New boiler installed, i think i've been conned

robbieboxx_2

Hi, i've just had a new heating system installed and it cost me £2500 but when i checked the price of my new combi boiler (Worcester Bosch Greenstar 25Si/30Si) it was around £900 and am i right in think that a heating & plumbing company would get this even cheaper at trade prices? It took 2 of them a day to install it and they had to reroute the pipes so i could have the new boiler in a slightly different place and they disposed of the old boiler but i know one of them was only a trainee who was at college. Also i checked the price of the room thermostat controller and found that it was only £40 (Salus RT500RF) and it didn't even have a holiday setting. So even with extra copper piping and a few other bits, the total cost of everything was around £1000, so i have been charged £1500 in labour costs, surely this is high or am i wrong? The cheap thermostat controller really upset me as this is controlling everything and i'm not even sure the digital thermometers temperature on it is accurate. Does this thermostat seem appropriate for the money i've paid and for this particular boiler? I would appreciate any input, thanks...Mick

booty40uk

How does it compare to other quotes you had?

roddydogs

So why did you accept the quote?

LEJC

OK...so why did you not go out and buy all the bits and pieces and fit it yourself....presumably because you do not have the know how...it amazes me sometimes that people dont want to pay anything over the purchase price to have things fitted...the internet is a great place to check prices but you must appreciate that you are paying someone else a wage in which to fit the parts and for their expertise....afterall I assume you expect paying after you have worked all day.

In your calculations its worth remembering that you must add 20% for VAT which you may not have considered in your original guestimate on prices

If you really have concerns over what has been supplied and fitted then you should be talking to the company who installed it.

I have recently had to have my house totally rewired and I an well aware that the phisical cost of the items used was substantially less than the end amount I paid for the finished job...but in honesty what use is a reel of cable,consumer box sockets and light fittings to me if I dont have the knowledge of how they all fit together to produce electricity and light in my house....

ziggyman99

You forgot to add the £1000 he pays for his gas exams every 5 years, the £200 a year for Gas Safe Registration, van insurance, road tax, diesel, 3rd party liability insurance, advertising, tools, van repairs, phone bills, the quiet times he has in the summer months, etc, etc. Oh and profit.
Do you argue with Tescos over the price of the tin of baked beans your buying? You should. That 50p tin probably cost them about 20p.

ziggyman99

LEJC wrote: »

OK...so why did you not go out and buy all the bits and pieces and fit it yourself....presumably because you do not have the know how...it amazes me sometimes that people dont want to pay anything over the purchase price to have things fitted...the internet is a great place to check prices but you must appreciate that you are paying someone else a wage in which to fit the parts and for their expertise....afterall I assume you expect paying after you have worked all day.

If you really have concerns over what has been supplied and fitted then you should be talking to the company who installed it.

Totally agree. People will happily hand over wads of money to a supermarket who is making vast profits with no question but when it comes to paying a skilled tradesman...... wierd...

twinnyabc

You should try to get at least two quotes from tradesmen, not just to find out the best price but also to meet them and make a judgement on their competence to do the job.

On the price of materials etc the tradesmen is not going to trawl the internet to find the cheapest parts but will use his favourite local supplier where he will have an account and get good service.

On labour charges don't forget he has to cover a van full of tools and bits and pieces ready to cope with all eventualities, he probably has to pay for professional registration, insurance as well his tax. I am not a professional myself so I don't know the details but I think £25 per person per hour is reasonable.
So two men, 8hrs, £400

Even if the price does seem over the top, it sounds like they did the job in one day. Did they leave the house clean and tidy? Is it all working properly? Did they carry out all the adjustments, setting up, documentation ok?
Could you have done the job yourself?

If they have done a good job be happy in the knowledge that you have a good installation, properly fitted by someone who has the skills you don't have yourself.

And don't worry about the lack of the holiday setting on your thermostat. I expect you can turn it down before you leave the house. And if it's anything like my Boch Greenstar then you'll find you can set the boiler into holiday mode anyway.

I write as a normal house owner, no connection with any building trade.

NVRAM

Precisley the reason when we had ours done I had looked around and specified the parts myself.

WB Boiler
WB Wireless Programmer
Drayton TRV's

I too paid £2500 but it was imho a fantastic price and the guys did a cracking job.

In all honesty at any point did you ask what components they were using/fitting? Have they included a filter?

how well did you specify the job to them?

gas4you

ziggyman99 wrote: »

You forgot to add the £1000 he pays for his gas exams every 5 years, the £200 a year for Gas Safe Registration, van insurance, road tax, diesel, 3rd party liability insurance, advertising, tools, van repairs, phone bills, the quiet times he has in the summer months, etc, etc. Oh and profit.
Do you argue with Tescos over the price of the tin of baked beans your buying? You should. That 50p tin probably cost them about 20p.

Recently done a ch install for a chap who used to own several meat/turkey processing plants.

I learnt a lot about how much disgusting profit supermarkets make from him.

Tesco's used to buy 500g of chicken from him for 27p a packet, then sell them for £1.99.

When they were on BOGOF offer he had to supply 2 for 27p.

So go to tescos and complain about that instead.

southcoastrgi

I'm not even going to comment because we are suppost to be nice to newbi's & i certainly won't be

booty40uk

No reply then. Just read your other post...............why the hell did you buy any kind of boiler at any price in the first place???????