£500 boiler repair! Can I do anything?

catkins

Try paying the bill! You asked for the boiler to be fixed and they did it. Sounds like you are trying to worm your way out of paying and others are supporting you. If the original fan was seized it is possible that he was told by the service desk that PCB was faulty and that board was damaged due to that. For your information once he walks out of suppliers with the board he cannot return it due to the fact that a clean blown board looks exactly like a new one. As for the theft of the old components get real if he threw them in your bin on the way out would you have fished them out? Just pay the bill you got the job done and at a reasonable price.

robby-01

catkins wrote: »

Try paying the bill! You asked for the boiler to be fixed and they did it. Sounds like you are trying to worm your way out of paying and others are supporting you. If the original fan was seized it is possible that he was told by the service desk that PCB was faulty and that board was damaged due to that. For your information once he walks out of suppliers with the board he cannot return it due to the fact that a clean blown board looks exactly like a new one. As for the theft of the old components get real if he threw them in your bin on the way out would you have fished them out? Just pay the bill you got the job done and at a reasonable price.

That is exactly what is happening.
Didnt you know that on here all tradespeople are classed as thieves.
If you charge a customer more than they can earn they start bleeting.
I have lost count of the number of customers who when I have presented them with a bill for a job have said "oh thats a bit steep" or "we didnt think it would be that much" or the classic "can you knock something off for cash".
Like this guy they have nothing to compare the price with and no knowledge of the industry to fall back on .Yet they have the nerve to accuse you of ripping them off.
If you are a good tradesman there is enough work out there to not bother with people like this.I hope the plumbing company get sick of his game and just start proceedings to recover the money.
I cant see how anyone can argue that £ 500 for what has been done is excessive.
A call out cost,time spent finding fault,Collection and supply of 2 expensive components,installaton of components,testing of system and admin costs.
How would that not hit 500 quid

Bossyboots

catkins wrote: »

Try paying the bill! You asked for the boiler to be fixed and they did it. Sounds like you are trying to worm your way out of paying and others are supporting you. If the original fan was seized it is possible that he was told by the service desk that PCB was faulty and that board was damaged due to that. For your information once he walks out of suppliers with the board he cannot return it due to the fact that a clean blown board looks exactly like a new one. As for the theft of the old components get real if he threw them in your bin on the way out would you have fished them out? Just pay the bill you got the job done and at a reasonable price.

Can I just balance this a bit, although I do understand why you might feel this way as robby-01 is correct in what he says about the attitude of many members of these forums towards tradesmen. Money saving seems to have become money grabbing and trying to get everything for nothing.

However, my OH is a dab hand with electrics but is not a boiler engineer. He was able though to take our boiler apart and diagnose and repair the problems swiftly and with ease. First it was the pressure guage and then the fan (which has been regularly cleaned and oiled so done good service). To be honest, even I had come to work out when the fan was was playing up so I would have expected a competent boiler engineer to identify problems correctly. It is the ease with which my OH could identify boiler faults (without needing to allegedly ask the manufacturer) and knowing the cost of the parts to trade, that makes me concerned the OP is being ripped off.

robby-01

Bossyboots wrote: »

Can I just balance this a bit, although I do understand why you might feel this way as robby-01 is correct in what he says about the attitude of many members of these forums towards tradesmen. Money saving seems to have become money grabbing and trying to get everything for nothing.

However, my OH is a dab hand with electrics but is not a boiler engineer. He was able though to take our boiler apart and diagnose and repair the problems swiftly and with ease. First it was the pressure guage and then the fan (which has been regularly cleaned and oiled so done good service). To be honest, even I had come to work out when the fan was was playing up so I would have expected a competent boiler engineer to identify problems correctly. It is the ease with which my OH could identify boiler faults (without needing to allegedly ask the manufacturer) and knowing the cost of the parts to trade, that makes me concerned the OP is being ripped off.

No one who has posted on this thread can say if the op has been ripped off or not.
Your example like many others on this thread has no relevance to the original post.I am not having a go it just doesn't.
We only have the op's version of events.Why could both components not be faulty.
People are giving out advice on here that quite frankly if followed could land the op in the county court.
The boiler is fixed the bill is reasonable for the work done and no one can argue that the work has not been done.So the op should pay the bill.
It is he who is doing the ripping off in this instance.

Avoriaz

Cardew wrote: »

Those of us with old boilers(mine is 19 years old) are continually told how modern condensing boilers are much more efficient…Yet there is plenty of evidence that these boilers, which are stuffed full of electronics, are far less reliable; and examples of breakdowns and expensive repairs, like the 2 cases above, are commonplace. There was an article in the Daily Telegraph recently that stated 10 years life is the most you can expect from modern boilers.,,I’ll hang on to my old and inefficient boiler as long as possible.

