Specified wrong item by supplier

starlitegaize

Hi all,
Just wondered if any of you had any ideas about consumer rights.

I recently purchased an electric boiler. When I rang and spoke to the company I wanted to know what was the most suitable for the size of flat. I was told a 14.4Kw would do it.

The plumber then tells me that I only need a 7Kw boiler for the size of the apartment and the number of radiators.

Do I have any redress on the suppliers for mis-informing me?

Thanks

System

Supplier was right. If you only need a 7kw then a 14.4kw will also do the job

deanos

Could the plumber be mis informing you ?

ThumbRemote

I don't think there's any sort of standard or formula for calculating these things. It may be that the plumber is giving his opinion, in the same way that the phone people gave their opinion.

It may be that a 7kW boiler would be working flat out, but a 14kW boiler will give you headroom in case you want to fit a shower or something else on the system later.

That said, there's two things to bear in mind:

They advised you over the phone, so unless you recorded the call it's extremely unlikely there's any comeback, as there's no proof.

If you ordered the boiler over the phone too, you may be able to return it, assuming you've not had it plumbed in yet.

paddyrg

Maybe the lower power one would be chugging flat-out and wear out faster, and the higher power one run on a lower duty cycle and last longer. It's not as simple as one being right the other wrong.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

There appears to be several online calculators for determining the right sized boiler for your home.

I'd try 3 of these and see what Kw they recommend, if all 3 are significantly less than 14.4 and you wish to return the boiler, as noted above if you ordered online or over the phone you may be able to cancel depending on the timeframe.

If you wish to claim they mislead you by quoting a higher specification than required to sell you the wrong item you'd need to demonstrate this.

You could also ask the supplier how they calculated their 14.4 figure.

Tigsteroonie

starlitegaize wrote: »

I recently purchased an electric boiler. When I rang and spoke to the company I wanted to know what was the most suitable for the size of flat. I was told a 14.4Kw would do it.

The plumber then tells me that I only need a 7Kw boiler for the size of the apartment and the number of radiators.

Does the supplying company that you telephoned offer a 7kW boiler in their range? You approached them, it may be that 14.4kW is the smallest they make/provide.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Tigsteroonie wrote: »

Does the supplying company that you telephoned offer a 7kW boiler in their range? You approached them, it may be that 14.4kW is the smallest they make/provide.

It would depend on what the OP asked, if they asked what sized boiler they need and the company volunteered advice, in your scenario they should state that's the smallest they have but may be too big for OP's requirements.

Omitting part of required information that leads the consumer to make a transaction they otherwise would not have can be classed as misleading.

macman

Boiler output required should be determined by your RGI or electrician only following a proper site inspection. Not by phoning a supplier and asking them to guess, knowing nothing about the property or intended usage.

Nilrem

ThumbRemote wrote: »

I don't think there's any sort of standard or formula for calculating these things. It may be that the plumber is giving his opinion, in the same way that the phone people gave their opinion.

It may be that a 7kW boiler would be working flat out, but a 14kW boiler will give you headroom in case you want to fit a shower or something else on the system later.

That said, there's two things to bear in mind:

They advised you over the phone, so unless you recorded the call it's extremely unlikely there's any comeback, as there's no proof.

If you ordered the boiler over the phone too, you may be able to return it, assuming you've not had it plumbed in yet.

I think you're probably quite right there.

It's also worth remembering that two apartments the same size can vary a lot in what they'd need for heating, depending on age, size and type of windows, facing and insulation.

An apartment on the top corner of an old building with single glazing, no cavity wall insulation and poor roof insulation will have completely different heating requirements to a modern apartment in the middle of the block with double glazing and a south facing.

One of my friends lived in a flat that fitted the first description and it needed a lot more heating than the flat my sister lived in which was far more modern and better maintained and barely had to have the heating on at all.

The company who make the boiler will likely be working on the worst case scenario as that is safer for them, as you are usually far better off if you specify something that is above the requirements and thus can work at a lower rate, than something that struggles to meet the requirements.
If in doubt (and the price difference isn't too high), allow for spare capacity, it's better to have unused capacity than have to change something out for a higher capacity model.

Pennywise

starlitegaize wrote: »

When I rang and spoke to the company I wanted to know what was the most suitable for the size of flat. I was told a 14.4Kw would do it.

So how many other boiler suppliers did you call? Whenever we want anything, we always make enquiries of at least three different firms, whether they are tradesmen, suppliers or whatever.

If it's something that needs fitting (like a boiler), we'd be asking the installer first for their recommendations before we bought the boiler (or get them to buy the boiler for us).

Buying "blind" from a supplier is always going to be a risk if you're not an expert yourself.