Boiler replacement - Boxt.co.uk

worried_jim

Having had a boiler fitted only 6 days ago and having compared Boxt reviews / prices, British Gas reviews / prices, Help Link reviews / prices, Homeserve reviews / prices and the rest of the 'bigger' companies I can categorically state that NONE of them are CHEAP. Not even close to the prices a local fitter charges. They ALL have huge marketing and recruitment costs and cannot compete with smaller firms with tremendous local reputations. They have to cover their costs somehow. You also don't know who they will be subcontracting the work to and who will be turning up to your house - what kind of workmanship will you get?

Boxt owners also set up Help Link - they're in all sorts of trouble at the moment, literally losing millions ££££ and engineers left and right deserting them - I would prefer my boiler installation company to still be around in a month or a year if my boiler breaks down so at least my warranty is still valid. Boiler are seriously expensive purchases so it's vital you do your homework - or take a risk otherwise.

If anyone is interested I used Ajvinder from https://www.newboiler.co.uk - time-served gas engineer and electrician, 3,000+ fits for British Gas but now working for himself, travelled up 150 miles from where he lives and still beat Boxt by more than a few hundred ££££. Job was simple and straight forward, boiler was boxed in (my request, paid extra) and the pipework was extremely neat - even I know that is was!

Edit,

So much spam to report below - go by recommendation whatever you do - not by the 'gushing' barely believable reviews.

Alex1983

There you go then, tell them you have 22mm gas, round flue and access to a waste on the online quote and when they get there to find no waste connection, 15mm gas pipe and square flue they will put it right free.

Never gone to trust a company that doesn't visit the property to quote and say they will not charge extra if other stuff is needed.

Private_Church

Spam reported.............BOXT if they need to spam a forum with advertising then you know its a rubbish product.

southcoastrgi

I have never heard such crap, unless the price is way higher than anyone else there is no way you have allowed for any upgrades, as for saying you have hand picked the best engineers that is crap as well, the installation price for an installer will be so low you will only get the dregs of the industry, also no decent fitter will be able to fit a boiler next day because they will be booked up

RichardKing

My installation is booked for Thursday the 30th. I'll be happy to let you all know how it goes...

I need to retire soon, so this is likely to be the last boiler I am ever able to afford to buy...

BTW when I sent the pictures to BOXT I included details such as the water pressure being 2 bars + and flow rate 16 l/min and gas pipe 22mm right to the boiler (I had LOTS of quotes, and one of the salesman actually did something useful)

Some of the quotes received included extras such as a 'scale inhibitor for £236' and 'conversion to combi system for £880' -- (our old system IS a combi.).. There was some disappointment when the salesmen couldn't sell me extra TRV's at £35 a time. It also seemed to put them out slightly when I asked questions they couldn't answer like 'what kind of scale inhibitor is it?'

Having lived in a warm climate most of my life, this is the first time I've ever had to buy a boiler. Its been a bit of a shock and a steep learning-curve, which is why I took 3 weeks (without hot water!) to get enough quotes to build some idea of how best to proceed.

I suspect most salespeople rely on folk being desperate enough to get hot water they will not do too much research before accepting a quote.

Central heating is a bit of an expensive luxury, considering we humans did without it for thousands of years!! :eek:

No wonder so many old folk end up having to decide between heating or eating...

DominicH

I'll be interested to hear how it goes.
Of course, if it's a positive experience the chorus of cynics will probably just say that they tried harder than usual because people are reading this thread...

Plumber90

SW_London wrote: »

In response to the above I can tell you that you will be very well looked after with Boxt. I had used them after asking my plumber how much it was to replace my boiler which was playing up again (Hot/lukewarm/hot water). My plumber was booked solid that week and of course that's when my boiler decided to completely shut down.

On the Tuesday after my plumber told me he was busy for the week (but before the boiler completely stopped) I had a look online at a few different finance/boiler replacement companies and most of the quotes seemed like they were sales pitches (no detail on the quote, just "we'll call you") instead of providing information. I came across Boxt as one of results (but they actually had a full quote, information and booking process online!) and thought "ok I'll give them a call and if they try and give me a sales pitch I'll just wait for my plumber" (me being a female I am used to being harangued into buying things by companies despite how many times I say "no"). Anyway I spoke to the customer services team and the gentleman was very helpful, asked me if I had had a look at their site and confirmed in more detail about the recommended boiler (which he happened to have at home). He said I should go online and book through the website if I thought it was the one for me. That in itself impressed me as despite having taken 10 minutes of his time there was still no pressure.