A very good point Cardew.

We bought a Potterton PrimaF non condensing boiler in 1993. It has not failed yet in 14 years.

Our gas bills are not really high enough to justify the cost and hassle of buying a more efficient condensing boiler until and unless the Potterton fails us, especially as the condensing boilers do appear to be unreliable.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

richkohring118

Use this web site next time

http://www.competentpersonsscheme.co.uk/consumers/

But i do think you got your moneys worth. I agree with getting insurance though, maybe with british gas.

paullj_2

robby-01 wrote: »

If you were a customer of mine you would be halfway to the county court by now.
Allways wise after the event you people.
How is taking away old parts theft,If he had left them you would have been moaning that he had left HIS rubbish lying about.
If anyone is a thief here it is you.Pay the bill.You asked for the boiler to be fixed and it is fixed so pay up.
Why should the plumber have to jump through hoops to get his money.
What gives you the right to determine when or if you pay.
I would be charging interest on this outstanding invoice at 2% above base and charging you 15 pound for every reminder I sent out.
You are nothing more than a thief

robby-01 can you say if you would have approached this repair the same way ? those none techie amongst us rely on those more quailified to offer best service. Surely there is a duty of care to do the best by your customers. The OP has only questioned the amount given the fact that the first repair didn't fix the problem. Were there 2 callout charges for instance ? who knows but I suspect so.

I would strongly advise the OP to go to court as it is all about what is reasonable.

If you could leave details about your company name I'll make sure to stay clear.

Not all tradepeople are thieves but some are a little unprofessional in their approach to their work and in dealing with customers.

ollyk

robby-01 wrote: »

That is exactly what is happening.
Didnt you know that on here all tradespeople are classed as thieves.
If you charge a customer more than they can earn they start bleeting.
I have lost count of the number of customers who when I have presented them with a bill for a job have said "oh thats a bit steep" or "we didnt think it would be that much" or the classic "can you knock something off for cash".
Like this guy they have nothing to compare the price with and no knowledge of the industry to fall back on .Yet they have the nerve to accuse you of ripping them off.
If you are a good tradesman there is enough work out there to not bother with people like this.I hope the plumbing company get sick of his game and just start proceedings to recover the money.
I cant see how anyone can argue that £ 500 for what has been done is excessive.
A call out cost,time spent finding fault,Collection and supply of 2 expensive components,installaton of components,testing of system and admin costs.
How would that not hit 500 quid

well I come from a repair background, I have even had experience repairing the electronic side of my own boilers in teh past, although for obvious reasons I would never offer such service to family, friends or anyone else!

Anyway, being an ex catering engineer I can tell you from first hand experience many people who should understand basic fundimentals in fault finding just don't. I have, on many occasions seen people replace parts until the machine works properly, with no thorough method used to assess what caused the fault in the first place... More a sort of 'it was a similar fault to x so I will replace the same part ' or 'this is the bit that normally goes so check this first' attitude. This part was nearly always the 'pcb' or 'main controller', when in fact it was a sensor or loose wire.
Now, without getting too serious it sounds exactly like this has happened here... Please give the op a technical reason or example how this repair could have legitimately turned out like this had it not been a mistake, then I will agree the OP should pay the full amount. As it stands, they should not pay for this plumers mistake :mad:

cajef

I have a ideal Classic boiler with balanced flue, 15 years old serviced every year by the same company, a local corgi registered Plumber who has done several jobs for us in the past and whom I have always trusted.

Last month it had its annual service and the boiler flue duct was found to be corroded and the metal cracked allowing hot exhaust gas back into the air inlet duct, he was not sure if he could get the part but would try. Four days later he rang to inform me that he had checked all his suppliers but the boiler was obselete and no parts are available, he would see if he could get the part part repaired locally but he doubted it, if not I would need a new boiler, cost fitted approx £2000.


A search on the internet brought me to Ideals website with a phone number for their spares department, a quick ring, gave the girl the model number of the boiler, no problem, spare part still available, arrived today, cost £40.

So it always pays to check around yourself or get a second opinion before agreeing to any repairs or service.

jimbo_the_jetset

RobCrin wrote: »

Hey all,
...........a new circuit board.........

I recently had a problem with my boiler and used the manual to trace the fault (found a copy of the manual on http://www.gaspartsarena.com/). Traced it to the circuit board and one of the solder joints had fractured. 2 min job to re-solder.

Hoping this might help someone else to do a cheap fix. I'm sure if a plumber would have come round he'd have just replaced the circuit board (which might not be too difficult to do yourself and if you can get the part no. from the manual you can google it and get a good price off the net)

Update - try here http://www.partsarena.com/baxi/ click accpt terms and then you get a choice of other manufacturers