Anyone took 'Help Link' boiler deal?

richb1905

Just had a new boiler installed 2 weeks ago by helplink - following a recommendation from Martin Lewis himself.......

After an 8 hour installation, the engineer took off without telling us anything about the set up of the boiler.

Needless to say, after testing I noticed the pressure had dropped to zero. I adjusted the pressure taps and put it down to the boiler being so new. The following morning - no hot water.

Checked boiler and yet again pressure had dropped.

Called helplink who sent someone over to take a look - apparently it needed running for 30 minutes after installation to set itself.

The following day, the pressure dropped again, so again I called Helplink. This time they advised there must be a leak, however it was OUR responsibility to locate the leak.

We checked the radiators and all were ok - however I noticed in my kitchen a small trickle of water running down from the coving. The boiler is at the top of the stairs above the leak.

I went up and removed the carpet to find the floorboards had not even been securely replaced. After lifting the boards I found quite a bad leak beneath 1 of the new connections - and also noticed that the engineer had BENT an existing pipe (from the indentations it appears he has repeatedly hit with a hammer) to ensure the new joint would fit.

I immediattely reported to Helplink, who sent out an engineer about 3 hours after the call - however by this time the coving had come away from the ceiling. During the repair, the engineer also "accidentally" punched a whole through the ceiling, causing water to pour through on top of the fridge.:eek:

As it stands, we are left with damaged kitchen ceiling, coving and wall, which we have JUST been advised is "not Helplinks fault" therefore they will not cover. They claim there was existing damage so have refused to cover any costs.

I have lived in my house for 9 years with the old boiler with NO leaks - seems a little coincidental that within 2 weeks of a new boiler being replaced directly above the leak, that my kitchen ceiling NOW leaks causing damage.

The engineer has left me with the pipe he claims caused the leak (with hammer indentations from the original installation).

I am going to have this independently tested for a leak, even though it is clear there are no holes in the pipe - only dents.

What initially seemed like a good deal has quickly become a nightmare for me and my family.

I HOPE HELP LINK KNOW I AM NOT GOING TO JUST GO AWAY AND LET THIS DROP!!!!!!!:mad:

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

whoisrob

Our boiler was installed two years ago around the Autumn time, the guy who came out informed me it was his first job with the company but he was experienced with prior employment so I thought nothing of it. From then til now we've seemingly not had any issues. Our follow up one year on confirmed that everything was great and we just left the boiler alone, never really touching it or switching it on for the hot water as the house is quite warm regardless of the season.

Up until recently the hot water has been dropping in and out and has left us with the cold water option for the foreseeable future, we've been fortunate to stay with family whilst we've been trying to resolve this but it has been an incredible journey of disconnected calls, denial of my complaint being logged and being informed that a member of their staff cannot register a complaint because it's not physically possible (something I find hilarious as a customers displeasure must be logged at the first point of contact, at least where I work at least)

It started out all innocently and we assumed that everything would be straightforward. We arranged with HelpLink to send an engineer out who would assess and repair accordingly. The guy from the boiler company (Worcester Bosch) was really nice and forthcoming with his resentment towards HelpLink, we both had a look at the systems manual and he kindly pointed out that there is a minimum requirement of space in order to complete repair (600mm) and the actual space left was half of that so when he stood in front of the system he would have to be double jointed in order to even accomplish anything! He stated that he would contact HelpLink on our behalf to get this looked into, he was kind enough to give me his number (at his request, not mine) once the boiler had been fixed so he could take a look at the end result as (in his words) he'd never seen such an awful job.

I contacted the HelpLink contact centre to register a complaint against HelpLink themselves and not Worcester Bosch. Not particularly sure how they train their staff but their attitudes were nonchalant, unsympathetic and disinterested. My first attempt at complaining resulted in a half hearted "You'll be called within the hour" so I left it and went about the day then one hour turned into two, so, being promised a call I went back to them and stated that I was promised a callback and how I could register a complaint. I was then advised that it was Customer Care I would need to contact and the staffer put me on hold whilst they arranged the transfer. They put me off hold to inform me that they weren't answering so when I asked what time that department closed the answer was simply "I don't know, they're not my department" - I find it incredibly hard to believe that they don't know or don't know anybody who would have access to that information. So more time passed and figured, why not, third time is a charm.

Spoke to a complete cow of an agent who stated that they were awaiting the report from the engineer. The engineer had kindly wrote down the details to me because there would be a delay from initial visit to contact centre so I had that prepped and advised that I've got that all to hand. The agent then rudely interrupted and said that they MUST wait for the report to come through.

I forgot to mention that in my second call it was interrupted by my daughter who was babbling in the background - apparently they don't like the idea of a little girl without heating/hot water and after the third call I received a call from the Regional Ops Manager. I couldn't fault the bloke, he was spot on and it's a shame that the level he provided wasn't filtered down to the contact center. From an initial 7 day turnaround it was quickly amended to 24 hours with an electrician added on top to check the system and any other bits and pieces around the house.

Ultimately the resolution came down not by the lack of willingness to register dissatisfaction but that they heard my daughter and didn't exactly want us to go to the relevant ombudsman for not acting accordingly and leaving us with a boiler that we were paying for but couldn't be serviced for fear of the warranty being voided. Tomorrow I'm going for attempt number four at the complaint, but not exactly holding my breath.

Charlieb74

Help-Link you do the maths and Don’t use Help-Link

· A new boiler will cost you an extra £300 before they even start on the installation, as you will waste 12 hours of your life on the phone & waiting for them to show up for appointments they never attend.
· Offer to install a boiler which is not suitable for your property.
· Never show up for appointments so you stay in for 4 hours waiting for nothing.
· Never phone you back when they say they will.
· Agree one price then change their mind.
· Try and sell you a service product you don’t need .


