HES formerly known as EON home care plan nightmare

wateva

Hi All,

This is my first post so please be gentle!

I have experienced absolutely shambolic service from HES. I have a home care plan which covers heating, boiler and plumbing. I Pponed Monday to report problem with boiler. I made the representative aware I have a baby and have noaccess to heating as using the heating means the flow of water leakage increases when boiler is in use.

A third party engineer from Professional Plumbing in WestM idlands visited us today appointed by HES. We were asked us several questions regarding the last issue we had with boiler which I should add is unrelated to current problem. The engineer left after a discussion stating thecompany will be in touch after locating stock for the part required. A customer report was provided which clearly states the problem "leaking seals on the plate exchanger. Heat exchanger requires replacing"

Concerned regarding the pace at which the problem was being dealt with considering it is snowing and I have no heating, I rang HES.S hockingly I was informed I am liable to pay £247.00 as the Engineer statesthere was cement and sludge on the leaking seal. WHAT A JOKE! Why was this not disclosed upon discussion or mentioned in the customer report provided tome? I should confirm there is no sludge or cement, the piping is boxed off and an annual service was carried out by the company late last year which also confirms this. When I requested for the boiler to be re-inspected I was told I would incur a further cost of £65.

To add insult to injury and further dismayed by the service, I requested to cancel any homecare plan HES provide to me. I was told a cancellation fee will need to be calculated once they receive the engineers report as they need to work out the cost of the work undertaken by the engineer and the number of months remaining on the policy

I have wasted two hours ringing a number which has astronomical charges and have a home care plan which holds no value despite paying for a service which covers parts and labour.
Can anyone suggest where I go from here?

lvf

Firstly, welcome to the forum! Always great to have a new face. Hope you decide to stick around even after you get the advice you seek!

Ok, the main issue I honestly am stumped about where to go from here. As you correctly state, the HES is no longer a part of E.ON and is dealt with entirely by a third party, so the process for resolutions may or may not be different. Hopefully someone can offer some advice on that. It's not a good position to be in with a young child during this weather.

One thing did pop out at me though, and prompted my post:

wateva wrote: »

I have wasted two hours ringing a number which has astronomical charges...

What number are you calling? I'm pretty sure the HES like most companies have gone to a 03 number, which is in the UK a standard landline charge. If you have free calls to landlines or free minutes from a mobile phone, 03 numbers must be included in these as per OFCOM regulations. If not, they are still at the UK landline rate.

wateva

I am using my mobile. I didn't think my mobile provider offered 0845 at a local landline rate but now that you have mentioned it I will check

lvf

No!! Don't be using the 0845 number from a mobile!

Use their mobile friendly number 0345 872 8630

jrio

My brother and I dealt with them via phone with regard to our father's flat(due to dementia he was hospitalised) and found them very obstructive and determined to milk every last penny from the customer. We wanted his policy cancelled due to his condition - the operative became very bureaucratic with my brother and refused to put him through to a supervisor("You'll only be told the same as I've just told you").

My brother then emailed them, summarising dad's condition and circumstances, and I followed that up with a very forthright email. Essentially, they had been getting free money from the policy for several months as our father was not living in the flat and in no condition to use the policy due to his dementia.

Outlining my case, I wanted the 2 remaining months of the policy(£17.50 per month) cancelled without penalty and additionally suggested any ethical company would refund the previous 4 months when it was clear to us our father would be unable to return to his flat. I contrasted their behaviour to other organisations - including Safe Style UK, who immediately refunded a £750 deposit we expected to lose - who were very sympathetic to our situation, and baulked at exploiting a very elderly and vulnerable man. They did cancel without penalty but expectedly declined to associate themselves with any idea of ethical behaviour by refunding previous months.

My advice is to cancel your DD. Email stating the situation, your dissatisfaction, and that due to their incompetence you will have to address the problem yourself.

Use Yell or a similar site to find a local contractor who can attend to your boiler. Consider sending their bill to HES and demand payment within 30 days. Consider pursuing a claim against them in the small claims court.