Boiler installed without promised warranty

lkane0

Hoping for some helpful advice on what our consumer rights are in this situation...
We bought a house in August to move into in December 2012. We wanted the boiler serviced, and are not local to the house, so asked for a recommended plumber. Got this from our trusted handyman (himself a recommendation), & checked the plumber was GSR - he was.

The plumber said the boiler was unsafe and we could either mend or replace it. We decided to replace. I asked the plumber what his recommendations were for a boiler with 6-8 years warranty, as we wanted to ensure we werer going to quality & something that would last without stress if anything did go wrong.

He said he only installed Baxi, but there was an offer on at the moment that they came with 5 yrs warranty (normally 2).

On our next visit to the property, the boiler was working fine and we paid him. Since then, we got the registration doc, but the warranty is for 2 yrs.

I've queried this with him ("leave it with me"), and with Baxi ("he needs to register it, & he can only do it if he's a member of our loyalty scheme which I'm afraid i can't check. Nothing to do with us").

And on re-checking, he is not longer on the GSR.

I have a boiler i don't want! But do I have any rights at all?

Horseunderwater

Is the boiler working OK? If so - you need to get it checked by someone who really is on the GSReg. Because I suspect that as your boiler installer was not on GSR at the time, it may invalidate any warranty with Baxi. And I have had a baxi in my home now for 10 years with no major problems. Apart from the fan on exhaust failing, but that could happen to any make.

C_Mababejive

Strange that a bona fide person would be on the GSR and then not. How then is he making a living? Whilst Baxi are a well known brand who have been trading for decades,one also has to remember that some boiler manufs do operate loyality schemes in which plumbers get bonuses and rewards for installing that particular brand

http://www.baxi.co.uk/campaigns/baxi-five-year-warranty.htm

The other thing that manufs do is encourage installer loyality by listing them as approved installers. To be approved you usually have to attend their training course and be certified. This has some value as modern boilers have to be installed correctly as they are not so tolerant of poor installs as older style boilers are.

lkane0

Thanks for the replies.

He isn't listed on the Baxi website as an approved installer, so should never have offered me the 5-yr warranty.

He was on the BGS register when he installed the boiler, because I checked. Now that he isn't, does that still negate the warranty?

Is there a way of finding out when he was, and wasn't registered?
And what do I do if the warranty is invalid? Eek!

undaunted

Have you tried going to baxi website & following the registration process there?

http://www.baxi.co.uk/registration.htm

Their 5 year offer is here, which may or may not present you an issue - perhaps you could write to Baxi with full details & asking them to honour the offer?
http://www.baxi.co.uk/campaigns/baxi-five-year-warranty.htm

If you then still have further issues / concerns I'd suggest contacting Trading Standards and Gas Safe re Baxis response & the installer as appropriate

diywhynot

lkane0 wrote: »

He was on the BGS register when he installed the boiler, because I checked.

Is there a way of finding out when he was, and wasn't registered?

Do you mean GSR? If so contact them as they will be able to tell you when his registration lapsed. Have you received a Building Regulations compliance certificate?

C_Mababejive

lkane0 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

He isn't listed on the Baxi website as an approved installer, so should never have offered me the 5-yr warranty.

He was on the BGS register when he installed the boiler, because I checked. Now that he isn't, does that still negate the warranty?

Is there a way of finding out when he was, and wasn't registered?
And what do I do if the warranty is invalid? Eek!

Was his photo on the GSR website for positive identification or just his name/details?

lkane0

It was just his name.

I guess my questions are:
a) if he is no longer registered (but was when he installed it), is our warranty ok?
b) do I have any consumer rights, given he promised a boiler with 5 years warranty and installed one with only 2?

Thanks for everyone's help!

C_Mababejive

#8 So if it was just his name then surely you dont know for sure that he is just an unregistered freelancer who has simply pinched someone elses GSR ID. It happens. Do you know where he lives etc?

lkane0

I don't know where he lives myself (his website, with address & contact details on has been taken down - there's a warning on it that it's being closed), but our handyman must know as it was he who recommended him.
He does answer the phone to me, but just says "leave it with me".

Does anyone know what our rights are?

C_Mababejive

I think there are two issues...

1)You need to positively identify whether at the time he did the install,he was legit and GSR regd. If he wasnt then he has broken the law of the land.

2)If he wasnt GSR at the time then your boiler was not installed in accordance with the manuf instructions and therefore it seems to me that Baxi have no obligation to recognise your warranty rights