British Gas - A Licence to Print Money

wennol2

I originally posted the following in "LPG, Heating Oil..." and it was suggested that this forum would be more appropriate:

A couple of years ago I subscribed to the British Gas Homecare 200 for annual boiler servicing and repairs. Admittedly it was explained that there was a £99.00 excess charge applicable and I accept that this was set out in further detail in British Gas' Terms and Conditions. Admittedly, like many others I failed to give them more than a cursory glance; assuming that the excess charge operated on the basis that the client paid an amount UP TO that of the excess. Thus, if a repair was required and the parts came to £120 then the client pays £99.00. Conversely, if the cost of the parts amounted to £20 then the customer pays £20.

British Gas, however, appear to have turned this into a cash generator.

In September British Gas carried out an annual service on my boiler during which the engineer advise that some insulating pads would require replacement. These apparently cost a total of about £15 but the engineer and, subsequently, British Gas themselves confirmed that I would have to pay the full excess charge of £99.

This means - again confirmed by British Gas - that if a further unrelated fault occurs I am liable for yet a further £99 irrespective of the cost of parts.

I am aware that very few parts of a boiler, except possibly the circuitry, cost anywhere near this amount.

Does anyone understand the logic of this scheme?:mad:

Cardew

wennol2 wrote: »

Does anyone understand the logic of this scheme?:mad:

Yes! The title of this thread describes the logic. The BG repair organisation is a commercial enterprise out to make a profit - the days of the Gas Board with its monopoly are gone forever.

Most companies providing any sort of repair service for domestic appliances, burglar alarms etc charge £70+ just for the call out and perhaps 30 minutes labour; with parts on top of that charge.

You thought:

Conversely, if the cost of the parts amounted to £20 then the customer pays £20.

It really is unrealistic to expect a visit to be arranged, the technician drive to your property, fix the fault and only charge for the parts - what if it was a fuse costing 5 pence? Would you expect to only pay 5 pence for a call-out.

Many people still(stupidly IMO) pay BG up to £40 a month for full cover.

Joyful

As advised by Cardew you will not have wanted to pay the full cover price. Instead you were offered a cheaper price with an excess. You made an incorrect assumption I'm afraid. This is the way many companies operate.

stevegrass777

If you pay a big company you have to pay for all the office staff and everything else that goes with it,I find it much cheaper to get a trusted local one man band to do my stuff.
BG charge around £4200 to fit a boiler for instance and mostly fit boilers that cost £900-£1000 ,my plumber charges around £400 to fit a boiler,I buy the boiler.
These monthly fee contracts are rarely as good as you would like them to be.it costs me £60 a year per boiler for a Landlord certificate and service.anything else I pay for.

zaax

That's the problem with big companies they don't care, its called churn. Use a small local company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_attrition