Central heating service contracts - again!

verntern

Finally proved to me that they are a waste of money whether Homeserve, BG or Uncle Tom Cobley. All boast of peace of mind for the maintenance and safety of your heating system. Not true. I decided to cancel a maintenance contract with Homeserve which included an 'annual service'. My local and trusted heating engineer came to service the boiler and found nothing had been cleaned, tested or adjusted from previous 'annual services'. Homeserve third party technicians had signed the maintenance record booklet as 'all OK'! Lesson learned. I now self-insure. Put £25 a month into savings for an annual service and other eventualities. Well worth it if you can find a local heating company, get to know them, and have the assurance that they are nearby and a local phone call away. Better than 'We are currently busy, your call is important to us - press option 2 then 5, then 6' Then more music and eventually 'We are currently busy, your call is important to us' !!!

Lgas

Depends what make your boiler is but I have services sometimes that require no cleaning or adjusting - how would he know if it had been tested though? (and I sincerely hope it was!).

ollski

Unfortunately the only way of possibly being able to tell that is by working on it previously, seeing and leaving incorrect readings, going back again after a few visits by someone else and discovering they are still incorrect. This market is fiercly competitive and the truth is that most engineers will slag everyone else off by way of self promotion.