Jonny Ball may be on their adverts but as a company they more like Bobby Ball! And no I’m not joking

First impressions were great, prompt call backs, 10 year warranty on all boilers, initial survey competed very professionally, addressed all of our concerns and questions. So we paid our deposit and agreed to pay the balance on completion.

After that it all went wrong and my past 3 month experience of this company and 3 failed appointment’s, unable to claim the new green deal £1100 cash back as they never turned up twice to complete the survey and then the government stopped the scheme, However if they turned up and completed the survey when they originally agreed on the 21st July I would of qualified for the cashback 3 days before the scheme was stopped.

They contacted me today 4 weeks after the cashback scheme had stopped to offer me a upgraded boiler to the one I was wanted and would give me a £750 discount instead of the £1100 new deal cashback, however the boiler upgrade they offered me was not suitable for my property as it was not powerfull enough for my home and was less efficient. They originally offered the £750 off the original boiler they quoted for however when I said I would go with this option they informed me that they could only offer me £350 and not the £750 off as previously discussed.
So after 1 failed installation survey, 2 non shows for the Green deal survey appointments, but assure they were on route when I contacted the call centre. Then informed that they could complete the survey without actually attending my home as they had already been once to complete the original install survey, After at least 8 telephone conversations where I called them as they never call you I have requested my for them to return my deposit of £390 so that I can get a proper company to install my new boiler.

As Jonny Ball would Think! Think New boiler Don’t think Help Link! Maybe they should use this as there new strap line!

know what I think of Help-Link!

Avoid AT ALL COSTS
Please share this with people you know as you will be doing your friends a favour

willie_10

rand help link to tell them boiler not working again.Gues what they refer me to Wolsey.Why do I pay a maintenance charge.The worst service ever.Do not recommend them to anyone you like!

teddysmum

Who is/are Wolsey ?

Silent_Dancer

teddysmum wrote: »

Who is/are Wolsey ?

Wolsey are the owners of Plumb Centre presumably the merchants who Help Link buy their boilers off. Why they've referred you to Wolsey heaven knows.

nic_santorini

Help link have just been round to do a survey. I do not qualify for any funding or free boilers. My boiler and new tank with digital wall thermostat is £3338. Then the monthly payments were discussed and they were £78 per month!! I asked about the £17 advertised and he said that is only if I put a £2000 deposit down. The total interest was £2200 over 10 years!! ouch. There seems to be no tie in with the 10 year guarantee. It is 10 year parts and labour and you have to service it every year for £60. I am not sure that an 18kw conventional boiler is enough for a 1930's 3 bed semi with 7 radiators?

I was thinking about using them (without the credit agreement) as they can surprisingly start this Friday - but I don't want my house wrecked and the feedback on here suggests it will be.

Think I will wait for some local plumber quotations as I have sourced the actual boiler for £749.

fishybusiness

A very well put together 'company man' position.

Helplink did a pretty good job for us, worked hard and were respectful of our home.

It took a heck of a lot of work on my part to ensure that happened.

Return phone calls were almost non existent, and getting through to the right person was also difficult.

Considering a new boiler is supposed to be an upgrade, the surveyor chose to install an LPG boiler (no gas in our village), coupled to two LPG bottles. Have you seen the price of that fuel?

It would have been just as cheap to stick with electric radiators, and Helplink would not work with us to install an LPG tank.

Much time later and faulty paperwork we had an agreement to install an oil boiler and tank at an increased cost (which was ok).

Once we got the working team here things went pretty much smoothly.

So, however good you think Helplink are, perhaps you don't have the full story, and this thread certainly highlights other people's plights too.

WakefieldGuy

fizzypo wrote: »

Has anyone received a "new" boiler from help link, who is in receipt of any of the benefits listed, ie: pension credits ect ?
Most importantly, has anyone received the new boiler and had it completely installed without paying a penny ?

The man who came to see me said we would receive a new boiler free, but could not say weather there would be other charges from the contractors who were going to fit it. For example £450 was mentioned for scaffolding, but he was not sure. Very vague.

We had a boiler fitted in January 2014 under the free scheme. It was explained fully and simply to us. There were no extra charges because there was nothing extra done other than the essential work. We were told about anything optional that might have incurred an extra charge and given the opportunity to agree or decline whether we chose to have that done. Most of the things that would have incurred an extra charge were chargeable because they weren't covered under the terms of the scheme. Example: Our very old boiler contained asbestos which if it had been removed would have been chargeable, as it's in the cellar it wasn't an issue and has remained in situ. If we wanted 2 extra radiators fitted in our loft room these would have been chargeable. The scheme is very narrowly defined in what it allows to be done and obviously if you have a difficult installation they will raise charges for whatever falls outside of their recompense. We have a slightly smaller boiler than we needed because it was the maximum size they could fit under the scheme but the slight under power is not noticeable.


The work was carried out without any fuss whatsoever, the two fitters were pleasant and extremely helpful given we have 2 disabled people in the house. There was no problems during or after the installation bearing in mind the boiler was relocated at the other end of the house, and everything was made good and left in an immaculate state once they had finished.


The difference in our heating costs are phenomenal we had an old G rated Gloworm boiler exchanged for an A rated Bosch so we went from £13 a day to around £35 a week big, big, saving!


Whilst I appreciate that some people have had genuine problems, I would have no problem whatsoever in recommending them to others. We are more than happy.

SailorSam

When i needed a new boiler i was temped to go to them 'cos they were offering such a good deal. But i checked them out on the Internet and there was nothing but complaints. I notice from their latest adverts that they're doing solar panels now.