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Able Group failed to fix my boiler - now possibly refusing to give refund
FashionHeart
Posts: 150 Forumite
My boiler broke down after over 10 years and I had no choice but to call Able because of their emergency call out service.
They sent who I thought was a decent and friendly Indian guy with his 'colleague'.
The initial call out and inspection came to a whopping total of £121 including VAT.
Furthermore, he gave me his business card; meaning he was exploiting the company for his own business gain as they hired him as a subcontractor.
He came to the property again the next day to try and fix the boiler privately through his business to make it cheaper for me but when he got there, he claimed that he had found 'extra' faults - expansion vessel, electrode and the gas valve all needed replacing. Yes this meant he wanted to increase the price of the original quote of £270 to include servicing the boiler!
But then things started to get extremely suspicious since then because as he was installing the electrode, he realised he got the wrong expansion vessel size and admitted that he didn't check it before collecting it from the 'warehouse' - I mean you would've thought as a professional, he would know this!
This obviously delayed things which understandably got me annoyed and extremely frustrated and wasted my time.
Anyway he left and said would come back 2 days later because he was busy with another customer.
But I was impatient being extremely cold with no heating and no hot water and with the wintery weather not being a great help either - I thought I needed to get someone else to resolve the problem...
However that's when he began to text me continuously demanding payment which I obviously refused because he didn't fix the problem; meaning that I was back at square one - and now I'm scared he may go to my property and vandalise it.
The eventual happy ending - I called British Gas and luckily got a last minute appointment, where their engineer advised me that there was only one fault which was the gas valve. Basically Able's engineer wanted to charge me for the 'multiple' parts that didn't actually need replacing - therefore trying to waste my money.
Also what was really surprising in a way, the British Gas engineer had found that the boiler was in such a state that he had to mark the appliance as unsafe and even questioned me about the engineer's professionalism!
Yes as expected, the British Gas engineer fixed it!
Now in the middle of complaining to Able about this whole disaster - compiling all the evidence against this cowboy 'engineer', forwarding all of the texts he has sent to me along with all of the British Gas reports sand findings.
Hopefully a refund will be on it's way to my bank account where it rightfully belongs...
Anyway, I have broken this into a timeline to make things easier:
Day 1; 16th January 2018
* Through Able Group job, he had found 2 faults in the boiler - expansion vessel and electrodes needed replacing.
He claims that Able Group quote will be expensive and suggests to do it through his private job.
Day 2; 17th January 2018
* Received text messages liaising with engineer through his own business (Safe Response Gas & Plumbing Ltd - 34 Highfield Road, Dudley, DY2 7QD) - quoted a slightly lower price than Able Group would've provided as he still claimed.
He fitted electrodes but found another fault - gas valve also needed replacing.
Increases quote. Engineer told me he wouldn't be able to visit again on Thursday 18th January 2018 due to another customer's request.
Felt impatient, I contacted British Gas for an appointment, a second opinion and to resolve the problem once and for all. Appointment booked for 18th January 2018.
Day 3; 18th January 2018
* British Gas engineer arrived and inspected the boiler. Found the mechanics and wirings in such a dangerous state and marks the boiler as unsafe, At Risk (AR) and places Safety Warning label on appliance.
Also gives a Safety Checklist Report to me along with the main diagnosis. British Gas Engineer asked my mother's permission to do so and questions Able Group's engineer's professionalism due to this.
British Gas Engineer has also informed me that only the gas valve needed replacing and nothing else was required.
Day 4; 19th January 2018
* British Gas engineer arrived again with the gas valve part and resolved the problem.
I have made a complaint to Able Group and sent all of the evidence (including screenshots of the text messages from their engineer) and Service Reports from the British Gas engineer who inspected the boiler's safety and resolved the problem.
Able Group has responded swiftly and informs me that they will review all of the evidence I have sent to them.
Does anyone have any advice on what else I should do to receive a refund??
They sent who I thought was a decent and friendly Indian guy with his 'colleague'.
The initial call out and inspection came to a whopping total of £121 including VAT.
Furthermore, he gave me his business card; meaning he was exploiting the company for his own business gain as they hired him as a subcontractor.
He came to the property again the next day to try and fix the boiler privately through his business to make it cheaper for me but when he got there, he claimed that he had found 'extra' faults - expansion vessel, electrode and the gas valve all needed replacing. Yes this meant he wanted to increase the price of the original quote of £270 to include servicing the boiler!
But then things started to get extremely suspicious since then because as he was installing the electrode, he realised he got the wrong expansion vessel size and admitted that he didn't check it before collecting it from the 'warehouse' - I mean you would've thought as a professional, he would know this!
This obviously delayed things which understandably got me annoyed and extremely frustrated and wasted my time.
Anyway he left and said would come back 2 days later because he was busy with another customer.
But I was impatient being extremely cold with no heating and no hot water and with the wintery weather not being a great help either - I thought I needed to get someone else to resolve the problem...
However that's when he began to text me continuously demanding payment which I obviously refused because he didn't fix the problem; meaning that I was back at square one - and now I'm scared he may go to my property and vandalise it.
The eventual happy ending - I called British Gas and luckily got a last minute appointment, where their engineer advised me that there was only one fault which was the gas valve. Basically Able's engineer wanted to charge me for the 'multiple' parts that didn't actually need replacing - therefore trying to waste my money.
