper than british gas and therefore they have put the price up.
Maybe try haggling with them,just tell them you know someone who only pays £13.00.

RedOnRed

Xbigman wrote:

I had the view that servicing a new boiler, especially as I am a low user, was a waste of time.

One of the main reasons to get the boiler serviced is for the safety inspection side of things. You need to have the emissions checked on it at least yearly. If you don't, carbon monoxide might get the better of you.

chateau42

British Gas! Engineers! Fitters! Salesmen!!!!!!!!!

rabialiones

norwich union have just quoted me 13.95 a month. 30 day waiting period
npower quoted 125.55 for year. 28 day waiting period.
has anyone had any dealings with these ? are they any good???

RedOnRed

rabialiones wrote:

norwich union have just quoted me 13.95 a month. 30 day waiting period
npower quoted 125.55 for year. 28 day waiting period.
has anyone had any dealings with these ? are they any good???

Don't know about Norwich Union but my parents were with NPower and it took them about 2 weeks to fix something very straight forward. Worst still, it was during christmas a few years ago and was about -10 c at the time. It was only fixed after myself intervening with a few ranting phone calls.

They returned to British Gas cover as soon as they could.

If you read between the lines none of them provide like-for-like to BG. There are all sorts of clauses, can't claim for first month and maximum claim amounts.

I used a company called Home Service a few years ago through Scottish Power and the quality of sub contracting plumbers was very poor. Most of them didn't want to be there and had quite bad attitudes.

If you want central heating cover British Gas may not be the cheapest but are the best.

Xbigman

A few points.

You do not have to be corgi registered to fit or repair a gas appliance. In fact I could go to your house and fit a gas cooker. What I cannot do is charge you for it.

There is a aura of fear regarding gas appliances. The fact is that the chance of a modern (after 1994 I think) gas appliance or gas meter developing a serious gas or fume leak is astronomically low. In every case where an incident has occured there has been a tracable reason for it. IE the old woman who gassed herself when she hung a bag of clothes pegs over the vent outlet. I'm not advocating major surgery here or messing with the gas pipes, but simple stuff is easily and safely do-able by anyone with common sense.

A point on servicing and safety.
A friend paid for a service on his gas boiler. About £56 as I recall. Corgi man comes round, removes cover, vacuums out, sniffs twice, 'thats ok mate, £56 please'.

When my father had the new boiler fitted he also had to get a new electrical certificate on the house. Work done was;
Little bits of green plastic put over earth wires in plugs. 2 hours.
Earth wire put on copper pipe in bathroom 30 minutes. (which I discovered goes into a plastic pipe behind the shower!).
Disconnected old wall light wire under floorboards in bedroom (30 minutes)
The workmen had a 2 hour lunch to make up a half day and avoid getting a third job in a day. Cost. £850.

I will say this. If you are concerned about safety, then pay for a service. If not, save your money.
Regards



X

RedOnRed

Xbigman wrote:

I will say this. If you are concerned about safety, then pay for a service. If not, save your money.

Shouldn't we all be concerned about safety?

Not all boiler services are as brief as the one you mentioned.

isayoldchap

Xbigman wrote:

A few points.

You do not have to be corgi registered to fit or repair a gas appliance. In fact I could go to your house and fit a gas cooker. What I cannot do is charge you for it.

There is a aura of fear regarding gas appliances. The fact is that the chance of a modern (after 1994 I think) gas appliance or gas meter developing a serious gas or fume leak is astronomically low. In every case where an incident has occured there has been a tracable reason for it. IE the old woman who gassed herself when she hung a bag of clothes pegs over the vent outlet. I'm not advocating major surgery here or messing with the gas pipes, but simple stuff is easily and safely do-able by anyone with common sense.

A point on servicing and safety.
A friend paid for a service on his gas boiler. About £56 as I recall. Corgi man comes round, removes cover, vacuums out, sniffs twice, 'thats ok mate, £56 please'.

When my father had the new boiler fitted he also had to get a new electrical certificate on the house. Work done was;
Little bits of green plastic put over earth wires in plugs. 2 hours.
Earth wire put on copper pipe in bathroom 30 minutes. (which I discovered goes into a plastic pipe behind the shower!).
Disconnected old wall light wire under floorboards in bedroom (30 minutes)
The workmen had a 2 hour lunch to make up a half day and avoid getting a third job in a day. Cost. £850.

I will say this. If you are concerned about safety, then pay for a service. If not, save your money.
Regards



X

Wow!I bet that wasn't a British Gas Engineer who used his nose to do the checks.I would actually be concerned about the engineer that visited and what he maybe missing in performing the job the way he got his certificate.I am grateful that in Surrey the authorities are clamping down on just this sort of behaviour.Let's hope that he could be filmed the next time he does a visit and performs his nose checks.Let's hope he or she was holding a valid certificate.I am happy to pay the charges made for a professional service.I am with them throughout the service and can confidently say that the British Gas engineer that visited my house on Monday done a lot more than the £56
guy you mention.I can only speak from my experiences.