EON Central Heating 'Care' debacle!!

robbo21982

Sorry for the really long initial post but I need to see where I stand.
I've been with EON for central heating care for the last couple of years but have am now facing a very big problem.
I have been without heating or hot water since last Wednesday 8/6/11 when an EON engineer arrived to conduct an annual service (which i had to call to arrange myself as it was overdue and no-one bothered to contact me). The engineer took the casing off the boiler to find that the main combustion unit had been sealed with metallic tape. He asked who had done that to which I advised it was their engineer last year as I had not touched it and neither had anyone else. It turns out that the seal around the unit had perished and as a result, their engineer last year had sealed with this metallic tape. As a result, he has had to cap off the gas to the boiler leaving my family (including a 3 and a 4 year old) with no heating or hot water.
Before he left he arranged an appointment for Saturday between 1pm and 8pm to fit the new part(s) and get the boiler up and running again. Far from ideal as we've had to cart the kids around to relatives houses to get them bathed. I rang EON on Thursday to advise that we needed to get the appointment earlier as we were not coping without heating or hot water. The agent on the phone adivsed that the appointment had been changed to between 8am and 1pm on Saturday which was a little better.
Saturday arrives and come 2pm, still no sign of anyone. I called the 0845 number from my mobile as I don't have a house phone (at a cost of 20p/min). When I finally get through to someone, I'm told the appointment was still 1pm to 8pm and hadn't been changed at all. They go through to their planning dept and are told that the engineer has an ETA of 30 mins.
Two hours later, still no sign of anyone so another call to the 0845 number and I'm told unfortunately the engineer has been delayed on 2 previous jobs and won't get there today!! The engineer still had almost 4 hours of his time window to attend but I'm told that they've apparently exhausted all avenues to get someone to me that night. I asked at what point they were likely to inform me of this had I not been chasing, to which I didn't receive an answer.
After speaking to a manager at the call centre, I'm basically fobbed off with the 'promise' that an engineer will be working overtime on Sunday and will attend first thing in the morning but before 12pm at the very latest.
11.30am on Sunday morning and still no sign of anyone so ANOTHER call to chase up the engineer. I'm told that he had just logged onto my job and should be there shortly.
12.20pm and I'm still sat waiting. Another call reveals that actually the engineer went to collect the parts but they weren't there!!!!! I'm only informed of this because I've chased it up again though!!
They think (although cannot confirm) that the parts are still with the engineer who should have attended on Saturday and as he's on rest day, they can't get hold of him. This engineer is not now back in until Tuesday and should have returned the parts into stock before the end of his shift last night!
After speaking to another call centre manager, I'm told that they will attempt to source the parts again on Monday but can't guarantee they can get them the same day and I'm more than likely looking at a Tuesday call out (resulting in an unplanned day's holiday from work). She also revealed that as I have 2 young children, I should have been a priority but this didn't happen as the planner made a mistake to which she was extremely sorry! This is all well and good but doesn't help us all sat in our outdoor coats in the house!
I asked as to what compensation I could expect as I'd already had to turn down a shift at work on Saturday (which pays a premium) and will also have to take an unplanned days holiday as well as leaving us in the cold for almost a week. Add this to the money spent on mobile calls and the added electricity to heat water to have a wash in the morning I would have expected something as a good will gesture. I was told that they have no obligation to offer compensation as they are not regulated.
My son was ill in the night and was sick so we have been unable to wash him properly until today when my partner has had to travel almost a 20 mile round trip to our nearest relative to bath him. We also can't wash his clothes as we've no means of drying them in the bad weather.
It's now 6.30pm on Sunday and am now at the mercy of whether EON can be 'bothered' to get someone out to me tomorrow.

What, if any, recourse do I have with this other than cancelling and moving elsewhere which I'll be doing as soon as the problem is fixed?