Also what was really surprising in a way, the British Gas engineer had found that the boiler was in such a state that he had to mark the appliance as unsafe and even questioned me about the engineer's professionalism!
Yes as expected, the British Gas engineer fixed it!
Now in the middle of complaining to Able about this whole disaster - compiling all the evidence against this cowboy 'engineer', forwarding all of the texts he has sent to me along with all of the British Gas reports sand findings.
Hopefully a refund will be on it's way to my bank account where it rightfully belongs...
Anyway, I have broken this into a timeline to make things easier:
Day 1; 16th January 2018
* Through Able Group job, he had found 2 faults in the boiler - expansion vessel and electrodes needed replacing.
He claims that Able Group quote will be expensive and suggests to do it through his private job.
Day 2; 17th January 2018
* Received text messages liaising with engineer through his own business (Safe Response Gas & Plumbing Ltd - 34 Highfield Road, Dudley, DY2 7QD) - quoted a slightly lower price than Able Group would've provided as he still claimed.
He fitted electrodes but found another fault - gas valve also needed replacing.
Increases quote. Engineer told me he wouldn't be able to visit again on Thursday 18th January 2018 due to another customer's request.
Felt impatient, I contacted British Gas for an appointment, a second opinion and to resolve the problem once and for all. Appointment booked for 18th January 2018.
Day 3; 18th January 2018
* British Gas engineer arrived and inspected the boiler. Found the mechanics and wirings in such a dangerous state and marks the boiler as unsafe, At Risk (AR) and places Safety Warning label on appliance.
Also gives a Safety Checklist Report to me along with the main diagnosis. British Gas Engineer asked my mother's permission to do so and questions Able Group's engineer's professionalism due to this.
British Gas Engineer has also informed me that only the gas valve needed replacing and nothing else was required.
Day 4; 19th January 2018
* British Gas engineer arrived again with the gas valve part and resolved the problem.
I have made a complaint to Able Group and sent all of the evidence (including screenshots of the text messages from their engineer) and Service Reports from the British Gas engineer who inspected the boiler's safety and resolved the problem.
Able Group has responded swiftly and informs me that they will review all of the evidence I have sent to them.
Does anyone have any advice on what else I should do to receive a refund??
0
Comments
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Day 3 doesn't make sense, the mechanics and wiring are dangerous but it only needs a gas valve? Did the mechanics and wiring magically fix them selves over night?
Please explain.0 -
BG will at risk any appliance they can’t get working, I’d guess they turned up and couldn’t get it working so at risked it.0
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Day 3 doesn't make sense, the mechanics and wiring are dangerous but it only needs a gas valve? Did the mechanics and wiring magically fix them selves over night?
Please explain.
Well my guess is when the engineer from Able Group tried to fix the boiler after the first inspection of it, he must've left everything in a mess when he left? :think:
From what I saw when he was in the process of attempting to fix it, he fiddled with a lot of wiring inside the boiler, which may justify British Gas engineer's actions.0 -
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I’m not criticising BG, I have no issue with them, there the biggest company in the industry and despite what most people say they mainly do good work etc and can get most parts next day. I was just stating there procedures, any thing left non operational is left at risk, which would explain why they have left you that paperwork from there first visit.0
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I’m not criticising BG, I have no issue with them, there the biggest company in the industry and despite what most people say they mainly do good work etc and can get most parts next day. I was just stating there procedures, any thing left non operational is left at risk, which would explain why they have left you that paperwork from there first visit.
That was definitely what happened!
I guess it does make logical sense because it was non-operational assuming as the boiler was left in a mess by the previous engineer who failed to fix it in a reasonable timescale, which he clearly did not...:mad:
What do you suggest I do to claim compensation?0 -
Why did you agree to sidestep Able and get the nice "Indian guy*" to do the job privately? It seems to me that you want the best of both worlds: the cover of a larger company but the price of a smaller contractor. I think you've brought some of the ensuing mess on yourself.
*Have I missed the relevance of the engineer being Indian? I presume it's pertinent given you felt the need to mention it?0 -
Aylesbury_Duck wrote: »Why did you agree to sidestep Able and get the nice "Indian guy*" to do the job privately? It seems to me that you want the best of both worlds: the cover of a larger company but the price of a smaller contractor. I think you've brought some of the ensuing mess on yourself.
*Have I missed the relevance of the engineer being Indian? I presume it's pertinent given you felt the need to mention it?
Well I was obviously misled/tricked wasn't I by the engineer because he actually told me it would be cheaper if I went through his own accord. Furthermore he led me to believe that I needed extra parts to fix the boiler when in actual fact I didn't.
Also I was left without any hot water AND heating for days, so the house was completely cold - so yes to put it straight, I was desperate for the quick fix!
If you was in that situation you would understand the desperation...
Let this be lesson learned for myself not to trust anyone huh? :doh:0 -
I don’t know about compensation, I’m not a lover of the compo stuff if I’m honest, you obviously agreed to able’s £120plus call out and they came out so don’t see why they should refund you, after that they gave you a quote through able or the subbie himself of the £270ish which again you agreed too and then when they didn’t fix it you got BG out. I assume you didn’t pay the £2700ish.0
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*£270ish not £27000
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