I decided to go ahead with the purchase and took the offer of £1720 for a Worcester Bosch 30i, with system flush, new flue, smart thermostat and 10 year guarantee. I took half on finance as a) £1720 is a lot of money (although cheaper than buying the parts and having London plumber rates to fit) and b) having spoken to the customer services team they confirmed I could pay it back early (the interest rate is 9.9% per annum for anyone interested). I book for that Friday (the first available appointment from the Tuesday) and get a £50 discount as it's in the week (be-warned; if you need a weekend fitting it is extra, and as it is a full day job you may need to take the day off work for in the week). I also had to send pictures of my flue, boiler and surrounds so that they could plan what they may need for the job which I uploaded to my application.

The next morning (Wednesday) I get up to absolutely no heating and hot water (and it was mighty cold). After my bucket/kettle bath :cool:, I decide to give Boxt a ring and see if there are any available appointments earlier as I am very cold!! They take my circumstance seriously and within 10 minutes have arranged for a plumber from somewhere near Leeds with a cancelled job to come to mine the next day. He phones in the evening to say he was coming for 9, as it was an almost 4 hour drive it may vary by up to an hour depending on traffic. I say OK (luckily I work from home so no stress my end).

On the Thursday at at most 10 minutes past nine he arrives at my door. He was brilliant! Really knowledgeable and passionate about his work, any questions I have he explains (Despite being up since 5am and driving miles to get to me). Completely cleanly, thorough and efficient. By 3.30pm I have a fully flushed system with everything installed, hot water and heating and a thermostat I know how to use and he is off back on his long ride back home. I have also got my gas safe cert for the works which is fabulous. My gas usage has gone down by about 30% looking at my meter readings so this will pay for itself in the long run!

I honestly cannot tell you how thankful I am to Boxt, how great their service was and how much I currently recommend them (Subsequent calls to non gas safe plumbers about some bathroom works and them mentioning boilers have resulted in me recommending Boxt to them, as well as friends and family and pretty much anyone who even looks like they are thinking the word "boiler" around me).

They could've chosen a tough sell, or to ignore my circumstance but they didn't. I would definitely suggest that if you need a boiler GO TO BOXT.

Well if that doesn't sound like a sales pitch the I don't know what does.

RichardKing

We're in need of a solution - and its going to be an expensive one which ever way we go.

The issue is one of trust. Will we get a good job done, or will we be short-changed?

At the end of the day, it is personal recommendations that carry the most weight.

The quote I have received from BOXT seems entirely in-line with some of the better quotes from local guys for a similar boiler. I haven't been pestered by a salesman. BTW One firm who gave me a quote actually sent me a very rude and insulting text message, complaining because I didn't return their calls quickly enough - presumably they wanted to offer me a huge 'discount' on the already heavily padded original quote!!

I've done some research and think I am now in a position to know whether or not the install is done to a good standard. So time will tell. The boiler is being delivered a day early (today)
and I'll let you know how the install goes tomorrow.

Just a note to folks in the business - I see some installers are doing videos of their installs which they post on YouTube. This looks like a great way to build confidence in the mind of prospective clients - especially for the smaller or one-man business. Much more positive and productive than trying to spread fear and doubt in online forums??

RichardKing

Their terms and conditions are freely available on their website.

They do indeed have an 'out' if you have supplied incorrect information.

Alex1983

If they do a good job then that's good for you and the best of luck.

I never heard of them and neither had people I know in the trade and I would be suspect of that, then when you look at the owners and there previous useless company it makes me wonder. There previous company would of done some very good work no doubt but I do have a family member who worked for the said company doing snagging of new installs and believe me they were poor.

I work for a company that has no need to compete against this company and am just giving my honest opinion.

The person who was posting on this forum from them sounded like a politician avoiding questions and so on and then they have had to make another user to put up a obviously fake review of how great there business is, which says all you need to know about this company.